California Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder had eggs thrown at him on Wednesday while walking on the streets of Los Angeles with members of his campaign.
A video posted by a local news reporter showed a woman who was wearing a pink wig and a gorilla mask ride up on her bike to within several feet of Elder and throw an egg in the direction of his head.
The woman then appeared to get into a verbal altercation with someone who seemed to be working security. She is shown on the video appearing to strike the man in the face with her fist.
“A flying egg narrowly missed the back of recall candidate @larryelder ‘s head after it was thrown by an activist wearing a gorilla mask in Venice,” Kate Cagle, a reporter with Spectrum News 1, said in a tweet that featured video of the incident. “A scuffle broke out and the candidate was escorted into an SUV.”
WATCH (contains language):
Breaking: A flying egg narrowly missed the back of recall candidate @larryelder's head after it was thrown by an activist wearing a gorilla mask in Venice. A scuffle broke out and the candidate was escorted into an SUV.
Here's the raw (pun intended)
CW: f-bombs@SpecNews1SoCal pic.twitter.com/FeFx3wnuSD— Kate Cagle (@KateCagle) September 8, 2021
Numerous people online quickly noted the racist aspect of the incident because of the mask that she was wearing and the fact that Elder is black.
- Christopher White, reporter, tweeted: “Dude. A white lady in a pink gorilla mask tosses an egg at a guy who’s campaigning to be California’s first black governor. That’s kind of icky, yo.”
- Nicholas Fondacaro, reporter, tweeted: “Racist attack on a black Republican candidate for governor.”
- Dave Rubin, podcaster, tweeted: “Here’s a psychotic lunatic in a gorilla mask throwing an egg at @larryelder then punching a security officer. Perhaps Newsom’s surrogates and the mainstream media calling Larry a black white supremacist isn’t a good idea?” “If a crazy white person in a gorilla mask threw an egg at Stacey Abrams while campaigning it would be the lead story on every news network. Democrats would demand Republicans apologize for being racist, etc. 100% guarantee no mainstream outlet touches this on TV tonight.”
- Peter Hasson, reporter, tweeted: “Someone in a *gorilla mask* threw an egg at the guy seeking to be California’s first Black governor.”
- Clay Travis, radio host, tweeted: “A white woman in a gorilla mask threw an egg at Larry Elder, who is seeking to become the first black governor of California. Doesn’t seem very tolerant and inclusive to me. What’s the media reaction if a white person in a gorilla mask throws an egg at Kamala or Stacey Abrams? It’s the lead story for multiple days & evidence of rampant white supremacy. Now compare it to what will happen here. This will barely be mentioned, if at all, on most news.”
- Jesse Kelly, commentator, tweeted: “That crazy woman who threw an egg at Larry Elder while wearing a gorilla mask didn’t do it because she’s a racist. The communist truly does not care about race. Only his religion. If you become a heretic to that religion, you get what heretics get.”
- Andy Ngo, reporter, tweeted: “A violent woman wearing a racist gorilla mask throws a projectile at @larryelder ’s head (& misses) in Los Angeles. She then punches someone in his crew. Other left-wing protesters join in on the attack.”
- Jeffrey A Dove Jr., commentator, tweeted: “A blatant racist wearing a gorilla mask attacked @larryelder these people are completely unhinged. Thanks @latimes look what you have done.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.