Elder says he’s not running for vice president, but he won't let call to be veep 'go to voicemail'

EXCLUSIVE – Republican Larry Elder is resolute that he’s running for the White House in order to win.

But the former nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host, who was the top finisher behind Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in California’s 2021 gubernatorial recall election, says if his presidential bid falls short, he’d consider serving as running mate on the GOP’s 2024 ticket.

"The only time this VP thing comes up is when reporters ask me about it," Elder said Wednesday in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital. "I’ve never once said I’m running to be vice president, I’m running for a cabinet position. But I’ve been asked about it. And what I said was, ‘In the unlikely event that I’m not the party nominee and the phone rings and the nominee asks me to join him or her as vice president, I won’t let the call go to voicemail.’"

Elder’s hovering at or just below 1% in the latest Republican primary polls as he faces an uphill climb to win the GOP nomination.

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Right now, his main effort is to make the stage at the first Republican presidential primary debate, which Fox News is hosting on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One of the thresholds Elder needs to clear in order to qualify for the showdown is contributions from 40,000 individual donors. 

"The goal right now is to get to 40,000 individual donors," he said. After speaking with Fox News on Wednesday in New Hampshire – the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican nominating calendar – Edler was scheduled to make another round of fundraising calls, as he worked to make the debate stage.

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Asked how he can pump up his poll numbers and increase his contributions, Elder said, "My goal is not to run against Republicans. My goal is to run against the Biden-Harris administration." And he charged that the Biden administration’s "a direct threat to this country. They have reversed everything that Donald Trump did successfully in his very short four years."

Elder appeared to add that he could achieve his goals even without winning the nomination.

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"I’m running to put in front of the American people… the lie that America's systemically racist, the epidemic of fatherlessness, the need for school choice, the need to get rid of these soft George Soros DAs, and a need for an amendment to the Constitution to fix spending to a certain percentage of the GDP," Elder argued. "If I do that and get those issues front and center, I will feel that I’ve done a service to my party and more importantly to my country. That’s why I’m in this race."

Elder launched his presidential bid on April 20. He touted that he’s "getting a real good reception" on the campaign trail as he talks about the issues people care about, which he said are "mostly notably the economy, gas prices, the borders, and crime."

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"I’m also bringing to the forefront some issues that other candidates are not bringing – most notably there’s an epidemic of fatherlessness in America that’s been caused by the welfare state that was pushed in the mid-'60s by the Democrats. There’s a huge issue with the Democrats repeatedly referring to America as systemically racist," Elder argued.