California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder (R) ended his tour of homeless encampments in Venice, Calif., early Wednesday after he was confronted by a group of homeless people and advocates, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Elder, who arrived in his “Recall Express” campaign bus, spent about 12 minutes in the area before quickly leaving the scene after a group of people surrounded him and screamed at him to “get the hell out of here,” the Times reported.
Just before Elder departed, what appeared to be an egg was thrown in his direction and a staff member was physically assaulted, according to the Times.
A woman on a bicycle wearing a gorilla mask threw the egg-looking object at Elder. The woman appeared to be white, and ape characterizations have been employed as racist images of Black people for centuries, the Times noted.
The woman then attempted to hit someone who appeared to be one of Elder’s campaign staff members just before Elder was ushered into an SUV, according to the Times.
Elder addressed the incident in a tweet, saying that the “intolerant left will not stop us.”
“He has no business down here,” a homeless woman, who is also pregnant, told the Times just before Elder left. “If you ain’t going to help us, move … on.”
Elder has emerged as the front-runner of the roughly 40 candidates campaigning to take Newsom’s place in the Sept. 14 recall election. However, recent polling has shown that Newsom is likely to survive the recall.