Radio show host Larry Elder, a leading Republican candidate for governor of California, has been accused of verbal and emotional abuse by his ex-fiancé Alexandra Datig.
In an interview with Politico, Datig recalled the 2015 incident that made her call off their 18-month engagement.
“He was in the bedroom, and I was standing by the door,” she said. “We talked to each other.’’ He became silent, she said, and then slowly “walked over to the nightstand, opened the door, took out the gun,’’ a .45 pistol.
“And he checked if it was loaded — while I was talking,’’ Datig noted. “He wanted to make sure I saw that he had it.”
“It was an act of silent scorn — and anger,” she added.
Datig called it a “Phil Spector moment,” referring to the infamous record producer who shot and killed his girlfriend, Lana Carson, in 2003. “At the same time,” she added, “I’m also very fearless and, having grown up around guns, I didn’t take it seriously.”
She said she left the relationship because it was not just a physical threat, but a threat to her sobriety.
Elder issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, as published by The Los Angeles Times and on social media. “I have never brandished a gun at anyone,” he tweeted. “I grew up in South Central; I know exactly how destructive this type of behavior is. It’s not me, and everyone who knows me knows it’s not me. These are salacious allegations.”
The state of California is currently in the midst of a heated election to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Elder has emerged as the leading Republican candidate, and as a conservative talk show host, he has put forth many controversial ideas, including sexist ones.
“Glass ceiling? Ha! What glass ceiling? Women, women exaggerate the problem of sexism,” Elder said in 1996. He added: “Blacks exaggerate the significance of racism.”
He once referred to PMS as “Punish My Spouse (or Significant Other),” and in a 2000 column, he wrote, according to CNN, “Women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events” and claimed that this gave Democrats an edge over Republicans because “the less one knows, the easier the manipulation.”
Further, in the early 2000s, Elder maintained a page on his website dedicated to “women and domestic violence statistics” and one of the articles he cited asked, “Why does our culture refuse to hold women as well as men accountable for their participation in domestic violence?”
The California recall election is on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
In the latest polls, voters seeking to keep Newsom in office are neck-in-neck with those seeking to replace him. Including Elder, there are more than 40 candidates on the ballot.
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