Video of Larry Elder Being Egged by Woman in Gorilla Mask Viewed 3.5 Million Times

Clips of California Republican Larry Elder having an egg thrown at him on the campaign trail have been watched more than 3.5 million times.

The conservative talk show host—seen as the main GOP candidate who could possibly unseat Governor Gavin Newsom in the recall election on September 14—had an egg narrowly miss his head after it was thrown by a woman wearing a gorilla mask on Wednesday.

One man, believed to be part of Elder's security team, then confronted the woman. She is heard yelling "Touch me again" before hitting the man in the face.

The angry crowd swarmed around the man, before another person hit him with an egg.

Elder was forced to cut short his trip to a homeless encampment in the Venice area of Los Angeles because of the incident. He is seen getting into an SUV as one person yelled, "Get that sorry piece of s*** out of here."

A video of the incident was posted on Twitter by Spectrum News reporter Kate Cagle and has been watched more than 2.5 million times in a day. The Twitter account for conservative television network The First also shared a clip, which has been viewed more than 1 million times.

"Breaking: A flying egg narrowly missed the back of recall candidate Larry Elder'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," Cagle tweeted.

"Here's the raw (pun intended)."

In a tweet on Wednesday night, Elder said his team had been attacked, but made no mention of the egg aimed at him.

"Today I kicked off the Recall Express bus tour. Before we even left Los Angeles, my security detail was physically assaulted, shot with a pellet gun and hit with projectiles," Elder said.

"The intolerant left will not stop us. We will recall Gavin Newsom. We will save California."

In a statement to Newsweek, Ying Ma, the Elder campaign's communications director, added: "Such violence is completely unacceptable. Will Gavin Newsom condemn it? Most likely not—because rampant crime and rising homelessness are problems of his making."

"Larry Elder is the disruptor to Newsom's status quo and the hope for a brighter future in California. That's precisely why the entrenched political interests will go to any lengths to stop him."

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, also condemned the incident while urging people to back Elder in the special election.

"California this election may go down in history as the moment where the long slow decline of a great state finally stopped," Crenshaw tweeted. "Please get out and vote YES on recall and vote for Larry Elder."

The Los Angeles Police Department has been contacted for comment.