Pres. Biden joins calls for LA councilmembers to resign, press secretary says

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Add President Joe Biden to the list of officials calling for the resignations of three Los Angeles City councilmembers involved in a recorded, racially charged conversation, with the White House press secretary saying Tuesday the president believes they should all step down.

"I spoke to him about it yesterday,'' Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing. "The president is glad to see one of the participants in that conversation has resigned, but they all should. He believes that they all should resign."

"The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable,'' she said. "It was appalling. They should all step down.''

Jean-Pierre also criticized "MAGA Republicans,'' who she said are celebrated when they make racially tinged remarks.

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Dr. Fernando Guerra, the director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at LMU, speaks out on the racial dynamics among members of City Council and what the long-term ramifications could look like after a recorded conversation showed Nury Martinez making a a series of racially charged remarks.

"Here's the difference between Democrats and MAGA Republicans -- when a Democrat says something racist or anti-Semitic, we hold them, we hold Democrats accountable,'' she said. "When a MAGA Republican says something racist or anti-Semitic, they are embraced by cheering crowds and become celebrated and sought-after endorsements.''

Hallie Balch, regional director of communications for the Republican National Committee, issued a statement blasting the comments made during the October 2021 taped conversation involving councilmembers Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, who has since resigned.

"This is the way of California Democrats: they lie and gaslight voters into believing that they will represent the interests of Californians and after they hold a supermajority, act like they are above the law and can say anything they want,'' Balch said.

"Yesterday's resignation was a positive first step in purging the corruption from Los Angeles' local government, but California Republicans won't stop until Democrats are held accountable for the harm they have done to the Golden State.''

Balch also criticized Martinez for issuing a classically lukewarm apology that we have come to expect from Democrats who get caught,'' and de León and Cedillo for failing to stop Martinez "from making her vile comments,'' while they "chimed in with their own jokes and commentary.''

Biden is scheduled to visit Southern California Wednesday for a pair of appearances and a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Biden will arrive in L.A. sometime Wednesday night and will attend the fundraiser in Brentwood on Thursday.

On Friday, the president will travel to Orange County to discuss inflation and will leave that day to Portland, Oregon.

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Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who represents L.A.'s 4th district, spoke out about the leaked conversation involving several of her colleagues and shares what she believes needs to be done to move forward.

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