White House: Biden believes embattled L.A. City Council members should resign
- Shawna Chen, author ofAxios San Francisco
President Biden speaks at the Volvo Group powertrain manufacturing facility in Hagerstown, Maryland on Oct. 7, 2022. Photo: Craig Hudson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Biden believes that all three Los Angeles City Council members revealed to have made racist comments in a leaked audio recording should resign, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
Driving the news: The audio published by the Los Angeles Times revealed that then-City Council President Nury Martinez referred to a white council member's child, who is Black, as "ese changuito," or that little monkey.
- Martinez has since stepped down from her role as president and taken a leave of absence, but it's unclear whether she will resign from the council altogether.
What they're saying: "The president is glad to see that one of the participants in that conversation has resigned, but he believes they all should resign," Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing Tuesday.
- "The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable and is appalling. He believes they should all step down."
The big picture: The scandal that has rocked Los Angeles City Hall reverberates among many Latino communities in which anti-Black and anti-Indigenous attitudes prevail, Axios' Astrid Galván reports.
- The California and Los Angeles branches of the NAACP have called on Martinez as well as Council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León to step down for their involvement in a discussion with anti-Black and anti-Indigenous comments.
Worth noting: Former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera has submitted his resignation for participating in the conversation.
Go deeper: Los Angeles City Hall scandal casts spotlight on Latino racism