Add President Joe Biden to the list of officials calling for the resignations of three Los Angeles City Council members 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.”
Meanwhile, Biden will arrive at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday afternoon to begin a roughly two-day Southland visit that will include a pair of appearances and a political fundraiser.
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 council members Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, who has since resigned.
“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.”