Pres. Joe Biden joins LA councillors’ calls for resignation after leaked racist remarks, says press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Add President Joe Biden to the list of officials calling for the resignations of three Los Angeles City Council members involved in a taped, racially charged conversation, with the White House press secretary saying Tuesday the president believes all of them should resign.

“I spoke to him about it yesterday,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a White House briefing. “The President is glad that one of the participants in this conversation has resigned, but they all should. He thinks they should all resign.”

“The language used and tolerated during this conversation was unacceptable,” she said. “It was horrible. You should all resign.”

Jean-Pierre also criticized “MAGA Republicans” who she says are celebrated for making racially tinged remarks.

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“Here’s the difference between Democrats and MAGA Republicans — if a Democrat says something racist or anti-Semitic, we hold them, we hold the Democrats accountable,” she said. “When a MAGA Republican says something racist or anti-Semitic, they are embraced by cheering crowds and become celebrated and coveted endorsements.”

Hallie Balch, regional director of communications for the Republican National Committee, issued a statement outlining the comments made during the October 2021 taped conversation with councilors Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labour, Ron Herrera, has since resigned.

“That’s the way of the California Democrats: They lie and make voters think they’re going to represent the interests of Californians, and after they get a supermajority, they act like they’re above the law and can say anything what they want,” said Balch.

“Yesterday’s resignation was a positive first step in purging the Los Angeles local government of corruption, but California Republicans will not stop until Democrats are held accountable for the damage they have caused the Golden State .”

Balch also criticized Martinez for issuing a “classically lukewarm apology, which we expect from Democrats who get caught,” and de León and Cedillo for not preventing Martinez from “making their vile comments” while they “interfering with her own jokes and comments.”

Biden is scheduled to visit Southern California on Wednesday to make two appearances and a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

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

On Friday, the President will travel to Orange County to talk about inflation and will be heading to Portland, Oregon that day.

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