White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to the now former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez’s racist remarks by pointing fingers at Republicans.
A leaked audio recording from October 2021 caught Martinez, a Democrat, saying that a white councilman, Mike Bonin, treated his black son like an “accessory” and a “little white kid,” then referred to the child as a “parece changuito,” which translates to “like a monkey.” Martinez resigned from her position as president Monday, and announced Tuesday that she is taking a leave of absence.
The press secretary said the four participants in the recorded conversation should resign from their positions on the council. She then claimed that Democrats hold one another accountable for racist and anti-Semitic remarks while “MAGA [Make America Great Again] Republicans” support it.
“The president is glad to see that 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 and it was appalling,” Jean-Pierre said. “They should all step down and here’s the difference between Democrats and MAGA Republicans. When Democrats say something racist of anti-Semitic, we hold them, we hold Democrats accountable.
“When a MAGA Republican says something racist or anti-Semitic, they are embraced by cheering crowds and become celebrated and sought after in endorsements,” she continued.
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The press secretary named Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville stating that Democrats support reparations because they believe “the people who do crime are owed that” at a Trump rally Saturday and Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano for criticizing his opponent for sending his child to Bryn Mawr’s Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school. (RELATED: Liberal Media Downplays That Disgraced LA Council President Is A Democrat)
“The president used to say and I quote the president right now, ‘hate never goes away, it only hides, but lately it’s out in the open at these extreme MAGA rallies,'” she said.
In addition to Martinez’s remarks on the child, Councilman Kevin de León compared Bonin’s handling of his son at the Martin Luther King Jr. parade to Martinez holding a Louis Vuitton bag. Martinez criticized Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, saying “f*ck that guy, he’s with the blacks.”
Martinez replied by calling the child a “su negrito,” a racially demeaning term in the Spanish language, the audio found.
Martinez announced Tuesday that she is taking a leave of absence from the council following the public outcry and demonstrations that have erupted at the Los Angeles City Hall. She and De Leon, plus Councilman Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, have all apologized for the incident.