LA City Council cancels meeting as 2 members deny calls to resign over leaked recording

The city has been in turmoil since an hour-long conversation between three council members and a local union leader leaked over the weekend, prompting calls for their resignation from a long list of political leaders, including the President Joe Biden.

Biden was visiting Los Angeles on Thursday and repeated his earlier endorsement of Rep. Karen Bass, who is running for mayor of the second-largest city in the United States against billionaire developer Rick Caruso.

In the leaked recording, the three can be heard using racist remarks as they discuss redistricting and ways to dilute the power of Black Angelenos.

Martinez at one point used a racial slur to describe another council member’s black son. The news mobilized hundreds of angry protesters, who earlier this week swarmed Los Angeles City Hall with calls for justice, prompting a meeting on Tuesday adjourned early.