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- LA City Council member Kevin de León said he will not resign amid scandal over leaked audio.
- De León was caught on tape comparing a colleague's Black son to a prop designer handbag.
- "I am excessively sorry, and that is why I apologize to all my people," he told Univision.
In recent days, LA City Council member Kevin de León has faced widespread calls for his resignation in the aftermath of leaked audio from a closed-door meeting in 2021. Among those urging de Leon to resign was President Joe Biden.
But the local politician is apparently shirking his president's advice. In a Wednesday interview with Univision, de León apologized for his role in the racist recording but said he will not resign as a result.
"I'm so sorry. I am excessively sorry, and that is why I apologize to all my people, to my entire community, for the damage caused by the painful words that were carried out that day last year," he told the outlet, according to a partial transcript.
"No, I will not resign, because there is a lot of work ahead," de León said, invoking Los Angeles' homelessness problem.
De León's decision comes just days after LA City Council member Nury Martinez resigned amid mounting pressure over the same audio.
Audio of the 2021 meeting was leaked earlier this month on Reddit and first reported on by The Los Angeles Times. Martinez, de León, and council member Gil Cedillo could be heard making crude remarks throughout the discussion in which they were talking about how to maintain Latino political power through redistricting in parts of Los Angeles. Ron Herrera, the leader of the Los Angeles Labor Federation, was also present at the meeting and resigned following the leak.
During the conversation, Martinez referred to a white colleague's Black son as a "changuito," or little monkey, and de León compared the same 2-year-old to a prop handbag.
On Wednesday, de León sent a letter to City Council President Paul Krekorian expressing his "deepest apologies" to council member Mike Bonin, whose young son was the target of racist jokes and comments during the meeting, as well as his own family, constituents, and fellow Angelenos.
Bonin has repeatedly urged all those involved to resign, and delivered an impassioned speech about the incident last week.
"People should not ask me for forgiveness, because I can't forgive them because it's not my prerogative," he said during a council meeting. "It's the prerogative of a boy who was too young to really understand what the hell was going on. And when he's older, maybe when he's in high school, you can seek his forgiveness."
De León, who previously led California's state Senate, has two years left in his term. Then-acting City Council President Mitch O'Farrell stripped de León and Cedillo of their committee duties earlier this week.
De León did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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