Politics
The sad, desperate, Hispandering end of Kevin de León's career
He preened, he hugged, he shook hands and hobnobbed with legends and politicians. Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León was in full campaign mode two days before Tuesday’s election, when voters would decide whether he deserved a second term.
The setting wasn’t a restaurant or a neighborhood street: It was the VIP section of a dedication ceremony in Boyle Heights for a towering set of murals featuring the late Dodgers ace Fernando Valenzuela.
Wearing a satin Blue Crew jacket, De León emceed the one-hour-plus program attended by hundreds of baseball fans. Outside the fenced-off area where he held court, workers in neon yellow vests emblazoned with “Kevin de León Cleanup Crew” handed out bottles of water. Nearby, an electric truck bore in Spanish the legend “Courtesy of: Councilmember Kevin de León.”
He led chants and cracked jokes and introduced a parade of speakers — among them Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, actor Edward James Olmos and East LA Community Corporation president Monica Mejia — who thanked him for helping spearhead the mural, along with playwright Josefina Lopez and artist Robert Vargas.
That wasn’t enough credit for De León. Just before a giant tarp dropped to reveal one of the murals, he told the crowd that what they were about to see was “my gift to all of you, to all of Boyle Heights and to all of L.A.”
From a distance, I stared with a mix of pity and disgust. It wasn’t surprising that De León was there, because his Eastside district includes Boyle Heights. But I figured he had enough sense to offer a few words and sit down like all the other dignitaries, not squeeze a pseudo-rally out of a ceremony meant to honor a recently deceased icon.
Hubris was the engine of De León’s 18-year political career. It propelled the child of Guatemalan immigrants from an impoverished upbringing in San Diego to community activism in L.A. to stints in Sacramento as an assembly member and state senator before he landed at City Hall in 2020. He gained enemies along the way but also followers who cast him as a Dickensian hero willing to fight for the neediest.
Hubris was also his downfall. On Friday, De León conceded to his opponent, tenant’s rights attorney Ysabel Jurado, in a historic defeat that will be felt for years in L.A. politics.
“While the results of this election did not go our way, I respect the decision of the voters and our democratic process,” De León said in a statement on Instagram. He congratulated Jurado “on a well-fought campaign” and wished her “success in leading our district forward” — a stark contrast to the campaign, when he and his surrogates painted her as a dangerous socialist unfit for office.
De León never recovered from his role in the 2022 City Hall audio leak that captured him laughing as others mocked Oaxacans, trashed political opponents and schemed on how to check Black political power in L.A. to ensure the spread of Latino power.
De León continued on the council despite repeated calls to resign and ran for reelection despite warnings he wouldn’t be able to win.
His loss will cause further teeth-gnashing among the region’s Latino political class, who had already cast Jurado’s rise as little better than a civil rights violation. The political novice will be the first Filipino American on the council.
Latinos make up nearly half of L.A.’s population but will hold only four seats on the 15-member council after De León’s departure. That a non-Latino will represent the Eastside, the cradle of Latino politics in the city, for the first time in nearly 40 years, is particularly galling to some Eastside residents and especially politicos.
Even before Jurado’s win, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s legal team had questioned whether the council’s district maps provide sufficient representation for Latinos, singling out two districts on the Eastside, including De León’s, as potential areas of concern, sources told my colleagues Dave Zahniser and Dakota Smith.
But what De León’s supporters don’t get is that the Latino Power strategy that long fueled Eastside politics is over — and their guy’s campaign proved it. In the wake of the audio leak scandal, the incumbent wrapped himself in latinidad like a tamale snug inside a corn husk — and he still lost.
His office sponsored a World Cup final watch party at Pershing Square and consistently handed out free food to residents in Latino-majority neighborhoods. At a debate at Dolores Mission last month, De León talked almost exclusively in Spanish and kept referring to his constituents as nuestra gente — our people — to imply that Jurado could never understand Latinos and their needs.
Spanish-language radio ads paid for by the Latino Victory Fund called the council member el mero mero — the big boss man. A series of mailers designed like comic books featured mariachi musicians holding a “Re-Elect Kevin De León” sign as the cartooned council member nabbed copper wire thieves, cleaned up graffiti and carried boxes for homeless people as they moved into apartments. In another mailer, De León posed with firefighters in front of the iconic Virgin of Guadalupe shrine at the Ramona Garden housing complex in Boyle Heights and talked to voters at Mariachi Plaza.
Other mailers funded by political action committees touted De León as someone who wanted to “preserve Latino culture,” who was “a champion for our community” and “a symbol of this great generation of strong Latino leaders.” A text message from De León’s campaign included a grainy photo of Jurado and warned that “Forty years of Latino representation is threatened.”
De León even earned an endorsement from beyond the grave from his council predecessor, Eastside political titan Richard Alatorre. A mailer featured a letter in Spanish from Alatorre’s widow, Angie, disclosing that Richard had supported De León’s campaign and stating, “We should ensure that Latino leadership continues being important.”
None of this Hispandering worked. While De León doubled down on ethnic solidarity, Jurado and her team focused on a ground game that tied the Highland Park native’s story — daughter of immigrants who lacked legal status, teenage mom who went on food stamps, adult who had to move back in with her father — to that of Eastside residents. She easily won, with the latest vote count showing her at 56% to De León’s 44%.
It didn’t have to end this way. If De León had resigned in the wake of the audio leak, or decided to not seek reelection, he could have left with egg on his face but nevertheless walking tall after an impressive career of service to Latinos.
He was an architect of the massive marches against Proposition 187 in 1994 — protests that birthed a generation of Latino activists and politicians. He was the first Latino leader of the state Senate in 130 years, with enough political cachet to stage serious runs for U.S. Senator and L.A. Mayor. He sponsored the bill that turned California into a sanctuary state and helped pass important legislation on climate change and clean energy.
Those achievements will rightfully fill up the majority of De León’s biography. But history will now also remember him as the Joe Biden of the Eastside — someone who stayed way past his expiration date, ended his political career with a whimper and cost his base their political power because he refused to leave.
That was the De León on display at the Valenzuela mural unveiling. He remained on stage in the VIP section long after the ceremony ended, chatting up Dodgers broadcasting legend Jaime Jarrín and others, instead of trying to mix with the crowd.
Some supporters went up to him to take photos, but the council member posed from his side of the barricades. It was as if he knew his time in power would soon be over, and he wanted to bask in the moment as long as possible.
I lingered to see if we might chat. After about half an hour, I realized it wasn’t going to happen.
As I walked back to my car, I turned back for one last look at De León. His cleaning crew was sweeping up litter from the street while their boss talked and talked and talked.
Politics
Biden supports bringing adversarial nations into new UN cyber crime alliance
The Biden administration will support a U.N. treaty this week that will create a new cybercrime convention that includes China and Russia — which has not sat well with some lawmakers and critics.
Since 2001, the global governance around cybercrime has largely been coordinated by the Budapest Convention, a product of the Council of Europe that includes 76 countries. It does not include Russia or China. However, under the U.N.’s new cybercrime convention, these two adversarial nations will be welcomed into the global cybercrime governance fold.
The move, confirmed by top officials familiar with the issue, has been met with concern from those who fear that a new global alliance on cybersecurity involving two of the nation’s most adversarial nations could spell trouble.
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“We recognize that defending human rights and core principles of internet freedom is not easy,” a group of Democratic lawmakers on the Hill wrote last week to top officials in the Biden administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan. “Russia, China and other regimes opposed to democratic freedoms are always working to create international legitimacy for their actions and worldview … Unfortunately, these efforts – while laudable – are insufficient to fix fundamental flaws in the convention.”
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The decision to support the new treaty came after months of deliberations between the Biden administration and others, including hundreds of nongovernmental entities involved in human rights and other relevant issues. According to a senior administration official, the U.S. “decided to remain with consensus,” arguing the U.S.’s sway on global “rights-respecting” cybersecurity policy will be greater under the new convention.
To help address concerns that have been raised about the convention, the Biden administration plans to develop a risk management plan and will engage with nongovernmental stakeholders to help refine it.
A “consensus proceeding” took place Monday, and the resolution was approved without a vote. According to Politico, it is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly later this year.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would be nominating New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to be the next U.N. ambassador in his administration.
The White House declined to comment on the record for this story.
Politics
Chloe Fineman confirms that 'rude' Elon Musk was the 'SNL' host who made her cry
Comedian Chloe Fineman says Space X owner Elon Musk made her cry when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 2021.
Fineman recalled working with the tech billionaire in a since-deleted TikTok, months after fellow cast member and writer Bowen Yang alluded to the behind-the-scenes drama during an appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live!” Yang cryptically revealed in August that a host brought several staffers to tears because “he hated the ideas” they had. Speculation abounded and Fineman confirmed her part in it Monday.
The “SNL” star broke her silence after blowing up the Tesla chief executive’s “butt hurt” reaction to “SNL” alumnus Dana Carvey’s impression of him in Saturday’s post-election episode. (Carvey returned to Studio 8H as a bouncy, fist-pumping version of the “Dark MAGA”-boasting Musk in the cold open, claiming he would run the country after former President Trump’s re-election last week. Fineman said that world’s richest man and Trump loyalist is “clearly watching the show” despite his barrage of “rude” criticism on his X platform.
“I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry, and he’s the host that made someone cry,” Fineman said in her video. “Maybe there’s others.”
“Guess what, you made I, Chloe Fineman, burst into tears,” she continued, “because I stayed up all night writing this sketch. I was so excited. I came in, I asked if you had any questions and you stared at me like you were firing me from Tesla and were like ‘It’s not funny.’”
The “Megalopolis” and “Despicable Me 4” star said she waited for Musk to say he was just kidding, but he did not. Then she accused him of “pawing” through her script and — while mimicking his South African accent — claimed he didn’t laugh at the sketch a single time. She did not name the sketch; however, she and Musk appeared together in “The Ooli Show” sketch of the May 2021 episode on which she received a writing credit. Fineman played an Icelandic talk-show host and Musk played her smitten producer.
She conceded that the sketch that made it into the episode “was fine” and that she “actually had a really good time” doing it. She also admitted that Musk was “really funny in it.
“But, you know, have a little manners here, sir,” she concluded.
Although Fineman deleted the video, it was saved and re-posted on X where Musk replied to it Monday and explained his assessment of the work.
“Frankly, it was only on the Thursday before the Saturday that ANY of the sketches generated laughs,” Musk said. “I was worried. I was like damn my SNL appearance is going to be so f— unfunny that it will make a crackhead sober!! But then it worked out in the end”
Musk did not apologize or mention making any cast members cry.
Representatives for Fineman and “Saturday Night Live” did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times’ requests for comment.
Before Fineman posted her TikTok, Musk ranted about the most recent episode on X.
“Dana Carvey just sounds like Dana Carvey,” Musk tweeted in response to a clip from the cold open, adding in another tweet that, “They are so mad that @realDonaldTrump won.”
He also claimed that the long-running, Emmy-winning sketch series “has been dying slowly for years, as they become increasingly out of touch with reality.” Musk, who is expected to be an influential voice in Trump’s incoming administration, also accused the show of a “last-ditch effort to cheat the equal airtime requirements” when Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in the Nov. 2 episode, before the election, claiming that it “only helped sink her campaign further.”
Politics
Trump tells world leader election gives him a 'very big mandate'
President-elect Donald Trump said his election victory “gives me a very big mandate to do things properly” in a newly released video by Indonesia’s president.
Prabowo Subianto could be heard congratulating Trump, adding, “Wherever you are, I am willing to fly to, to congratulate you personally sir.”
“We had a great election in the U.S…. Amazing what happened, we had tremendous success. The most successful in over 100 years they say. It’s a great honor and so it gives me a very big mandate to do things properly,” Trump told him at one point in the conversation.
Subianto also told Trump, “We were all shocked when they tried to assassinate you, but we are very happy that the almighty protected you sir.”
TRUMP EXPECTED TO NAME SEN. MARCO RUBIO AS SECRETARY OF STATE
“Yes, I got very lucky. I just happened to be in the right place in the right direction otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” Trump responded. “I got quite lucky actually, somebody was protecting me I guess.”
Subianto, a former Indonesian military general and defense minister, was sworn in as the country’s eighth president on Oct. 20.
TRUMP LIKELY TO MAKE SEVERAL BORDER SECURITY MOVES ON FIRST DAY, SAYS EXPERT
“Whenever you are around you let me know and I’d like to also get to your country sometime, it’s incredible, the job that you are doing is incredible,” Trump told Subianto during the call. “You’re a very respected person and I give you credit for that, it’s not easy.”
“Please send the people of Indonesia my regards,” he added.
In a statement on X alongside the video, Subianto said, “I am looking forward to enhance the collaboration between our two great nations and to more productive discussions in the future.”
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