Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló – Photo: Facebook.
Puerto Rico’s embattled governor Ricardo Roselló has announced he will step down on Aug. 2 after a series of homophobic and sexist texts were leaked.
It follows nearly two weeks of massive demonstrations outside the governor’s mansion by angry and frustrated citizens who saw him and his administration as corrupt and unable to govern effectively.
The last straw was the release of hundreds of leaked group text messages between the governor and nine other members of his administration containing crude and offensive jokes, as well as a number of sexist and homophobic statements about women, political opponents, journalists, and even openly gay singer Ricky Martin.
The leaked chat messages, 889 pages of which were published by Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, shattered Roselló’s image as a clean-cut, upstanding family man, irreparably damaging his reputation, which had already been battered by his ineffectual response to several crises facing the island since taking office in 2017.
Under Roselló’s watch, Puerto Rico’s government has struggled with bankruptcy, and, just prior to his taking office, had been forced to cede a significant amount of its power to a financial oversight board, known colloquially as “La Junta,” tasked with resolving the territory’s debt crisis.
Just months later, Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, which left Puerto Ricans without power for months and saw thousands of people perish either during or in the aftermath of the storm. Many blamed Roselló — in addition to the federal government — for the inadequate response to, and lack of preparations ahead of, the hurricane.
Then, just before the text messages were released, the FBI arrested Roselló’s former secretary of education and five others for allegedly steering federal money to unqualified, but politically connected, contractors.
In a video message posted to Facebook on Wednesday evening, Roselló announced his intention to step down, just days after saying he’d stay in office until the end of his term but would not run for re-election in 2020.
In the speech, Roselló defended the decisions he made while in office, whil also saying he did not wish to imperil the progress that had been made by staying in office — a nod to the fact that Puerto Rico’s Congress had already begun planning for impeachment hearings against him.
“My only priority has been the transformation of our island and the well-being of our people,” he said. “The demands have been overwhelming and I’ve received them with highest degree of humility.”
Rosselló’s post will be filled for the remainder of his term by Wanda Vázquez, his secretary of justice, due to the fact that the person next in the line of succession — former secretary of state Luis Rivera Marín — had previously resigned after it was revealed he was among the officials who took part in the group text chat, reports the Miami Herald.
The LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD congratulated the activists — and several Puerto Rican artists and celebrities who had encouraged them — who demonstrated and demanded the governor’s resignation in a tweet.
“Congratulations to the people of Puerto Rico and activists and artists like @PedroJulio, @ricky_martin, @wcruz73 and Bad Bunny who led a peaceful and successful protest against Rosselló’s misogyny and homophobia.”
Congratulations to the people of Puerto Rico and activists and artists like @PedroJulio, @ricky_martin, @wcruz73 and Bad Bunny who led a peaceful and successful protest against Rosselló's misogyny and homophobia.https://t.co/996EDqftym
Following President Joseph R. Biden's announcement on Sunday that he would be dropping out of this year's presidential race, many of the groups that were most fervently in his camp, including LGBTQ organizations, voiced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden abandoned his re-election bid after relentless pressure from party insiders and weeks of panicking from liberal activists following his disastrous performance against Donald Trump in a televised debate on June 27.
For weeks, pundits -- aided by the mainstream media -- called into question President Biden's age, physical fitness, and mental acuity, questioning whether the 81-year-old president could withstand the rigors of campaigning and whether he was the candidate best suited to articulate the Democratic Party's message and stances on various issues.
The frontrunner status of Vice President Kamala Harris as she seeks the Democratic Party's presidential nomination has led right-wingers to lose what little self-control they already possessed.
Rather than focus on issues where Harris, President Joe Biden, or the Democratic Party, in general, might be weak, MAGA trolls and pundits -- especially those on social media -- have decided to play to their base and employ various sexist, sexualized, and misogynistic attacks.
The most common refrain echoed by conservatives is that Harris is a "DEI hire," based on the assertion that she was only selected as vice president due to her race and gender, as well as claims that she lacks intelligence, and is otherwise unqualified to be president.
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