Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló has come under fire after hundreds of offensive private messages were leaked, in which the politician had vile words for the media and his rival politicians.

The most controversial selection from the chats included comments that the governor made mocking the victims of Hurricane Maria.

Nearly 900 messages leaked from the private messaging app “Telegram” were published by Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, showing the governor and his top associates sharing vulgar messages back and forth.

Wow. Puerto Rico.

You don’t get this perspective from the ground.

They are Loud.

Determined.

United. pic.twitter.com/3JMmbc8NY2 — David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 22, 2019

Offensive Messages

In one message the Governor was referencing a rival female politician when he wrote, “Our people should come out and defend Tom and beat up that whore.”

Christian Sobrino Vega, another high ranking Puerto Rico official, responded saying that “I am salivating to shoot her.”

“You’d be doing me a grand favor,” the governor told him.

The visual and sound speaks volumes. This is San Juan, Puerto Rico NOW pic.twitter.com/ojVecpoLQl — David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 22, 2019

The messages also included homophobic attacks on Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin.

“Nothing says patriarchal oppression like Ricky Martin. Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he f—- men because women don’t measure up. Pure patriarchy,” he said.

Following the leak of the texts, some 400,000 people took to the streets, demanding the resignation of the governor.

All of these protesters made it out in force for the demonstration despite the scorching 100-degree heat.

Now it’s raining on the protesters in Puerto Rico. And they don’t care.#RickyRenuncia #ParoNacional pic.twitter.com/wji61odpSR — Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) July 22, 2019

Not Backing Down

This is said to be one of the largest protests on the Island in its history.

Ricardo Rosselló is refusing to step down, despite hundreds of thousands calling for his resignation.

The governor told reporters on Tuesday that he had no intentions on stepping down and that, “I will continue my work and my responsibility to the people of Puerto Rico.”

https://twitter.com/cristina_corujo/status/1153305837848399877

However, the protesters in the streets say that they will not go home until Rosselló steps down from his position. For many of the demonstrators, this is much deeper than just some offensive text messages.

For over a decade the island has been facing extreme poverty, much of which can be attributed to political corruption.

Things only got worse in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, when funds that were supposed to help the citizens of the island ended up being mismanaged by politicians.