Shepard Smith to Puerto Rico governor: Voters ‘no longer trust you and your leadership’

Fox News chief anchor Shepard Smith on Monday pressed embattled Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló on his waning support, saying the residents of the U.S. territory “no longer trust you and your leadership.”

The grilling came a day after Rosselló announced he would not seek reelection in 2020 but intends to stay in office for the remainder of his term despite increased calls for him to resign and more protests in the streets of San Juan.

{mosads}”The corruption is rampant in Puerto Rico,” Smith said during an interview that lasted more than 20 minutes.

“Economically, there’s a fiscal crisis,” Smith added. “Attacks on women, gays, dead relatives on your own island, and after that, who is left to support you?”

“I’ve apologized. I am making amends for all those efforts,” Rosselló replied.

Rosselló is under increasing pressure to step down amid a corruption scandal involving former members of his administration and leaked messages between him and his top lieutenants containing homophobic and misogynistic slurs.

“They no longer trust you and your leadership,” Smith responded.

Rosselló acknowledged that mistakes had been made but reiterated his intention to remain in office.

“Mistakes are things you do that you didn’t mean to do or that you did by accident or in error, and then you go back and you correct them,” Smith responded.

“Nine hundred pages of attacks on people of your own island are arguably not mistakes,” the anchor continued.

At one point in the messages, one of Rosselló’s aides said he would like to “shoot” the female mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, to which Rosselló responded, “Oh, you would be doing me a great favor.”

The Puerto Rican Center for Investigative Journalism published other texts that contained misogynistic and homophobic slurs directed at journalists and political rivals by some members of Rosselló’s administration.

The calls for Rosselló’s resignation began after the FBI arrested two former administration members for allegedly pushing more than $15 million in government contracts to certain businesses.