Just Months After Puerto Rico’s Worst Political Scandal Ever, Pedro Pierluisi Says That He ‘Does Not Regret’ Voting for Ricardo Rosselló

And here we go.

In a classic case of political Macondo mediocrity, it looks like some factions of Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood party are trying to forget this past summer’s historic protests that led to the sudden resignation of governor Ricardo Rosselló.

The latest example? Former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi—yes, the same Pierluisi who claimed the governorship after Rosselló’s departure, only to see Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court invalidate him.

In a video now being circulated widely in Puerto Rico, Pierluisi is seen telling the New Progressive Party’s (PNP) Youth Convention that he has no regrets in voting for Rosselló for governor in 2016. Granted, Pierluisi lost to Rosselló in the PNP primary during that cycle, and (guess what?) Pierluisi is a leading gubernatorial candidate in 2020 for the PNP—even though he had to step down just days after claiming the governor’s slot this summer.

Pierluisi dice en la Convención de la Juventud del PNP, que no se arrepiente de haber votado por Rosselló.

No se arrepiente de las burlas, los insultos, la reforma laboral, el empleador único y todo esos abusos…

Como he dicho antes, Pierluisi es más malo que Rosselló. pic.twitter.com/g03dHeFQXV

— Jose Cheito Rivera Madera (@CheitoRiveraMad) November 3, 2019

Are you following?

Anyway, here is what Pierluisi said in Spanish (our translation in English): “Yo me uní, yo me uní. Hice campaña por Ricardo Rosselló. Lo presenté en su cierre de campaña y, para que todos estén claros, con todo lo que ha pasado, yo no me arrepiento de haber apoyado a Ricardo Rosselló.” (“I joined, I joined. I campaigned for Ricardo Rosselló. I presented him during his final campaign event, and to be clear to everyone, with all that has happened, I do not regret having supported Ricardo Rosselló.”)

So in summary, the politician who tried to defeat Rosselló in 2016 and then assumed a leadership post after Rosselló had to resign under weeks of protests only to see his political aspirations get struck down by a court order is now considering a run for that very same post, and his campaign strategy is to support the same guy who had to resign during one of Puerto Rico’s greatest political scandals ever?

Does Pierluisi think Puerto Ricans have already forgotten about the summer of 2019? Does he really believe that the PNP and its political leaders truly understand the island’s current pulse? Or are we about to see the beginning end of the PNP?

Only in Puerto Rico.

We will let LR contributor Phillip Arroyo give the final tweet on this one:

The highly possible Puerto Rico statehood party candidate for governor in 2020 @pedropierluisi was caught on camera last weekend saying he "does not regret having endorsed @ricardorossello " who was forced to resign this past summer. @latinorebels These people never learn. pic.twitter.com/7Hmcw8cyOR

— Phillip Arroyo (@PhillipArroyo) November 4, 2019

“These people never learn.”