Presidential candidates express support for Puerto Rico protests

Puerto Rico hasn't come up much in the Democratic primaries, but several candidates expressed support for civilian protests in the territory on Friday.

As citizens continue to protest in light of the revelation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló's profane private chat and corruption probe involving several former members of his administration, Carlos "Johnny" Méndez, the president of Puerto Rico's House of Representatives, created a special committee on Friday to advise him on whether Rosselló committed impeachable offenses.

U.S. lawmakers, including presidential candidates, have added their names to the list of people calling for new leadership in the territory. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) compared Puerto Rico with her home state of Hawaii.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also expressed solidarity with the protesters, while former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro said he believes Rosselló should resign.

The leaked chats showed the governor and 11 of his top aides exchanging profanity-laced, homophobic, and misogynistic messages about their fellow politicians, media, and celebrities. The messages also contain at least one joke about those who died during Hurricane Maria.