I don't understand the constant defense of Meruelo. Maybe if this was his first or second screwup, but to paraphrase Bill Armstrong, he is stacking one screwup on top of another screwup.
I understand it all too well. There are people who latch on to an attitude and an image, and once they do it's nearly impossible to shake them out of it with facts or evidence. The problem has only gotten worse of late, even though you'd think that with the increasing availability of facts and due diligence, it would improve. But now that people can just call anything they don't like "fake news," you're seeing a huge uptick in grifter culture and cult-of-personality campaigns all over the place.
No matter how publicly and blatantly Meruelo shoots himself in the foot, or proves that he's trying to fake his way through things with bluster and bullshit, there are going to be people out there who will not let go of their conviction that Meruelo is a misunderstood financial genius and that the corrupt world is out to get him. How, after all, can someone who owns an island possibly be as incompetent as he seems? And it's because they fail to account for luck, random chance, and context.
Meruelo's not the first, nor will he be the last, rich guy who believes himself to be not only competent, but exceptional in all walks of life simply because of the size of his bank account. And he's also not the first or last rich guy onto whom credulous admirers will latch regardless of the demands of reality.