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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2022
CONTACT:
Eric Ryan // (808) 457-1950
president@hawaiirepublicanassembly.com
https://www.facebook.com/HIRA808/
LOCAL CONSERVATIVE GROUP ATTACKS HAWAII REPUBLICAN PARTY FOR HIDING RECORD OF TOP GOP CANDIDATE BJ PENN
“We’ve sunk to the Hawaii GOP’s lowest point ever”
Honolulu, Hawaii -- With ballots for Hawaii’s Primary Election arriving in mailboxes today, Hawaii’s Republican Party is under blistering attack by a local conservative organization for “irresponsibly” vouching for the political legitimacy of troubled GOP frontrunner BJ Penn’s 2022 gubernatorial candidacy and for hiding Penn’s lengthy, troubling history.
In an ad which debuted two weeks ago entitled “Warning to Island Voters: Secrets of the Hawaii GOP”, the SuperPAC Hawaii Republican Action has committed thousands of dollars in HIRA Action funding for online advertising to promote a 10-minute video which exposes voters to Penn’s actual record of domestic violence, physical and sexual abuse, racism, death threats, street brawls, terroristic threatening with a machete, criminal history and behavior, homophobia, deadbeat dad who had to be sued by a foreign baby mama, assault of a police officer, drug and alcohol abuse, and more. Produced by the state’s 2nd oldest SuperPAC, HIRA’s video has racked up almost 50,000 views and nearly 1,000 comments.
HIRA’s BJ Penn video opens with audio of Penn shouting about “niggers” over and over again while Penn was being arrested in January 2021, only months before Penn announced his candidacy for governor. Also featured is an excerpt of BJ Penn’s own 2022 campaign video in which Penn appears to deflect expected criticisms of his candidacy as “dug up”, “made up” and “invented”.
The group is calling on Penn to drop out or be disqualified by the party and for chairwoman Finnegan to resign. HIRA Action chairman Eric Ryan warns that with many island voters already dubious about Republicans, elections have consequences far beyond 2022. “Nominating a drunken clown, family abuser, and criminal as our top candidate to go up against Josh Green is horrible for our party and destroys any hope of getting island voters to take us seriously. Penn has no chance in the general. Party leaders need to stop kidding themselves with their obsession over Penn’s name recognition or his seeming appeal to younger voters. Our state’s desperate and imploding Republican Party will be long remembered for vouching for Penn’s candidacy despite the many disqualifiers.”
Ryan points out the obvious: “Any single one of these scandals would typically sink a candidacy before it got started. In light of Penn’s dangerous and toxic record of criminal, scandalous and antisocial behavior, HIRA Action is raising serious questions about why the state’s Republican Party would knowingly and irresponsibly vouch for this unstable, serial criminal and his joke candidacy in light of the shocking public record.”
Even while embracing Penn and his multiple DUI arrests, the Honolulu County Republican Party has formally condemned the candidacy of Democrat Rep. Matt LoPresti for re-election to the state legislature following his recent DUI arrest in Ewa Beach; demanding LoPresti’s withdrawal from the race with the support of state GOP leaders including Finnegan and new vice-chair Lani Kaaa. Yet, Hawaii’s Republicans are looking the other way at Penn’s growing list of scandals, which includes multiple DUI arrests and arguably far worse behavior.
Ryan’s group believes that Lynn Finnegan and the party’s entire state committee of officers is flushing the Republican brand down the toilet by pretending this information will never come out. HIRA Action believes that the Democratic Party has been sitting on the opposition research for certain use against Penn in the general election should Penn get within striking distance of Green, however unlikely that situation seems.
HIRA Action also takes issue with the Republican National Committee’s chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel for overlooking the state party’s embrace of Penn and awarding the Hawaii GOP with an infusion of $50,000 from the RNC for the 2022 election campaign.
Less than three years ago, BJ Penn’s career as a UFC fighter was brought to an abrupt end after league president Dana White decided that Penn’s unstable behavior was reason enough for Penn to stop fighting professionally: “He needs to focus on his personal life and get himself together.” But only two years after being kicked out of the UFC, Penn was arrested for drunk driving and unleashed a rage-filled, racist verbal tirade caught on camera.
HIRA Action’s Ryan contends, “Penn was thrown out of the UFC for his recent inexcusable behavior which only seems to have gotten worse in the time just before announcing his campaign for governor. Even Penn’s most recent history makes him too dangerous and unstable to be worthy of consideration by voters, let alone promoted and vouched for by a major political party. It was only recently that he threatened to kill his family, spilled cocaine on his daughter and got into a series of drunken brawls. For the state Republican Party to pretend that Penn is governor material means that we’ve sunk to the Hawaii GOP’s lowest point ever. Lynn Finnegan’s desperate party is playing a cruel joke on Hawaii voters by pretending Penn is a suitable fit for the top of the ticket for the highest office in Hawaii when they know he is really bad news. BJ Penn would be a disaster as leader of the fiftieth state, let alone the leader of the GOP. With so much at stake in the Aloha State, there's nothing less patriotic than a major political party trying to foist an unqualified, unhinged, highly unstable and troubled candidate like this on the public when Hawaii is reeling from serious problems requiring serious, thoughtful leadership.”
The conservative group also takes issue with a number of 2022 candidates running as Republicans who appear to be vouching for Penn’s legitimacy and seeming to have no problem appearing alongside Penn despite his scandalous and sociopathic behavior.
"Every Republican candidate and every Republican party officer seems sworn to secrecy because none of them are speaking out or stopping this travesty from continuing to happen. To date, not one of them has the guts to tell BJ Penn to drop out of the race or tell party leaders to cut BJ Penn from the Republican team. Some have even doubled down by making new appearances with Penn in a show of ‘circling the wagons’. Right now, everyone in the party is pretending that there's nothing wrong and that it is perfectly normal to have an unstable, dangerous candidate with all these problems and scandals which would have completely derailed any other campaign for president, governor or even dog catcher. If Hawaii Republicans are collectively willing to cover up for BJ Penn, will they really have the guts to fix our broken state government? The more likely outcome of the GOP trying to normalize and mainstream Penn as a viable candidate, ignoring his recent pattern of horrifying behavior, and pretending that Penn is compatible with the Republican brand is that island residents will be even more anti-Republican going forward. The Hawaii GOP is going down in flames thanks to the destructive leadership and whitewashing of Penn by Lynn Finnegan."
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