For the good of the party : Hawaii GOP official resigns over posts appearing to defend QAnon supporters Print this article
A Hawaii Republican Party official has turned in his resignation after appearing to defend the QAnon conspiracy theory on Twitter using the party’s account.
Edwin Boyette, the vice chairman of communications for the state party, announced he was stepping down in a Sunday post on Facebook. He asked the GOP to accept his resignation “for the good of the party” and said he would be taking a break from social media.
“Discussion of some topics is ill suited to the forums of social media, and regardless of intent only serves to increase conflict and discord,” Boyette said. “The discussion of the Q-Conspiracy was an error of judgement, and should not reflect upon the leadership or the members of the Republican Party of Hawaii. The responsibility for that discussion and that error is mine and and mine alone.”
Hawaii GOP deletes tweets defending sincere and deep love for America among QAnon supporters after backlash Print this article
The Hawaii Republican Party deleted a series of tweets and replies appearing to defend those who believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory, some of whom just weeks ago stormed the Capitol in an attack that killed five.
Though the thread did call the QAnon conspiracy a pro-Trump online internet conspiracy theory that alleges, among other things, a cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles operates a deep state bend on stopping Trump a fiction, the thread made no mention of real-world violence incited by its supporters. Instead, the thread criticized the media for hyperbolic coverage of the conspiracy theory and said that those who acted out of patriotism and love of Country should never be ridiculed.
Updated 1/22/21, 11:58 a.m.
The latest state COVID-19 data shows more than 3,100 confirmed cases of the virus among Native Hawaiians, including 26 Hawaiians who have died of the coronavirus. The numbers are even worse for Pacific Islanders, who make up about four percent of the state’s population and more than 24% of the state’s COVID-19 cases.
Separate coronavirus data on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders was not always available.
Kim Kuʻulei Birnie is a spokeswoman for the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Task Force, which created a Data and Research Committee that’s helped improve the accuracy of virus data.