title:  WATCH: Hawaii Republican Leaves Party After GOP Leadership Punishes Her For Criticizing Trump
text: Democrats are about to welcome another voice into their big tent after Republicans in Hawaii decided their tent wasn t small enough.In January, Hawaii state Rep. Beth Fukumoto attended the Women s March in protest of Donald Trump. As an American, Fukumoto has every right to exercise her freedom of speech and right to protest.But Republicans in the state decided that a woman s place is not in the Republican Party if she won t submit to Trump.So they stripped Fukumoto of her leadership position in the statehouse and tried to force her to resign simply because she criticized Trump.Republicans also condemned Fukumoto because she dared to work with Democrats on legislation to benefit the people of Hawaii.Fukumoto refused to be bullied by her sexist and racist colleagues and continued to represent her constituents. And now, after a couple months of thought, Fukumoto has decided to ditch the GOP to become a Democrat. When I joined the Republican Party eight years ago, I did so with a group of people my age who were full of hope, ideas and energy,  Fukumoto said.  I discovered that it wasn t just me and my Republican friends trying to change the status quo. There were good Democrats trying to change things too. So we started working together. But, in doing so, I ran into Republican partisanship that insisted I stop working with Democrats even when it clearly benefited our community. In a video explaining her decision, Fukumoto said that some constituents think she should stick it out in the GOP and be a voice of opposition from within. However, she would rather join the Democrats and actually get things done. I want to be productive,  she said.  I could stay. I could continue to criticize. I could be that voice of opposition, but what good does that do for the people of Hawaii, and what good does that do for my district? I think there s a much better opportunity that if I disagree with what the Republican Party is doing, to be able to work productively as a Democrat to offer a different solution, so that s what I m announcing today. Here s the video via KHON2.Indeed, what s the point of staying in a party that hates you? Ultimately, Fukumoto made the best decision by joining a party that actually appreciates her voice and ideas. Meanwhile, Republicans only have themselves to blame because they are so blinded by their loyalty to Trump that they literally let a woman who wanted to be part of the party s future become part of the Democratic Party instead.Once again, Republicans clearly demonstrated that women, especially women who criticize Trump, are not welcome in their party.Featured Image: Screenshot