HONOLULU — Following an opening pule and rousing “Pledge of Allegiance” resounding throughout the Republican watch party central held at The Artistry on Election Night, MAGA supporters came from around the island to express their hope and show their enthusiasm for president-elect Trump.
A number of attendees expressed the need for change in Hawaii politics, as well as frustration with the high cost of living, fuel prices, money being sent out of the country instead of being used to help American citizens at home, and other reasons.
As the clock ticked past the 8 o’clock hour, it was evident that Trump was making headway across the nation. The mood became more festive and supporters dressed in (mainly) red, white and blue cheered with each announcement of states falling into the red domain by Fox News on the large display.
Hawaii Republican State Chair Tamara McKay shared a few words with the crowd at the start of the watch party and took a few minutes toward the high point of the evening to share some thoughts with Spectrum News.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of change. People have asked what the differences between Trump and Harris are. Well, we already know,” stated McKay.
“Look at the past four years what we’ve experienced under the Biden/Harris regime. We’ve already gotten a taste of what it’s like and we already know what it was like under Trump — we had lower gas prices, we had jobs, we had a better economy, safer borders, self-sustainable. I mean, there were so many other things," McKay added.
“I know personally as a small business owner … after COVID and the Biden administration, everybody was struggling really hard. I would like to see him (Trump) bring some influence into the State of Hawaii and put pressure on changing the Jones Act and really take a look at what’s going in our state because when you go and look at the figures and the reports … I know that we’re desirable strategically with the foreign investors and so forth."
“We’re (also) rated as one of the top most corrupt states in the entire country,” said McKay. “That needs to change."
She speaks on the mass exodus of Native Hawaiian people, families leaving Hawaii because they were “priced out of paradise” with the high cost of living and inability to find an affordable home.
“We need to find a way with some kind of backing to bring all the Hawaiian families back from Las Vegas. I know Utah, South Carolina, Idaho and California have a lot of people, but there are 50,000 Hawaiian people living outside of Las Vegas. They have more aloha in Vegas — I go there a lot for work and so forth — and they’ve got festivals, and that’s not right because the Hawaiian culture is what makes Hawaii,” stressed McKay. “And that’s what brings a lot of people here, and the aloha has disappeared.”
The exuberant cheering of the crowd in the next room continues to grow as the news shows Trump coming out on top in more states.
“I’m looking forward for things to go back so people can be prosperous, make some adjustments,” said McKay, trying to be heard over the crowd. “I’m hoping it will influence those who are in office now — even our governor; I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. I’m hoping a lot of the things that he said he was not going to tax on … I’ve seen where it’s happened before where states have been, ‘Well, since you’re not going to tax this, we’re going to up our taxes on the state side.’”
Although the next printout isn’t until 11 p.m., the crowd continues to cheer with the tune of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” playing several times over the audio system. There are even shouts of “Kamala, you’re fired!” Celebrations come to a head with supporters taking to a makeshift dance floor in front of the stage dancing to the “Electric Slide.”
“I just hope there can be a happy medium where everybody can come together and understand people are in office because they’re supposed to be servants of the people. And I think a lot of people lose sight of that when they get into office,” McKay said.
When asked about the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, McKay responded, “I think we need to be open to everything. I need to really look further into the Heritage Foundation; I know they do a good job, they’re a great conservative group, they’re pretty credible. But to be honest with you, I would like to get back to you and look further into that, we’ve all been preoccupied with other things — economy, cost of living, the safety of our children.”
A situation that McKay wants to spotlight is human trafficking. “Human trafficking per capita is very high in the State of Hawaii, not really big budgeting to solve that problem. We really need to take a look at that. I think that our TSA efforts need to be expanded because from my understanding private jets are not checked by TSA,” she said.
She also mentions the Maui wildfires, how survivors in “Hawaii and the Carolinas were slapped in the face by the Biden and Harris administration by a $750 check when they are sending billions to foreign aid in Ukraine and other countries to support war.”
McKay continues, “I think there’s so much that we need to do, but definitely grassroots effort — take care of the border, take care of our people first.”
Sarah Yamanaka covers news and events for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.