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Trump Supporters Are Calling For A Hawaii Boycott

by Morgan Brinlee
Marco Garcia/Getty Images News/Getty Images

There may be a tad more room to stretch out and tan on Oahu's beaches this summer, as America's 50th state has reportedly become the latest thing to earn the ire of the self-described Trump supporters. Hawaii joins a long list of products and companies those loyal to the president have called for boycotting since Donald Trump was sworn into office in January. But why are Trump supporters boycotting Hawaii? Unsurprisingly, the answer has more to do with politics than anything else.

While it's hard to imagine anyone turning their nose up at a relaxing beach vacation, that's exactly what some people appear to be doing. The hashtag #BoycottHawaii began to trend on Twitter on Thursday, a day after a federal judge in Hawaii issued a nationwide order halting the president's revised travel ban.

"Hawaii, what do you know?" one user tweeted. "You were 5,000 miles from 9/11. You run your little world and let the grownups run the mainland." That person obviously forgot about the attack on Pearl Harbor, to say nothing of the United States' original colonization of the islands.

"Why should Hawaii, who is thousands of miles away from the rest of the country, control who can come in," another person tweeted. "I don't think so! #BoycottHawaii."

Others claimed to have cancelled plans to vacation in the island state as a result of the judge's ruling. "I was taking my kids & Grandkids to Hawaii," one user tweeted. "We just cancelled."

"Just switched my vacation plans," another wrote. "Heading east instead! Key West, FL here we come!"

On Wednesday, Judge Derrick K. Watson of the Federal District Court in Honolulu issued a nationwide block of the president's new travel ban hours before it would have gone into effect. Watson ruled there was a "strong likelihood of success" for those suing to prove the new order violated the Constitution and concluded that even a "reasonable, objective observer" would conclude the revised order was "issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion, in spite of its stated religiously neutral purpose."

But while Trump's travel ban supporters were likely hoping their boycott campaign would deal a major blow to Hawaii, neither Trump's critics nor residents of Hawaii's eight main islands seemed bothered by the idea of Trumpster-free beaches.

"From a Hawaiian- PLEASE #BoycottHawaii," one Twitter user said. "Your xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophopic tendencies ruin the beauty of my home."

"#BoycottHawaii Best news I've heard all day!" another person tweeted. "Fewer narrow-minded bigots littering our beaches and mocking our traditions. Mahalo iā ʻoukou!"

"Please, all Trump supporters, #BoycottHawaii," yet another one wrote. "It's literally the only way Hawaii gets more beautiful."

Following mass confusion and chaos at airports across the country, Trump signed a revised travel ban March 7. It was essentially a redo of an executive order he'd issued Jan. 27, which temporarily banned all refugee admissions along with travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, even those who already hold U.S. visas or green cards. However, when that ban was put on hold by a federal appeals court, the Trump administration quickly got to work on a new order in an attempt to skirt the court's block.

Trump's revised executive order temporarily ban refugees and travelers from six predominantly Muslim nations unless they hold valid visas or green cards. This ban would have gone into effect Thursday had it not been blocked by Judge Watson the night before.