B.J. Penn: Fire-affected Mauians distrust their government
UFC champion and former Hawaii gubernatorial candidate B.J. Penn sounds off on 'Jesse Watters Primetime' as Hawaiians try to rebuild.
UFC legend and Hawaii native B.J. Penn decried the state's leadership as the people of Maui try to recover and rebuild after fires that killed more than 100 and wiped out the historic city of Lahaina.
Penn, who came in second in the primary to 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Duke Aiona, told Fox News the civic distrust is getting so intense, the politics of Hawaii might be shifting to the center.
"They say that the state is very left, and it's that type of state, but I think everybody's starting to pick up real quick about what's going on — about the agenda, about, you know, the state wants to take over everything," Penn said on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Thursday.
"Hawaii has always been a socialist-communist state, and it's time to get out of it. The people are in the position right now with this, with the… assessment property tax. It's killing everybody. Everybody's going to have to leave."
Host Jesse Watters further reported that Mauians are concerned about "vulture developers" seeking "land grabs" of devastated properties that the wealthy moguls could build back with an eye for the millionaire class instead of working-class native Hawaiians.
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Penn recently spoke passionately at a local meeting where he accused public officials of disrespecting their "employees" — the citizens of Hawaii.
BJ Penn is seen in attendance during UFC 267 in Yas Island, UAE (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty)
"We come here to talk about something and then you guys start fighting back with us," Penn said at the meeting. "You work for us. You don't talk to your boss like that, right? Who talks to the boss like that? Shame."
The former UFC champion argued some actions by those in Honolulu are politically motivated rather than service-oriented.
"That's not what Hawaii is about. ‘Aloha’ is the law."
On "Jesse Watters Primetime," Penn said public officials are like "waiters," but Hawaii's leaders have forgotten they serve and answer to the people. He claimed some officials have openly argued with residents.
"You're here for us, and I knew when — because I ran for governor, and I knew that as soon as I got in, [these] would be my first words: At your service," he said.
Watters presented Penn with comments from Hawaii Democratic Gov. Josh Green from an interview on CNN.
"Of course, people are traumatized, and we're in an era of mistrust, and I respect that... We have to build trust, like with all things, so we'll be building back," Green said.
"We want everyone to know that we'll only build Lahaina back when the people of Lahaina tell us how they want to do it," the governor added.
In a statement in August, Green also touted how quickly the state, working with other partners, has been able to start "housing more than 4,400 shelter survivors and hotel employee survivors, while some 900 people are booked in Airbnb units."
Green also released $30 million from a discretionary fund to help with recovery, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
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Charred remains of a burned neighborhood is seen in the aftermath of a wildfire, in Lahaina (YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty)
Penn argued it is "obvious" developers are salivating over recently leveled swaths of Maui. He suggested they could first target Lahaina to "set a precedent there, and then come to all the other places."
Penn quipped that despite hailing from Hilo — the easternmost city in Hawaii, over on Big Island — he will proudly stand with Mauians across the Alenuihaha Channel.
"I've got no problem fighting these guys for any state, city, land, one acre, a quarter-acre — whatever it is, 100 feet — we've got to fight them," he said.
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