Republicans in Hawaii punished the first female House Minority Leader for putting country before party.Prior to and after the election, state Rep. Beth Fukumoto took a stand against Donald Trump. She criticized him for his treatment of women and minorities and refused to blindly follow Trump.Criticism is a form of free speech, but Fukumoto is now being punished for exercising her constitutional rights by her own party.Fukumoto served as the House Minority Leader of the Republican Party in the state legislature, but no longer holds that position after her party punished her for criticizing Trump at the Women s March last month. They told me they would keep me in this position if I would commit to not disagreeing with our president for the remainder of his term,  Fukumoto explained during a speech on the House floor.  Mr. Speaker, I m being removed because I refused to make that commitment, because I believe it s our job as Americans and as leaders in this body to criticize power when power is wrong. Indeed, dissent is an American value, especially when the president is acting like petulant child tyrant.Fukumoto was told by a Republican colleague that as House Minority Leader, her first duty should be to the party. You are speaking not for yourself anymore,  Rep. Bob McDermott responded.  It is a high-level responsibility. And he is totally wrong.The first duty of any American in public office is to the country and the people, not the interests of the party. Putting party and power first is selfish and blinds lawmakers to seeing what is best for the nation.McDermott repeatedly argued with other Republican women in the state legislature and Fukumoto was replaced as House Minority Leader by a male lawmaker.Fukumoto told KHON that she expressed her concerns about Trump during the Women s March the day after the inauguration. The Republican Party is getting increasingly hostile to different opinions. If you followed what happened at the state convention, I got booed for about 10 minutes straight for raising concerns about President Trump, then nominee Trump, and the way he treated women and minorities in many of his remarks. I, at the time, had said this is not, this should not reflect our party I repeated those sentiments at the Women s March last week.And since then, there have been many calls for my resignation, and my caucus members have raised concerns about whether or not that means I m a Republican, whether or not that means I m fit for leadership, whether or not that means I should even be an elected official. My caucus has asked me to stop speaking out about Trump and to make a commitment. They ve said they ll keep me as minority leader if I make a commitment not to speak out against Trump for the remainder of his term. I don t think that s our job as elected officials, even more so, I don t think that s our job as citizens. So Fukumoto is now reaching out to her constituents asking them if they would be okay with her joining the Democratic Party.Here s the video via KHON.Fukumoto should not have been punished for criticizing Donald Trump. But Republicans increasingly believe that anyone who criticizes them and their policies should be punished, the Constitution be damned.The fact that Republicans replaced Fukumoto with a man speaks volumes about how much Republicans value women and it s an insult that should be answered with protests and a landslide victory for Democrats at the ballot box for generations until Republican learn to respect women, the country, and the Constitution that they claim to hold so dear.Featured Image: YouTube