Ing's opponents for Congress, Lt. Governor Doug Chin and State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and Councilman Ernie Martin had no comment on the situation, but Martin did tweet, "It is truly unfortunate one of my opponents borrowed a tactic from @realDonaldTrump and took to Twitter to accuse the late Senator of a crime to score political points. Ing and his team didn't have the courage to confront the Senator when he was alive." Other supporters of Inouye told Hawaii News Now they were privately disgusted and angered by Ing's tweets but unwilling to speak publicly about them.