NDP star candidate Wab Kinew is staying in the race to represent the constituency of Fort Rouge in the upcoming provincial election, and his party is standing right beside him.

The announcement came Friday afternoon after offensive tweets re-surfaced from Kinew's Twitter account written several years ago.

Friday morning, Indigenous members of Manitoba’s Liberal party called on Kinew to step down.

“He should go,” said St. Johns Liberal candidate Noel Bernier.

Liberals said he apologized for misogynistic lyrics in rap songs in his book, but not for offensive comments on social media.

"This was a party that once stood for those values, and seem to be throwing those right out the back door for Wab Kinew," said Bernier.

"F***  I just ran over a cat. Animal is remarkably calm. I'd be screaming like a lol B*** if my hind legs were crushed,” wrote Kinew on Twitter in 2009. And that same year, this tweet: “Is going to wrestling class… because jit -jisu isn't gay enough."

One of the most criticized tweets Kinew wrote dates back to 2012 when Ontario First Nation Attawapiskat was in the midst of a water and housing crisis.

"Riding in my limo back to my king sized sweet feeling really bad for those kids in Attawapiskat. #haha #terrible #inative," wrote Kinew in 2012.

Kinew said the tweet was meant to be satirical, and he did not mean to offend anyone.  He said he’s been on a “transformative journey” and is a changed man.

“I was a very angry young man,” said Kinew. “Healthy dose of self-hatred, with an ego, with arrogance, and what I had to do was peel away all the lies that I was telling myself, that allowed me to justify those behaviours”.

Premier Greg Selinger said he supports Kinew as NDP candidate. “I think he has been sincere in his regrets and apologies long before he entered the political arena,” he said.

Former Southdale Liberal candidate Jamie Hall resigned last week after the NDP pointed out his offensive tweets, using words like skank and whore.

Political analyst and author Christopher Adams says the difference between the two is Hall didn't fully distance himself from his online comments.

"And he hadn't come forward prior to these comments coming to light, which is different than Wab Kinew. Wab Kinew has written,  published on this background of his."

Riding to watch

NDP candidate Wab Kinew is running in Fort Rouge, the same riding as Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari.

The Progressive Conservative candidate is Audrey Gordon. Gordon told CTV Friday the NDP came out strong for Jamie Hall to resign due to his social media comments, but said the NDP is not doing the same with their candidate, who has made derogatory comments about women and Indigenous people.

Gordon said Hall did the right thing by resigning, and Wab Kinew should also step down.