Some leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country are facing major backlash after some of their racist and highly offensive messages in private group chats were revealed by Politico.
Democratic and Republican politicians denounced the language used and criticized the group. The Young Republican National Federation has called for resignations. The Kansas Young Republican group has been shut down and now a handful of those involved in the racist chat have lost their jobs.
The Young Republican National Federation called on those involved in the chat to “immediately resign from all positions” within the organization.
Politico on Tuesday revealed 2,900 pages of leaked chats from a Telegram group chat involving Young Republican leaders. The chats included racist and offensive language.
Members of the group, which included people actively working with elected officials and some attempting to take leadership positions in the national Young Republican organization, were aware that if the contents of their messages were revealed they could face severe repercussions.
“If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr,” said Bobby Walker in the chat, who was recently made chair of the New York State Young Republicans.
But the Young Republicans kept typing away, sharing offensive messages and racist comments.
As Politico reports, members in the chat referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people”. They joked about killing political opponents by putting them in gas chambers. “I love hitler,” one chat member quipped, who also made antisemitic comments. Another participant called the mass rape of Indigenous people “epic”. One member expressed his support for Republicans he believed supported slavery. And a participant talked about driving a competing Young Republican opponent to suicide.
Politico documented that slurs and epithets, including the N-word and a homophobic term. The word “retarded” appeared more than 251 times combined in the chat.
Democrats were also quick to decry the Young Republicans’ chat and politicians associated with the group’s participants.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, said Republican representatives Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik have been “palling around with these racist, antisemitic and bigoted ‘Young Republicans’ for years,” adding that the representatives’ “phony outrage” was only for show.
Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, expressed outrage at the messages.
“Some bad apples? These are the future of the Republican party,” Hochul said during a press conference. “This is so vile it’s hard to find the words to put into context that these are people who are part of one of two major parties and they believe in gas chambers and rape and discrimination based on the color of people’s skin.”
Hochul also called on the chat members to be kicked out of the Republican party. “This bullshit has to stop,” she added.
Republicans around the country have also tried to distance themselves from the chat participants, with one notable exception: JD Vance.
In a post on X, the vice-president pointed at Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones, who was embroiled in a texting scandal of his own. It was revealed earlier this month that Jones texted a colleague about shooting a Republican political adversary.
Vance on X said Jones’s comments were “way worse” than the Young Republicans’ group chat, adding that he refuses to “join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence”. Others on the right, who have denounced the Young Republicans’ chat, similarly pointed to Jones’s text scandal, including rightwing influencer Brilyn Hollyhand.
Outside social media, however, the Young Republicans’ leaked chats have led to some to lose their jobs.
The former chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time of the chats, Peter Giunta, was one of the most prominent participants. Giunta was fired from his position as New York assembly member Michael Reilly’s chief of staff.
“The comments shared in the group chat that have been reported are extremely troubling and disappointing. They do not align with my values. As a result, Mr Giunta’s assignment in my office has ended,” Reilly said in a statement to Staten Island Live.
Stefanik, a New York Republican representative who previously lauded Giunta for his “tremendous leadership” of the New York Young Republicans, decried the chat, with a spokesperson telling Politico that Stefanik “calls for any NY Young Republicans responsible for these horrific comments in this chat to step down immediately”. The spokesperson clarified the congresswoman did not employ anyone in the chat.
Stefanik then took to social media on Tuesday night, called the Politico story a “hit piece”, pointed to the Jones texting scandal and accused New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of embracing “terrorist sympathizers”.
Another participant from New York, Joe Maligno, is no longer working for the New York state unified court system.
The scandal has also led to one Young Republican chapter to be placed on hold. The Kansas Republican party deactivated the state’s Young Republican organization after Politico’s report. Two top members of the state’s Young Republican group were active in the chat, with Politico reporting that the group’s vice-chair, William Hendrix, used the N-word more than a dozen times. Prior to the story’s publication, Hendrix lost his job with the Kansas attorney general, Kris Kobach, due to the messages.
One of the chat’s members, Vermont state senator Samuel Douglass, is facing calls to step down after the revelations. And Bobby Walker, who was slated to join candidate Peter Oberacker’s congressional campaign, had his job offer revoked.
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