According to Politico’s report, the Telegram messages were exchanged between the leaders of the Young Republican chapters in Arizona, Vermont, Kansa, and New York.
The Young Republican National Federation (YRNF) consists of members aged 18 to 40 and has a chapter in every state.
The Chair of the Kansas GOP party, Danedri Herbert, announced Tuesday that the state’s Young Republicans chapter has been deactivated.
Other Young Republican state chapters around the country have denounced the text messages, including in North Carolina, Missouri, Georgia, and Ohio.
Stefanik praised Giunta earlier this summer for exhibiting “tremendous leadership” in the New York Young Republicans organization.
Some Republican leaders are raising the alarm and demanding that their fellow party members step down in response to a report this week that revealed that multiple members of the Young Republican organization posted slurs, Hitler-praising, and rape and slavery-related jokes in a group chat.
Republican Gov. Sam Douglass, the state senator and leader of Vermont’s Young Republican chapter, was criticized by Vermont’s Phil Scott, who said he should leave the party “immediately” due to his alleged participation in the group chat on the Telegram messaging app, which Politico first reported.
“It’s disgusting and unacceptable to hear hateful remarks in this group chat. The reports of hateful, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic discourse are extremely upsetting. Scott stated in a statement on Tuesday that there is just no justification for it. “Everyone involved, including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass, ought to quit their positions right away and quit the Republican Party. “..”.
A comment from ABC was not immediately answered by Douglass.
The Young Republican chapter leaders in Arizona, Vermont, Kansas, and New York exchanged the Telegram messages, according to Politico. Politico revealed that the Telegram chat has at least one member who is currently employed by the Trump administration.
No independent verification of the Telegram chat has been done by ABC News.
Every state has a chapter of the Young Republican National Federation (YRNF), which has members between the ages of 18 and 40. The group’s website states that its goal is to enlist young people as representatives of the GOP, train them, and then encourage them to run for office.
We are horrified by the disgusting and unacceptable language used in today’s Politico article. The YRNF Board of Directors said in a statement on Tuesday that “those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations.” The statement also stated that such behavior is shameful, unworthy of any Republican, and directly contradicts the values our movement stands for. “,”.
Danedri Herbert, the Kansas GOP party’s chair, declared on Tuesday that the state’s Young Republicans chapter had been deactivated.
A Black chair was elected a few months ago, and the statement partially stated, “These remarks do not represent the views of Republicans and certainly not Kansas Republicans at large.”. “As of today, the Kansas Young Republicans organization is inactive. “.
In North Carolina, Missouri, Georgia, and Ohio, among other states, state chapters of Young Republicans have condemned the text messages.
Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York Young Republicans who also worked for a New York assemblymember, and Joseph Maligno, a lawyer for the New York group, are among the group members who have reportedly resigned their positions after being accused of participating in the group chat, according to Politico.
The Politico report claims that Giunta made jokes about gas chambers and sent a message that read, “I love Hitler.”.
Both men’s employment status was not immediately confirmed when ABC News contacted them.
Republican Representatives from New York. Representative Mike Lawler and Rep. Lawler stated on X that participants from the New York chapter “should resign from any leadership position immediately,” in response to Elise Stefanik’s condemnation of the rhetoric. “..”.
Stefanik’s senior adviser Alex deGrasse told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday that the congresswoman was “absolutely appalled” to hear about the texts, describing the language as “heinous, antisemitic, racist, and unacceptable.”. “,”.
He continued by saying, “Congresswoman Stefanik calls for any NY Young Republicans responsible for these horrific comments in this chat to step down immediately, even though none have ever been employed by her, if the description by Politico is accurate.”.
Earlier this summer, Stefanik commended Giunta for demonstrating “tremendous leadership” within the New York Young Republicans organization.
“I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans,” Giunta said in a statement to Politico. “I accept full responsibility, but I have no way of confirming their accuracy, and I’m quite worried that the disputed message logs might have been falsely altered. “,”.
ABC News has tried to get in touch with Giunta to get more information.
Such individuals, according to Stefanik and others, were youth leaders rather than elected public servants, even though Douglass is currently serving as a state senator in Vermont.
Vice President JD Vance tried to minimize the gravity of the texts and returned attention to Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones’s resurfaced texts.
Vance posted a screenshot of Jones’ messages on X on Tuesday, adding, “This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia.”. “I will not participate in the clutching of pearls when influential individuals advocate for political violence. “.
Jones has issued an apology for the messages that allude to a fictitious scenario in which a Republican lawmaker from Virginia received “two bullets to the head,” telling Richmond ABC station WRIC that he “sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, want to express my remorse and my regret for what happened and what I said that language has no place in our discourse, and I am so remorseful for what happened.”. “.
Vance persisted in defending group chat users during his appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Wednesday.
“Come of age. I’m sorry, focus on the real issues. “Pay no attention to what children say in group chats,” Vance advised. But the truth is that children, particularly young boys, make foolish decisions. They make crude, edgy jokes. As if that’s what children do. And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives. “.
When the Young Republicans’ text messages were leaked, Democrats were quick to criticize them.
“This is the Republican Party’s future. This was really disgusting,” said New York Governor. Reporters learned this Tuesday from Kathy Hochul. “Dot, these are disgusting, racist, and sexist comments. Remove them from the celebration. Remove their official positions. Don’t use them as advisors for your campaign. There needs to be consequences. All of this b——- must end. “,”.
On Wednesday, California Gov. Congress was urged by Gavin Newsom to look into the messages.
