‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young Republicans

Young Republicans of New York hold gala

(Image credit: Adam Gray / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Leaders of Young Republican groups across the country peppered a group chat with racist, antisemitic and violent comments, Politico reported Tuesday, citing 2,900 pages of leaked Telegram posts from January through mid-August. The comments, including half-joking praise of Adolf Hitler and calling rape “epic,” drew broad bipartisan condemnation and led to at least four of the participants losing their jobs in state government and politics.

Who said what

The exchanges between Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont “offers an unfiltered look at how a new generation of GOP activists talk when they think no one is listening,” Politico said. “They referred to Black people as monkeys,” mused about “putting their political opponents in gas chambers” and “lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.”

The messages “reveal a culture” within President Donald Trump’s Republican Party where the “loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders,” Politico said. The use of racial slurs and white supremacist codewords was similar to online discussions among neo-Nazis, said University of Dayton professor Art Jipson. “You say it once or twice, it’s a joke, but you say it 251 times, it’s no longer a joke.”

What next?

The Young Republican National Federation board told all of the chat participants to “immediately resign” from the organization. Vermont Republicans urged state Sen. Samuel Douglass (R) to step down for his contributions to what Gov. Phil Scott (R) called the “vile, racist, bigoted and antisemitic dialogue.” The Kansas GOP said its Young Republicans chapter was now “inactive.”

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.