The Republicans officials who participated in a monthslong racist, homophobic and vulgar text chat are being condemned widely by their own party, and some have lost their jobs or been called on to resign.
The 2,900 pages of messages in the chat, conducted over Telegram, involved elected G.O.P. officials and the leaders of local groups for young party activists in New York, Vermont, Arizona and Kansas. The texts were first reported on Tuesday by Politico.
According to that report, Peter Giunta, an aide to a New York assemblyman, posted, “I Love Hitler” and wrote, “If your pilot is a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there. Scream the no no word.” Young Republicans in Kansas exchanged racist and offensive comments about gays and Black people. And in Vermont, Samuel Douglass, a state senator, wrote in a derogatory manner about Indian women.
In a text message to The New York Times, Mr. Giunta said he took “complete responsibility” and apologized: “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.”
None of the other officials responded immediately to calls and emails requesting comment.
The text messages have been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans.
The Young Republican National Federation posted on Tuesday that it was “appalled by the vile and inexcusable language” and called it “disgraceful” and “unbecoming of any Republican,” saying the participants should resign.
By Wednesday morning, the condemnation had intensified. In Kansas, the state Republican Party disbanded its Young Republicans group. In New York, Assemblyman Mike Reilly fired Mr. Giunta as his chief of staff. And in Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott, a moderate Republican, demanded that Mr. Douglass step down from the state senate. (Mr. Douglass’ wife, Brianna, an official of the Vermont Young Republicans, was also involved in the chat, and posted an antisemitic remark.)
The language of these texts seemed to have crossed a line at a time when political discourse has become increasingly vituperative and ugly. In President Trump’s first bid for the White House, he made coarse insults and brazen threats part of his public rhetoric, and others followed his lead.
Democrats have their own texting issues. In Virginia, Jay Jones, the party’s candidate for state attorney general, has apologized for a series of messages he sent in 2022 comparing the state’s Republican speaker to Hitler and Pol Pot, and suggesting that he deserved to be killed. Republicans have demanded that Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor, withdraw her support for Mr. Jones, who has vowed to stay in the race.
Vice President JD Vance, in a post on X, condemned Mr. Jones’ comments and played down the young Republicans’ text messages as akin to “anything said in a college group chat.”
He added, “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
David W. Chen reports on state legislatures, state level policymaking and the political forces behind them.
The post Republicans Condemn Racist and Homophobic Texts by Party Officials and Activists appeared first on New York Times.
