For a new generation of right-wing leaders, leaked racist texts aren’t a crisis. They’re an opportunity.
President Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Ingrassia, 30, to lead the Office of Special Counsel collapsed on Tuesday after Politico revealed a string of vile group-chat messages in which he used racial slurs, bragged about having a “Nazi streak,” and said Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.”
However, all is not lost for the embattled Trump loyalist. He still holds a federal post as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security—and has the backing of a circle of MAGA diehards who say that in the GOP of tomorrow, loyalty and authenticity will outweigh any problematic texts.
“Within two years, the story is going to be [about the leakers] who betrayed people that you’re supposed to be colleagues with—not [about] the naughty words or whatever,” said one young MAGA operative, talking on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
“No one cares about that.”
Ingrassia’s scandal came on the heels of a bombshell leak from a Telegram group chat made up of self-described “Young Republican” leaders. The leaked logs contained 251 slurs—including the N-word, the F-slur, and even a declaration of love for Adolf Hitler. Several group members have since resigned or been fired from GOP organizations or public office.
Divisions have erupted between rising MAGA loyalists who refuse to condemn their own, and more traditional Republicans who quickly denounced the hate-filled messages, multiple sources familiar with the internal rift told the Daily Beast. The dispute has reignited questions about where, exactly, the future of the party lies.
The MAGA operative, who is friends with several of those implicated in the “Young Republicans” chat, said he was disappointed in party leaders who distanced themselves from Ingrassia and others.
At least five GOP senators said they would not support Ingrassia’s nomination after Politico reported the messages on Monday. Senate Minority Leader John Thune said he hoped Trump would withdraw the nomination.
“I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia posted on X and Truth Social on Tuesday, ending a messy confirmation process that saw the 30-year-old’s Long Island mother intervene and personally lobby lawmakers to save his nomination.
I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to…
— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) October 21, 2025
But the MAGA operative was unfazed by the lack of support from some GOP members. “They represent an old guard that we don’t represent anymore,” he said. “We don’t buy into this, like, cancel culture—like, you can’t say that, or these things are wrong, or whatever.”
Not everyone agrees. Another young GOP operative, who described himself as a moderate, pushed back on that framing.
“A guy who claims to have a ‘Nazi streak’ in government? Of course it’s an issue,” the operative, who is in his 20s, said of Ingrassia.
Edward Andrew Paltzik, Ingrassia’s lawyer, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Previously, he questioned the authenticity of the text messages, which were verified by Politico, in a statement to the Beast.
“Even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis,’” he added. “In reality, Mr. Ingrassia has incredible support from the Jewish community because Jews know that Mr. Ingrassia is the furthest thing from a Nazi.”
The GOP operative remains unconvinced. “Good he withdrew—we’ll see if the embarrassment of all of this leads him to leave public life altogether,” he said.
While he emphasized that such controversies exist on both ideological sides, he added that he was “stunned” by the brazenly hateful comments that received little or no pushback from some of his political allies.
GOP reactions to the Telegram chat leak began to shift last week after Vice President JD Vance refused to condemn the language, instead rallying behind those targeted by the leak.
Vance, 41, wrote on X that he would “refuse to join the pearl-clutching,” adding that he came from an era when “most of… the stupid things that I did as a teenager and as a young adult, they’re not on the internet.”
The individuals involved in the leak were mostly in their 20s and 30s.
The moderate GOP operative cited Trump himself as a factor in the younger MAGA class’s unapologetic stance.
“[He] is always unabashed in how he responds to [controversy]. And that’s maybe kind of reflective of a lot of the moment now.”
That sentiment echoed another from the MAGA source, who, like Trump, vowed revenge on the party’s perceived enemies.
“Regardless of what you think about the group chats, the consequences of being a leaker and a traitor are a lot higher,” he said.
Some far-right figures have publicly embraced that sentiment, especially in attacks on Gavin Wax, chief of staff in the State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
Wax is facing intense backlash after some of those implicated in the chat said he was responsible for leaking the Telegram logs. According to those familiar with the feud, Wax allegedly obtained the messages in order to settle a long-running personal score with Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Republican Club, who lost his job after the leak.
Wax has denied any involvement in the leak. Still, the accusations have turned him into a lightning rod.
Former GOP State Rep. Chris Lonsdale wrote on X that Wax “should not be trusted in the Administration or Republican politics.”
Far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos also claimed Wax threatened fellow Trump appointee Michael Bartels to obtain the messages, “threatening his career if he did not.”
On Wednesday, white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes, 27, launched into a hateful tirade, railing against those targeting Ingrassia and the “Young Republicans” as traitors to the base.
“Think about where the base is,” Fuentes said. “The base wants the country to be more Christian, have fewer immigrants, more right-wing… That’s why they elected Trump.”
Wax has since resigned as chairman of the New York Young Republican Club. In a statement released Sunday, the NYYRC sympathized with those named in the leak.
Wax did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
“There is no place within the Young Republican movement for division,” the statement reads. “The New York Young Republican Club has always stood to build the YR movement up, not tear it down. We empathize with the 10 members of RestoreYR whose reputations and careers were destroyed for private, internal messages.”
Meanwhile, the New York State Young Republican Club has voted to disband entirely in the wake of the scandal.
Veteran Republican political consultant Christopher Nicholas, who has worked in the party for 42 years, told the Beast he’s not convinced that MAGA’s angry young extremists pose a serious long-term threat.
“I think sometimes young operatives in both parties live way too much in a bubble,” said Nicholas, 62. “The way to differentiate yourself in this business is to work harder and smarter—not to work meaner.”
He put it simply: this too shall pass. “I’m heartened by the pushback we’ve gotten from elected officials already—I think I’ll just leave it at that,” he said.
But the MAGA operative disagrees. Soon, he said, he foresees a party where those under fire, those who, as he puts it, have “sacrificed the most” will rise to the top.
“You wear [the leaks] as a badge of honor, because the [MAGA] movement is about loyalty to the country,” he said.
“It’s about loyalty to your people. And if you can’t be loyal to you, then we don’t want you.”
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