NEW YORK — Fallout continues for New York’s Young Republican chapter as a pivotal vote to disband the group has been approved. The decision comes after a series of racist and antisemitic messages from a private group chat were made public.
Several former leaders have already lost their jobs, and Friday’s vote is seen as a step toward a fresh start.
It’s a blow to the Republican Party, and it has top GOP leaders emphatically distancing themselves from any of those involved.
A group chat on the Telegram messaging app including certain members of the Young Republican National Federation, was exposed in a Politico report detailing seven months of racist, anti-semitic, and violent texts that reportedly became part of their culture.
Texts from some, including the Chair of the New York State Young Republicans, Peter Giunta, allegedly include the text “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”
At least one member of the Telegram chat currently serves in the Trump administration, Politico reported.
In another exchange about backing a right-wing candidate, he reportedly writes, “Great, I love Hitler.”
On Friday, local Democrats piled on.
“These young Republicans call themselves the future of the party. Well, if they’re the future, the future is pretty dark,” Nassau County Young Democrats President John Burns said.
Earlier this week, Governor Kathy Hochul commented, saying, “This is not one person saying that they love Hitler. This is a whole lot of people saying things that are so disgusting, so abhorrent, that everybody from the president on down should condemn them.”
Earlier in the day, the State GOP Executive Committee voted unanimously to suspend the New York Young Republicans Club, revoking their charter, their voting power on the state committee and the use of the word “Republican” in their name.
“It’s totally unacceptable, it’s deplorable, it’s disgusting. So I think what has to happen is that the individuals who participated have to be moved aside,” Nassau County Republican Chair Joseph Cairo said.
“This is, unfortunately, a case of a small band of immature individuals who do not speak for the Republican Party, and that’s why the Republican party has denounced it with one voice, a large and loud chorus.” Suffolk County Republican Committee Chair Jesse Garcia said.
But not a chorus President Trump or J.D. Vance have joined.
“We’re not canceling kids because they do something stupid in a group chat,” Vance said.
At least eight of the participants were between the ages of 24 and 34.
Their months of messages reportedly included more than 250 slurs.
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