The public release of a Young Republican group chat that included racist language, jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers prompted bipartisan calls for those involved to be removed from or resign their positions.
The Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40, called for those involved to step down from the organization. The group described the exchanges, first reported by Politico, as “unbecoming of any Republican.”
Republican Vice President JD Vance, however, has weighed in several times to speak out against what he characterized as “pearl clutching” over the leaked messages.
Politico obtained months of exchanges from a Telegram conversation between leaders and members of the Young Republican National Federation and some of its affiliates in New York, Kаnsаs, Arizona, and Vermont.
Here’s a rundown of reaction to the inflammatory group chat, in which the operatives and officials involved openly worried that their comments might be leaked, even as they continued their conversation:
VANCE
After Politico’s initial report on October 14, Vance posted on X a screen grab from 2022 text messages in which Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate in Virginia’s attorney general race, suggested that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote on October 14. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
Jones has taken “full responsibility” for his comments and offered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, who then was speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates.
Vance reiterated his initial sentiment on October 15 on “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, saying when asked about the reporting that a “person seriously wishing for political violence and political assassination is 1,000 times worse than what a bunch of young people, a bunch of kids say in a group chat, however offensive it might be.”
Vance, 41, said he grew up in a different era where “most of what I, the stupid things that I did as a teenager and as a young adult, they’re not on the internet.”
The father of three said he would caution his own children, “especially my boys, don’t put things on the internet, like, be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”
“I really don’t want to 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,” Vance said.
BACKLASH
Civil rights leaders and political analysts say Vance’s defense amounts to a license for hateful rhetoric rather than a defense of youthful mistakes. They note that treating racist and violent language as mere youthful indiscretion ignores the documented ways such rhetoric legitimizes discrimination and fuels real-world harm.
By refusing to hold participants accountable, Vance is not tempering outrage. He is enabling it, and in doing so, he aligns himself with forces that normalize hostility rather than restrain it.
Critics also point out that Vance’s reaction reveals a broader pattern in which power excuses prejudice when it serves political ends. By framing racist rhetoric as harmless rebellion, he reframes cruelty as authenticity and shifts blame from the offender to the audience.
That inversion erases accountability and turns empathy into weakness, allowing bigotry to masquerade as courage. Analysts say this rhetorical sleight of hand keeps hate speech in circulation while its defenders claim to be the victims of sensitivity.
REPUBLICANS
Other Republicans demanded more immediate intervention. Republican legislative leaders in Vermont, along with Governor Phil Scott — also a Republican — called for the resignation of state Senator Sam Douglass, revealed to be a participant in the chat. A joint statement from the GOP lawmakers termed the comments “unacceptable and deeply disturbing.”
Saying she was “absolutely appalled to learn about the alleged comments made by leaders of the New York State Young Republicans,” Representative Elise Stefanik of New York called for those involved to step down from their positions. Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kаnsаs GOP, said the remarks “do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not of Kаnsаs Republicans at large.”
In a statement posted to X on October 14, the Young Republican National Federation said it was “appalled” by the reported messages and calling for those involved to resign from their positions within the organization. Young Republican leaders said the behavior was “disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents.”
DEMOCRATS
Democrats have been more uniform in their condemnation. On October 15, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer asking for an investigation into the “vile and offensive text messages,” which he called “the definition of conduct that can create a hostile and discriminatory environment that violates civil rights laws.”
Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York on October 14 described the chat as “revolting,” calling for Republicans including Trump and Vance to “condemn these comments swiftly and unequivocally.”
Asked about the reporting, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the exchanges “vile” and called for consequences for those involved.
“Kick them out of the party. Take away their official roles. Stop using them as campaign advisers,” Hochul said. “There needs to be consequences. This bulls—- has to stop.”
MILWAUKEE
The controversy has also rippled down to local Republican circles, where upcoming events have drawn new scrutiny. Here at home, Milwaukee Young Republicans will be hosting a social event downtown at Deer Camp on October 30 in the Deer District. The announcement says:
When you become a member of the Milwaukee Young Republicans, you are not only investing in your local community, you are signing up to have an incredible time with even better people.
The local social media backlash has been quick to mock the gathering as a “Hitler Youth Social,” connecting back to Milwaukee in the 1930s when the German-dominant city did experience actual Nazi recruitments.
> READ: How Milwaukee’s German-Americans faced down fascism eighty years ago
The Town of Grafton was the site of Camp Hindenburg, owned and operated by the pro-Nazi German American Bund from the late 1930s through the outbreak of World War Two. In 1940, Camp Carl Schurz, operated by the anti-Bund Wisconsin Federation of German-American Societies, was opened a mile away.
The Forst Keller Restaurant and Tavern was originally a German Methodist Church. The brick building was erected in 1873 and sold to the Pabst Brewing Company by 1895. According to a note on a historic photo, it was a Nazi hotbed before the war.
The echoes of that history are not lost on Milwaukee residents, who see the Young Republicans and their event as a reminder of how easily extremist language can take root in civic life.
