The New York Young Republican chapter faces ongoing turmoil as a crucial vote has been cast to dissolve the organization. This decision follows the exposure of a private group chat containing racist and antisemitic remarks.
Several former leaders have already been dismissed from their positions, and the vote on Friday marks a significant step toward a new beginning for the group.
This development poses a significant challenge for the Republican Party, prompting leading GOP figures to firmly distance themselves from those implicated.
The controversy centers around a Telegram messaging app group chat, involving certain members of the Young Republican National Federation. A report by Politico revealed seven months of communication filled with racist, antisemitic, and violent messages that seemed to become ingrained in their culture.
Among the messages, texts allegedly from Peter Giunta, Chair of the New York State Young Republicans, included statements like “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”
In another conversation regarding support for a right-wing candidate, Giunta is reported to have said, “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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