The Young Republicans National Federation, or simply Young Republicans of the US, is an organization for members of the Republican Party aged 18-40. With that said, it seems wisdom really does come with age; the youth group has recently found itself in hot water after its Telegram group chat was leaked, with prominent members and even an organization chairman from New York openly discussing their overtly racist and Nazi beliefs.
A 2,900-page leak was sent to POLITICO and features the seven-month chat log of members such as former New York State Assembly Chief of Staff Peter Giunta, former Kansas YRNF vice chair William Hendrix, former General Counsel Joe Maligno, National Committee Member Annie Kaykaty, and more. In their group chat, they commonly and casually discussed calling Black people “monkeys and ‘watermelon people'” as well as bringing back slavery and announcing their love for Nazi ideals, according to POLITICO’s source.
Guinta, who was the chairperson at the time, was apparently the most prominent voice for racism and Nazism in the group chat, though other members encouraged him. Giunta notably wrote “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber” and later replied with, “Great. I love Hitler,” while campaigning for national leadership.
Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont Young Republican leaders also traded slurs and violent fantasies among one another, from talk of gas chambers and “fixing the showers” to jokes about sexual assault and repeated racial epithets. For the record, their group chat was also called “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” and the leak has caused immense damage to the reputation of the young political members.
The fallout was swift
Further reports from POLITICO state that the effects of the group chat leak have been devastating for many of the Young Republicans members. Several people included in the group chat have lost employment, particularly Giunta and Maligno. New York Republican leaders, including state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and Rep. Elise Stefanik, condemned the remarks and urged accountability.
Giunta, at the time of writing, has also deactivated his LinkedIn and other social media profiles and apologized for offensive language, but alleged that:
“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 that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans.
While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored.”
Meanwhile, the White House has even officially stated that it has no affiliation with the group chat. It is worth noting, however, that at least one person included in the leaked Telegram chat logs works in the Trump administration, and that would be Michael Bartels. Bartels is currently a senior adviser in the office of general counsel within the U.S. Small Business Administration.
In any case, it wouldn’t be the first time an openly Nazi politician represented the Republicans. One of them even plans to be governor of California, and even openly discussed his plans to solve homelessness and joblessness by mass-murdering the homeless and jobless in gas chambers.
