On Oct. 14, messages from a group chat of Young Republican chapter leaders nationwide were leaked by Politico. The group chat contained thousands of messages that included language that was racist, sexist, antisemitic, homophobic and that promoted violence. The chat included nine leaders from four states: New York, Kansas, Vermont and Arizona.
The Telegram chat named, “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM,” included more than 2,900 pages of messages over the course of seven months. Some examples of the more notorious messages included ones that suggested sending political enemies to gas chambers, praising Adolf Hitler, referring to Black people as “watermelon people” and monkeys. Some messages joked about and applauded rape while also suggested such occur towards political opponents. Multiple slurs were also found to have been used over 200 times.
Following the leak, outrage within the party and the Kansas Young Republican chapter was shut down. Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas Republican Party said, “Their comments do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not of Kansas Republicans at large, who elected a Black chair a few months ago.”
Michael Austin, chief executive of the Kansas Black Republican Council also condemned the comments and said, “Such conduct is not merely offensive. It is a betrayal of the very principles upon which our party was founded: the defense of liberty, the abolition of slavery and the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being.”
William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republican chair who took part in the chat, was also fired from a job he had under Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.
The New York Young Republican group also shut down and disbanded later in the week after a unanimous vote among party leaders. Following the vote, New York Republican Party chair Ed Cox said that the New York State Young Republicans (NYSYR) was already in a broken state and needed to change heavily regardless of the leak or not amongst leadership. Republican members of congress from New York also expressed frustration and anger, such as Mike Lawler who represents New York’s 17th Congressional District. In an X post he said, “The deeply offensive and hateful comments reportedly made in a private chat among members of the New York State Young Republicans are disgusting. They should resign from any leadership position immediately and reflect on how far they have strayed from basic human respect and decency.”
The only elected official in the group chat was Vermont state senator Samuel Douglass, who resigned days after the leak after Vermont Republicans called for his resignation. Republican Gov. Phil Scott said “Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party — including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass.” A similar joint statement also came out from all Republicans serving in Vermont’s state senate and state house.
While most high positioned Republicans called for resignations and firings, U.S. Vice Pres. JD Vance downplayed the messages and suggested that the people in the chat should not have their futures ruined. Vance said on an episode of The Charlie Kirk show,” “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do. And I really don’t want 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.”
Despite the claims of Vance, who is 41, that the participants were kids in college, most participants were in their late 20s and early-to-mid 30s, including 35-year-old Joe Maligno who served as the general counsel for the NYSYR.
