'Great. I love Hitler'

‘To the gas chamber’: Young Republicans members exposed for antisemitic, racist chat

Publication of messages has led some to be fired or job offers pulled, although Vice President JD Vance dismisses controversy, saying people should ‘focus on the real issues’

Prominent members of the Young Republicans, a US political organization, trafficked in antisemitism and racism in a private group chat, Politico reported on Tuesday.

The leaked chat shows group members joking about killing people in gas chambers and a “Hitler aesthetic,” among other white supremacist references.

One group member said a subset of the organization would “vote for the most right-wing person” to lead the national group. “Great. I love Hitler,” responded Peter Giunta, a former leader of the New York State Young Republicans, according to the report.

One message from Giunta included a reference to a “fat stinky Jew,” the report said. Another read, “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.” Messages from other members also contained references to gas chambers, a suggestion that Jews were dishonest, jokes about rape and other racist and homophobic slurs.

Politico said the Telegram chats, obtained in a 2,900-page leak to the US-based publication, included messages sent between January and August from Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont. Many of the anti-Jewish and other racist statements appeared to be jokes.

But the chats expose the insider discourse of some up-and-coming Republican activists, and have led people to be fired or have a job offer pulled, along with condemnations from prominent officials on both sides of the aisle. US Vice President JD Vance, however, has downplayed the controversy, and US President Donald Trump did not comment.

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is expected to run for governor and who has taken center-stage at congressional hearings on campus antisemitism, said she was “absolutely appalled” by the comments in the chat, calling them “heinous, antisemitic, racist and unacceptable.”

Prior to the Politico exposé, she had lauded Giunta for his “tremendous leadership” of the New York State Young Republicans.

Many messages in the chat concerned Giunta’s unsuccessful campaign this year to lead the Young Republican National Federation, an organization for Republicans aged 18-40 with individual chapters in many states. The group condemned the messages.

“We are appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article published today,” the group’s statement said. “Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents.”

The statement added: “Those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations. We must hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, respect and professionalism.”

But Vance has likened the chat, several of whose members are adults who worked for or serve as Republican officials, to a “college group chat.”

“By focusing on what kids are saying in a group chat — grow up, I’m sorry, focus on the real issues,” he said on Wednesday.

Other members of the chat, whose contents appear to have been leaked under pressure amid an intraparty rivalry, served in leadership positions in their state Young Republican organizations. They include Joe Maligno, who was the general counsel for the New York Young Republican group, and who once wrote, “Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.”

Samuel Douglass, a state senator from Vermont who leads the state’s Young Republicans chapter, once wrote, in a discussion about whether a woman was Indian, “She just didn’t bathe often.”

At another point, Douglass’ wife, Brianna, chided him for “expecting the Jew to be honest.”

Another member, Bobby Walker, who took over from Giunta as the New York state chapter’s chair, referred to the rape of Native American women as “epic.”

Other messages referenced neo-Nazi rhetoric, such as the number 1488, a trope referring to a 14-word white supremacist slogan and the phrase “Heil Hitler.”

Giunta also wrote, regarding an NBA game: “I’d go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball.” On another occasion, Giunta wrote, after taking a flight, “If your pilot is a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there.”

Offensive slurs were used 251 times throughout the chat, Politico reported.

Some of those involved have lost their jobs, faced calls to resign, or seen a job offer rescinded.

Giunta was fired from his position as New York State Assembly member Michael Reilly’s chief of staff. Likewise, Maligno was fired from his job at the New York State Unified Court System, according to the Guardian, and Walker’s offer to manage New York State Senator Peter Oberacker’s congressional campaign was withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the Kansas chapter of the Young Republicans has been shut down.

Some of the participants in the chat have since apologized.

“There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologize,” Walker told Politico. “This has been a painful lesson about judgment and trust, and I am committed to moving forward with greater care, respect, and accountability in everything I say and do.”

Giunta told The New York Times, “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.”