Summary
- New York GOP suspended Young Republicans after racist texts.
- Leaked Telegram chat showed pro-Nazi, racist, antisemitic messages.
- Former chair Peter Giunta and vice chair lost jobs.
The Young Republican National Federation is made up of members aged 18 to 40 and has an active chapter in every state. Their website calls them the oldest youth political organization in the US, with the aim being to recruit young voices to the GOP before equipping and encouraging them to run for office.
“The Young Republicans was already grossly mismanaged, and vile language of the sort made in the group chat has no place in our party or its subsidiary organizations,”
New York Republican chair Ed Cox said in a statement announcing a unanimous vote to suspend the chapter by the executive board of the New York Republican state committee.
Since it was published on Tuesday, the Politico report that exposed 2,900 pages of hacked discussions from a Telegram group has generated a lot of backlash. Those who were actively collaborating with political politicians sent some communications, while others were from those who aspired to assume leadership positions in the nationwide Young Republican group.
“If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr,”
said Bobby Walker, who was recently made chair of the New York division. Walker went on describe the mass rape of Indigenous people as “epic”.
Since it was published on Tuesday, the Politico report that exposed 2,900 pages of hacked discussions from a Telegram group has generated a lot of backlash. Those who were actively collaborating with political politicians sent some communications, while others were from those who aspired to assume leadership positions in the nationwide Young Republican group.
The New York Republican state committee will have its meeting virtually. Newsday was also informed by sources that the youth group would eventually be restructured under new leadership.
The Kansas Republicans promptly disbanded its youth program in the wake of the revelation.
In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Kansas GOP chair Danedri Herbert stated:
"their comments do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not Kansas Republicans at large, who elected a Black chair a few months ago."
"The Kansas Young Republicans organization is not operating as of right now."
Numerous political figures came forward to denounce the texts after the Politico reports of the messages sparked uproar.
Guinta was fired from his job as chief of staff to assembly member Mike Reilly of Staten Island and Walker will reportedly no longer have a role on the congressional campaign of state senator Peter Oberacker who is running for a Catskills/Hudson Valley seat.
“After watching the Left lose their foothold due to the radical behavior and rhetoric of the fringe Left, I would hate to see the right fall under the same feat,”
said Xaviaer DuRousseau, a conservative influencer and PragerU personality.
“It’s important to disassociate our Party from that sort of unprofessional, cringeworthy, and hateful behavior.”
What disciplinary steps can state parties take against local chapters?
State parties can suspend or revoke a local chapter's official authorization or charter, prohibiting the local chapter from functioning under the party's name or brand, until the matters have been resolved.
They may also remove or disqualify chapter leaders or officials they have deemed responsible for the misconduct or breach of the party's written or unwritten policies. Parties may launch a party investigation into the facts, circumstances, and culpability, often by using disciplinary committees, to determine a violation of party policy, misconduct, or bad behavior.
Depending on the seriousness of the violation, sanctions may include a formal public reprimand, an expulsion from the local chapter or a prohibition on all future activities with the party, or a demand to overhaul the local chapter's membership or leadership.