A sprawling scandal has rocked the Republican Party’s youth organizations after the leak of a 2,900-page Telegram group chat exposed a torrent of racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, and violent messages exchanged among prominent young Republican leaders across the United States. The fallout, which began in early October 2025, has triggered resignations, firings, public apologies, and the dissolution of entire party chapters in both New York and Kansas, according to reporting from Politico and the BBC.
The group chat, ominously titled “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM,” was created by Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans (NYSR), in January 2025 as he campaigned for the chairmanship of the national Young Republicans organization. Over the following months, the chat ballooned with messages from Young Republican officials in multiple states, including New York, Kansas, Vermont, and Arizona, as well as at least one Trump administration official, Michael Bartels. The group became a digital echo chamber for hate speech, white supremacist references, and calls for violence, as revealed by Politico’s investigation.
Among the most shocking messages were Giunta’s own. In one, he declared, “I love Hitler,” while in another, he wrote, “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber. And everyone that endorsed but then votes for us is going to the gas chamber,” in reference to his campaign for the national post. These were not isolated incidents. The chat was laced with 251 uses of racist, ableist, and homophobic slurs, including repeated use of the n-word by William Hendrix, the vice chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, and casual references to Black people as “monkeys” and “watermelon people”—a particularly offensive stereotype rooted in the history of African slavery.
Other participants contributed to the toxic environment. Annie Kaykaty, a New York national committee member, and Bobby Walker, who succeeded Giunta as NYSR chair, both appeared in the chat. Joe Maligno, then general counsel for the NYSR, replied to Giunta’s gas chamber comment with: “Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.” Kaykaty added, “I’m ready to watch people burn now.”
Misogyny and rape jokes were also rampant. Walker was accused of calling rape “epic,” and Luke Mosiman, chair of the Arizona Young Republicans, wrote, “The Spanish came to America and had sex with every single woman.” Dwyer, another participant, replied, “Sex is gay,” to which Mosiman retorted, “Sex? It was rape.”
Vermont state senator Samuel Douglass, whose wife also joined the chat, made remarks about a woman “not bathing often” and contributed to antisemitic references. Douglass later claimed his involvement was “procedural,” focused on bylaws and floor strategy, and that he was “unaware of those comments,” expressing regret for not being more vigilant. “I apologise so deeply to my constituents and colleagues that our county and state have been dragged into this,” Douglass said in a written statement.
The group’s members also discussed the pressures of aligning with former President Donald Trump, with one message reading, “Trump’s too busy burning the Epstein files,” alluding to allegations of suppressing documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Michael Bartels, a Trump administration official, participated in the chat but did not object to the offensive content. Bartels later denied leaking the chat and described internal conflicts, stating in a notarised affidavit that Gavin Wax, a State Department staffer and former president of the New York Young Republican Club, pressured him to release the chat logs under threat of professional consequences.
When the chat’s existence became public in October 2025, condemnation was swift and bipartisan. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, denounced the messages as “so vile it’s hard to find the words to put into context that these are people who are part of one of two major parties and they believe in gas chambers and rape and discrimination based on the colour of people’s skin.” Republican leaders, including Ed Cox, chair of the New York Republican Party, and Representative Elise Stefanik, also condemned the messages. Cox described the group as “already grossly mismanaged,” adding, “vile language of the sort made in the group chat has no place in our party or its subsidiary organizations.” Stefanik’s adviser called the comments “heinous, antisemitic, racist and unacceptable.”
On October 14, 2025, the New York Republican State Committee voted to suspend its young Republicans group, which had thousands of members aged 18 to 40. The Kansas Young Republican Organization was similarly disbanded after its leaders’ participation in the chat came to light. William Hendrix, the Kansas vice chair, was promptly fired from his staff position with Attorney General Kris Kobach, who said, “The comments in the chat are inexcusable. As soon as the office learned of those messages, Will Hendrix’s employment was terminated.” Walker, who was set to join a congressional campaign in New York, had his job offer rescinded.
In the face of mounting pressure, Giunta and Walker both issued apologies but claimed the messages may have been doctored or taken out of context. Giunta said, “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 also alleging a “highly-coordinated year-long character assassination” against him. Walker echoed the sentiment, stating, “There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologise,” but insisted the messages “may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated.”
Despite the gravity of the scandal, some national Republican figures sought to downplay its significance. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, appearing on The Charlie Kirk Show, remarked, “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys. They tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, 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.” The White House, meanwhile, dismissed attempts to link former President Trump directly to the group, saying, “Only an activist, left-wing reporter would desperately try to tie President Trump into a story about a random group chat he has no affiliation with.”
The reverberations continue as party leaders weigh how to rebuild and restore public trust. A state Republican official told Newsday that disbanding the New York group would allow for the chance to restructure it with new leaders. As investigations and soul-searching persist, the episode stands as a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked hate in political circles—and the consequences when private conversations become public record.
