The Republican Party has been thrust into the national spotlight following the recent leak of thousands of racist and offensive messages exchanged by leaders of the Young Republican National Federation, a group representing GOP members aged 18 to 40. The revelations, first reported by Politico and subsequently covered by outlets such as TIME, USA TODAY, and CN, have ignited fierce debate within the party and prompted widespread condemnation from both sides of the political aisle.
The leaked group chat, which spanned more than seven months in 2025, contained messages from about a dozen Young Republican leaders hailing from New York, Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont. According to Politico, the messages included over 250 uses of racial slurs, jokes about Adolf Hitler and Nazis, references to gas chambers, and derogatory remarks about Black people—terms like “watermelon people” and “monkeys” were used. The group also joked about rape and slavery, with one member referring to rape as “epic.”
These revelations have sent shockwaves through political circles, especially given that several chat participants held prominent roles in Republican politics. Among them were Peter Giunta, then-chair of the New York State Young Republicans and chief of staff for Assemblymember Mike Reilly, and Vermont state Senator Samuel Douglass. Both faced immediate fallout: Giunta lost his position, and Douglass was the subject of calls for his resignation. Other members included a New York assemblyman’s chief of staff, an official at the U.S. Small Business Administration, and a communications staffer in the Kansas attorney general’s office. In response to the scandal, the Kansas Young Republicans disbanded entirely.
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the controversy during a press conference on October 16, 2025. When asked if he was concerned about racism or antisemitism within the Republican Party, Johnson was unequivocal. “No,” he replied, adding, “Obviously, we roundly condemn any of that nonsense.” Johnson distanced himself from the individuals involved, stating, “The Young Republicans or this organization … I don’t know who any of these people are—I’ve never heard of them.” He acknowledged that photos had circulated of him with some implicated individuals but explained that these were likely taken at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, where “people were just coming up and asking for selfies.”
Johnson was also quick to emphasize the party’s foundational values. “We stand for the founding principles of America,” he told reporters. “Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity, the things that lead to human flourishing. We fought the Nazis—we defeated that evil ideology, we roundly condemn it, and anybody in the party who espouses it, we oppose that.”
The scandal deepened when, on the same day, Ohio Representative Dave Taylor reported the appearance of an American flag altered with a Nazi swastika in his Capitol office. Taylor called the flag a “vile and deeply inappropriate symbol” and immediately contacted Capitol Police to investigate. “The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms,” Taylor said in a statement. Johnson supported Taylor’s response, saying the congressman had done the right thing by requesting a police investigation.
While some Republican leaders rushed to condemn the leaked messages and demand accountability, others took a markedly different tone. Vice President JD Vance, speaking on The Charlie Kirk Show on October 15, 2025, downplayed the severity of the group chat’s content, characterizing it as “stupid things” that “kids do.” Vance explained, “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys. 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.”
Vance’s remarks sparked further controversy, particularly as reporting from Mother Jones revealed that eight of the eleven group chat members were between the ages of 24 and 35, with one key figure, Peter Giunta, being 31 years old. Critics argued that referring to the participants as “kids” was misleading, given their ages and positions of responsibility. Vance, however, remained steadfast, arguing that outrage over the chat was a form of cancel culture that needed to be stopped. “At some point, we’re all going to have to say, ‘Enough of this BS. We’re not going to allow the worst moment in a 21-year-old’s group chat to ruin a kid’s life for the rest of time. That’s just not OK. … We’re not canceling kids because they do something stupid in a group chat.” He added, “If they were left-wing kids telling stupid left-wing jokes, I would also not want their lives to be ruined because they’re saying something stupid in a private group chat.”
The Young Republican National Federation itself took a hard line, condemning the chat and demanding the resignation of its implicated leaders. In a statement, the board called the language used “vile and inexcusable.” Several members were promptly fired or faced mounting calls to resign. The fallout was swift: the Kansas Young Republicans dissolved, and Vermont Republicans, including Governor Phil Scott, called for Senator Douglass’s resignation. New York Representative Michael Lawler described the comments as “disgusting” and urged those responsible to step down immediately and reflect on “how far they have strayed from basic human respect and decency.”
The White House, for its part, dismissed any suggestion that President Trump’s rhetoric was linked to the offensive messages. A spokesperson told TIME, “Only an activist, left-wing reporter would desperately try to tie President Trump into a story about a random groupchat he has no affiliation with, while failing to mention the dangerous smears coming from Democrat politicians who have fantasized about murdering their opponent and called Republicans Nazis and Fascists. No one has been subjected to more vicious rhetoric and violence than President Trump and his supporters.”
The episode has exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party about how to address offensive behavior among its younger members. While party leaders like Johnson and the Young Republican National Federation have taken a hard stance against the content of the chat, others, including Vice President Vance, have cautioned against what they see as overzealous punishment and the dangers of cancel culture. Meanwhile, bipartisan condemnation continues to mount, with figures from both parties calling for accountability and a reaffirmation of basic standards of decency in political discourse.
As the fallout continues, the GOP faces a reckoning over its internal culture, the responsibilities of its rising stars, and the values it chooses to defend in the public eye.
