Vermont’s political landscape was rocked this week as state senator Samuel A. Douglass resigned in the wake of a leaked group chat containing racist and antisemitic messages, a scandal that has sent shockwaves through Young Republican organizations across several states. The messages, first reported by Politico, revealed a toxic undercurrent within the ranks of the Young Republicans, prompting swift and widespread fallout—including the disbanding of entire state chapters and the dismissal of political staffers.
Douglass, a first-term senator representing Vermont’s rural Orleans district, submitted his resignation effective Monday, October 20, 2025, after days of mounting pressure from state and party leaders. In a statement posted online and quoted by Politico, the 26-year-old lawmaker said, “I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe.” He added, “I am deeply sorry for the offense caused by my comments.”
The group chat at the center of the controversy was hosted on Telegram and included senior Young Republican members from Vermont, New York, Arizona, and Kansas. According to Politico, Douglass was the only elected official involved. The content of the chat was shocking even by the rough-and-tumble standards of political banter: messages praised Adolf Hitler, joked about gas chambers and rape, and included explicit racist and antisemitic language. In one particularly egregious exchange, Douglass referred to an Indian woman by saying she “just didn’t bathe often.” In another, his wife, Brianna Douglass—herself a national committee member of the Vermont Young Republicans—responded to a procedural dispute by saying, “expecting the Jew to be honest,” a reference to a Jewish colleague.
The chat also revealed deep factional infighting within the Young Republicans, with slurs hurled at LGBTQ+ members and disparaging remarks about party members from various states. Members from Minnesota were called a slur for gay people, Nebraskans were labeled “inbred cow fuckers,” and Rhode Islanders were referred to as “traitorous cunts.” One message described a “fat stinky Jew,” while others made light of torture and sexual violence. The sheer breadth and intensity of the hate speech prompted immediate action from party leaders and a public outcry.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott was among the first to demand Douglass’s resignation, calling the dialogue “vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic.” As Politico reported, Scott went further, urging Douglass to leave the Republican Party altogether. Vermont Senate minority leader Scott Beck echoed these sentiments, stating to the Washington Post that Douglass’s resignation “is the first step in Vermont’s healing, and his family’s healing.”
Initially, Douglass was removed from his party duties by Vermont Republican chair Paul Dame. However, the party’s executive committee later overruled this, instead calling directly for his immediate resignation. Douglass and his wife had already stepped down from their roles in the Vermont Young Republicans prior to his Senate resignation.
The fallout from the scandal was not confined to Vermont. In New York, the executive committee of the Republican State Committee voted on October 17 to suspend the state’s Young Republicans chapter after leaders of the group were implicated in the chat, according to USA TODAY. Peter Giunta, former chair of the New York State Young Republicans and chief of staff to Assemblyman Michael Reilly, was fired from his government role. Three other leaders in New York, along with Young Republican officials in Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont, were also involved. The Kansas Republican Party denounced its Young Republican leaders, leading to the dissolution of the Kansas chapter after resignations and firings, including that of William Hendrix from the Attorney General’s Office. Kansas GOP chair Danedri Herbert stated that the leadership was “disgusted by the comments and that they don’t represent the beliefs of Kansas Republicans.”
The New York State Young Republicans group was formally disbanded, and the Kansas chapter dissolved earlier in the week. At least six individuals involved in the chat lost jobs or political roles, including staff linked to elected officials in both New York and Kansas, as reported by Politico. The controversy has drawn condemnation from political leaders across the spectrum and intensified scrutiny of Young Republican organizations nationwide.
Douglass, who succeeded longtime senator Robert A. Starr after being elected in 2024, had previously run unsuccessfully in 2022. A graduate of Vermont State University’s Johnson campus, Douglass worked as a farmer, real estate agent, and crisis interventionist before entering politics. During his short Senate tenure, he served on committees including Health and Welfare, Institutions, and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel. In his resignation statement, Douglass acknowledged the harm caused by his words and said he had reached out to “the majority of my Jewish and BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] friends and colleagues to ensure that they can be honest and up-front with me.” He added, “As a young person I have a duty to set a good example for others.”
Douglass and his wife, who recently welcomed their first child, described receiving “some of the most horrific hate one could imagine,” including threats of violence after the messages became public. The climate of political violence in the U.S. has been a recurring topic in recent months, especially following the September 10 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the June 14 shootings that killed Minnesota’s former house speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounded state senator John Hoffman and his wife.
Not all voices in the Republican Party agreed on the severity of the scandal. U.S. Senator JD Vance downplayed the exchanges as “edgy” and “offensive jokes” told by “kids,” though most members involved were between the ages of 24 and 35. Vance argued, “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.” This view contrasted sharply with the calls for accountability by other party leaders, highlighting the deep divisions over how to handle such transgressions.
Ed Cox, chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, summed up the prevailing sentiment among many party leaders, stating, “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.”
As Vermont, New York, and Kansas grapple with the aftermath, the scandal has prompted soul-searching within Republican circles about the culture and accountability of their youth organizations. The rapid and decisive actions by party leadership in several states suggest a new intolerance for bigotry in the public sphere, but the road to restoring trust remains long and uncertain. For Vermont, the resignation of Samuel Douglass marks a dramatic turning point in a saga that has tested the state’s—and the party’s—commitment to its professed values.
