Overview
- The New York Republican State Committee voted unanimously on Oct. 17 to suspend authorization of the New York State Young Republicans, with officials noting the group could be reconstituted later.
- Politico’s report detailed roughly 2,900 pages of Telegram messages featuring slurs, praise for Adolf Hitler, jokes about gas chambers, and comments calling rape “epic,” attributed to Young Republican leaders across several states.
- Fallout included job losses and resignations: New York’s Peter Giunta was removed as a state Assembly chief of staff, Bobby Walker lost a campaign role, Joseph Maligno left the state court system, Kansas official William Hendrix departed the attorney general’s office, and Vermont Sen. Sam Douglass said he will resign.
- Kansas Republicans also rendered their Young Republicans organization inactive following the disclosures, mirroring New York’s action to allow reorganization.
- Responses split the GOP, with the Young Republican National Federation saying it was appalled and urging resignations as Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed the episode as young people telling offensive jokes, while some implicated figures questioned the chats’ authenticity or context.