Overview
- Politico published roughly 2,900 pages of Telegram messages from January to August showing Young Republican leaders using racist slurs, praising Hitler, and joking about gas chambers and rape.
- The Young Republican National Federation called the language "vile and inexcusable" and demanded immediate resignations, and Kansas’ Young Republicans chapter was disbanded following the revelations.
- Several participants lost jobs, including William Hendrix at the Kansas attorney general’s office and Peter Giunta from a New York Assembly office, while Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and GOP leaders urged state Sen. Sam Douglass to resign.
- J.D. Vance labeled the backlash "pearl‑clutching," urged people to "grow up" on conservative programs, and compared the chats to Jay Jones’ 2022 texts, for which Jones has apologized.
- Some chat participants apologized as others claimed the logs may have been manipulated, and officials across parties—including Rep. Elise Stefanik, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Gov. Gavin Newsom—issued condemnations, with Newsom requesting a House Oversight inquiry.