GOP leaders call for resignation of Young Republicans who allegedly texted slurs, racist messages

Following a report this week that several members of the Young Republican organization shared messages in a group chat using slurs, praising Hitler and making jokes about slavery and rape, some GOP leaders are sounding the alarm and calling for their fellow party members to resign.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont called out state senator and head of Vermont's Young Republican chapter Sam Douglass, saying he should resign "immediately" and leave the party over his alleged involvement in the group chat on the Telegram messaging platform, which was first reported by Politico.

"The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable. The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing. There is simply no excuse for it," Scott said in a statement Tuesday. "Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party -- including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass."

Douglass did not immediately respond to ABC's request for comment.

According to Politico's report, the Telegram messages were exchanged between the leaders of the Young Republican chapters in Arizona, Vermont, Kansas and New York. At least one member of the Telegram chat currently serves in the Trump administration, Politico reported.

ABC News has not independently verified the Telegram chat.

The Young Republican National Federation (YRNF) consists of members aged 18 to 40 and has a chapter in every state. According to the group's website, the organization aims to recruit young voices to the GOP, before training them and encouraging them to run for office.

"We are appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article published today. Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents," the YRNF Board of Directors said in a statement Tuesday, adding that "those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations."

The Chair of the Kansas GOP party, Danedri Herbert, announced Tuesday that the state's Young Republicans chapter has been deactivated.

"These comments do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not Kansas Republicans at large, who elected a Black chair a few months ago," the statement read in part. "As of today, the Kansas Young Republicans organization is inactive."

Other Young Republican state chapters around the country have denounced the text messages, including in North Carolina, Missouri, Georgia, and Ohio.

Some members of the group accused of being involved in the group chat have since vacated their posts, Politico reported, including Peter Giunta, former chair of New York Young Republicans who also worked for a New York assemblymember, and Joseph Maligno, a lawyer for the New York group.

According to the Politico report, Giunta sent a message reading "I love Hitler" and also made jokes referencing gas chambers.

ABC News has reached out for confirmation on the employment status of both men but did not immediately hear back.

New York Republican Reps. Mike Lawler and Rep. Elise Stefanik have condemned the rhetoric, with Lawler writing on X that members of the New York chapter who participated "should resign from any leadership position immediately."

Alex deGrasse, a senior adviser for Stefanik, told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday that the congresswoman was "absolutely appalled" to learn about such text messages, calling the rhetoric "heinous, antisemitic, racist and unacceptable."

"While none have ever been employed by Congresswoman Stefanik, if the description by Politico is accurate, Congresswoman Stefanik calls for any NY Young Republicans responsible for these horrific comments in this chat to step down immediately," he added.

Stefanik praised Giunta earlier this summer for exhibiting "tremendous leadership" in the New York Young Republicans organization.

In a statement to Politico, 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," Giunta told Politico. "While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored."

ABC News has attempted to reach Giunta for additional comment.

Stefanik and others are also arguing that such individuals were youth leaders, not elected public officials -- though Douglass, in Vermont, is an active state senator.

Vice President JD Vance attempted to downplay the severity of the texts and shifted the focus back to the resurfaced text messages of Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones.

"This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia," Vance wrote Tuesday on X, attaching a screenshot of Jones' messages. "I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence."

Jones has apologized for the messages that reference a hypothetical situation involving a Virginia Republican lawmaker getting "two bullets to the head," telling Richmond ABC station WRIC that he "sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, want to express my remorse and my regret for what happened and what I said that language has no place in our discourse, and I am so remorseful for what happened."

Speaking on "The Charlie Kirk Show" on Wednesday, Vance continued to defend participants in the group chat.

"Grow up. I'm sorry, focus on the real issues. Don't focus what on what kids say in group chats," Vance said. "But 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." 

Democrats have been quick to rail against the Young Republicans' leaked text messages.

"These are the future of the Republican Party. This was so vile," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Tuesday. "These are racist, sexist, disgusting remarks ... Kick them out of the party. Take away their official roles. Stop using them as campaign advisers. There needs to be consequences. This b-------has to stop."

On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Congress to investigate the messages.

"I'm demanding Rep. James Comer open a House Oversight Committee investigation into these shocking, deeply offensive messages that were exchanged by Young Republican leaders from across the country," he wrote on X.