The New York State Young Republicans were disbanded in a unanimous vote by the New York State Republican Party leaders Friday following the leak of offensive messages shared among a dozen millennial and Generation Z Republicans on Oct. 14. The 2,900 pages of online messages, which were published by POLITICO, a media company that covers politics, saw Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont use slurs, claim to love Hitler and refer to rape as “epic” on the messaging app Telegram.
“Im going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers,” Peter Giunta, vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, wrote about an upcoming vote on whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation. “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”
“Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic,” said Joe Maligno, who previously identified himself as the general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans.
“I’m ready to watch people burn now,” said Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committee member.
Following the leak, Republican leaders across the state met virtually on Oct. 14. Afterward, state GOP Chairman Ed Cox announced the suspension of the New York State Young Republicans in a statement.
“Today, the Executive Committee of the New York Republican State Committee unanimously voted to suspend authorization of the New York State Young Republicans following a report of a group chat that included racist and antisemitic language on the part of leadership,” Cox said. “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.”
The Kansas Young Republicans were also disbanded following the leak.
While some felt the texts revealed a culture where hateful language is encouraged among Millennial and Gen Z GOP leaders, others saw the messages as “stupid” jokes and worried about the consequences of the leak.
“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vice President JD Vance said on “The Charlie Kirk Show.” “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.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for re-election in November, responded to the leaks in a Facebook post on Oct. 17.
“The so-called Young Republicans who espouse values contrary to our party’s principles and my values are not welcome in my campaign,” Blakeman said in the post.
Hempstead Town Supervisor John Ferretti, a Republican, called for the individuals responsible for the “vile and bigoted” texts to leave any role in the state Young Republicans in an Instagram post Friday. Ferretti is running for re-election in November.
“The vile and bigoted texts that have come to light are deeply offensive and reprehensible. I fully condemn this kind of hate-filled language and the individuals behind it,” he said in the post. “They should resign immediately from any role within the Young Republicans. The Town of Hempstead and the Nassau GOP stand for decency, respect, and unity – not hate.”
Joe Cairo, Nassau County GOP chairman and national GOP committeeman, condemned the text messages in comments to Newsday.
“I don’t know many of these people, or if I know any of them or met one or two of them, but their words are repugnant and they have no place in the Republican Party or anywhere else,” Cairo said.
But Democratic elected officials and candidates criticized the response of Republican officials in a press conference on Oct. 17, claiming county Republicans only responded with their own statements once they knew the Democrats were planning a press conference. Many mentioned that local Republicans took days to respond to the leaks.
“Now you might be shocked to find out that after we called this press conference this morning, and within the last hour, all the Republicans are starting to put out their own statements,” Nassau County executive candidate Seth Koslow said. “How ironic. Look at that timing.”
Koslow, a Democrat, called for Blakeman, his opponent, to suspend his campaign.
“He is not a leader for the Jewish people in Nassau County, and he is a danger to all of us because of his failure to act and defend us and condemn these vile statements made by the Young Republicans,” Koslow said.
Koslow also discussed Blakeman’s frequent mentions of Jewish people and his own Jewish heritage. Blakeman is Nassau County’s first Jewish county executive and has been outspoken about antisemitism.
“And yet Bruce Blakeman, who talks about the fact that we have 300,000 Jewish people in Nassau County, and how he parades around with a yarmulke on talking about antisemitism and how you always stop and fight it – His statement didn’t condemn antisemitism,” Koslow said. “It didn’t condemn the hate and bigotry.”
Joe Scianablo, a Democrat who is running against Ferretti for Hempstead town supervisor, critiqued Ferretti’s response.
“If he was genuine and if he was a true leader, he would have denounced it right away the same day, just like we did,” he said. “There is no room for this type of hateful speech in our society. Period.”
The GOP’s State Sen. Jack Martins posted a statement to Facebook on Oct. 17, condemning the messages as well as those trying to “smear all Republicans.”
“The racist and antisemitic messages exposed in a recently publicized group chat are vile and disgusting. There’s no place for that type of hateful language anywhere in society. Period,” he said. “To those trolling to smear all Republicans, shame on you all. It’s pure politics and speaks volumes about who you are – seriously unserious people trying to score cheap political points.”
