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Topics: News, Republicans, US News, Politics, Social Media
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: News, Republicans, US News, Politics, Social Media
A group chat of Young Republicans has exposed the reprehensible messages, and jokes they would say to one another.
A Young Republican club Telegram chat has showcased how the members would speak to one another and has been widely condemned.
The chat would include racist comments directed at black people, the use of slurs, antisemitic and sexist comments, as well as comments supporting or praising Hitler.
The Young Republican Federation has 15,000 members across the United States, all aged between 18 and 40 and considered a 527 group, an organization primarily to influence the selection or election of candidates at federal, state or local public office.
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Some of the members of the Young Republican organization currently work within elected offices throughout the country.
A Politico expose on October 14 revealed 28,000 messages spanning seven months and the individuals highlighted in the messages have been forced to address the comments they allegedly made.
The Board of Directors for the organization has issued their own statement about the contents of the chat and called for all of those exposed to ‘immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations'.
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The statement from the directors read: “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.”
According to a Mail Online report, Assemblymember Mike Reilly fired his chief of staff Peter Giunta, after he was accused of being a participant in the chat.
Giunta allegedly wrote: ‘I love Hitler’ and ‘everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber' in the group chat.
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Discussing the dismissal of Giunta Reilly said: “The comments shared in the group chat that have been reported are extremely troubling and disappointing. They do not align with my values. As a result, Mr. Giunta's assignment in my office has ended.”
Giunta also issued his own apology, however he also suggested that they may have been doctored.
He wrote: “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.”
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Bobby Walker, who at the time of the group chat was vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, has also issued a statement after it was alleged he referred to rape as ‘epic’.
He too suggested the messages may been ‘altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated' and added that they had been released this way to cause harm.
He added: “There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologize.”