After racist and antisemitic messages from a New York Young Republicans group chat were leaked Wednesday, GOP state leaders moved swiftly to pull the plug, voting to disband the group on Friday.
The decision follows revelations that Young Republican leaders nationwide exchanged grotesque messages—including jokes about rape, gas chambers, and Hitler. And several of the New York members involved weren’t fringe players but senior figures, including Chair Peter Giunta and Vice Chair Bobby Walker.
A screenshot of bigoted messages from Young Republicans members.
The fallout was immediate. Giunta lost his job as chief of staff to state Rep. Mike Reilly, while Walker has his offer to manage a congressional campaign rescinded. Both men issued apologies but questioned whether the chat had been altered.
“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,” New York GOP Chair Ed Cox told Politico.
Other leaders have signaled that disbanding the group creates an opportunity for a fresh start. By eliminating the chapter’s charter, officials can reconstitute it under new leadership.
But the problems didn’t begin with the leaks. The chapter had been plagued by infighting and financial mismanagement for months, missing filings and racking up unpaid bills.
Newsday first reported plans to dissolve it, which was followed by Kansas Republicans.
The scandal drew swift, bipartisan condemnation.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, slammed Republican leaders for their silence—especially Vice President JD Vance, who brushed off the messages as “stupid” jokes made by “kids,” even though the people in the chat were between 24 and 35 years old.
“Antisemitism is a real issue. Political violence is a real issue. Racism is a real issue,” she wrote on X. “The deflecting and nonstop excuses are bullshit. Everyone from the President down must forcefully condemn this.”
Similarly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Republicans for their selective outrage.
“Too many Republican leaders seem willing to call out violent rhetoric only when it comes from the other side. But these same Republicans never seem willing to denounce it when it comes from their own ranks, and that’s dangerous,” he said in a statement. “Violent political rhetoric is an attack on everyone.”
Even some New York Republicans spoke up.
Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler denounced the chat, though Stefanik later described the Politico story as a “hit piece.” And the Young Republicans National Federation called the messages “vile and inexcusable,” demanding that anyone involved resign from their posts.
GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York
Cox sent a formal notice to the national federation, touting Republican “accountability” while taking a swipe at Democrats.
“Unlike the Democrat Party that embraces anti-Semitic rhetoric and refuses to condemn leaders who call for political violence, Republicans deliver accountability by immediately removing those who use this sort of rhetoric from the positions they hold,” he wrote.
And the story behind the leak only added drama.
According to The Daily Beast, Gavin Wax—a State Department official and former president of the New York Young Republicans—is suspected of obtaining and leaking the messages amid a personal feud with Giunta. The bad blood reportedly stemmed from a 2024 photo op gone wrong with President Donald Trump.
Wax denied any involvement, and some sources told Politico that the leak came from multiple people, not just one.
Whatever the origin, the messages are out, and the consequences are real. The state chapter is gone, the leadership dismantled, and the members involved are out of jobs and power. The takeaway is blunt: Hate has consequences. These Republicans fucked around and found out—losing their positions and what little credibility they had left.
For once, the Republican Party actually held its own accountable, leaving them to face the wreckage they created.
