If you only glance at the headlines, you might think America’s next generation of conservatives, the Young Republicans, has imploded overnight. Recently leaked chats, filled with racist, antisemitic, and misogynistic language, along with threats of sexual violence and praise for Hitler, drew intense scrutiny. And there is no excuse for them.
But what most coverage misses is the full story: a web of personal vendettas, internal feuds, and politically timed leaks that have turned one mismanaged youth organization into the national spectacle du jour.
The controversy centers on a private Telegram chat involving Young Republican leaders from New York, Kansas, Vermont, and Arizona. Between January and August of 2025, more than 28,000 messages were exchanged, spanning thousands of pages.
The chats combined routine political discussion – votes, event planning, social media strategies – with deplorable content: racist and antisemitic slurs, references to gas chambers, praise for Hitler, and threats of sexual violence. Members referred to Black people as “monkeys” and “watermelon people,” and slurs such as “f****t,” “retard,” and the n-word were used repeatedly.
While the content is abhorrent, the timing and method of the leak are crucial to understanding the broader story. This is not just an example of private misconduct spilling into the public sphere. According to multiple sources, it is the product of a targeted internal feud that escalated into a national scandal.
Weeks before the first major media coverage, the New York state Young Republicans were already under fire for financial mismanagement. Peter Giunta, the group's former state chair and national committeeman, had resigned amid accusations of unpaid bills from a high-end holiday party and missing state financial disclosures. The organization was missing required filings, leaving its internal accountability in question.
According to contemporaneous reports from Politico, the National Women’s Republican Club and other venues had gone unpaid, raising eyebrows among party insiders. Giunta defended himself, framing the financial dispute as a political hit orchestrated by his rivals, including former Manhattan Young Republican chair, Gavin Wax.
The Daily Beast adds another layer: a personal slight involving former President Trump. Wax reportedly felt aggrieved after being left out of a Trump selfie in 2024. This small slight, magnified by pride and power plays, festered into a vendetta that played out over months, ultimately fueling the leak of the chat logs.
Giunta has claimed that Wax used pressure and extortion to ensure the messages went public, while other insiders say the leak may have been selectively edited to maximize damage. Whether fully accurate or partially curated, the timing and targeting suggest a calculated effort to weaponize private conversations for political gain.
SOURCE: I am told that Gavin Wax
— MILO (@Nero) October 15, 2025
- pressured Bartels to share the chat logs, threatening his career if he did not
- was eventually successful in this endeavor
- also sent the logs to Politico himself, and that NYGOP members have proof
- cooperated with Politico over an…
I want to be clear—I have ALWAYS liked the NYC YRs guys especially Gavin, I don’t want to attack them, I want the truth
— Aidan (@aidanxitter) October 15, 2025
For whatever reason Gavin went to a Democrat reporter and destroyed many people he once called his friends
The WH has proof that Gavin planted this story.…
The fallout was swift. Kansas Young Republicans declared the organization inactive. Vermont state Senator Samuel Douglass, the only elected official implicated, faced calls for resignation from VT Governor Phil Scott. In New York, both Giunta and Joseph Maligno lost employment, and the New York state Republican Party moved to disband its youth organization entirely.
Nationally, GOP leaders scrambled to respond, while Democrats and progressive media seized on the scandal as evidence of widespread extremism in conservative circles.
READ MORE: The Now Generation: Inside the California Young Republicans Convention
Vice President JD Vance characterized the offensive messages as "edgy, offensive jokes" made by "kids," particularly "young boys." He dismissed the backlash as "pearl clutching," suggesting that such conduct shouldn't define individuals' lives. Vance contrasted the incident with a controversial post by Democrat Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, in which Jones hypothetically mentioned political violence, arguing that the Democrat's remarks were “one thousand times worse” than the offensive jokes in question.
This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia. I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence. pic.twitter.com/kV57Wq7BLG
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 14, 2025
A friend shared these truly disturbing messages from a Young Republican group chat. The group's leader "genuinely" calls for murdering the children of his political opponents.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 16, 2025
Oh wait, actually this is from Jay Jones, the Democrat running for Attorney General in Virginia. pic.twitter.com/gGcUmlPXXN
This perspective drew criticism from various quarters, including Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom, who even called for a congressional investigation.
Good to see Gov. Scott, State Rep. Michael Reilly, and others condemn this vile, antisemitic speech, but where is the rest of the Republican Party?
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 15, 2025
It’s truly disgusting to see the Vice President’s implicit endorsement of Nazism and the Speaker of the House’s silence.… pic.twitter.com/3iIcAOBZmY
In Virginia, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears swiftly condemned those tied to the Young Republicans group chat scandal. When asked by the Democrat Party of Virginia to call for the resignation of participants, she responded, "Easy, they absolutely must step down." Earle-Sears then turned the spotlight on her opponent, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, urging her to take similar action regarding her running mate, attorney general nominee Jones, who had expressed violent sentiments in 2022.
Easy, they absolutely must step down.
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) October 15, 2025
Now it’s your turn, Abigail. https://t.co/Fatu6PoJym
The Young Republicans have long been a training ground for grassroots leadership, responsible for voter engagement, door-to-door campaigns, and building the next generation of conservative organizers. Dissolving chapters wholesale because of the misconduct of a subset would reward bad actors while depriving the party of its next generation of organizers.
What this episode makes clear is how vulnerable youth political organizations are to internal sabotage and media amplification. Factional disputes, personal grudges, and selective leaks created the illusion of a monolithic scandal, when in reality this was a politically engineered attack.
The Trump selfie snub, combined with the rivalry between Wax and Giunta and the carefully timed leaks, underscores how personal vendettas were weaponized into national headlines. That context is essential for understanding the story behind the coverage.
The lessons for any political organization are plain. First, accountability matters. Any members who participated in racist, antisemitic, or misogynistic messaging must be addressed swiftly. Second, transparency is key. Leaks and selective dissemination of private messages poison the party from within and erode trust in leadership. Third, institutions must safeguard their mission.
Reform, not ruin, should be the guiding principle. Purge the individuals who betrayed the values of the organization, audit the internal communications and financial oversight, implement training and ethical standards, and move forward with a commitment to principled leadership.
Allowing internal vendettas and media exploitation to dictate the narrative would be a disaster for the party and the movement it aims to cultivate.
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. Those involved must immediately resign from… pic.twitter.com/SM12D8kMXb
— Young Republicans (@yrnational) October 14, 2025
— San Diego Young Republicans (@SDYoungRepubs) October 15, 2025
Yes, the Young Republicans scandal is ugly, and the content of the chats is indefensible. But it also reveals a pattern of internal sabotage and opportunism that the media and partisan opponents have weaponized. The real story is not just the messages themselves, but the environment that allowed personal grudges and political gamesmanship to hijack a national youth movement.
That is the story worth telling, investigating, and learning from.
If the Republican Party wants to protect its next generation, it must confront both the misconduct and the manipulation, ensuring that young leaders can learn, grow, and organize without fear of being destroyed by a vendetta or a leaked chat.
Because if conservatives allow their own infighting to define the narrative, the next generation of grassroots leadership will be the true casualty.
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