WASHINGTON — On Oct. 15, Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, released the following statement in response to a Politico article exposing thousands of racist chats from young conservative leaders:
“I am deeply disgusted by the reported racist, xenophobic, and antisemitic messages from conservative youth leaders. No community was spared in their hateful tirade, including Chinese and Indian Americans.
“Their willingness to engage in such vile rhetoric behind closed doors speaks volumes to their character and the tone set by our nation’s leaders.”
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of CAPAC’s Executive Board, said, “There is nothing – no age, race, gender, or political party – that excuses the hateful, racist messages sent in that leaked GOP group chat.
“This regime’s toxic rhetoric is breeding hate in our country’s next generation of leaders – we cannot continue to act like it’s normal.”
According to Politico, an ongoing Telegram chat among leaders of Young Republican groups through-out the country included references to Black people as monkeys and “watermelon people,” jokes about sending their political opponents to gas chambers, and expressed love for Hitler and Nazis.
Bobby Walker, vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans and a staffer for New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt at the time, referred to rape as “epic.”
In one exchange, Walker talked about how a mutual friend of some in the chat “dated this very obese Indian.”
Peter Giunta, chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, said that the woman “was not Indian.”
Samuel Douglass, a Vermont state senator and head of the state’s Young Republicans, responded, “She just didn’t bathe often.”
In another conversation, Walker said, “My people built the train tracks with the Chinese,” referring to his Italian ancestors.
Joe Maligno, general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans, responded, “Let his people go! Keep the chinks, though.”
Paul Ingrassia, President Trump’s nominee for general counsel, referred to then-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and said, “Never trust a chinaman or Indian. NEVER.”
He also said that MLK Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth and Kwanzaa need to be “eviscerated” and that “all of Africa is a sh*thole, and will always be that way.”
Calling for “competent white men in positions of leadership,” he said, “The Founding Fathers were wrong that all men are created equal … We need to reject that part of our heritage.”
Some GOP officials have condemned the remarks while others have downplayed them. Vice President JD Vance said he would caution his own children, “especially my boys, don’t put things on the Internet, like, be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”
While acknowledging that the remarks were inappropriate, he added, “I really don’t want to 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.”
The “kids” in the group chat ranged in age from 24 to 35.