Racist, homophobic texts by young GOP leaders raise alarms — Are senior Republicans shaping the next generation?

Over seven months and across 2,900 pages of Telegram messages, a cohort of young Republican leaders in New York, Vermont, Arizona, and Kansas treated offensive language like casual conversation.

The chats—dubbed the “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” by insiders—blended political strategy with personal banter, frequently veering into racist, homophobic, and shockingly flippant references to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.

According to Politico, Peter Giunta, chief of staff to New York Assembly member Mike Reilly, casually wrote, “I love Hitler,” and suggested violent epithets against women and minorities. Other participants took aim with equally grotesque humor: William Hendrix, vice chair of Kansas Young Republicans, threw out racial slurs about Black people; a Vermont state senator mocked a South Asian woman’s hygiene; and other messages invoked gas chambers and offensive NBA commentary. Collectively, the chat contained more than 250 slurs.

The revelations have ignited outrage, with state Republican leaders condemning the messages and some participants losing jobs or facing calls to resign.

After the revelations, Vice President JD Vance brushed off the racist, sexist text messages. “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said. “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.”

Is senior Republicans influencing youngsters

It is rightly said that youngsters do follow their seniors. This is not a hidden fact that Trump administration policies are not really made for the LGBTQ community and Black people.

After Donald Trump returned to the White House following the 5 November presidential election, reports emerged that Black Americans were receiving racist text messages telling them they had been “selected” to pick cotton and were to report to the “nearest plantation.” Recipients spanned states including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. Some texts were signed “a Trump supporter.” Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, denied any campaign involvement.

Trump’s policies since taking office on January 20, 2025, have systematically targeted Black Americans and they are:

• Removing Black Lives Matter Plaza and its ground mural
  
  
• Issuing an executive order against the National Museum of African American History
  
  
• Purging Black historical figures from federal websites
  
  
• Targeting HBCUs by cutting Department of Education funding and rolling back DEI initiatives
  
  

Trump’s administration has also rolled back transgender protections. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order defining sex strictly as male or female, barring recognition of any other gender identities. The order aims, according to the administration, to “protect women” and prevent taxpayer dollars from promoting “gender ideology,” a term widely criticized by medical experts.

Specific restrictions include:

• Denial of passport updates for nonbinary or transgender markers
  
  
• Placement of transgender women in men’s prisons
  
  
• A potential new ban on transgender military service members, echoing Trump’s first-term policy
  
  
• Defunding gender-affirming care for minors under 19, affecting Medicaid and TRICARE coverage
  
  
• Blocking schools from supporting social transitioning or promoting fluid gender concepts in the curriculum
  

Not only Trump, but also JD Vance criticised the potential addition of questions about gender identity — a concept he called “highly polarizing and patently false” — to the US Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey.

These episodes show Trump and his other cabinet members thinking and their ideology regarding LGBTQIA+ community and the Black people.

The episode exposes a troubling culture among some young party activists, where offensive rhetoric and political networking dangerously intertwine, leaving the Republican establishment scrambling to respond.