Another Trump Nominee With a Racist Past Has Entered the Chat

Politico reported on another young Republican group chat, and this one features a Homeland Security employee who has a confirmation hearing on Thursday.

By Danielle Han  |  October 21, 2025 | 1:48pm
Politics
Another Trump Nominee With a Racist Past Has Entered the Chat
Photo: Twitter/@PaulIngrassia

On Monday, Politico reported on a brand-new text chain from more Republican up-and-comers who disparaged minorities and talked about being a Nazi. This time, the star of the chat is Paul Ingrassia—Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, the government’s whistleblowing agency. Which is a lot of responsibility for “just a kid,” which is what Vice President JD Vance considers 30-year-olds to be.

Currently, Ingrassia serves as the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security. If tapped for the OSC (his confirmation hearing is on Thursday), he could make it that much easier for the administration to keep violating the Hatch Act and generally doing whatever the hell they want.

The chat reportedly included six Republican operatives and influencers, two of whom were granted anonymity to speak with Politico. One said they leaked the texts because they wanted “the government to be staffed with experienced people who are taken seriously.”

In January 2024, Ingrassia wrote to the group of fellow Republicans: “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.” One person responded: “Jesus Christ.” On another occasion, he complained how one of Trump’s campaign staffers (whose focus was on minority voters) wasn’t talking enough about the whiteness of America’s Founding Fathers. Someone else replied, “Paul belongs in the Hitler Youth with Ubergrupperfuhrer Steve Bannon,” to which Ingrassia said, “I do have a Nazi stream in me from time to time, I will admit it.”

Once, while suggesting that Dems frame Black people as victims, Ingrassia wrote: “Blacks behave that way because that’s their natural state…You can’t change them,” before adding, “Proof: all of Africa is a shithole, and will always be that way.” (On another occasion, he called for the “evisceration” of every single Black holiday.) And speaking about Vivek Ramaswamy, Ingrassia wrote “Never trust a chinaman or Indian,” before adding “NEVER.” 

Unsurprisingly, Ingrassia already had a shitty digital footprint: he previously questioned Nikki Haley’s citizenship; in October 2023, he called the Israel/Palestine conflict a “psyop” in a now-deleted tweet; and he once suggested that every Ukraine flag in the U.S. get replaced with a Confederate flag. (Not that any of that would matter to MAGA.)

He has a Substack called “Paul Ingrassia’s Substack,” which he markets as “President Trump’s go-to source on political and social commentary!” In his Substack bio, he calls himself “President Trump’s favorite writer.” In December 2023, the president said he deserves a Pulitzer Prize. He was also recently accused of sexual harassment, because—of course he was.

Some group chat members did try to warn Ingrassia that the messages could, one day, come back to haunt him. “Paul you are coming across as a white nationalist which is beneficial to nobody,” one person said, before saying: “You’re gunna be in private practice one day this shit will be around forever brother.” Ingrassia replied, “We should celebrate white men and western civilization and I will never back down from that.” 

According to the person who shared the chat with Politico, they’d known Ingrassia for years, and seen him go from a young law student driven by conservative politics to an all-out MAGAt, amid his growing ties to neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and serial rapist Andrew Tate. The chat disbanded in May 2024 because everyone got sick of his rhetoric.

In a statement to the outlet, Ingrassia’s lawyer tried to pawn off the messages as “poking fun” at liberals. “Looks like these texts could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted. However, arguendo, even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis.’” OK!

Fortunately, Ingrassia’s hate speech was already starting to catch up to him. In July, GOP lawmakers delayed his initial hearing, citing concerns about “antisemitic statements,” as well as his ties to Fuentes and Tate. He needs 51 votes from the Senate to be confirmed, and the GOP currently holds a 53-46 majority—but several GOP senators have hinted they’ll vote against him. On Tuesday, Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) said “he’s not going to pass” and told the White House to pull the nomination; Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) also said he’ll oppose Ingrassia’s nomination following Politico’s report. 

I can’t wait to see how Vance tries to spin this.

Like what you just read? You’ve got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.

 
Join the discussion...