On Tuesday, Politico leaked 2,900 pages of texts from a group chat with several prominent members of the Young Republican Federation called “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM,” exposing hateful rhetoric and, subsequently, the lengths Vice President JD Vance will go to defend racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
The chat’s bad. Like, worse-than-bad bad. Since publication, it’s been dubbed the “I Love Hitler” chat, and in transcripts, the “fa”-word, “r”-word, and “n”-word are mentioned more than 251 times; Black people are called “monkeys” and “watermelon people”; and group members write that political rivals should be placed in gas chambers, or sexually assaulted.
After the story was published, the Young Republican National Federation called the messages “disgraceful [and] unbecoming of any Republican.” A number of Young Republicans have since been fired from their posts.
But on Tuesday night, Vance tweeted a screenshot from 2022, in which Democrat Jay Jones, a Virginia Attorney General-hopeful, seemed to confirm that he wished a political rival’s children would die because “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” The texts were revealed earlier this month and Jones has since apologized.
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote alongside the screenshot. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
Then, on Wednesday, in an interview on The Charlie Kirk Show—which has been hosted by various MAGA stars since Kirk’s death in September—Vance downplayed the texts as “edgy, offensive, jokes.”
“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” he said, before launching into an anecdote about his own teenage years, and how most of the stupid things he’s done are “not on the internet.” (Um.)
Despite Vance’s attempt to paint the members of the chat as some adolescent scallywags or some “college” students, the ages of those involved range from 24 to 31—and the Young Republican Federation is made up of members between 18 and 40 years old.
My precious little 31 year old boys were just joshing around when they said “I love Hitler.” My baby children. They’re so little https://t.co/b6yz6r0MKQ
“Grow up,” Vance added. “I’m sorry, focus on the real issues, don’t focus on what kids say in group chats.” He said: “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.” Well, if that’s his point, then I expect him to speak out in support of the 145 people who were fired from their jobs or disciplined because they said something disagreeable about Kirk’s death. And I also expect him to make sure the six foreign citizens who had their visas revoked for allegedly celebrating Kirk’s death on social media get their visas back.
But the chat’s also revealed the true colors of the future of the GOP party, as some of the chat’s participants already hold elected office. In one of the exchanges, 27-year-old Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglass chimed in on a conversation debating the ethnicity of an unnamed person. After one person said she “was not Indian,” Douglass replied: “She just didn’t bathe often.” The state’s GOP governor, Phil Scott, has since called for the Senator to step down.
Also on Wednesday, 55-year-oldMAGA Congressman Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) went viral after his 24-year-old legislative correspondent got on a Zoom call with someone, revealing a corkboard in Taylor’s office where a printout of the American flag with a swastika in the middle was hanging. Taylor has condemned the symbol in a statement, calling it “vile and deeply inappropriate.” Capitol Police have since launched an investigation. Multiple outlets report that the 24-year-old could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Andrew Kolvet, a MAGA star, the executive producer of Kirk’s show, and spokesperson for Turning Point USA, went on News Nation and refused to condemn the group chat.
Wow. Charlie Kirk’s producer just refused to condemn the Young Republican group chat on stage. pic.twitter.com/ZcOHI6KgRu
Since Kirk’s fatal shooting, the Trump administration has been working overtime to blame the left for a supposed rise in political violence. The Department of Justice quietly removed a study that suggested far-right extremists commit “far more” violence, Trump vowed to punish what he claims is a left-wing network to fund and incite violence, and the White House Chief of Staff once called the Democratic Party a domestic extremist organization.
“Political violence, it’s just a statistical fact that it’s a bigger problem on the left,” Vance also said on the show on Wednesday. Mhm, the political violence is coming from the left—and not the GOP’s “college kids” who say they “love” Hitler.
