By Michael Woyton
The old saying “a fish rots from the head” perfectly describes the current Republican Party.
We have a president who shows no grace, no style, no courtesy and is completely uncouth. Ditto the vice president, who revels in others’ misfortune and is the epitome of snark.
So why it is news that, according to thousands of private chat messages, leaders of Young Republicans groups around the country are racists and love Hitler?
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Politico published a story Tuesday after obtaining seven months worth of Telegram chat messages from Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.
“The chat offers an unfiltered look at how a new generation of GOP activists talk when they think no one is listening,” wrote Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo of Politico.
The leaders of the groups were actually worried what might happen if the messages were ever leaked, “but they kept typing anyway.”
Among the chats were comments about Black people being monkeys and “watermelon people.” The chatters even mused about getting rid of political opponents in gas chambers.
Racial and homophobic slurs were used, and the then-vice chairman of the New York State Young Republicans Bobby Walker even referred to rape as “epic.”
The 2,900 pages of chats were shared among millennial and Gen Z Republicans between January and mid-August, Politico reported, with many of the chat members working inside government or party politics. One of them, Samuel Douglass, is a state senator in Vermont.
“Together, the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely — and where the Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders,” Beeferman and Ngo wrote.
Walker, who is now the head of the NYS Young Republicans, apologized, but said that he believes some of the messages were altered or taken out of context.
Newsweek listed the names of all those involved in the chats. They are:
• Bobby Walker, New York
• Peter Giunta, New York
• Joe Maligno, New York
• Alex Dwyer, Kansas
• William Hendrix, Kansas
• Annie Kaykaty, New York
• Luke Mosiman, Arizona
• Samuel Douglass, Vermont
• Brianna Douglass, Vermont
A spokesperson for Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, said Stefanik was “appalled” to learn about the comments, according to Newsweek, and, if Politico’s reporting is accurate, “calls for any NY Young Republicans responsible for these horrific comments in this chat to step down immediately.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-NY, wrote on Facebook that he was “disgusted by the hateful antisemitism and racism revealed in these messages. Anyone involved in this disgraceful behavior should immediately resign from any leadership position and reflect on how far they’ve strayed from basic decency and respect.”
New York State Senator Rob Rolison also posted on Facebook that the comments were “deeply offensive and completely unacceptable. There is no excuse for this kind of language, and no place for it in our lives.”
That’s all well and good to say now, but how many times have we heard the president call a Black congresswoman “low IQ” or a sitting senator “Pocahontas”?
During the campaign, the person who is now the vice president admitted he was willing to make up stories while defending racist rumors about Haitians stealing and eating pets in his home state.
Just two days ago, after Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on social media that it was a “good day” because the surviving Israeli hostages were finally home, the vice president took the opportunity to troll her by posting “The president told me he did this on Indigenous Peoples Day in honor of you.”
The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree, now does it?
This is what the Grand Old Party has turned into.
Just saying the chats are disgusting is barely a start.
Let’s see some real improvement. We’ll be waiting.
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Lead art: Screen grab from Politico.
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