"I love Hit!er" wrote Peter Giunta, the Chair of the New York State Young Republicans.
While running for NATIONAL Chair in June, Giunta wrote that âeveryone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.â And said if he won, âI'm going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers.â
âCan we fix the showers? Gas chambers donât fit the Hitler aesthetic,â Joe Maligno, who previously identified himself as the General Counsel (a lawyer) for the New York State Young Republicans, wrote back.
In another exchange, Alex Dwyer, the Kansasâ chair, informed Giunta that one of Michiganâs Young Republicans promised him the group âwill vote for the most right wing personâ to lead the national organization.
âGreat. I love Hit!er,â Giunta responded.
Dwyer reacted with a smiley face.
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The exchange is part of a trove of 2,900 pages of Telegram chats â obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than seven months of messages among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.
Mixed into formal conversations about whipping votes, social media strategy and logistics, the members of the chat slung around an array of slurs â which POLITICO is republishing to show how they spoke. Epithets like âf——t,â âretardedâ and ân—gaâ appeared more than 251 times combined.
The chat offered an unfiltered look at how a new generation of GOP activists talk when they think no one is listening, says POLITICO.
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Peter Giunta made clear in his posts the kind of people he DIDN'T want in HIS Republican party, making references about monkeys, watermelon people and DEI pilots, and the other participants responded with comments in kind.
Just some kid, showing off for his gang at the playground?
Nope. This is a grown man. The Young Republicans covers age 18-40. These are not college frat boys, but actively involved, ambitious people networking for public office and the organizations and think tanks that support the Republican Party.
Peter Giunta has been New York Assemblyman Michael Reilly's chief of staff for over 5 years. No more. He just got fired.
Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott called for state Sen. Sam Douglass to resign Tuesday, after his comments in the chat surfaced. The governor was joined by the state's top four house and senate Republican leaders.
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Peter Giunta has apologized. Sort of.
âI am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans,â he said.
But then he went on to follow the Trump playbook, and accuse his accusers of planting FAKE NEWS.
âWhile I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored.â
At least, the denial PROVES that he knows the remarks he is accused of making are reprehensible.
But we all know how this goes. The next Trump stage is to double-down - with fist pumps.
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JD Vance has already started, dismissing the months-long Telegraph conversation as a "college group chat" and saying, "I refuse to join the pearl clutching," according to USA Today.
Shortly after Vance's statement, New York Rep. Stefanik echoed the same sentiment in a post on X. She accused "Democrats hyperventilating about this latest Politico hit piece" of having a double standard when it comes to Democrats making violent or hateful comments.
Sure. As if someone ELSE doing the bad thing makes what YOU do OK. It's not OK, Elise. That is the kind of 5-year-old logic, integrity, and morals your own leader, Donald Trump, models.
In fact, here is Trump's response. Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, rejected the idea that Trumpâs rhetoric had anything to do with the chat membersâ language.
âOnly an activist, left-wing reporter would desperately try to tie President Trump into a story about a random groupchat he has no affiliation with, while failing to mention the dangerous smears coming from Democrat politicians who have fantasized about murdering their opponent and called Republicans Nazis and Fascists,â she said. âNo one has been subjected to more vicious rhetoric and violence than President Trump and his supporters.â
Tell that to the family of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband who were shot and killed, along with their dog. And Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife who were also shot while sheltering their daughter.
Tell that to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose residence was set on fire at 2 am during Passover, by a man armed with a sledgehammer and Molotov cocktails, while he and his wife and 3 children slept, along with 15 houseguests, including 3 more children.
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Elise Stefanik also tried to downplay the groupchat, like Vance, by saying, "Mind you, these were not even candidates for elected office."
EXCUSE ME. They were already serving IN public office, or FOR those in public office. These people plan to not only be Representatives, Senators, and even President, they also plan to mold the Republican party AND NATIONAL POLICY in the future.
And although Stefanik had her spokesperson make a public statement saying she was appalled, BOTH he and Stefanik made the caveat that "ONLY IF" the allegations "proved authentic" should the participants step down. Insinuating "fake news" as well.
Earlier this year, POLITICO reports, Stefanik accepted an award from the New York State Young Republicans, led by Peter Giunta. She lauded him for his âtremendous leadershipâ in August, and had her campaign and the political PAC she leads donate to that state organization.
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Meanwhile, the Young Republicans national organization board of directors responded on October 14, by saying, "We are appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article published today."
"Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents. Those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations. We must hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, respect, and professionalism," the organization said.
Peter Giunta came within 6 points of winning the National Chairmanship of that very organization.
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Sourced from POLITICO, The Hill, USA Today and VTdigger
Photos: Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump, JD Vance - Getty Images
Vermont State Sen. Sam Douglass by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Peter Giunta participates in a CNN-POLITICO Grill discussion at the Republican National Convention by Rod Lamkey Jr. for POLITICO
