Vance to Critics of Young Republicans’ Racist Group Chat: ‘Grow Up!’

Vice President JD Vance downplayed the actions of several Young Republican leaders Wednesday, just hours after a report outlined hundreds of racist, sexist and homophobic remarks they allegedly made in a leaked group chat.

Vance referred to outrage over the shocking messages — which included the group’s national umbrella organization, the Young Republican National Federation, demanding the immediate resignation of those implicated — as “pearl-clutching” and suggested that those concerned with the language used should “grow up.”

“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys — they tell edgy, offensive jokes,” Vance said while appearing as a guest on “The Charlie Kirk Show.” “That’s what kids do.”

YRNF is a GOP-affiliated youth organization, and includes members between 18 and 40 years old. Several of those allegedly involved in the leaked group chat were in their mid-20s to early 30s and worked professionally in politics.

In a post on Tuesday, Vance also compared the Young Republicans’ messages to Virginia’s Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones, who has been accused of calling for violence against his political rivals in another set of leaked private messages.

“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 posted alongside a photo of Jones’ texts. “I refuse to join the pearl-clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”

Politico on Tuesday published an analysis of nearly 3,000 Telegram messages exchanged by a dozen Young Republican leaders from state and local chapters across the country. The outlet found hundreds of offensive and violent messages, including graphic language targeting Democrats, women, minorities and LGBTQ+ groups.

In the chat, members referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people,” joked about using gas chambers and rape against their political opponents, and lauded prominent Republicans who they imagined might support slavery. One said bluntly: “I love Hitler.”

William Hendrix, the vice chair for Kansas’ Young Republicans chapter and a communications assistant for the state’s Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach, allegedly used variations of the N-word more than a dozen times in the messages reviewed by Politico, and said he wanted to join the Missouri chapter because “Missouri doesn’t like f--s,” using a homophobic slur.

When contacted by the publication last week, Kobach’s office said it was aware of the issues raised by the reporting and added that Hendrix is “no longer employed” in Kobach’s office.

The Kansas chapter of Young Republicans was also shut down Tuesday following the story’s publication.

In all, Politico identified 251 instances of homophobic, ableist, and racist slurs, including the N-word.

When contacted, several of those allegedly involved in the group chat apologized.

“I 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,” said Peter Giunta, the chair for New York State Young Republicans. “While 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.”

A number of Republicans denounced the chat in statements to Politico, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who earlier this year received an award from the New York State chapter, and New York state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, whose former staffer, Bobby Walker, contributed to the chat.

“I was shocked and disgusted to learn about the racist, anti-Semitic, and misogynistic comments attributed to members of the New York State Young Republicans,” Ortt said. “This behavior is indefensible and has no place in our party or anywhere in public life.”

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, along with the state’s Republican leaders, said those involved should “resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party.”