Politico obtained 2,900 pages of chats between leaders of Young Republicans groups, and the contents offer a timely reminder about the kind of systemic problems the party should want to address. From the article:
Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.
Politico added that members of the group chat (which has not been independently verified by MSNBC) “spoke freely” about, among other things, “the love of Nazis within their party’s right wing.”
The reporting is devastating, and it reinforces a series of profoundly important questions, not only about pervasive racism in Republican politics, but also about Donald Trump’s role in making overt bigotry more common in the GOP’s discourse.
The messages, Politico noted, “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.”
Common sense and common decency might suggest that prominent GOP leaders would rush to condemn the disgusting texts categorically and to make clear that the party will not tolerate such repulsive garbage. Indeed, it’s only fair to note that some Republicans did exactly that after the Politico report was published.
But JD Vance apparently had a different response in mind.
In Virginia, a former state lawmaker named Jay Jones is the Democratic nominee for state attorney general this year, and he recently found himself at the center of a major scandal after the public learned of violent texts he sent in 2022.
Referencing Jones’ texts, the vice president wrote via social media, “This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia. I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.” In other words, confronted with Republican texts that were racist and violent — complete with references to gas chambers — Vance’s first instinct wasn’t to condemn those responsible for those messages; his first instinct was to downplay the scandal and go after a Democrat. To the extent that anyone might be persuaded by the Ohio Republican’s unfortunate attempt at clumsy and unnecessary spin, it’s worth emphasizing that Politico’s report was about more than “a college group chat.” The participants in question weren’t just random teens popping off between classes: Some of these Republicans are in their 30s and are currently working for elected officials, ostensibly serving the public. One, Samuel Douglass of Vermont, is even a sitting state senator. (The state’s Republican governor, Phil Scott, wasted little time in calling for Douglass’ resignation.) For Vance to suggest it’s “pearl clutching” to condemn those who were part of this group chat says a great deal about the vice president’s judgment.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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