Politico released this on Tuesday, and it was promptly shared by top Democrats across the land:
"Look, Republicans are violent and evil too!"
Politico scoured 2,900 pages of chats among college-aged men in the organization Young Republicans. It then found a dozen or so messages that involved bad jokes in bad taste.
In one exchange, Peter Giunta of the New York State Young Republicans joked that everyone who voted against him becoming chair of the Young Republican National Federation would be sent "to the gas chamber."
After Giunta lost the election, his friends joked about "raping" the man who defeated him, Hayden Padgett.
A few more examples from Politico:
Mixed into formal conversations about whipping votes, social media strategy and logistics, the members of the chat slung around an array of slurs — which POLITICO is republishing to show how they spoke. Epithets like 'f----t,' "retarded" and 'n--ga' appeared more than 251 times combined.
In one instance, Walker — who at the time was a staffer for Ortt — talked about how a mutual friend of some in the chat 'dated this very obese Indian woman for a period of time.'
Giunta responded that the woman 'was not Indian.'
'She just didn't bathe often,' Samuel Douglass, a state senator from northern Vermont and the head of the state's Young Republicans, replied to Giunta.
A joke about how Indians have poor hygiene? (Don't you dare laugh!)
Another:
In a separate conversation, Giunta shared that his flight to Charleston, South Carolina, landed safely. Then, he offered some advice for his fellow Young Republicans.
'If your pilot is a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there. Scream the no no word,' Giunta wrote.
Joking about diversity hires crashing planes? (DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH!)
They also made a [trigger warning!] HITLER JOKE.
In another exchange, Dwyer, the Kansas' chair, informs Giunta that one of Michigan's Young Republicans promised him the group 'will vote for the most right wing person' to lead the national organization.
'Great. I love Hitler,' Giunta responded.
Dwyer reacted with a smiley face.
One more:
Walker also uses the moniker 'eyepatch McCain' (originally coined by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson) in an apparent reference to GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
Other messages did stray into the rhetoric of "groypers," the white nationalist fans of Nick Fuentes. A message about sex being "gay," for example, reflected Fuentes' odd comments about how "dating women is gay." There were also disparaging comments about Jews.
But Politico itself noted that many of the slurs were intended as jokes.
Members of the Telegram chat speak about their personal lives, too. Extensive discussions about their everyday lives include one exchange about how devoutly Catholic some chat members are and how often they attend church. Many of the slurs, epithets and violent language used in the chat often appear to be intended as jokes.
After the report, multiple Young Republican chapters, including the national organization, immediately issued an apology.
Others, however, including Vice President JD Vance, pointed the spotlight right back at Democrats, reminding them that no leading Democrat has denounced the actual death wishes from Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones:
People also noted the Left's widespread, open celebration of Charlie Kirk's assassination last month.
As for the uh, "flavor" of the jokes, many individuals explained that this is typical among young men regardless of political affiliation.
The political right was split, however, in its response.
As to what message Politico was trying to send to its readers, I will leave you with this quote:
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.
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