Yesterday, Politico released a bombshell expose on a young Republican group Telegram chat with wildly offensive rhetoric. It’s being referred to in the press as the “I love Hilter” chat because… yeah, that’s one of the things they said. Along with multiple variations on the N-word, “the watermelon people,” pro-slavery chatter, talk about raping their enemies, slurs galore, putting their political opponents in gas chambers, and much more. Politico calls it “an unfiltered look at how a new generation of GOP activists talk when they think no one is listening,” and it’s truly a horrifying collection of id gone wild.
The private chat reportedly got leaked to Politico as the result of a Young Republicans internal feud. The chat included a variety of Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont, including William Hendrix, vice chair of the Kansas Young Republicans; Bobby Walker, head of the New York State Young Republicans; Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans; Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committee member; Alex Dwyer, the chair of the Kansas Young Republicans; Samuel Douglass, a state senator from Vermont; Luke Mosiman, chair of the Arizona Young Republicans; and Rachel Hope, the Arizona Young Republicans events chair. And, of course, there are some attorneys on the chat. Michael Bartels, senior adviser in the office of general counsel for the U.S. Small Business Administration and Joe Maligno, id’d himself as the general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans.
Politico notes Bartles was mostly quiet in the chat. But Maligno used racial slurs and joked about Nazism, saying, “Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.”
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Life’s coming fast at the members of the group. The Young Republican National Federation called on them to “immediately resign from all positions.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, called for them to be kicked out of the Republican party, “This bullshit has to stop.” New York Republicans Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt renounced the chat. The Kansas Republican party deactivated their state’s Young Republican organization. Douglass, the Vermont state senator, is facing calls for his resignation. Vermont Governor Phil Scott condemned the messages. (Vice President JD Vance turned it into an opportunity to attack Democrats, because of course.)
And, yes. Several members have already lost their jobs. Many of them were out of work as Politico investigated the story. Now, only a day later, there’s more fall out. Maligno *was* the Associate Court Attorney to Hon. Mary A. Kavanagh, but no more. A spokesperson for the New York State Unified Court System confirmed he’s no longer an employee.
Bartels, the only member of the group chat to be confirmed as a member of the Trump administration, still has a job.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].