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The revelation of a group chat among prominent leaders of Young Republicans groups that overflowed with racial slurs, Hitler references, and other unsavory material prompted swift condemnation on both sides of the aisle and the loss of jobs for many of those named in the texts.

The existence of the Telegram messages, first reported by Politico, also sparked a war of words between elected officials in New York as Democrats and Republicans sought to blame the other party for the coarsening of political discourse.

On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul was asked about the messages, which involved — among many others — members of the New York State Young Republicans organization. Hochul denounced the comments as “vile” and sought to draw a connection to Republican representative Elise Stefanik, who may challenge Hochul for the governorship next year, suggesting her past rhetoric had set a poor example for rising members of her party.

“ We have a leader from the Republican Party in this state — the highest-ranking individual — who in the backdrop of all this calls our candidate for mayor, one of our candidates for mayor, a ‘jihadist’ and a ‘terrorist’ and then somehow says, ‘Oh, what they said, these Young Republicans, was wrong,’” Hochul said. “ Look at what you say yourself. Look at your inflammatory words, and maybe they have an effect on these young people, many of whom you support and have supported you.”

Alex DeGrasse, a senior adviser for the Stefanik campaign, said Stefanik was “appalled” by the comments and considered them “heinous, antisemitic, racist and unacceptable.” “While none have ever been employed by Congresswoman Stefanik, if the description by Politico is accurate, Congresswoman Stefanik calls for any NY Young Republicans responsible for these horrific comments in this chat to step down immediately,” he said in a statement.

But on social media, Stefanik characterized the Politico story as a “hit piece,” suggesting Democrats were being hypocritical since they haven’t condemned the rhetoric of Jay Jones, the Virginia attorney-general candidate who was revealed to have mused about the violent death of a local Republican lawmaker in recently unearthed text messages sent in 2022, while Republicans have called out the YR leaders.

A reminder for the elected Democrats hyperventilating about this latest @politico hit piece where elected Republicans rightfully condemned the alleged vile statements and delivered accountability in the YR organization (mind you, these were not even candidates for elected office…

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) October 14, 2025

The congresswoman also reiterated her assessment of Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, referring to him as an “Antisemite Defund the Police Communist” and took a parting shot as Hochul. “And the Worst Governor @KathyHochul in America not only supports him, she endorsed him!” Stefanik said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries highlighted Stefanik’s and Republican representative Mike Lawler’s past interactions with some of the local leaders featured in the group chat, sharing photos of Stefanik with Bobby Walker, the chairman of the New York State Young Republicans, and Lawler with Peter Giunta, the former chairman. House Majority PAC, which backs Democratic House candidates, also promoted photos of Lawler with the two men.

Disgraceful New York Republicans Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik have been palling around with these racist, antisemitic and bigoted “Young Republicans” for years.Their silence exposes what’s always been true — the phony outrage was nothing more than performance. pic.twitter.com/ekdrDrlmTT

— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) October 14, 2025

In response, Lawler called the House minority leader a “complete and total fraud.”

“I denounced their racist, antisemitic comments and called for their resignations. You won’t condemn Mamdani’s fundraising for UNRWA, which helped kill Jews on 10/7, or Jay Jones, who fantasized about killing his opponent and children,” he wrote.

In a follow-up to its reporting, Politico noted many of the Republican leaders featured in the offensive group chat have since found themselves out of work. Walker, who was in the running to manage the congressional campaign of Peter Oberacker, will no longer be tapped for the role. Giunta, who worked as the chief of staff for State Assemblymember Michael Reilly, was fired from that position.

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