Overview

The Young Republicans Telegram Group Chat Leak refers to an October 2025 leak of alleged messages sent by members of the Young Republicans organization, comprised of GOP Gen Z and Millennial politicians and organizers, across several group chats on Telegram, which included edgy humor and controversial statements, including references to rape, Adolf Hitler, Holocaust gas chambers, slavery and variations of the N-word. The messages were leaked in a POLITICO article, written by journalist Jason Beeferman. Notable figures named in the piece were William Hendrix (Kansas Young Republicans), Bobby Walker (New York State Young Republicans), Peter Giunta (New York State Young Republicans), Annie Kaykaty (New York State Young Republicans) and Samuel Douglass (Vermont Young Republicans), among others. The leaked messages stirred controversy and backlash against the organization and its members. Viral posts, reactions and memes about the leak surfaced on Twitter / X, TikTok and Reddit, among other social media sites, in the following days. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance also reacted to the leak in a viral tweet in which he shared a screenshot of leaked messages from former Virginia State Delegate and Democratic Party member Jay Jones, saying that they were "far worse than anything said in a college group chat."

Background

On October 14th, 2025, POLITICO^[1] published an article by journalist Jason Beeferman, titled, "'I love Hitler': Leaked messages expose Young Republicans' racist chat." The article discussed alleged Telegram chats obtained by POLITICO spanning seven months of messages between members of the Young Republicans, a youth organization for members of the Republican Party (GOP) aged between 18 and 40.^[2]

The messages obtained were from Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont, including William Hendrix (Kansas), Alex Dwyer (Kansas), Bobby Walker (New York), Peter Giunta (New York), Annie Kaykaty (New York), Samuel Douglass (Vermont), Luke Mosiman (Arizona) and Rachel Hope (Arizona), among others.^[1]

Among the messages were references to rape, Adolf Hitler, Holocaust gas chambers, slavery and the "n--ga" and "n--guh" variations of the N-word. For instance, one string of messages highlighted by POLITICO showed messages between Giunta, Walker, KayKaty, Maligno, Hope and Dwyer, showing them joking about gas chambers.^[1]

Online Reactions

On October 14th, 2025, POLITICO's Jason Beeferman posted about the article on his X^[3] account, @JasonBeeferman, gaining over 4.7 million views and 17,000 likes in a day.

The tweet received several quote-tweets from other users who levied their reactions to the story.

For instance, on October 14th, X^[4] user @monicavenzke quote-tweeted Beeferman's post, attaching two photos from the article showing Bobby Walker and William Hendrix, captioned, "And it's ALWAYS dudes that look like this." The post received over 19,000 likes in a day.

Also on October 14th, 2025. X^[5] user @TrueSlazac quote-tweeted the post as well, attaching a screenshot of one of the obtained messages that read, "If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked FR FR." The post gained over 10,000 likes in a day.

On October 15th, the official Newsweek Reddit account shared a Newsweek^[7] article to the /r/politics^[6] subreddit, with the title, "Full List of Young Republicans Involved in Offensive Chats," gaining over 30,000 likes in a few hours.

On October 14th, 2025, X^[9] user @Cernovich countered the backlash that the Young Republicans organization was facing. He wrote, "Young Republicans blowing off steam in immature group texts isn't in the same universe as a powerful Democrat fantasizing about killing kids. Couldn't give a crap less about that nonsense," referring to leaked messages from former Virginia State Democratic Delegate Jay Jones that referenced shooting former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert.^[10] The tweet received over 14,000 likes in a day.

Developments

Kansas Young Republicans Shut Down

On October 14th, 2025, the Kansas Reporter^[8] reported that the Kansas Young Republicans had shut down following the leaks. William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans' vice chair, was terminated from his position in the office of Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.

J.D. Vance's Reaction

On October 14th, 2025, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance posted a tweet^[11] about the Young Republicans Chat Leak in which he shared the screenshot of the leaked message sent by former Democratic Virginia Delegate Jay Jones.^[10] He wrote, "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," and the tweet received over 131,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References