State GOP to disband Young Republican chapter after hateful texts revealed, sources say

ALBANY — Republican officials around New York State will convene Friday to disband their Young Republican organization, following reports that members in online chats joked about gas chambers and slavery and praised Adolf Hitler, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The Republican State Committee has slated a virtual meeting where it intends to strip the charter from the New York State Young Republican Club, the sources said. The group could be reorganized at a later date with new leaders.

The action stems from a Politico report which detailed seven months of racist and homophobic text messages from young GOP activists in New York, Vermont, Arizona and Kansas.

For example, Peter Giunta, a former chairman of the New York State Young Republican Club at the time, posted "I love Hitler," Politico reported. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republican Club at the time, called rape "epic."

Kansas Republicans quickly disbanded its Young Republicans group. Now, New York is poised to do the same.

A message was sent Thursday to members of the Republican State Committee, announcing a meeting Friday to "review the approval of the use of ‘Republican’ by the New York State Young Republican Committee," as well as the "voting rights of the New York State Young Republican Committee as part of the Executive Committee," according to a copy obtained by Newsday.

Sources said this will lead to the stripping of the charter of the NYS Young Republican Committee.

"That's the understanding," one of the sources said.

A spokesman for Ed Cox, the state Republican chairman, confirmed a meeting has been slated for Friday but declined to comment further. Cox publicly has condemned the language in the Young Republicans' chat.

The messages were exchanged on Telegram, a social media and instant messaging service.

Politico reported in one exchange, Guinta, when asked if New Yorkers in the chat were watching an NBA playoff game, responded: "I’d go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkeys play ball."

At another point, he referred to Black people as "watermelon people," according to Politico.

Some joked about putting their opponents in gas chambers, a Nazi/Hitler reference. Others praised people they thought supported slavery.

"If we ever had a leak of this chat, we would be cooked," Walker posted in one message.

Fallout has been swift since the Politico article was published.

Giunta has been fired from his job as chief of staff to Assemb. Mike Reilly (R-Staten Island), the Staten Island Advance reported. Walker will no longer have a role, according to multiple reports, on the congressional campaign of State Sen. Peter Oberacker, who is running for a Catskills/Hudson Valley seat.

In Vermont, State Sen. Samuel Douglass, who reportedly made antisemitic and racist remarks in the chat, has faced calls for his resignation from his own Republican Party and the governor.

On Long Island, DawnMarie Kuhn, the Young Republicans' recording secretary and Islip town board candidate, condemned the chat and told Newsday's The Point she was not a participant. On her campaign site, she later wrote: LET ME BE CLEAR: I WAS NOT IN THE GROUP CHAT."

Other Long Island GOP leaders denounced the chat and its participants. 

"I don't know many of these people, or if I know any of them or met one or two of them, but their words are repugnant and they have no place in the Republican Party or anywhere else," said Joe Cairo, Nassau County GOP chairman and national GOP committeeman. 

"These immature individuals do not represent the values of the Republican Party," said Jesse Garcia, Suffolk County GOP chairman. "They should resign and they should have no position in public service."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy