Leaked texts of Young Republicans expose racist, pro-Nazi groupchats

Months of private Telegram conversations between Young Republican leaders across several states depict a startling culture of racist, fascist strategizing, according to an exclusive investigation by Politico.

More than 2,900 pages of Telegram chats obtained by the publication show repeated uses of violent, anti-Black, and antisemitic terminology, including the phrase "I love Hitler." Members of the group chat praised violent sexual assault and repeatedly used racist, ableist, and sexist slurs. Some evoked Holocaust imagery when discussing political opponents and casually used white supremacist dogwhistles. Many of them parroted talking points by conservative figureheads while doing so, including Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk.

Leaders implicated in the leak include Kansas Young Republican vice chair William Hendrix and New York State Young Republican leaders Bobby Walker and Peter Giunta, as well as one Trump administration employee, Michael Bartels. Guinta said in a statement that the leaks were part of a targeted character assassination, but did not categorically refute the contents. Other Young Republican leaders have denounced the chat, while the White House denied any affiliation with the Young Republican splinter group. All together, the group is a segment of a new wave of GOP activists, many of whom led the charge to get President Donald Trump back into office in 2025.

The Trump administration and its vocal Republican allies haven't refrained from using social media in increasingly controversial ways, including sharing racist and xenophobic posts, applauding anti-LGBTQ actions, and targeting individual dissenters directly. Groupchats, at large, have posed a different set of problems for conservative leaders, including the controversial exposed Signal chats between the nation's top defense leaders, Vice President JD Vance, and the editor in chief of the Atlantic. Behind the scenes, a robust network of Signal conversations between private industry leaders and political figures formed the basis of Trump's re-election campaign and rapid shift in political support, documented in a sprawling investigation by Semafor.

Last week, leaked Signal messages between top White House advisors showed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was considering deploying the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne infantry to Portland, the current hot spot for Trump's crackdown on so-called ANTIFA organizers. First reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune, the chats appear to show the Trump administration is still relying on the third-party encrypted messaging platform to discuss sensitive government operations — despite ongoing privacy (and reputational) concerns.

UPDATE: Oct. 15, 2025, 10:21 a.m. An earlier version of this story listed former New York State Young Republican vice chair as "Bobby Hendrix." It has been corrected.