Arizona Young Republicans tied to racist chat hold ground despite call for resignation Ray Stern, Arizona Republic October 17, 2025 at 6:30 AM 0 Young Republican leaders in Arizona didn't respond to calls to resign after racist and proNazi statements made by them and fellow Young Republicans across ...
- - Arizona Young Republicans tied to racist chat hold ground despite call for resignation
Ray Stern, Arizona Republic October 17, 2025 at 6:30 AM
0
Young Republican leaders in Arizona didn't respond to calls to resign after racist and pro-Nazi statements made by them and fellow Young Republicans across the country got leaked from a chatroom.
Politico reviewed 28,000 leaked comments posted on the Telegram app between January and mid-August between Young Republican leaders in Arizona, Kansas, New York and Vermont. Their messages casually used racist language, made quips about rape and appeared to praise Hitler and Nazis, according to the article published Oct. 14 on the politics site.
The scandal has split the GOP, with some Republicans and groups condemning the leaked comments and others, including the Arizona Young Republicans Federation and Vice President JD Vance, downplaying them.
"As an organization, we stand for due process, transparency and fairness, not mob-style condemnation driven by political opportunism or personal agendas," the Arizona Young Republicans group said in an Oct. 15 statement.
But the group acknowledged "some of the language reportedly shared does not reflect the professionalism, judgment or values we uphold," adding its leaders regret and condemn that some of the statements "could be interpreted as sympathetic to Nazi ideology."
The letter wasn't signed, but the group's chair, Luke Mosiman, and its events chair, Rachel Hope, were among the participants in the chatroom who made offensive statements.
Luke Mosiman, Maricopa County Young Republicans Chairman, and Matthew Martinez speak at a Young Republicans protest against Arizona State University's mask mandate. The protest took place outside the Hayden Library in Tempe on Aug. 13, 2021.
Mosiman and Hope could not be reached for comment. The letter did not mention resignations. The Young Republican National Federation has called on everyone involved to resign their posts.
"Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents," the national group said in an Oct. 14 tweet. "Those involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republicans organizations."
Vance seemed to disagree with that sentiment on an Oct. 15 episode of "The Charlie Kirk Show" podcast.
"The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys," Vance said. "They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do. And I really don't want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke, telling a very offensive, stupid joke, is cause to ruin their lives."
The Arizona group's advisory board includes two Arizona Republican lawmakers and a top official in Turning Point USA.
The Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative, anti-abortion lobby group, fired Mosiman after the Politico story published.
"We take this matter with the utmost seriousness and are committed to making decisions guided by our organizational values, accountability, and faith principles," said Bob Trent, the group's spokesperson.
Off-color comments and 'smiley faces'
The Young Republicans' posts exploded over the internet and fed discussions on national news channels after they were outed by Politico.
Peter Giunta, former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, "was the most prominent voice in the chat spreading racist messages," according to Politico, calling Black people "watermelon people" and said about an NBA playoff game "I'd go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball."
He praised the Orange County Teenage Republican group in New York because he felt "they support slavery and all that s---." The Orange County group repudiated any connection with the Young Republicans.
Giunta, who was fired as chief of staff for New York Assemblyman Michael Reilly after the Politico report, and the Arizona Young Republicans Federation blamed the leak on Gavin Wax, former New York Young Republican Club president.
Wax, the chief of staff and senior adviser to Commissioner Nathan Simington of the Federal Communications Commission, didn't return a call seeking comment.
The posts included an exchange by Kansas' Young Republicans Chair Alex Dwyer, who mentioned that an affiliated group "will vote for the most right wing person" to lead the national organization.
"Great. I love Hitler," Giunta responded, prompting a "smiley face" from Dwyer.
Mosiman was quoted as leading a discussion over a plan to help a political candidate by "linking an opponent to white supremacist groups."
"Can we get them to start releasing Nazi edits with her… Like pro Nazi and faciam [sic] propaganda," Mosiman said in the chat.
"Omg I love this plan," Hope responded.
Mosiman said it might be a problem because the Kansas' Young Republicans would like the opponent, to which two members of the Kansas group and Hope "reacted with a laughing face to the message."
These Young Republicans are far from their teenage years: Mosiman and Hope are in their mid-20s; Giunta is 31. Members in the group chat frequently used slurs to describe Asian, gay, Black, Jewish and Hispanic people, Politico reported.
Bobby Walker, the current leader of the New York group, called the mass rape of indigenous people by Spanish invaders "epic."
He also wondered aloud, "If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr."
Advisory board for AZ group includes state lawmakers
The Arizona Young Republicans site was taken offline, but archived pages show the group had an advisory team that included notable names in Arizona politics.
Austin Smith, one of the advisers, is a former Republican state lawmaker who's been indicted on four felony and 10 misdemeanor counts related to the apparent forgery of petition signatures that helped him get elected. His trial is set for February.
Two current Republican lawmakers are part of the advisory team: state Rep. Matt Gress of Phoenix and Sen. Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek, the chair of the Arizona Freedom Caucus.
Neither Gress nor Hoffman responded to questions about what they advised the group or whether they condoned the language used in the chat.
Turning Point USA's Tyler Bowyer speaks next to a portrait of Charlie Kirk during his memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Sept. 21, 2025.
Adviser Tyler Bowyer is the chief operating officer for Turning Point USA, the group founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in Utah on Sept. 10. He's also the chief financial officer for Turning Point USA's political advocacy arm, Turning Point Action.
Smith is the chief strategist for Turning Point Action.
Mosiman and others in the chat may have shown up for Turning Point USA events, Bowyer told The Republic, but none of them worked for Kirk's group.
Bowyer recently returned from a Washington, D.C., event in which President Donald Trump awarded Kirk a posthumous Medal of Freedom award. He didn't have an immediate response to the chatroom scandal.
Hoffman and Bowyer are two of 11 Arizonans indicted for their alleged roles in presenting themselves falsely as Republican electors for Trump in 2020.
What did Arizona GOP leaders say?
One of Arizona's top Republican elected officials criticized the leaked messages in the aftermath of the Politico report, while another stayed mum.
"Obviously, this is a no-brainer," said Senate President Warren Petersen, who's running for state attorney general. "We condemn any type of racist, fascist — anything like that, we condemn."
Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro didn't return a message.
The Republican Party of Arizona said on social media those using the "hateful rhetoric" documented by Politico "must resign and be held accountable."
The messages have the potential for impact in next year's elections, but political consultants pointed out the general election was more than a year away and the public has a short memory.
"It certainly is going to make for interesting mail pieces," said Democratic strategist Stacy Pearson, who feared the Young Republicans' language won't be as vilified in a political environment that normalizes outrageous and offensive speech.
"We have a president and and vice president who refuse to denounce some of the most disgusting language that humans can use, and refuse to endorse decency," she said. "It's terrifying where we're at right now in politics."
Barrett Marson, a political consultant who works with Republicans, said "we'll see 472 more scandals that will take our attention" before the November 2026 election.
"This one will be fogotten about because we will move on to the next scandal," he said, adding the Republicans involved weren't "high-profile people."
The Arizona Young Republicans appear to be handling the problem in an "absolutely stupid" way," Marson said. "It does show a greater problem that some Young Republicans maybe don't use the best judgment, even when they're talking in private."
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Young Republicans tied to racist chat stand firm, but 1 fired
Source: "AOL General News"
Source: Astro Blog
Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities