JD Vance is under fire for his reaction to the exposure of racist messages from the Young Republicans club, which has escalated into a widespread controversy.

The Young Republicans, a prominent college-level GOP organization, found itself engulfed in turmoil after Politico released group chat transcripts. These chats shockingly included remarks equating Black people to monkeys and expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler.

The vice president expressed anger over the uproar caused by these revelations, which even drew sharp criticism from Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

Vance countered by highlighting what he perceives as a double standard, pointing out the lack of Democratic outcry over leaked communications involving Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia’s attorney general. In those messages, Jones reportedly suggested violence against Virginia’s former House speaker and expressed ill wishes towards another GOP politician’s family.

Vance stated, “This is far more egregious than any comments made in a college group chat, and the individual responsible could potentially become Virginia’s attorney general.”

‘I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.’

Democrats and Republicans called for the students to lose their jobs and resign from any positions they have within the GOP apparatus. Vance, however, was not interested in joining the bandwagon.

The Young Republicans board of directors published an apology on Tuesday after the racist contents of the group chats were leaked to Politico. 

JD Vance dismissed the outrage to leaked racist text messages from Young Republican members 

Previously, Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones called for the former Virginia House speaker to be shot

Assembly member Mike Reilly fired his chief of staff Peter Giunta (pictured) after he was accused of being an active participant in the chat. Giunta allegedly wrote ‘I love Hitler’ and ‘everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber’ in the private messages

Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, Abigail Spanberger, refused to say whether she would endorse or denounce Jones’ candidacy during an October 9th debate.

Leaked text messages showed Jones calling for former State House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his family to be killed.

One text message allegedly from Jones says that Gilbert should receive ‘two bullets to the head.’

Vance’s excerpt from one of the messages shows Jones claiming ‘only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.’

Meanwhile, some conservatives who frequently oppose the Trump administration denounced Vance for shifting the focus away from the racist Republican texts to Jones. 

‘Translation: “Because a politician for the other team said something indefensible, I shall refuse to criticize something else indefensible said by my team” is exactly the kind moral cowardice and sophistry I’ve come to expect from our Vice President,’ wrote The Dispatch editor-in-chief Jonah Goldberg on X.

‘Oh and to call criticism of bigotry “pearl clutching” is pathetic, cheap, posturing.’

The Bulwark’s Andrew Egger also attacked Vance by writing, ‘Obviously, this wasn’t Vance’s opinion like two weeks ago when random nobodies were making tasteless posts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.’ 

Jones also wished that a GOP politician’s children would die, according to the leaked text messages

The Young Republican National Federation has 15,000 members across the United States, all aged between 18 and 40.

Some of those members work within elected offices throughout the country. After Politico’s exposé, at least one member of the group chat was let go from his job, and another had an offer of employment rescinded, the publication states.

New York Republicans Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt are among politicians to have publicly denounced the chat.

Assembly member Mike Reilly fired his chief of staff Peter Giunta after he was accused of being an active participant in the chat.

Giunta allegedly wrote ‘I love Hitler’ and ‘everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber’ in the private messages.

‘The comments shared in the group chat that have been reported are extremely troubling and disappointing. They do not align with my values. As a result, Mr. Giunta’s assignment in my office has ended,’ Reilly said.

In Kansas, the chairman of the Republican Party revealed on Tuesday the entire Kansas Young Republicans organization would be immediately deactivated after prominent members of the chapter were accused of being participants in the chat.

University of Dayton professor Art Jipson, who specializes in white racial extremism, blamed Trump for influencing the language of young Republicans.

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston noted Trump had nothing to do with the group chat

University of Dayton professor Art Jipson, who specializes in white racial extremism, blamed Trump for influencing the language of young Republicans

 ‘Trump’s persistent use of hostile, often inflammatory language that normalizes aggressive discourse in conservative circles can be incredibly influential on young operatives who are still trying to figure out, “What is that political discourse?”‘ Jipson said.

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston hit back at that categorization, noting Trump had nothing to do with the group chat. 

‘Only an activist, left-wing reporter would desperately try to tie President Trump into a story about a random groupchat he has no affiliation with, while failing to mention the dangerous smears coming from Democrat politicians who have fantasized about murdering their opponent and called Republicans Nazis and Fascists,’ she said in response to the Politico article. 

‘No one has been subjected to more vicious rhetoric and violence than President Trump and his supporters.’

Giunta later issued an apology for the comments attributed to him, saying: ‘I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republican National Federation.

‘While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored.’

Giunta claimed he had been the victim of a ‘highly-coordinated year-long character assassination’ and had withstood a ‘barrage of slanderous accusations as well as the dissemination of ai-generated social media posts to falsify past statements I’ve been accused of making.’

Bobby Walker, who at the time of the group chat was vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, has also publicly issued a statement after the article alleged he referred to rape as ‘epic.’

The Young Republicans organization has railed against members involved in a ‘vile and inexcusable’ group chat which joked about rape, supporting Hitler and racism. Pictured: Young Republican National Chairman Hayden Padgett

 He said the messages ‘may have been altered, taken out of context, or otherwise manipulated’ noting the ‘private exchanges were obtained and released in a way clearly intended to inflict harm.’

‘There is no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. The language is wrong and hurtful, and I sincerely apologize,’ he added.

New York Congressman Mike Lawler also condemned the chat, writing on X: ‘I’m disgusted by the hateful antisemitism and racism revealed in these messages.

‘Anyone involved in this disgraceful behavior should immediately resign from any leadership position and reflect on how far they’ve strayed from basic decency and respect.’