Vice President Vance addressed the controversial remarks surfacing from a Young Republicans group chat on Wednesday, urging for leniency and understanding towards the participants. He described the offensive comments as “stupid jokes” made by “kids,” cautioning against letting these remarks permanently damage their futures.

During an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” now hosted by associates of the late conservative figure, Vance reinforced his previous statements on social media, where he criticized the widespread outrage triggered by a recent Politico report. He referred to the reaction as excessive “pearl clutching.”

Vance expressed his concerns about online conduct, particularly emphasizing the need for his children, “especially my boys,” to be mindful of their digital footprint. He advised them to consider the possibility that “some scumbag might leak it” with the intent of causing harm to them or their families.

“Kids often make foolish decisions. Especially young boys, they tend to share edgy, offensive jokes. It’s part of growing up,” Vance explained. “We shouldn’t live in a society where a youthful indiscretion — even a highly inappropriate joke — can destroy someone’s life.”

This week, Politico released a revealing report that uncovered thousands of text messages from a Young Republicans group chat. The messages contained racial stereotypes, homophobic slurs, and inappropriate jokes about serious topics such as gas chambers, slavery, and rape.

The group chat included messages from about a dozen leaders associated with the Young Republican National Federation — the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old — and spanned more than seven months this year.

A Mother Jones story pushed back on Vance’s characterization of the participants as “kids,” reporting that 8 of the 11 members in the chat spanned the ages of 24-35, while the progressive-leaning magazine said it could not verify the ages of the other three participants. The Daily Beast reported that Peter Giunta, one of the key figures in the chat, is 31 years old.

Members of the chat held various roles in Republican politics, including a Vermont senator, a New York assemblyman’s chief of staff, an official at the U.S. Small Business Administration and a communications staffer in the Kansas attorney general’s office.

The reporting sent waves through political circles, as the Young Republican leaders mentioned in the story — from New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont — drew intense scrutiny and backlash, including from members of the GOP. Some were promptly fired from their positions, while others are facing calls to resign.

Vance, in his Wednesday interview, described the outrage following the Politico report as a form of cancel culture that needs to be stopped.

“At some point, we’re all going to have to say, ‘Enough of this BS. We’re not going to allow the worst moment in a 21-year-old’s group chat to ruin a kid’s life for the rest of time. That’s just not okay… We’re not canceling kids because they do something stupid in a group chat.”

“And if I have to be the person who carries that message forward, I’m fine with it,” he said.

Vance said he would feel the same way if the participants of the chat were on the other side of the political spectrum.

“And by the way, if they were left-wing kids telling stupid left-wing jokes, I would also not want their lives to be ruined because they’re saying something stupid in a private group chat,” he added.