{"id":13266,"date":"2025-10-16T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T07:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13266"},"modified":"2025-10-16T15:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T07:19:04","slug":"vance-says-young-republicans-accused-of-racism-shouldnt-have-their-lives-ruined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13266","title":{"rendered":"Vance says young Republicans accused of racism shouldn’t have their lives ‘ruined’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vice President JD Vance has come to the defense of young Republican leaders who are under scrutiny after Politico published \u201chundreds of racist and hateful messages\u201d from what it reported was their private group chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201creality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,\u201d Vance said Wednesday in an appearance on \u201cThe Charlie Kirk Show,\u201d the podcast launched by the recently assassinated conservative activist who was a close ally of Vance and President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey tell edgy, offensive jokes, like, that\u2019s what kids do,\u201d Vance continued. \u201cAnd I really don\u2019t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke \u2014 telling a very offensive, stupid joke \u2014 is cause to ruin their lives. And at some point we\u2019re all going to have to say enough of this BS, we\u2019re not going to allow the worst moment in a 21-year-old\u2019s group chat to ruin a kid\u2019s life for the rest of time. That\u2019s just not OK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The messages, which were sent through the Telegram app and obtained by Politico, reportedly included racial slurs about Black and Latino people, praise of Adolf Hitler and jokes about sending opponents to gas chambers. NBC News has not independently verified the authenticity of the messages, which some members have apologized for while also suggesting the messages may have been altered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least three of the leaders who participated in the group chat no longer have the public jobs they had before Politico began its reporting, according to the news outlet. A fourth was not hired to work on a congressional campaign as had been planned. There has been an outcry for others involved to face consequences, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe live in a digital world. This stuff is now etched in stone online,\u201d Vance said Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re all going to have to say: \u2018You know what? No, no, no, we\u2019re not doing this.\u2019 We\u2019re 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\u2019m fine with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Republicans and Democrats have condemned members of the group chat for their commentary. The group featured leaders of Young Republican chapters in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont, some of whom worked as GOP campaign operatives or held elected office themselves. The chapters fell within the Young Republican National Federation, the party\u2019s 15,000-member group for Republicans ages 18 to 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe deeply offensive and hateful comments reportedly made in a private chat among members of the New York State Young Republicans are disgusting,\u201d Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said on X. \u201cThey should resign from any leadership position immediately and reflect on how far they have strayed from basic human respect and decency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Young Republicans\u2019 board of directors condemned the comments Tuesday, saying the organization is \u201cappalled by the vile and inexcusable language,\u201d which it described as \u201cdisgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose involved must immediately resign from all positions within their state and local Young Republican organizations,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cWe must hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, respect, and professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group chat featured members who were a part of a \u201cRestore YR\u201d effort to shift power dynamics at the organization, Politico reported. The White House said Wednesday it had no connection to the effort and had not blessed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike hundreds of other groups, they asked for an endorsement and never got one,\u201d a White House official said. \u201cThe White House has zero affiliation with this group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance\u2019s remarks Wednesday continued a contrast he first drew after the Politico article broke a day earlier, when, in a post on X, he compared the situation to a controversy that has engulfed Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia. Jones has faced bipartisan backlash since text messages from 2022 surfaced in which he suggested the top Republican in the state House of Delegates deserved \u201ctwo bullets to the head\u201d and suggested that GOP leader\u2019s political views could change if his children died. Jones has apologized in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was glad to see the younger Republicans step up and other Republican organizations step up to call the stuff out, because it\u2019s disgusting and it should not be acceptable,\u201d said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist working with multiple potential 2028 presidential hopefuls. \u201cFor the vice president of the United States to come out and do that and to \u2018both sides\u2019 it is ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday\u2019s podcast, which was broadcast from the White House, Vance expounded on his post, positing that Jones \u201cis about to become one of the most powerful law enforcement officers in the country\u201d after \u201cseriously wishing for political violence and political assassination.\u201d That, Vance argued, \u201cis 1,000 times worse than what a bunch of young people \u2014 a bunch of kids \u2014 say in a group chat, however offensive it might be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just reality,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd if you allow yourself to be distracted by this person\u2019s incredible endorsement \u2014 disgusting endorsement \u2014 of political assassination by focusing on what kids are saying in a group chat, grow up. I\u2019m sorry. Focus on the real issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance\u2019s position reflects a frustration many Republicans have been commiserating about privately, several people close to the Trump administration told NBC News. A former Trump White House official, granted anonymity to candidly assess Vance\u2019s messaging strategy, said Vance is distinguishing between largely inexperienced Republican operatives \u2014 relative kids in the party, if not age \u2014 and a major party\u2019s nominee for high office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one there has accomplished anything of any significance at a professional level in the Republican movement,\u201d this person said, referring to the group chat. \u201cAnd Jay Jones is obviously a very significant figure, and he\u2019s running to be the chief law enforcement officer in the state of Virginia, so his texts are actually something the vice president should be commenting on. The vice president shouldn\u2019t have to comment on the texts of nobodies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not the first time Vance has employed such an argument. In February, he advocated for rehiring a federal employee who had resigned over social media posts supporting racism and eugenics. \u201cStupid social media activity,\u201d Vance argued then, should not \u201cruin a kid\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the lines of what Republicans view as free and protected speech have blurred since Kirk\u2019s death last month, with Vance and others calling for those who have celebrated his killing to lose their jobs. Vance has tried to draw distinctions between what he sees as speech promoting violence and speech that he views to be simply in poor taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy 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\u2019re saying something stupid in a private group chat,\u201d Vance said Wednesday in discussing the Young Republicans issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vance was far from alone in contrasting the group chat with Jones\u2019 messages. Alex Bruesewitz, a former Trump campaign adviser, said on X that Vance \u201cis spot on\u201d with his thinking about the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIdiotic texts from college kids pale in comparison to a full-grown man gunning for attorney general \u2014 sending vile messages that explicitly call for murdering his political rivals and even their innocent children,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But other GOP leaders offered strong condemnations of the group chat commentary, too, while condemning Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be very clear, the comments revealed yesterday were reprehensible and have no room in our party, let alone our country,\u201d former White House spokesman Harrison Fields said on X. \u201cNow let\u2019s also be clear, Democrats foaming at the mouth at this rings shallow considering they and the media are ridiculously silent when it comes to Jay Jones and his violent and raged-filled rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Republican operative who has been close to the White House said Vance\u2019s stance is in line with that of a party that has for years felt forced to apologize for even minor transgressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this person said the comments reported in the story have \u201cno place in our party and no place in the country.\u201d The operative said Republicans can both condemn the remarks and spotlight what they see as Democratic hypocrisy around Jones, who could soon hold a far more powerful perch than any of the Republicans in the group chat and has not been forced from the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to cede any ground to the Democrats in the media by giving any legitimacy to these ridiculous comments,\u201d this person said. \u201cI can understand where the vice president is coming from. Do I think he could be more clear that the comments were not just a joke? This was not locker room speak. Let\u2019s be clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This person continued, saying the chat cannot be written off as \u201cboys being boys\u201d and \u201ckids being kids\u201d because \u201cthey\u2019re grown-a– men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI fully understand why the vice president has been very reluctant to bloviate at this scandal, because it pales in comparison to what the Democrat rhetoric has been and the consequences of that rhetoric, and I think that\u2019s why the conservative movement, largely, is pretty silent and pretty dismissive of it all,\u201d this person said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I think this is just a negative reality of politics today. \u2026 We\u2019re missing the middle where everyone can come together and say what was said here in these chats were horrible, what was said with Jay Jones is horrible,\u201d this person said. \u201cJay Jones should get out of the race. These people should resign and probably never have a job in politics again. Why can\u2019t we have that middle ground? I don\u2019t have the answer to that question.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vice President JD Vance has come to the defense of young Republican leaders who are under scrutiny after Politico published \u201chundreds of racist and hateful messages\u201d from what it reported was their private group chat. The \u201creality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,\u201d Vance said Wednesday in an appearance on \u201cThe Charlie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3700,3050,2568],"class_list":["post-13266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-messages","tag-re","tag-vance"],"yoast_head":"\nVance says young Republicans accused of racism shouldn't have their lives 'ruined' - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vance says young Republicans accused of racism shouldn't have their lives 'ruined' - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vice President JD Vance has come to the defense of young Republican leaders who are under scrutiny after Politico published \u201chundreds of racist and hateful messages\u201d from what it reported was their private group chat. 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