Vice President Vance said on Wednesday that he did not want racist comments in this explosive young republican group chat To the detriment of the participants’ lives, they were dismissed as “stupid” jokes made by “kids”.
In an interview on “The Charlie Kirk Show” — which is hosted by allies of the now-deceased conservative activist — the vice president doubled down on his viral tweet in which he rejected “pearl clutching” new politico report,
Vance said he would encourage his children, “especially my boys”, to be careful about what they post in group chats and on the Internet, saying they should not assume that “some crook is going to leak it in an attempt to harm you or harm your family.”
“But the reality is that kids do stupid things. Especially young boys, they tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that’s what kids do,” Vance continued. “And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid tells a stupid joke — tells a very offensive, stupid joke — that causes their life to be ruined.”
Politico published an explosive report this week exposing thousands of text messages from a Young Republican group chat in which members used racial stereotypes, used gay slurs and joked about 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 the ages of 18 and 40 — and spanned more than seven months this year.
A mother jones story Vance’s description of the participants as “kids” was emphasized, pointing out that 8 of the 11 members in the chat were aged 24–35, while the progressive-leaning magazine said it could not confirm the ages of the other three participants. The Daily Beast reported One of the key figures in the chat, Peter Giunta, is 31 years old.
Chat members 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 caused a stir in political circles, as the young Republican leaders mentioned in the story – from New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont – drew intense scrutiny and reaction, including from members of the GOP. Some were immediately removed from their positions, while others are facing calls to resign.
In his Wednesday interview, Vance called the outrage following the Politico report a form of cancel culture that needs to stop.
“At some point, we all have to say, ‘Enough of this BS. We are not going to allow the worst moment a 21-year-old has in a group chat to ruin a kid’s life for the rest of the 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 pushes that message forward, I’m fine with that,” he said.
Vance said that if the chat participants were on the other side of the political spectrum, he would have felt the same way.
He added, “And by the way, if they were leftist kids telling stupid leftist jokes, I also wouldn’t want their lives ruined because they said something stupid in a private group chat.”
