Vance compared the dustup to past violent comments by a Democratic candidate, arguing that Jay Jones’ remarks concerning political violence were worse.
The public release of a Young Republican group chat that included racist language, jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers prompted bipartisan calls for those involved to be removed from or resign their positions.
The Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40, called for those involved to step down from the organization. The group described the exchanges, first reported by Politico, as “unbecoming of any Republican.”
Republican Vice President JD Vance, however, has weighed in several times to speak out against what he characterized as “pearl clutching” over the leaked messages.
Politico obtained months of exchanges from a Telegram conversation between leaders and members of the Young Republican National Federation and some of its affiliates in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.
Here’s a rundown of reaction to the inflammatory group chat, in which the operatives and officials involved openly worried that their comments might be leaked, even as they continued their conversation:Vance
After Politico’s initial report on Tuesday, Vance posted on X a screen grab from 2022 text messages in which Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia’s attorney general race, suggested that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote on Tuesday.
