A trove of bigoted messages between members of the Young Republicans is deepening a sharp rift among state groups across the country, further fracturing an organization that has been beset with internal discord and infighting for years.

Young Republicans chapters across the country were divided on how to respond to the texts — with some groups staying silent and others immediately denouncing the Telegram group chat revealed by POLITICO that contained racist, homophobic and antisemitic epithets.

Much of the conflict on how to respond to the texts stems from an August election over who would lead the Young Republican National Federation, the umbrella group for all the state chapters known commonly as Young Republicans.

The election essentially split Young Republicans into two groups: On one side was Hayden Padgett, a Texas Republican and current chair of the Young Republican National Federation who was running for reelection. On the other side was Peter Giunta, who led an insurgent group within the Young Republicans and who previously clashed with Padgett, in part because he challenged Padgett to be chair of the national federation in the August election. Giunta ultimately lost the election.

Giunta, however, was one of the members on the leaked text chain and had posted offensive messages, including “I love Hitler” and “If your pilot is a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there. Scream the no no word.” Giunta and other members of the group chat also repeatedly used homophobic slurs to refer to Padgett, with Arizona Young Republicans Chair Luke Mosiman at one point writing “RAPE HAYDEN.”

Giunta, who apologized for the texts, did not respond to a request for comment, and Mosiman declined to comment.

After POLITICO revealed the chats, Young Republican leaders in 23 state groups who supported Padget’s reelection bid quickly released statements condemning the leaked text messages. Several used the statements as an opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty to Padgett: Leaders in Missouri, Alaska and Wisconsin, for example, noted in their statements that they opposed Giunta’s attempt to unseat Padgett in August.

By contrast, many of the state groups that previously supported Giunta were silent in the aftermath of the leak, with the exception of a handful of states including Illinois and Georgia that denounced the texts. Several also appeared to have deleted social media posts expressing support for Giunta’s campaign.

One group that endorsed Giunta and his platform over the summer, the Arizona Young Republican Federation, lambasted what it called “mob-style condemnation driven by political opportunism or personal agendas.”

“While certain voices within our movement have been quick to condemn, many of these same individuals have overlooked or ignored deeply concerning rhetoric and actions on the political left–including public celebrations of the tragic death of Charlie Kirk and Jay Jones, calling for the death of family,” the group said in a statement.

The Arizona group, led by Mosiman, also condemned the rhetoric from the Telegram chat but raised concerns about their “authenticity and context.”

The group also used the controversy as an opportunity to take a swipe at Padgett and YRNF leadership, calling out “a troubling disregard for unity and due process” from national leaders who they said failed to communicate with state leaders before releasing its statement.

When asked about criticism against his leadership, Padgett told POLITICO that any claims of division within the organization are “baseless” while calling on Democrats to condemn violent rhetoric from members of their party.

“The YRNF unequivocally condemned the leaked messages in the Politico article—full stop,” he said. “Outside of those in the sticks, every state and local Young Republican chapter stands united.”

The fight over how to respond to the text scandal ultimately exposes the deep fissures within the Young Republican National Federation, which has around 14,000 members who have historically helped the Republican Party run its ground game during elections. Past chairs include longtime Trump ally Roger Stone as well as members of Congress.

One state chair, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal dynamics, said they were surprised some YRNF leaders were “not as strong in condemning the remarks” but hoped the organization could move forward as a united group.

California Young Republicans Chair Ariana Assenmacher, who was Giunta’s running mate in the August election, said in an interview she was surprised by the rhetoric used in the messages and had no knowledge of nor involvement in the group chat.

“I think it’s a very isolated event, and it’s frustrating to see something that is a very small chat being pushed as representation for Young Republicans across the country, which is obviously not the case,” Assenmacher said.

Young Republicans leaders from more than three dozen states did not respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment or declined to comment.

YRNF has seen bitter clashes between warring factions since Padgett was elected in 2023, when the opposing slate garnered less than one-fifth of the vote. But Giunta’s campaign this year picked up significant traction among state leaders disillusioned with the incumbent leadership, winning 47 percent of the vote in August’s national leadership election.

Another state chair, who was granted anonymity due to fears of retribution, said they were not surprised by the maliciousness of the messages but added that they had “never heard anything like that from the people I am friends with.”

“I don’t like attacking our own,” they said. “We spend a lot of time fighting amongst ourselves. The August election was extremely controversial, and there were personal attacks from both sides, very very unkind stuff.”

The state chair added that YRNF has been plagued by division in recent years and that they were “absolutely sure there’s extremely unkind things” in the messages of Giunta’s opponents.

Valerie McDonnell, the youngest state legislator in New Hampshire who stepped down as a Young Republican national committeewoman in August, said she was appalled by the “repeated terrible language about other members.”

“It wasn’t just a one-off comment. It was, I believe, over a span of six months, just repeated terrible language about other members,” she said. “This just was beyond belief to see the extent of this.”

Still, the second state chair worried that ongoing divisions in the organization following the August leadership election could hamper the organization’s value to the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections.

“These are the meanest people I have ever met in my life,” the person said of their Young Republicans colleagues. “I love this organization so much, and it meant so much to me in my early- and mid-20s, and it is just different. These kids are not the same. I think they’ve grown up in politics only seeing how Trump treats people and they think that’s how you treat people.”

Samuel Benson, Faith Wardwell and Jason Beeferman contributed to this report.

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