‘Gas them’: How a leaked pro-Nazi young Republicans chat sparked GOP storm

A Telegram chat between young members of the US Republican Party was found rife with racism, anti-Semitism, white supremacist symbols and violent language, Politico revealed on Tuesday.

The group chat, called “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” – referring to an organisation called Restore YR, a young Republicans movement – included members of Young Republican organisations in different states, and related organisations.
Peter Giunta, who US media reported is aged 31 and is the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans (NYSR), said he created the group on Telegram to rally support for his campaign to become chair of the national Young Republicans organisation.

The messages, which were sent between early January and mid-August this year, have earned condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats, and participants in the Telegram group chat are now facing pressure to resign from positions within Republican organisations, while some have lost their jobs with elected officials.

What was in the messages?
Politico reported that the chat spanned 2,900 pages of messages. Themes of discussions included:

Nazi support and calls for violence
Giunta, the former chair of NYSR, a political organisation of young members of the Republican Party in New York, wrote “I love Hitler” in one of the messages.

Participants in the chat included Annie Kaykaty, a New York national committee member for the party, and Bobby Walker, who took over as the NYSR chair after Giunta resigned in late September amid allegations of financial mismanagement, including unpaid bills for club events and missing required financial disclosures, a Politico article published at the time revealed.