The extremism permissive structure that led to the Young Republicans' chat

It’s not hard to believe that the near future of hatred in this country will be even worse than the past and present.

By Shalise Manza Young

“Minnesota—fa—ots. Arkansas—inbred cow fu--ers. Nebraska-revolt in our favor; blocked their bind and have a majority of their delegates. Maryland—fat stinky Jew…Rhode Island—traitorous cu--s who I will eradicate from the face of this planet.”

“Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.”
“I’m ready to watch people burn now.”

“I’d go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball.”

“So you mean Hayden Fa–ot wrote the resolution himself?”
“RAPE HAYDEN.”

There’s a lot that can be said about the contents of the Young Republicans’ group chat published by Politico last week.

In addition to those above, among the thousands of messages were at least 250 that included the N-word or R-word or the slur for LGBT people. The story grabbed attention, even though it was far from surprising to pretty much everyone Black and anyone who hasn’t had their head in the sand for the last 40 to 50 years knows what the Republican Party is built on: racism, hatred and greed.

But looking at that story as a standalone is to ignore the much larger puzzle, of which this is but a small piece—and an argument can be made that in a relatively short amount of time Vice President JD Vance has become one of the pieces right in the middle, anchoring the others.

When he isn’t vacationing on the taxpayer dime, Vance likes to spend his time on X, telling us he doesn’t “give a shit” that it’s considered a war crime to strike random boats in the Caribbean without due process or seemingly any idea who is on them, or telling Ukrainian president Voldymyr Zelenskyy and non-white Americans that they aren’t sufficiently grateful to the United States.

There’s also calling his predecessor, a pioneering Black woman, “the trash” and spreading the lie that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating their neighbors’ pets, blithely admitting his willingness to “create stories” to get media attention.

Given the hard turn he’s made toward extremism in recent years, whether it was for political expedience or to satisfy his biggest benefactor, the certifiably loony Peter Thiel, or both, Vance’s unwavering defense of the Young Republicans should have been expected.

In the wake of the Politico story, Vance took to X to what-about, highlighting the violent 2022 texts from Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, a Democrat. Vance essentially said he has no interest in pearl clutching about the Young Republicans’ chat because Jones sent inexcusable messages.

Both Republicans and Democrats have denounced Jones for writing that the Virginia speaker of the House should be shot in the head, an abhorrent message. Jones has apologized, publicly and to the person mentioned in the texts. He was not an elected official when he sent the texts.

Vance took things a step further the next day in an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”

“Wishing for political violence and political assassination is 1,000 times worse than what a bunch of young people, a bunch of kids, say in a group chat, however offensive it might be,” Vance said. “[If you are] focusing on what kids are saying in a group chat, grow up.… Focus on the real issues; don’t focus on what kids say in group chats.”

Ok, JD, let’s focus on the real issues:

The chat members are 24 to 35 years old, and the 2,900 pages of texts were all from this year. These are not kids. But Vance’s infantilization of white men is nothing new. How is it that the white men who believe they are the leaders of the master race and qualified to run anything and everything in this country no matter how clueless they are must also be treated like children? Are they all-knowing or all toddlers?

In contrast, Vance is part of the regime that, in conjunction with its militarization of Washington, D.C., got the House of Representatives to approve lowering the age at which a minor in the city can be charged as an adult to 14. So a 14-year-old—and let’s be honest, since D.C. is about 40% Black, we know exactly which 14-year-olds are being targeted—can be charged as an adult but a 35-year old (reminder: that is the age at which you can run for president) can say “ ‘Take a shower and relax.’ Boom they’re dead” is just a widdle boy who doesn’t know better yet?

Vance gives passing recognition to the chat contents being “offensive” even as he is excusing it all away. Those Young Republicans discussed gas chambers and a love of Hitler, cheered on Republican high schoolers in New York who allegedly support slavery, and trafficked in the same tired tropes about Black people liking fried chicken, watermelon, and Kool-Aid.

This is the same man who pushed for people criticizing Kirk in the wake of his death, usually by quoting Kirk’s own words, to be fired from their jobs and who loves to talk about a “violent left” that doesn’t exist.

Given Vance’s staunch defense of the texters and that he and other regime leaders, including screaming, sociopathic White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and “diversity is not our strength” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, are all 45 or younger, it’s not a leap to believe that the near future of hatred in this country will be even worse than the past and present.

Thanks to a certain tangerine-colored tyrant, the kind of “blood and soil” invective in the Young Republicans group and from Vance, Miller, Hegseth, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt and a growing number of others doesn’t have to live in group chats anymore, doesn’t have to be said from under a white hood.

According to the vice president, as long as you’re white, all manner of violent, racist, homophobic, antisemitic, white supremacist talk is no big deal. You can be 19 or 79; as long as some Democrat somewhere did something bad, it’s justified.

Who cares if those spreading that hatred are influencing elections and policy? Who cares if millions of Americans from long-marginalized groups fear for their safety in their own country?

As Vance would say, it’s just kids being kids. Grow up.

Shalise Manza Young was most recently a columnist at Yahoo Sports, focusing on the intersection of race, gender and culture in sports. The Associated Press Sports Editors named her one of the 10 best columnists in the country in 2020. She has also written for the Boston Globe and Providence Journal. Find her on Bluesky @shalisemyoung.

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