Anti-India racism in Trump’s party? Multiple Republicans exposed after chat leak shows pro-Nazi, hateful and racist conversations, jokes about slavery, rape and gas chambers found

The leaders of Young Republicans group have come under fire in the US after their racist chat over Telegram got leaked. Recently, POLITICO exposed the racist and homophobic messages spanning 2000 pages, exchanged by Young Republican group members in a Telegram group chat, “RESTOREYR WAR ROOM” – referring to an organisation called Restore YR, a young Republicans movement.

The chat group was created by Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans (NYSR). Giunta claimed that the group chat was created to rally support for his campaign to become the chair of NYSR.

The offensive messages were sent between early January and mid-August this year. Following the exposé, many Republican leaders have lost their positions as an outrage erupted in the political circles of the US.

The Republican leaders referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people”. They also discussed putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery, POLITICO reported.

The vice chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, William Hendrix, wrote the racist slurs “n–ga” and “n–guh” more than a dozen times during the conversation. At the time, Bobby Walker, the vice head of the New York State Young Republicans, called rape “epic.” In a June message, Peter Giunta, who was then the chair of the same group, stated that “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”

“Im going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers,” Giunta in one of the messages.

In response, Joe Maligno, who previously identified himself as the general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans, wrote, “Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic.”

“I’m ready to watch people burn now,” Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committee member also responded.

In one of the messages, Bobby Wlaker wrote, “If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked”.

Members of the group chat openly discussed the president Donald Trump’s purported efforts to censor data pertaining to billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex offences, the love of Nazis within their party’s right wing, and the pressure to bow to Trump to avoid being labelled a RINO.

In one such case, Alex Dwyer, the chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, wrote, “Trumps too busy burning the Epstein files.”

Racist talks in America are now incomplete without mocking Indians. This Republican group chat was no exception.

Another group member Bobby Walker discussed about how a mutual friend of some in the chat “dated this very obese Indian woman for a period of time.” Doubling down on the hygiene stereotype, Giunta responded that the woman “was not Indian.”

Replying to Giunta, Samuel Douglass, a state senator from northern Vermont and the head of the state’s Young Republicans wrote, “She just didn’t bathe often.”

Walker was set to manage Republican Peter Oberacker’s campaign for Congress in upstate New York, however, a spokesperson for the campaign said Walker will not be brought onboard due to his outrageous commentary in the said Telegram group.

Paul Ingrassia, the newly-nominated lead for the Office of the Special Counsel in the Trump administration also expressed his pro-Nazi thoughts in the group chat. However, Ingrassia withdrew the nomination on Tuesday after the chats leaked. His nomination was pending for a congressional approval, and was scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on Thursday.

“I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia posted on X.

I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.

I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to…

— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) October 21, 2025

He said that the Martin Luther King Jr holiday should be abolished and that he has “a Nazi streak.” Ingrassia wrote, “MLK Jr/s was the 1960s George Floyd and his holiday should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs”.

In one of the messages sent in May 2024, a participant wrote, “Paul belongs in the Hitler Youth with Ubergruppenfuhrer Steve Bannon.” Ubergruppenfuhrer was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany.

Responding to this, Ingrassia wrote, “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.” Ingrassia also made racist remark about Indian-American Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy. “Never trust a Chinaman or Indian. NEVER,” he allegedly wrote.

While Paul Ingrassia withdrew from nonimation for the Office of the Special Counsel, he continues to serve as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security.

The GOP leaders also talked about Nazism with one of them writing, “an we get them to start releasing Nazi edits with her… Like pro Nazi and faciam [sic] propaganda.”

“Omg I love this plan,” Rachel Hope, the Arizona Young Republicans events chair, responded.

In another conversation, a member staying in a hotel asks its members to “GUESS WHAT ROOM WE’RE IN.”

Responding to this, Republican leader Dwyer wrote, “1488”. Here 14 is the number of words in the white supremacist slogan “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” Meanwhile, 88 used as a shorthand for “Heil Hitler.” In another message, Giunta wrote, “Great. I love Hitler.”

In a separate conversation, Mosiman tells the group that, “The Spanish came to America and had sex with every single woman.” “Sex is gay,” Dwyer writes.“Sex? It was rape,” Mosiman replies. “Epic,” Walker says.

Other anti-Asian barbs targeted Chinese Americans with slurs like “Ch—ks”. “Keep the ch—ks, though”.

The GOP leaders also expressed their antisemitic thoughts in the group. In one of the messages, Giunta slandered for the Young Republicans in states that were supporting or leaning toward Hayden Padgett’s faction and wrote, “Minnesota – f—-ts. Arkansas – inbred cow fuckers Nebraska – revolt in our favor; blocked their bind and have a majority of their delegates Maryland – fat stinky Jew … Rhode Island – traitorous c—s who I will eradicate from the face of this planet.”

Additionally, Giunta and other group chat members frequently used homophobic epithets to describe Padgett. Arizona Young Republicans Chair Luke Mosiman wrote, “RAPE HAYDEN.”

Giunta is reported to have apologised now after the chats surfaced in the media. However, he has lost his positionas chief of staff to a New York state assemblyman.

The chat leak has stirred an outrage among both Republicans and Democrats. Samuel Douglass, the Vermont state senator, who made racist remarks in the NYSR Telegram chat group has resigned.  

“I must resign. I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe. If my governor asks me to do something, I will act, because I believe in what he’s trying to do,” Douglass said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Young Republicans Organization has also been disbanded after leaders of the group were revealed to have used the “N—a” word in the group chat.

New York Republican Party chair Ed Cox alleged that the GOP group in question was “already grossly mismanaged, and vile language of the sort made in the group chat has no place in our party or its subsidiary organizations”.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus condemned these messages as a part of “vile tirade” sparing “no community”.

Last week, the New York Republican State Committee voted the Young Republicans group.  

Notably, racism against Asians, Indians and particularly Hindus in US politics is a bipartisan blot. While both Republicans and Democrats talk about diversity and inclusion, their racist mindset finds expression in jokes, in-party rhetoric and policy debates.

While racism and xenophobia are no strangers to US politics, there has been an unprecedented surge in online and offline racist attacks ever since Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign.

Last year, JD Vance’s wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance, a Hindu by religion and a daughter of Indian immigrants was subjected to racist and Hinduphobic attacks from White Christian supremacists who mostly are Republican Party supporters. American commentator and author Ann Coulter told Vivek Ramaswamy on his podcast that she wouldn’t have voted for him because he is an Indian. On numerous occasions, during his stint for the Presidential nomination bid from the Republican party, he had to face questions on Hinduism. Even Tulsi Gabbard has been attacked for her Hindu faith and Indic roots.

Democrats too are not immune. Back in 2006, Joe Biden, who was Delaware senator at that time, addressed an event of Indian-Americans and said, “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”

In 2022,  the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee, a section of the New Jersey Democratic Party, approved a resolution labelling certain Hindu organisation as ‘dangerous hate groups’ and offshoots of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The motion urged that the government classify a number of American Hindu organisations, including the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), and SEWA International, as “domestic branches” of “foreign hate groups.”  

Ron DeSantis, the Florida Governor and Republican leader earlier dismissed Indian tech workers as a “cottage industry” scam. His remarks added fuel to the MAGA narrative which portrays Indians as ‘job-stealing invaders’. His anti-H1-B rhetoric has added to online racist attacks on Indian-Americans, Indians and Hinduism.

More recently, Alexander Duncan, a Texas GOP officials demanded the removal of an idol of Lord Hanuman from public space, calling the Hindu deity a “false God.” In an X post published on 20^th September, Duncan shared a video showcasing the 90-foot-tall statue of Lord Hanuman installed in the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in the town of Sugar Land, Texas, and wrote, “Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation!”

Earlier this year, White and Christian supremacists ignited the H1-B visas debate after Donald Trump nominated American-born Indian Sriram Krishnan as senior policy advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

What began as an online attack slandering Sriram soon snowballed into a full-fledged campaign against H1-B visas for highly-skilled Indians. This was followed by derision and insults directed at Hindus and Hinduism.

And this anti-Indian and anti-Hindu campaign has paid off well for the bigots who partook in it as Donald Trump has backtracked from his earlier stance supporting H1-B visa and skilled immigration, and imposed a $1,00,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions submitted by aliens outside the US. While this rule applies only to new applications, the MAGA faction saw it as a victory for its anti-Indian and anti-Hindu smear campaign.

Last month, Donald Trump’s Trade Adviser, Peter Navarro, who Trump has unleashed as his attack dog to vilify India over its Russian oil purchases, resorted to slandering the Brahmin community. In an interview with Fox News, Navarro invoked caste and accused the Brahmins of India of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.”

“So, you know, look, Modi’s a great leader… But I don’t understand why he’s getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping…when he’s the leader of the biggest democracy in the world. I would simply say to the Indian people. Please, understand what’s going on here. You’ve got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop…” Navarro said.

The Anti-Hindu lobby in the US has been actively running a sinister campaign to push a caste discrimination narrative aimed at undermining and villainising the Hindu community in the US, particularly the Brahmins. Many universities, including Harvard University, Colby College, Brown University, and California State University, have even added caste to their non-discrimination policy. In 2023, the California State Senate in the US passed legislation (SB-403) that banned caste-based discrimination in the State, although it was later vetoed. Not to forget the 2019 CISCO caste discrimination case, which was widely used to vilify the Hindu community as casteist and incompatible with American values. This case was dismissed after no wrongdoing was found.

In recent years, hate crimes against Indian Americans have also been on the rise. According to the FBI’s 2020 data, hate crimes against Indian Americans are up by 500 per cent.

Besides, politics and social media, even the American media and academia perpetuate anti-Hindu bias through selective outrage and erasure. OpIndia has on numerous occasions reported how newspapers like the New York Times, among others, have also been complicit in spinning and amplifying anti-Hindu narratives.

OpIndia earlier reported how DEI programs have been normalising hatred against Brahmins in the US. In their attempts to foment the same hate Nazis had for Jews, several DEI programs were creating prejudices against Hindus, particularly the so-called “upper-caste” Hindus like Brahmins, who are already at the receiving end of hate campaigns of the anti-Hindu elements.

There has been a rising tide of racism and religious hatred against the Hindus in the US. While not all crimes against Indian Americans are driven by religious hatred, the online hate against Hindus has also contributed to this. It must not be forgotten that even the H1-B visas debate began with ‘Indians are taking over our jobs’, but soon turned into blatant Hinduphobia. When politicians in power are filled with reckless racist bigotry there is little hope for a genuinely safe future for Indian-Americans and other communities hated by them for merely existing.