A Political article published on October 14, revealed hundreds of racist and other hateful messages sent Young Republican chapter leaders in a private group chat. In response, many on the right were quickly condemn vile messagesincluding the Young Republican National Federation.
But others, including the US vice president, seem more concerned about throwing young Republicans under the bus than what it might do to the Republican Party. I understand that “no enemies on the right“was a common Republican opinion for many years, but it became more acceptable after fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk September 10.
Conservatism must have standards that help advance conservative issues and policies. The decision not to reduce the ranks of unacceptable behavior will only worsen and nullify these standards.
The Republican tent is big, but it must exclude racists and anti-Semites
“I team up with anyone on the right” Conservative commentator Matt Walsh said in X-Post after Kirk's murder. “I hereby put aside any grudges or personal animosities I may have had with anyone on my side. Perhaps sometime in the future we will raise these arguments. We must now stand together.”
Walsh has since mentioned this particular olive branch. in light of the Politico story on Republican racist texts, emphasizing the need for unity on the right.
I agree with Walsh in that I want this right to be open to anyone with conservative goals. I have always supported the “big tent” approach to resolving our internal divisions on the right. I don't agree with the methods some want to use to achieve conservative results, but I think that's where the range of discussion should lie.
However, the right has no right to welcome those who are not interested in pursuing conservative goals or simply have character problems in general.
Opinion: Trump won't be able to run again. Republicans must answer to voters for it.
In fact, I have political enemies on the right. People like it Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens And Tate brothers These are all examples of “right-wing” people who are clearly antithetical to my vision of what conservatism should look like, and should be antithetical to any vision that Walsh also believes in. Allowing problems like hatred to fester within party networks will only lead to worse situations at higher levels of leadership.
Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at a media briefing in Washington, D.C., October 1, 2025.
Even the vice president JD Vance expressed his readiness not to pay attention to such actions, default what aboutism. Vance emphasized that message leak from Democratic Virginia Attorney General Candidate Who Called for Violence against his opponents and their children were worse than the leaked messages from the Young Republicans. Both are terrible and everyone involved needs to leave.
Having standards of public and private behavior will not weaken the conservative moment. This will strengthen it.
The willingness to send racist messages privately also indicates poor judgment. At best, even if you chalked up all of the claims in this Politico article to stupid kids pranking, it would still show extremely poor judgment. At their worst, they are downright hateful people who show their true colors in private. In any case, they should be condemned and eliminated.
Opinion: I hope Democrats learn from this shutdown. But we know they won't.
Winning for the sake of winning does us no good
2006 Republican National Committee Annual Winter Meeting in Washington, DC.
“The left will stand united and defend its guys no matter what, while we continue to tear each other apart at every opportunity,” Walsh tweeted. react to feelings similar to mine.
I'm not entirely sure where this story about the left being a united front comes from, but it's not true. The left side is a mess and has been that way ever since. Donald Trump became president for the first time.
Despite this, Walsh makes a valuable argument: if we refuse to remotely embrace everyone on the right, we risk losing to the left.
My answer? I don't care.
Opinion Alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on trending issues delivered directly to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store..
I'm not that interested in winning for the sake of winning. I am interested in winning to achieve conservative results. If we have to sacrifice everything we are to win, then what's the point?
If I have to choose between winning and denying American rights to anti-Semites and racists or losing as a conservative, losing would be a pretty easy choice for me.
The future of GOP leadership cannot afford to be compromised by people who lack principles or even just the ability to behave properly. We shouldn't give up our standards for who we allow into our ranks just because we think the left does. Why would we want to blow up like they did in the last five years?
I'm not going to defend things that can't be defended just because people on “my team” did it.
Dace Potas is a USA TODAY columnist and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
You can read different opinions from our USA TODAY Columnists and other writers on First page of opinionson X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vance's reaction to racist lyrics reveals true conservatism | Opinion
