The New York State Republican Committee voted to suspend its Young Republicans group after information surfaced in a group chat revealing racist and anti-Semitic messages.
Politico published posts from Young Republican groups across the country in which members used racial slurs and joked about gas chambers.
Several members of the New York State Young Republicans Club, which has thousands of members between the ages of 18 and 40, participated in the chat and allegedly made offensive comments.
Prominent New York GOP spokeswoman Elise Stefanik spoke out against the reports, but also took to social media to call the story a “hit.”
New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox said the group is “already extremely mismanaged, and the vile language used in the group chat has no place in our party or its affiliates.”
In messages obtained by Politico, Bobby Walker, who recently became chairman of the New York State Young Republicans, is accused of calling the rape “epic.”
In the group, he wrote: “If we ever leaked this chat, we'd be roasted.”
Peter Giunta, the group's former chairman, is accused of writing in a June message that everyone who voted against him for a leadership role in the National Young Republican Federation was “going to the gas chamber.”
After the messages were revealed, Giunta resigned as chief of staff to the New York state legislator, and other panelists were also fired.
The Kansas Young Republicans also disbanded Tuesday after it was revealed that the group's leaders used the N-word in a group chat.
In a statement, Cox accused Democrats of failing to condemn political violence and said senior Republican state leaders such as Stefanik had spoken out against the messages.
Stefanik's senior adviser told Politico that the comments were “disgusting, anti-Semitic, racist and unacceptable,” although she later took to social media to call the story a “hit.”
Giunta apologized in a statement to Politico after the messages were published and also accused people of “conspiring against him” by leaking the messages to the news outlet.
Giunta resigned from his position at the club last month as the group faced budget problems, including as reported from throwing a lavish Christmas party.
A state Republican Party spokesman told local outlet Newsday that the group's dissolution would provide an opportunity to restructure it with new leaders.
