ALBANY — Republican officials around New York State will convene Friday to disband their Young Republicans organization, following reports that members in online chats joked about gas chambers and slavery and praised Adolf Hitler, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
The Republican State Committee has slated a virtual meeting where it intends to strip the charter from the New York State Young Republicans, the sources said. The group could be reorganized at a later date with new leaders.
The action stems from a Politico report which detailed seven months of racist and homophobic text messages from young GOP activists in New York, Vermont, Arizona and Kansas.
For example, Peter Giunta, a former chairman of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, posted “I love Hitler,” Politico reported. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, called rape “epic.”
Kansas Republicans quickly disbanded its Young Republicans group. Now, New York is poised to do the same.
A message was sent Thursday to members of the Republican State Committee, announcing a meeting Friday to “review the approval of the use of ‘Republican’ by the New York State Republican Committee,” as well as the “voting rights of the New York State Young Republican Committee as part of the Executive Committee,” according to a copy obtained by Newsday.
Sources said this will lead to the stripping of the charter of the NYS Young Republicans Committee.
Fallout has been swift since the Politico story was published.
Giunta has been fired from his job as chief of staff to Assemb. Mike Reilly (Staten Island), the Staten Island Advance reported. Walker will no longer have a role, according to multiple reports, on the congressional campaign of State Sen. Peter Oberacker, who is running for a Catskills/Hudson Valley seat.
