\u201cPresident Trump and the Republican Party have created an environment where hateful rhetoric is not only spread widely, but condoned,\u201d said Charles D. Fall Assembly deputy majority leader and chair of the Staten Island Democratic Party. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is tragic that this type of speech appears to be commonplace among the next generation of Republican leaders. It is time for the GOP to call out racist, violent language for what it is, stop gaslighting the American people by playing the victims, and instead foster a culture of respectful and constructive dialogue,\u201d added Fall, whose district includes the North Shore, and parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
One Islander fired<\/p>\n
Assemblymember Mike Reilly fired his chief of staff, Peter Giunta, due to alleged comments he made in the text thread. <\/p>\n
![\"Community](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TOMTWMMBPBCIJK36AKBVNDPK7E.jpg\"\/)
Peter Giunta from NY State Assemblyman Mike Reilly’s Office speaks at the Community Board 3 meeting held at the Stolzenthaler Knights of Columbus regarding a truck terminal proposal on Sept.10,2025. (Steve White for the Advance\/SILive.com)Steven White |Advance\/SIlive.comSteven White |Advance\/SIlive.com<\/p>\n
When Giunta was a candidate for chair of the Young Republican National Federation, troubling messages were reportedly exchanged during his campaign. <\/p>\n
In the text chat, Giunta allegedly said: \u201cI love Hitler,\u201d and \u201ceveryone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it appears another Staten Islander was involved in the text chat.<\/p>\n
Joe Maligno, who is a Staten Islander and vice president of the Staten Island Young Republicans Club, allegedly replied to the thread about the showers and Hitler. Politico reported that Maligno previously worked for Staten Island Judge Mary A. Kavanagh, but was no longer employed in Richmond County Civil Court.<\/p>\n
The thread included a text from Giunta commenting on air travel, that reads: \u201cIf your pilot is a she and she looks 10 shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there. Scream the no no word.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giunta issued a public apology, expressing regret for the offensive language and claiming the messages may have been doctored. He also alleged that he was the target of a coordinated smear campaign by members of the New York City Young Republican Club, involving AI-generated content. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe comments shared in the group chat that have been reported are extremely troubling and disappointing. They do not align with my values. As a result, Mr. Giunta\u2019s assignment in my office has ended,\u201d said Reilly to the Advance\/SILive.com on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Politico\u2019s investigation revealed a broader pattern of troubling behavior within the group chat, which spanned seven months and included racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, and homophobic remarks. <\/p>\n
The messages reportedly praised slavery, discussed violent fantasies, and used deeply offensive language. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey referred to Black people as monkeys and \u2018the watermelon people\u2019 and mused about 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,\u201d wrote Politico.<\/p>\n
\u201c…The chat offers an unfiltered look at how a new generation of GOP activists talk when they think no one is listening,\u201d wrote Politico.<\/p>\n
Press conference to be held<\/p>\n
The Staten Island Democratic Party, along with representatives from the NAACP and other community leaders, have planned a press conference to address the text chat for Wednesday, Oct. 15, in front of Republican headquarters at 2300 Richmond Rd., New Dorp at 2 p.m. <\/p>\n
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After the release of alleged comments made in a text thread among some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-3258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}