New York Young Republican group disbanded after racist group messages

The New York Republican State Committee has voted to suspend its young Republicans group after a group chat was leaked revealing racist and antisemitic messages.

Politico released messages from Young Republican groups across the country in which participants used racial slurs and joked about gas chambers.

Several members of the New York State Young Republicans club - which has thousands of members ages 18 to 40 - were participants in the chat and are alleged to have made offensive comments.

The New York Republican Party chair Ed Cox said the group 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".

In the messages obtained by Politico, Bobby Walker, who was recently made chair of the New York State Young Republicans, is accused of calling rape "epic".

He wrote in the group: "If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked".

Peter Giunta, the group's former chair, is accused of writing in a message in June that everyone who voted against him for a Young Republican National Federation leadership role was "going to the gas chamber".

After the messages were leaked, Giunta lost his job as chief of staff to a New York state assemblyman, while others involved in the group thread were also fired.

The Kansas Young Republicans Organization was also disbanded on Tuesday after leaders of the group were revealed to have used the N-word in the group chat.

In a statement, Cox accused Democrats of failing to condemn political violence and said senior Republican state leaders - including Representative Elise Stefanik - had spoken out against the messages.

A senior adviser to Stefanik told Politico that the comments were "heinous, antisemitic, racist and unacceptable", though she later took to social media to call the story a "hit piece".

Giunta apologised in a statement to Politico after the messages were released, while also accusing people of "conspiring against" him by leaking the messages to the news outlet.

Giunta resigned from his role with the club last month, as the group faced budget problems, including reportedly, external from throwing a lavish Christmas party.

A state Republican official told local outlet Newsday that disbanding the group would allow for the chance to restructure it with new leaders.