Hochul says Young Republicans chat shows ‘future of the party’ and ‘has to stop’

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has reacted to a Young Republican group chat, where members joked about gas chambers, slavery and rape. After a reporter asked her on Tuesday (14 October) whether the rhetoric in the Telegram chat reflected “some bad apples” or whether there is “toxicity” throughout the entire GOP, the Democrat said they “are the future of the Republican party”. “This is so vile it’s hard to find the words to put into context that these are people who are part of a political party - one of two major parties - and they believe in gas chambers and rape and discrimination based on the color of people’s skin.” She slammed the remarks as “racist, sexist and disgusting” and called for the indivuduals to be kicked out of the party. Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.