By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Politico revealed offensive and bigoted private text messages exchanged among young Republican leaders. Vice President JD Vance downplayed the messages, portraying them as the actions of “kids.” However, Mother Jones’ analysis of public records and reports indicates the participants were primarily adults, ranging from 24 to 35 years old. The messages, which included racist, antisemitic, and homophobic slurs, prompted condemnation from several Republican figures and organizations, but Vance continued to defend the participants. Several of the participants in the group chat have subsequently lost their jobs and/or positions in political organizations.
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No one in the GOP Hitler chat was a “kid.” It’s a simple statement, yet the layers of hypocrisy and the blatant disregard for facts surrounding this situation are astounding. The whole premise crumbles under the weight of reality: these weren’t teenagers experimenting with edgy online personas. They were adults, people in positions of power, making and sharing hateful, violent, and frankly, Nazi-adjacent comments.
The attempts to downplay their actions by labeling them “kids” are nothing short of offensive. Consider the age range of the chat participants, as reported by Mother Jones: 24 to 35. These individuals are not children. They’re people who’ve graduated college, established careers, and in some cases, are deeply embedded within the political system. To suggest they’re simply youthful innocents making mistakes is a deliberate misdirection. It’s a tactic to soften the blow, to protect their own, and to minimize the damage to their carefully constructed public image.
And the examples given make the absurdity of the “kid” label even more stark. There’s a 22-year-old official at the Department of Homeland Security, overseeing the fight against extremism. This person is trusted with a crucial role, yet the same folks who champion this individual as capable of handling complex national security challenges, suddenly want to paint others in their late twenties or early thirties as harmless adolescents? It’s a clear double standard, exposing the hypocrisy at play.
The political optics of all of this are, of course, relevant. The label “kids” is used with specific intent. If someone is left-leaning, a minority, or just perceived as an opponent, then they will be subjected to full adult scrutiny. But the moment someone within their own ranks engages in abhorrent behavior, the age card gets played. There is no room for a “mistake” when the hateful actions are the core values of the GOP.
This entire episode is a prime example of the Republican party’s comfort with and defense of racism, violence, and hate. They defend them the most. They are comfortable using racist language and taking steps to defund education about the Holocaust. In the same breath, the Party will bend over backwards to defend police shooting a 12 year-old black child because he was “big for his age”. The audacity to frame this as anything other than a blatant problem within their own ranks is truly something.
The fallout from these revelations has been limited, highlighting how normalized these hateful sentiments have become. Some have been fired, yes. But the tone-deafness of some of the reactions is what’s truly alarming. The rhetoric in the chat goes far beyond “inexcusable comments”. These are individuals who are explicitly embracing Nazi ideologies, with zero remorse. The “Young Republicans” title is also laughable, because if it is true, that many of the group are ancient.
The use of the “kids” defense is, in a way, a window into their psyche. They are trying to infantilize these individuals, to absolve them of responsibility, and to create a narrative of victimhood. They don’t want to acknowledge the systemic problem within their party. The GOP is full of pedophiles who think that someone in their 30’s is a child. The MAGA crowd is saying one thing, while simultaneously doing another.
The hypocrisy is rampant. They’re pushing to lower the age for trying someone as an adult, when it suits their agenda. But when it comes to their own, suddenly age is a mitigating factor. It’s an attempt to gaslight, to deny the reality of what’s happening.
There’s also a sickening irony. These individuals are living in a time where they are attempting to take advantage of those children that have been abused.
In conclusion, the “no one in the GOP Hitler chat was a ‘kid'” is far more than just a catchy phrase. It’s a statement of fact, a condemnation of hypocrisy, and a reminder of the deep-seated problems within a political party that seems to be embracing extremism. This issue has highlighted how comfortable some individuals are with hate, and how willing they are to protect those who perpetuate it. It is an indictment of those who defend the indefensible.