Vermont's Republican governor, Phil Scott, called for a state senator in his party to resign over his role in a leaked chat exchange among young Republicans that has grabbed national headlines.
Scott called out the senator, Sam Douglass, by name in a statement condemning the "vile" messages, which were leaked to Politico.
The texts were exchanged between a group of young Republicans in New York, Kansas, Vermont, and Arizona, and included jokes about Hitler, slavery, and rape.
"The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable. The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing. There is simply no excuse for it,” Scott said in a Tuesday statement.
“Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party – including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass,” he added.
As reported by Politico, Douglass made a disparaging comment in the chat about an Indian woman who "didn’t bathe often."
Some of the chat participants called black people "monkeys" and "watermelon people" and joked about the Holocaust, saying they would put their political enemies in gas chambers.
Douglass apologized on Wednesday and said he would make another statement before the week is over.
“I apologize so deeply to my constituents and colleagues that our county and state have been dragged into this,” he said. “I am currently weighing all my options to ensure that the outcome of this is what’s best for the safety and wellbeing of my family and my constituency, and I will make another statement before the end of the week.”
Some of the people who were involved in the conversations have been fired from their jobs in Republican politics.
While Democrats and some Republicans have called for the chat participants to face consequences, some on the right have dismissed the outrage as overblown.
Vice president J.D. Vance has brushed off the controversy as nothing more than young people making crude jokes. Vance argues that the scandal involving Virginia Democrat Jay Jones, who fantasized about the murder of a Republican leader and his young children, is a much bigger deal.
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia," Vance wrote Tuesday. "I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
While Jones has apologized, no prominent Democrats have urged him to suspend his campaign for attorney general.
