A Vermont lawmaker who was in a Young Republicans Telegram group chat filled with racist and antisemitic messages stepped down from his position Friday. State Sen. Sam Douglass said in a statement his resignation is effective Monday at noon.
“I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe,” Douglass said. “And if my Governor asks me to do something, I will act, because I believe in what he’s trying to do for the state of Vermont.”
Gov. Phil Scott, as well as the Vermont Republican Party, called on Douglass to resign after the Telegram chat was revealed in a Politico article earlier this week.
Members of the group expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, joked about rape and slavery and advocated for sending opponents to gas chambers, according to Politico. Some messages referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and praised Republicans who they believed supported slavery.
In the chat, one member of the group mentioned a mutual friend who “dated this very obese Indian woman for a period of time.” When someone else responded that the woman “was not Indian,” Douglass replied by saying “she just didn’t bathe often.”
Douglass, in his statement, said the “unflattering remark” was about “a specific individual, absolutely not a generalization.”
“I love my state, my people, and I am deeply sorry for the offense this caused and that our state was dragged into this,” Douglass said. “The contents of the article do not reflect me or the values of our state.”
At one point, Douglass talked about how a Jewish colleague made a procedural error about the number of Maryland delegates allowed at a national convention. Douglass’ wife, Brianna, told him, “I was about to say you’re giving nationals to [sic] much credit and expecting the Jew to be honest.”
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Saying that “racism, discrimination, and hateful behavior” have no place in the organization, Chelsea Magwire, chairwoman of the Vermont Young Republicans, said Samuel and Brianna Douglass resigned from their positions as chairman and committeewoman, respectively.
Reaction to the chat messages
When the Politico article came out, Douglass said, he and his wife received both “hate” and an “outpouring of supportive messages and emails.”
A first-year lawmaker, Douglass was the only elected official in the chat, Politico wrote. Four others worked for elected officials, though, and one was employed by the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump. At least six lost their jobs in the fallout from the messages, Politico wrote. Leaders of the New York Republican State Committee voted to disband the state’s Young Republicans chapter on Friday over the messages.
“The Young Republicans 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,” New York GOP Chair Ed Cox said in a Friday statement.
Bipartisan legislators condemned the messages, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who said the chat is “revolting” and “disgusting.” Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media that he would “refuse to join the pearl clutching” about the chats.
