'Malicious and stupid': GOP infighting boils over as reason for racist text leak revealed

Earlier this week, Politico reported on leaked text messages from Republican operatives which were rife with racist and antisemitic tropes. Now, the reason for that leak has been made public, according to a new report.

The Daily Beast reported Friday that 31 year-old Gavin Wax, who is the chief of staff at the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the State Department, was still mad about being left out of a selfie with President Donald Trump during his 2024 campaign. He blamed former New York State Republican Club chairman Peter Giunta, who is also 31 years old, for the "miscommunication" that led to him being left out of the photo at a Wildwood, New Jersey rally in May of last year.

While Wax was not a member of the racist text group, Giunta was, and Giunta himself was responsible for some of the more offensive messages — like referring to Black people as "watermelon people" and at one point declaring his "love" for the leader of Germany's fascist regime during World War II. Giunta quipped in June that anyone who didn't vote for him to be chairman of the Young Republican National Federation was "going to the gas chamber."

One young Republican strategist insisted on social media that Wax "planted the story" in Politico, and that the leak was "purely a political hit job that implicated the admin, the GOP, and Republicans."

"I can’t express how disappointed I am that someone I thought was friendly and loyal did this to our friends and his friends,” the strategist wrote. "And the president. And the country. Not only was it selfish, it was malicious and stupid."

Former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos joined in, saying Wax "worked extensively with hostile media to destroy the reputations of a number of fellow conservatives" and that he had been accused of "tolerating, sometimes introducing, drugs and prostitution into NYGOP."

However, some are taking Wax's side, including Breitbart veteran and Steve Bannon confidant Raheem Kassam. He wrote on his X account that while he wasn't "ratting on anyone," Wax was not to blame for the leak.

Vice President JD Vance shrugged off the texts as "kids" acting inappropriately, even though the chat participants included people in their late twenties and thirties. However, Gina Barr — who was the executive director of Black coalitions for Trump's 2024 campaign — lamented that the "racism and hatred" in the texts would set Republicans back significantly in their efforts to continue making gains with minority voters.

Click here to read the Beast's report in full (subscription required).