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Mike Johnson denounces Young Republicans’ group chat that praised Hitler as JD Vance downplays uproar

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday said Republicans “roundly condemn” a leaked group chat in which Young Republican officials joked about gas chambers, praised Adolf Hitler and used racist, antisemitic and homophobic slurs, as well as an American flag with a swastika that was found in a Republican congressman’s office.

When asked whether he feared extremist or pro-Hitler views among young Republicans, Johnson replied, “No.”

“Obviously, that is not the principles of the Republican Party. We stand for the founding principles of America,” Johnson said in a press conference. “We have stood against that. We fought the Nazis. We roundly condemn it, and anybody in any party who espouses it, we’re opposing that.”

Johnson’s remarks capped two days of intensifying fallout from a Politico exposé that published thousands of messages exchanged over months by rising Republican operatives around the country.

In the cache reviewed by Politico, participants joked “Everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber,” celebrated “Great. I love Hitler,” and traded demeaning references to Black people, Jews and LGBTQ people.

State and local leaders appeared in the chat, including one Vermont state senator. The revelations have already cost several participants their jobs and prompted the deactivation of the Kansas Young Republicans chapter, with the Young Republican National Federation itself calling for implicated officials to “immediately resign from all positions” within the organization.

Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, who heads the Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, reacted saying, “Antisemitism on the right is just as dangerous as antisemitism on the left.”

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance has sought to downplay the severity of the situation.

Vance posted on X with a screenshot of texts in which Jay Jones, a former Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, suggested a prominent Republican deserved “two bullets to the head.”

“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. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”

Vance later said in an interview on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” “The reality is that kids do stupid things. Especially young boys, they tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that’s what kids do. And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is the cause of ruining their lives.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, praised Republican leaders who condemned the messages, which he called “offensive and very concerning.”

“I’m also glad that many leaders, including @EliseStefanik and @RepMikeLawler, spoke out strongly and swiftly against these hateful statements,” Greenblatt wrote on X.

Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Congress to investigate the scope of extremist sentiment within Republican-aligned youth networks, arguing that the chat logs were “neither fringe nor humorous.” In a letter to the House Oversight Committee chair, Newsom contrasted GOP scrutiny of campus antisemitism with what he characterized as muted responses to hate inside party infrastructure.

Reactions to the messages were building up as a separate controversy ricocheted through the Capitol: a photograph circulating online showed a swastika integrated into the stripes of an American flag displayed in a Republican lawmaker’s office. Capitol Police opened an investigation after Rep. Dave Taylor called the image “vile and deeply inappropriate” and suggested it was the result of vandalism.


The post Mike Johnson denounces Young Republicans’ group chat that praised Hitler as JD Vance downplays uproar appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Families of Deceased US Hostages Still Held by Hamas in Gaza Call for Maximum Pressure to Ensure Return of Sons’ Bodies

Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of US-Israeli citizen Omer Neutra who was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, speak accompanied by their family, as Hamas continues to hold Omer’s body hostage in Gaza, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

Despite widespread celebration over the release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has still not handed over the remains of 19 deceased hostages, including the bodies of two Americans with dual citizenship.

The families of Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21 — both American-Israeli dual citizens who were born in the US and served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — are intensifying calls for the return of their sons’ remains more than two years after they were murdered during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. 

“My son, Itay Chen, is still in Gaza and we have no confidence he will be returned soon, as the deal signed does not provide guarantees that all the hostages will return this week. And until he, and every last hostage, is home, our fight is not over,” Chen’s father, Ruby, wrote earlier this week in an op-ed for USA Today, referring to the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage-release deal that halted fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists from Gaza kidnapped 251 hostages and murdered 1,200 people during their Oct. 7 rampage. All the living hostages still in captivity were released on Monday as part of the ceasefire. However, the Palestinian terrorist group has still not handed over the remains of 19 out of the remaining 28 deceased hostages, violating its obligation under the agreement to release everyone who was abducted during the Oct. 7 atrocities.

Israel has demanded full compliance with the ceasefire, accusing Hamas of flouting its terms. Hamas claims the destruction of Gaza has made locating all the bodies unfeasible, saying that “significant efforts and special equipment” are necessary to continue the search.

“Israel has made this mistake before. Following previous wars, the government failed to bring home several captured soldiers, even when the world promised to help. Some of those soldiers’ remains have been lost forever. We cannot allow history to repeat itself,” Chen wrote.

Neutra’s father, Ronen, has expressed similar sentiments.

“I expect the United States to exert strong pressure on the mediators,” Neutra told Fox News Digital. “We’ve heard that Washington has spoken directly with Hamas in Egypt, and we demand full implementation of the agreement — or serious consequences: halting humanitarian aid, and stopping the movement of goods and people through the Rafah crossing.”

“Our expectation is for President Trump to ensure that the two American citizens still held by Hamas — our son Omer and Itay Chen — are brought home for burial,” he continued. “After two years of fighting for this, we deserve closure — and our son deserves proper burial in the land he loved and defended.”

Neutra added that he met with Trump on Monday and said the US president “assured us he would do everything to bring our children home.”

US Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) on Wednesday released a statement praising the release of the 20 living hostages while calling attention to the remaining captives in Gaza, adding that Israelis deserve both protection and honor in life and death.

“As we build on the progress we made with the first stage of the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, I urge President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to keep applying pressure to fulfill the deal’s terms to return the remains of the deceased hostages still held in Gaza – especially the two Americans among them, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra,” Hoyer said.

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‘Fresh and Fit’ host Myron Gaines defends leaked GOP antisemitic group chat: ‘Yeah, we like Hitler’

Myron Gaines, co-host of the popular podcast “Fresh and Fit” which is known for frequently airing antisemitic content, defended a leaked group chat where Young Republicans operatives praised Adolf Hitler.

“Yeah we like Hitler. No one gives a f–k what you woke jews think anymore,” wrote Gaines, whose real name is Amrou Fudl, in a post on X Wednesday replying to another post decrying Vice President J.D. Vance’s defense of the group chat.

“Bro was a revolutionary leader and saved germany,” Gaines’ post continued. “The jews declared war on Germany first. If can israel deny a genocide with 4k video proof, I’m questjoning everything you guys have said about the painter during WW2.”

While condemnation for Gaines resounded in the replies to his post, later that night, Gaines posted a photo of himself superimposed on an image of Adolf Hitler, responding to Politico’s post of its exposé by writing, “Hitler was a real n—a and no one gives a f–k what stupid outlets you fruit loops say.”

Like many products of the conservative “manosphere,” Gaines’ podcast, which he co-hosts with Walter Weekes and has over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, centers on misogynistic views about dating and gender roles. It has also increasingly embraced antisemitic conspiracy theories since the summer of 2023, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In July 2023, Gaines, who authored a book titled “Why Women Deserve Less,” hosted antisemitic influencer Sneako and far-right commentator Nick Fuentes for an episode that centered on Holocaust denial.

The following month, “Fresh and Fit” was demonetized by YouTube for “repeated violations” of its policies, and last July, a podcast episode on Rumble where guests blamed Jews for the Holocaust was taken down by the platform.

During a speaking engagement last April at Pennsylvania State University, where Gaines was met with student protests, he claimed to his audience that there were “Zionist fingerprints all over” the 9/11 terror attacks and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

On his X account, he frequently refers to Jews as “kikes” and espouses conspiracy theories that Jews control the “media and the narrative.”

“Do you not see that jews engineer or pioneer every destructive industry into western civilization? Feminism, marxism, communism, transgenderism. pornography, usury. All of these things are completely antithetical to Christ,” wrote Gaines in a post on X in August. “Also, they killed Jesus, reject his divinity, and are currently trying to bring their messiah who is your antichrist and you’re allowing it to happen…”


The post ‘Fresh and Fit’ host Myron Gaines defends leaked GOP antisemitic group chat: ‘Yeah, we like Hitler’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Oxford Student Arrested Over Viral Antisemitic Chants, Sparking Outrage, Concerns Over Campus Antisemitism

An Oxford student is seen chanting antisemitic slogans at a pro-Palestinian march in central London, an incident captured on viral video that has drawn widespread condemnation. Photo: Screenshot

An Oxford University student has been arrested and suspended after a viral video showed him chanting “put the Zios in the ground” at an anti-Israel demonstration — an incident that has sparked public outrage and heightened concern over rising antisemitism on university campuses.

As part of a police investigation into chants at a Palestine Coalition march in central London on Saturday, local authorities arrested a 20-year-old student on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

The student, identified as Samuel Williams, a philosophy, politics, and economics major at Balliol College, has been suspended by the university pending further investigation.

Local police confirmed that Williams remains in custody after being arrested on Wednesday for allegedly leading antisemitic, anti-Israeli chants captured in viral social media videos.

The day after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel went into effect in Gaza, Williams was filmed at an anti-Israel protest leading a crowd in antisemitic slogans, telling demonstrators the chant had been “workshopped” in Oxford.

“A steadfast and noble resistance in Palestine and in Gaza to look to, to be inspired by and — I don’t want to yap for too long — but a chant that we’ve been workshopping in Oxford that maybe you guys want to join in,” he says in the video.

“It goes ‘Gaza, Gaza makes us proud, put the Zios in the ground,’” he continued.

“Zio” is an antisemitic slur brought into prominence by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. While the term, derived from “Zionist,” has generally been deployed by white supremacists and other far-right extremists, it has more recently been used as well by anti-Israel activists on the progressive far left to refer to Jews in a derogatory manner.

Williams can also be seen in the video leading a crowd carrying signs that read, “Oxford University, pick a side: justice or genocide,” in an apparent effort to erroneously accuse Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and to blame the school for being complicit.

The university confirmed the student’s arrest and said it was taking appropriate action in response to the matter.

“The University of Oxford condemns, in the strongest possible terms, any language urging violence against groups of people or expressing any form of racial hatred,” a university spokesperson said in a statement.

“While the university cannot comment on individual student cases, it has the power to take immediate and proportionate action including, as appropriate, suspending a student from membership of the university, whenever serious concerns are raised,” the statement read.

“Oxford University is unequivocal: there is no place for hatred, antisemitism, or discrimination within our community, and we will always act to protect the safety and dignity of our students,” it continued.

This latest incident came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week warned that the government may consider stricter protest laws, potentially targeting chants at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, amid an increasingly hostile environment toward the local Jewish community in Britain.

Starmer strongly condemned the incident, accusing the university of acting too slowly to tackle antisemitism and safeguard Jewish students.

“Universities should not be places where Jewish students fear even attending, in some cases avoiding university altogether and the education they are entitled to, or, if they do attend, feeling concerned about their identity and how they will be treated,” the British leader said in a statement.

British Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also condemned the incident, saying there had been an “unacceptable increase in antisemitism” at universities and noting that many Jewish students do not feel safe on campus.

She also announced that the government is funding training to help staff and students “tackle this poison of antisemitism” and called on universities to strengthen protections for Jewish students.

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