Two leaders of the Kansas Young Republicans play a central part in a new national story published by Politico, exposing thousands of private messages showing young GOP leaders laughing about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
Politico reported Tuesday afternoon that young Republicans nationally “referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers.”
“They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery,” Politico reported.
Alex Dwyer, chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, and William Hendrix, the group’s vice chair, figure prominently in the Politico story.
The story highlighted Hendrix’s use of racist slurs more than a dozen times in the chats and Dwyer posting a smiley face next to an “I love Hitler” comment in the chat.
The story drew severe blowback Tuesday, including criticism from the state Republican Party and GOP gubernatorial candidates Jeff Colyer and Vicki Schmidt.
“Kansas Republican Party leadership is disgusted by the comments by young Kansas Republicans mentioned in the Politico story,” said Kansas Republican Party Chair Danedri Herbert.
“Their comments do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not of Kansas Republicans at large, who elected a black chair a few months ago,” Herbert said in statement issued in response to the story.
Herbert said the Kansas Young Republicans chapter was inactive as of Tuesday.
Michael Austin, chief executive of the Kansas Black Republican Council, condemned the actions reported by Politico.
“The Kansas Black Republican Council unequivocally denounces the behavior and language revealed in Politico’s recent report,” Austin said in a statement.
“Such conduct is not merely offensive; it is a betrayal of the very principles upon which our party was founded: the defense of liberty, the abolition of slavery, and the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being,” he said.
“Let there be no confusion, these few individuals do not represent Kansas, nor do they reflect the values of Kansas Republicans,” he said
Hendrix did not respond to a request for comment from Politico. Dwyer did not return a phone call from the Sunflower State Journal.
Politico reported that Hendrix, who at one point worked for Attorney General Kris Kobach, used the words “n–ga” and “n–guh” more than a dozen times in the chat.
Hendrix had been a communications assistant for Kobach.
Politico reported that Hendrix also made another racist remark in July: “Bro is at a chicken restaurant ordering his food. Would he like some watermelon and kool aid with that?”
Herbert, who also is Kobach’s spokesperson, told Politico that the attorney general’s office was aware of the issues raised in the story. Herbert said Hendrix left the office Oct. 9.
“The group chat members spoke freely about the pressure to cow to Trump to avoid being called a RINO, the love of Nazis within their party’s right wing and the president’s alleged work to suppress documents related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex crimes,” Politico reported.
“Trumps too busy burning the Epstein files,” Dwyer was reported as saying in the chat, according to Politico.
In another exchange reported by Politico, Dwyer says that one of Michigan’s Young Republicans promised him the group “will vote for the most right-wing person” to lead the national organization.
“Great. I love Hitler,” the person responded. Dwyer reacted with a smiley face.
The comments were found in 2,900 pages of Telegram chats over seven months among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.
Republican gubernatorial candidates Jeff Colyer and Vicki Schmidt also criticized the behavior documented in the report.
“The viewpoints expressed in this chat are not representative of Kansans. Period,” Colyer said in a statement.
“Our state was founded on the belief that all of us are created equal under God — and anyone who mocks those principles dishonors the very spirit of Kansas,” he said.
Schmidt call on Dwyer and Hendrix to step down from their positions with the Kansas Young Republicans.
“Their actions are disgusting and disgraceful and they tarnish the reputation of Kansas nationally,” Schmidt said.
“I hope my fellow Republicans running for Governor will join me in disavowing this behavior and expecting more of all of our leaders at every level of the party.”
