Vermont state Sen. Sam Douglass announced Friday that he will resign after being exposed as a participant in a Young Republican Telegram group chat where members exchanged hate-filled messages targeting racial, religious, and sexual minorities. His resignation, effective Monday at noon, comes after days of escalating calls from Vermont Republican leaders, including Gov. Phil Scott, urging him to step down.
“I must resign. I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe,” Douglass said in his statement. He added that, “If my governor asks me to do something, I will act, because I believe in what he’s trying to do.”
Douglass, a Republican who represented a district near the Canadian border, was the only known elected official involved in the leaked chat, which was first reported by Politico on Tuesday. Members of Young Republican chapters from at least four states were found exchanging racist, homophobic, antisemitic, and misogynistic messages, including jokes about an “epic” rape and “killing people in Nazi gas chambers.”
The chat included Michael Bartels, a senior adviser in the office of general counsel at the U.S. Small Business Administration, along with several staffers connected to elected officials in New York and Kansas. Four participants worked for public officials at the time, including the New York state senate minority leader and the Kansas attorney general.
In one message, Douglass referred to an Indian woman as someone who “just didn’t bathe often.” His wife, Brianna Douglass—who serves as the Vermont Young Republican national committee member—wrote in another exchange that the organization was “expecting the Jew to be honest.”
Other participants made even more explicit remarks. Peter Giunta, the former chair of New York’s Young Republicans, posted, “I love Hitler,” and was subsequently fired from his job as chief of staff to New York Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-62). The fallout from the chat has now cost a majority of the participants their jobs or employment offers.
Douglass initially resisted calls to resign from Vermont Republican leaders, who condemned the chat’s content following Politico’s reporting. After a day of public pressure and internal discussions, he reversed course. “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 in his statement.
“I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe,” he reiterated, citing threats and hateful messages he said he had received since the story broke.
Douglass also said he had personally reached out to those affected by the revelations. “Since the story broke, I have reached out to the majority of my Jewish and BIPOC friends and colleagues to ensure that they can be honest and upfront with me, and I know that as a young person I have a duty to set a good example for others.”
Douglass, who chaired Vermont’s Young Republicans organization, had been serving his first term in the state Senate. He described his short tenure as one focused on “helping others in my community” and cited his first legislative accomplishments: “I will continue to do what I have done my entire life, the very reasons why I was elected; I will help others in my community, be active, foster communication, and look out for others.”
“I was proud to pass my first bill on agriculture and begin my work to reform the state’s welfare system,” he said.
The messages revealed in the group chat shocked many across Vermont, a state known for its relatively moderate Republican leadership. Gov. Phil Scott, one of the country’s most centrist Republican governors, was among the first to call for Douglass’s resignation. Douglass ultimately said his decision was made “because I believe in what [Scott is] trying to do.”
National Republican leaders offered a far different response. Vice President JD Vance defended the group’s participants as “young boys,” despite their reported ages ranging from their 20s to 30s. His comments framed the remarks as misguided private jokes rather than statements reflecting deeply rooted prejudice—a characterization that drew sharp criticism online.
The exposure of the chat and the ensuing fallout have prompted broader questions about the culture within parts of the Republican Party and the normalization of extremist rhetoric among younger conservative operatives. In Vermont, Douglass’s resignation underscores an effort by state leaders to distance themselves from such conduct and reaffirm basic standards of public service.
Douglass’s departure leaves his Senate seat temporarily vacant as Vermont officials determine the process for filling the position. The resignation marks the latest in a series of professional and political consequences stemming from the leaked messages.
As Douglass concluded in his final statement before stepping down: “I must resign. I know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe.”
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