Florida Republican leader called to resign for group chat that used the N-word over 400 times

The revelation of the Miami-Dade chat group isn’t the first such leaked chat exposing racist views among young Republicans.

A Republican leader in Miami is under fire over a group chat in which the N-word and other racial and antisemitic slurs were used, in yet another example of young conservatives spewing hate speech.

Abel Alexander Carvajal, who is the secretary of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County, is being called to resign over the controversy. According to the Miami Herald, which obtained leaked messages from the WhatsApp group chat created by Carvajal for conservative students at Florida International University last fall, the chat was flooded with racist, antisemitic and violent language about Black Americans and Jews.

The Florida newspaper reported that the N-word was used in some variation more than 400 times and that participants mused about dozens of ways to violently kill Black people. The chat also included messages calling women “whores” and slurs about Jewish and gay people. There was also praise for Adolf Hitler’s politics.

While Carvajal is not reported to have sent any of the racist and problematic messages, leaders are holding him accountable for not intervening or shutting down the group chat. The Miami-Dade leader reportedly deleted some of the messages; however, did not condemn them in real time.

Florida International University told the Miami Herald that the chat messages are part of an ongoing criminal investigation. In addition to Carvajal, the chat, mostly students, included the campus’s Turning Point USA chapter president, Ian Valdes, and the former College Republicans recruitment chair, Daniel Gonzalez. Turning Point USA was founded by Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University in September 2025. Kirk infamously called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “awful” and “not a good person” and said that the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial discrimination during racial segregation in the American South, was a “mistake.”

Many of the messages using the N-word came from William Bejerano, who called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading, and dissecting people. Gonzalez, the College Republicans’ recruitment chairman at the time, responded in the chat: “How edgy.”

“Ew you had colored professors?!” Gonzalez wrote at another time in the chat. “I reguse [sic] to be indoctrinated by the coloreds.” He told the group he used the term “colored” because, “I was told we cant say black anymore.” Days later, he wrote: “Avoid the coloreds like the plague.”

GOP Secretary Carvajal is now facing calls to step down, including from his party’s chairman Kevin Cooper who said “anyone associated with this chat should resign immediately.” He added, “Racism and antisemitism have no place in the Republican Party. I am proud to be the first Jewish chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, which is comprised of a diverse group of members from every race and background.”

In response to the controversy, Carvajal told the Miami Herald that he had not seen many of the racist messages until it was brought to his attention, despite previously deleting 42 of his own messages and at leaset 14 messages from others.

“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number,” said Carvajal.

Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones, in a statement provided to theGrio, said he is “outraged” and “deeply disturbed” by the racist and antisemitic text messages associated with Carvajal.

“Language that demeans Black residents, Jewish people , or any community is not only offensive—it is dangerous. It fuels the very hate and division that too many families in our country have suffered from for generations,” said Jones, who last month became the first Black LGBTQ Democratic leader in the history of the Florida’s state legislature.

Jones, whose district represents Miami-Dade County, continued, “When someone in a leadership position spreads racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, it betrays the public trust and undermines the values that define our community. Let me be clear: there must be real accountability. Words like these cannot simply be dismissed as jokes, private conversations, or poor judgment. They reflect attitudes that are incompatible with leadership in a community as diverse and proud as Miami-Dade.”

The revelation of the Miami-Dade chat group isn’t the first such leaked chat exposing racist views among young Republicans. In October 2025, it was revealed that several state party young Republicans used racist remarks and jokes about things like slavery and rape. Some of the young Republicans worked for GOP lawmakers and received party endorsements from prominent MAGA figures.

Florida, like many states across the country, has seen deep political divisions on issues of race. Since entering office, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has led a political movement censoring how race and slavery are discussed in schools and has rolled back DEI initiatives. His anti-DEI, anti-critical race theory stance became a precursor for similar actions adopted by the Trump administration, becoming a major part of the national Republican Party agenda.

The Republican Party’s issue with race is also showing up the 2026 gubernatorial election in which Republican Congresswoman Byron Donalds, who is Black and a frontrunner endorsed by President Trump, has faced racist attacks from Republican opponent James Fishback. As the Miami Herald reported, one poll found that while only 6% of likely Republican primary voters supported Fishback, he had the support of 32% of 18-34 year olds, four times what Byron Donalds got among that age group.

Donalds, who would become the first Black governor of Florida if elected in November, has condemned the party’s “soft bigotry.” Ironically, despite Donalds support for the party’s anti-DEI policies, he has been ridiculed by critics as “DEI Donalds.”