Trump photographed with young Republicans who called Black people monkeys, joked about watching people ‘burn’

The White House and Vice President JD Vance attempted to downplay the controversy about the racist text messages.

Despite the White House’s efforts to distance itself from a bombshell investigative report exposing the racist and violent text messages of several young Republican leaders, a new photograph of President Donald Trump with a pair of those Republicans is sure not to put the controversy to bed.

As theGrio previously reported, Black leaders, including NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman and U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, slammed the shocking text messages leaked from a group chat among young Republican leaders from New York, Kansas, Arizona, and Vermont.

According to an investigation from Politico, the members of the Young Republican National Federation called Black people monkeys, joked about slavery and rape, used racist slurs like the n-word, and made references to racist tropes about Black people eating watermelon and fried chicken.

The White House and Vice President JD Vance attempted to downplay the controversy about the racist text messages. Vance dismissed the texts as “a bunch of kids” saying things in a group chat, “however offensive it might be.”

“I refuse to join the pearl clutching,” said the vice president, who called out Democrats over Virginia Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones, who texted about wanting to see bullets in the head of then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert.

Black leaders who spoke with theGrio said the racist and violent messages from the young Republican group chat were emblematic of the Republican Party at large, and demanded that President Donald Trump and Republican leaders forcefully condemn them.

President Trump has not weighed in on the controversy; however, a photograph with two of the young Republicans, Peter Giunta and Anne Kaykaty, who sent some of the racist and violent texts, has resurfaced.

Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, notably wrote, “I’d go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball” when discussing an NBA playoff game. He also referred to Black people as “the watermelon people.” Giunta also wrote, “I love Hitler.”

Kaykaty wrote in the group chat that she wanted “to watch people burn” while discussing the use of gas chambers, which were used to kill millions of Jews during the Holocaust.

As reported by HuffPost, the photograph of Trump with Giunta and Kaykaty was taken backstage at a 2024 Trump campaign rally. Giunta originally shared it on his Facebook page; however, it has since been removed.

A White House spokesperson told HuffPost, “All presidents, including President Trump, take tens of thousands of pictures over the course of their campaign.”

The existence of the photo counters suggestions from Vance and White House that the individuals involved in the group chat were inconsequential, or, as the White House previously called the group, “random.”

Individuals participating in official photos like Trump’s with Giunta and Kaykata are typically connected and influential.

“Unfortunately, this kind of racist, hateful rhetoric has become all too common under Donald Trump. This is not about policy differences — it’s about mainstreaming a reprehensible politics that seeks to drag our nation backward,” Marcus W. Robinson, a senior spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), previously told theGrio.

He added, “The truth is, the rot starts at the top. Frankly, every Republican who has empowered these individuals should be ashamed. We deserve better.”