GOP nightmare erupts as prominent Florida party figure and student leaders caught in racist chat scandal

A Florida university has launched an investigation into a report detailing racist, antisemitic, and homophobic messages exchanged in an online group chat involving prominent local Republican Party figures and conservative student leaders. The allegations stem from leaked logs of a WhatsApp group chat that reportedly began in the autumn. 

Per Reuters, participants included Abel Carvajal, who serves as the secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party, and student leaders from Florida International University’s (FIU) Turning Point USA chapter, a conservative youth group. Miami Herald, the newspaper that broke the story, detailed some truly disturbing content from these exchanges.

One participant, William Bejerano, allegedly posted a lengthy message proposing dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, using a racial slur. These horrific suggestions reportedly included beheading and crucifixion. 

Anything that is put on the internet lives forever

Another participant, Dariel Gonzalez, who was the recruitment chair of the College Republicans at the time, also used a slur when referring to Jewish people. He reportedly wrote that it was fine to have sex with Jewish individuals, but added, “Just don’t marry them and procreate.” 

Abel Carvajal, who reportedly started the group chat for conservative students, apparently participated occasionally and even deleted some messages. However, Carvajal told the newspaper that he hadn’t seen the racist messages when they were originally posted and claimed he was shocked when he read them later. 

FIU President Jeanette Nunez addressed the allegations by making it clear that the university “does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism.” Nunez confirmed that FIU’s police department is actively investigating the allegations, working alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. FIU is a state-funded university well-known for its engineering and business programs.

The Republican Party of Miami-Dade County has also weighed in, with its chair, Kevin Cooper, condemning the group chat in a statement on Thursday. Cooper announced that the party’s board has already begun proceedings to remove Carvajal from his position.

It’s wild how often these kinds of private online group chats end up becoming public, isn’t it? Researchers point out that participants in these chats often feel a false sense of privacy and safety.  WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta Platforms, even actively promotes its privacy protections and end-to-end encryption. However,  the messages still create a permanent record and can easily be leaked. 

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like this, either. Late last year, several controversies involving leaked text messages from private online group chats rocked U.S. political circles, revealing racist, antisemitic, and violent statements from figures across the ideological spectrum. Even a prominent right-wing think tank saw staff departures in December amid allegations of antisemitism.

Between a protest at the SOTU against Trump’s social media posts and recent comments by the South African president, this story comes at a time when the administration is already struggling with comments that the president is racist.