'Sorry, JD Vance': VP's claim 'Hitlergate' chat was just 'kids' promptly smacked down

A new analysis shredded Vice President JD Vance's dismissal of outrage over a leaked Young Republicans group chat containing racist and Hitler‑admiring messages, in which he referred to the participants as “kids” and argued people were overreacting.

But Mother Jones' Julianne McShane issued a searing smackdown Wednesday night, writing bluntly, "We checked. Sorry, JD Vance."

"Vice President JD Vance would like you to do anything but pay attention to those abhorrent leaked texts from young Republicans that Politicocovered on Tuesday. And if you do read them, he wants you to think they’re just 'kids' saying 'edgy, offensive' things. Except that they appear to be full-grown adults, according to Mother Jones’ analysis of public records and reports of the participants’ ages," she wrote.

The outlet came to the conclusion by scanning public records and media reports, and determined that eight of the 11 participants in the chat appeared to range from 24 to 35. The ages of three other participants weren't publicly available.

In fact, the report noted, one chat member is a 27-year-old state senator in Vermont.

McShane continued tearing into Vance over his decision to defend the "jokes" because they could "cause to ruin their lives."

"This is particularlyrich coming from one of the top officials representing a party that just mounted a mass cancellation campaign to push for the firing and punishment of anyone who its devotees felt mourned assassinated MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk insufficiently," she wrote.

McShane concluded with a shorter summation of her analysis.

"TL;dr: Hitlergate wasn’t about kids, and JD Vance knows it," she wrote, using an acronym for "too long; didn't read."