Politico broke a story about a group of Young Republicans across several states making racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments. Many of the individuals are working for elected officials or political groups, some of whom have been fired, and the Kansas Young Republicans has been shut down altogether. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) posted photos of two of the men in the chat standing with Republican officials.
A post on X shows Mike Davis, who runs the far-right legal group the Article III Project and once worked for Sen. Chuck Grassley, calling Jeffries a "house slave" for George Soros. The post, which has not been deleted, has led to backlash.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) communications director, Izzy Gardon, called the post "vile."
"On the very day the Supreme Court is poised to gut the Voting Rights Act, Mike Davis — a former clerk to Justice Neil Gorsuch and close ally of Trump’s top 'civil rights' lawyer Harmeet Dhillon — calls the first Black House Minority Leader a 'house slave,'" he wrote.
The Newsom press account later posted, "After an RNC-linked group was exposed praising Hitler and bragging about raping women, a close ally of @HarmeetKDhillon — Trump’s top 'civil rights' lawyer at DOJ, whom she regularly retweets from her official account — called the first Black House Minority Leader a 'house slave.' If Harmeet won’t condemn this, she should resign."
Indiana advocate Mike Young wrote an extensive post about the comments, saying, "There are political disagreements, then there are moral lines. Calling the first Black House Minority Leader a 'house slave' is not commentary; it is white supremacist language pulled straight from plantation culture."
Young said Davis "did not misspeak; he reached for that phrase deliberately. He wanted to degrade a Black elected official for criticizing extremism inside his movement."
He, too, pointed out the report about Young Republicans praising Hitler and joking about raping women.
"When Hakeem Jeffries called that behavior disgraceful, the response from a Trump ally and former Gorsuch clerk was to use a slavery slur," Young wrote.
He also linked Davis to Dhillon after working closely with him.
"She amplifies him from her official account. She is also Trump’s nominee to lead the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice," wrote Young. "If she cannot plainly condemn language meant to dehumanize Black leaders, she should withdraw her name from consideration. Civil rights enforcement cannot be run by people who excuse or platform those who use slave-master terminology to attack political opponents. America does not need another round of 'both sides.' This one has only one answer. Condemn it or own it."
