Donald Trump has proven successful in getting controversial nominees, from Pete Hegseth to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., through the GOP-controlled Senate, even by the narrowest of margins. But he may be thwarted when it comes to Paul Ingrassia.
Trump’s pick to run the Office of Special Counsel, the agency that oversees federal whistleblower and discrimination claims, has come under fire after Politico revealed scores of racist and antisemitic messages Ingrassia allegedly sent to a text chain. The messages, first reported on Monday, showed Ingrassia admitting he has a “Nazi streak,” claiming Martin Luther King Jr. Day belonged in the “seventh circle of hell” and proudly celebrating “white men and western civilization.”
The texts came as Ingrassia has already faced questions over his past behavior, from sharing a video claiming the Sept. 11 attacks were orchestrated by the federal government to his ties to white nationalist Nick Fuentes to an accusation of sexual harassment during his tenure as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security. (Ingrassia denied the accusation, and the accuser retracted her complaint and said Ingrassia never acted inappropriately.)
The White House has not commented on the text messages, but Senate Republicans have since soured on Ingrassia’s nomination. Ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Monday that Ingrassia was “not gonna pass.” Three other GOP senators — Rick Scott (R-FL), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and James Lankford (R-OK) — are also unlikely to support Ingrassia’s nomination.
In the text messages, Ingrassia allegedly claimed that King “was the 1960s George Floyd”; used an Italian slur to suggest there should be “No moulignon holidays … From kwanza [sic] to mlk jr day to black history month to Juneteenth”; and, while referring to Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, said, “Never trust a chinaman or Indian,” according to Politico.
Edward Andrew Paltzik, a lawyer for Ingrassia, did not respond to an immediate request for comment on the text messages or senators’ reaction to them. He initially told Politico the messages, if authentic, appeared to “clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis.’”
But then, days later, he seemed to suggest the messages were fake: “In this age of AI, authentication of allegedly leaked messages, which could be outright falsehoods, doctored, or manipulated, or lacking critical context, is extremely difficult. What is certain, though, is that there are individuals who cloak themselves in anonymity while executing their underhanded personal agendas to harm Mr. Ingrassia at all costs. We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages.”
The Ingrassia report came on the heels of Politico revealing nearly 3,000 pages of text messages between Young Republican group leaders across the country, setting off a political firestorm. The text chain featured some group leaders saying their political opponents should be raped and joking about gas chambers, among other inflammatory remarks, and one group leader was particularly excited when he was told a fellow member would try to elect “the most right wing person” to lead the national group.
“Great. I love Hitler,” Peter Giunta, the chair of the New York State Young Republicans, wrote, according to Politico. (The New York Republican Party has since disbanded the Young Republicans chapter.)
While some Republicans initially condemned the text chain, including Trump-favorite Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the tide shifted after Vice President JD Vance tried to dismiss the chatter as “pearl clutching” and the texts as “edgy, offensive jokes,” or “stupid things” said by “young boys.” (The Young Republican National Federation, its national group, welcomes people between the ages of 18 and 40.)
Stefanik has since said Politico ran a “hit piece” and has tried to redirect anger toward Democrats, including Jay Jones, the Virginia Attorney General candidate who has faced scrutiny for sending texts in 2022 fantasizing about shooting former state House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican. (Democrats have largely condemned the texts, though there have not been widespread calls for Jones to drop out. Jones has apologized for the texts.)
While some Republicans may brush aside the specific contents of messages revealed by Politico this week, the idea of a nominee actually having to sit in a public hearing and take questions about allegedly making racist and antisemitic remarks could be too much even for GOP senators predisposed to doing what Trump wants.
