Updated at 9:45 p.m.
State leaders on Tuesday called for Vermont Sen. Sam Douglass (R-Orleans) to resign after the first-term lawmaker was outed as a participant in a racist chat of Young Republican leaders who made hateful comments about people who are Black, Jewish and gay.
Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden-Central) both called on Douglass to step down after Politico published a story about leaked Telegram chats on Tuesday. Also joining the call were Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck (R-Caledonia) and House Minority Leader Pattie McCoy (R-Poultney).
“The hateful statements made in this group chat are disgusting and unacceptable,” Gov. Scott said in a statement. “The vile, racist, bigoted, and antisemitic dialogue that has been reported is deeply disturbing. There is simply no excuse for it.” He added, “Those involved should resign from their roles immediately and leave the Republican party — including Vermont State Senator Sam Douglass.”
Scott endorsed Douglass in his first run for office in 2024, appeared at campaign events with him and contributed to his campaign. In an October 2024 social media post, Scott called Douglass a “common sense candidate.”
“We need him in Montpelier,” Scott wrote.
Douglass was one of six Republicans who won new seats in the Vermont Senate in 2024, nearly doubling their numbers from 7 to 13.
Douglass, a real estate agent and mental health professional who also heads the state’s Young Republicans, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
In one of the freewheeling chats, according to Politico, Peter Giunta, the former chair of the New York State Young Republicans, joked that someone referred to as an Indian woman “was not Indian.”
“She just didn’t bathe often,” Douglass replied, according to the outlet.
In another instance, Douglass described how a Jewish colleague of Hayden Padgett, chair of the Young Republican National Federation, may have made a procedural error related to the number of Maryland delegates permitted at the national convention.
“I was about to say you’re giving nationals to [sic] much credit and expecting the Jew to be honest,” Douglass’ wife, Brianna Douglass, replied to her husband’s message, according to Politico. She is a Vermont Young Republicans national committee member, the publication reported. She could not be reached for comment.
Condemnation of Sen. Douglass was swift and broad.
The former head of the Vermont Democratic Party, Jim Dandeneau, said Democrats tried to warn voters about Douglass during the 2024 election cycle but often failed to generate much media attention. Dandeneau said one of the troubling public statements Douglass had made was to celebrate the 2021 acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people, two fatally, in Kenosha, Wisc., amid protests that followed a police shooting.
“If he was smart, he would resign, but if he was smart, he never would have said any of this stuff in the first place,” Dandeneau said.
Dandeneau said he was not satisfied with Scott calling for Douglass’ resignation.
“Phil Scott owes Vermonters an apology for endorsing Sam Douglass and contributing to his campaign,” Dandeneau said.
Baruth, the Senate’s president, said, “The Politico story confirms that the ugliness and the hateful bigotry of Trumpism does not stop at our borders. The deeply disturbing, racist and antisemitic rhetoric from Sam Douglass and the leaders of Young Republican groups is unacceptable and I call on Sam Douglass to resign immediately.”
Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, called it “sickening” to know a Vermont politician had engaged in such chats.
Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast) also called on Douglass to resign immediately.
“There is absolutely no place for such disturbing and dangerous rhetoric,” Ram Hinsdale wrote.
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