Vermont state senator Samuel Douglass has resigned following the exposure of racist and antisemitic messages he posted in a Young Republicans Telegram group. The 26-year-old lawmaker stepped down on Friday, effective Monday, after the chats were published by Politico.
In one exchange, Douglass replied to a message about a “very obese Indian woman” by saying: “She just didn’t bathe often.” In another, he described how a Jewish person may have made a procedural error, prompting his wife, Brianna Douglass, to respond with an antisemitic remark.
Other messages in the group included slurs against LGBTQ+ people, Nebraskans referred to as “inbred cow fuckers”, and members from Rhode Island called “traitorous cunts”. There were also references to a “fat stinky Jew” and jokes about gas chambers, torture, and rape.
In his resignation statement, Douglass apologised for the offence caused but claimed his remark was “an unflattering remark about a specific individual, absolutely not a generalization”. He added that he and his wife had received threats of violence and that he had contacted Jewish and BIPOC friends to ensure they could be honest with him.
Governor Phil Scott had called for Douglass’s resignation, saying “there is simply no excuse” for the comments. State senate minority leader Scott Beck described the resignation as the first step in Vermont’s healing.
