Orleans County Sen. Samuel Douglass, whose participation in a racist Young Republican group chat has spurred calls from across the political spectrum for his resignation, says he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll leave public office.
In his first public comments since Politico published a leaked group chat between members of Young Republican chapters in four states, including Vermont, Douglass said he was oblivious to the “disgusting comments” being made by his colleagues.
“My role in the group chat in question was a procedural one about bylaws and floor strategy. There were often periods of multiple days when I didn't check this group chat and I was unfortunately unaware of those comments,” Douglass said in a written statement sent to Vermont Public Wednesday afternoon. “I should've been more vigilant, more careful, and less naive about who I associate with and my digital environments.”
The group chat included one message in which Douglass mocked the bathing habits of people from India, and another exchange where his wife wrote of “expecting the Jew to be honest.”
The first-term GOP senator said Wednesday that his message in the chat “was not a generalization and doesn’t represent my views or character.”
“I apologize so deeply to my constituents and colleagues that our county and state have been dragged into this,” Douglass said. “I am currently weighing all my options to ensure that the outcome of this is what's best for the safety and wellbeing of my family and my constituency.”
At a press briefing earlier on Wednesday, Republican Gov. Phil Scott told young members of his party to “clean up your act” following the Politico story that detailed Douglass’ involvement in the racist text chat.
“Be good people — we should reject any of what we saw in that article,” Scott said on Wednesday during his weekly press conference. “We should reject it out of hand. No tolerance, zero tolerance for that. We’re better than that.”
Douglass, 27, was elected to the Vermont Senate last November as part of a historic red wave in which the GOP picked up six seats.
Scott called on Douglass to resign on Tuesday after Politico published text messages between young Republicans from across the country using racist and antisemitic language.
Scott told reporters on Wednesday that he has not talked to Douglass since calling for his resignation.
GOP leaders in the Vermont House and Senate have called on Douglass to step down. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, a Democrat, has also called on Douglass to resign.
Paul Dame, the chair of the Vermont Republican Party, stopped short of calling for Douglass to resign. In a statement on Wednesday, Dame characterized Douglass’ alleged statements in the chat as not being “bigoted or racist,” but said Douglass’ participation in the chat “reflected poorly on himself, our party and Young Republicans everywhere.”
Dame said he would call for Douglass to step down if Douglass doesn’t make a public statement clarifying his involvement in the chat.
Dame called on Douglass to address the issue publicly and condemn the “vile remarks” made by other members of the chat and clarify why he didn’t condemn the messages at the time they were sent.
Dame said that Douglass would be removed from his duties with the state party “until the matter is resolved.”
On Wednesday, the Rutland area and Windham County branches of the NAACP and ACLU of Vermont condemned Douglass’ involvement in the chat. The organizations pointed to it, as well as the recent resignation of Northfield Police Chief Pierre Gomez, one of the few police chiefs of color in the state, as reminders of the persistence of racism in Vermont.
“Both point to a deeper problem that many Vermonters know all too well,” said the statement from the Vermont NAACP branches. “Racism in Vermont is not always loud or visible. It often hides in everyday conversations, private messages, and quiet decisions made behind closed doors.”
