For the second time in the last few weeks, the Republican Party is dealing with the fallout of racist text messages being made public. This time, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead a major government watchdog agency has dropped out after multiple racist texts have been made public.

Nominee withdraws after racist, offensive messages leaked

Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, announced Tuesday evening that he was withdrawing his nomination. “I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia explained in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He continued by saying, “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!”

I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to…— Paul Ingrassia (@PaulIngrassia) October 21, 2025

The announcement came after Politico published a series of racist texts sent by Ingrassia in a group chat with several other Republican figures. In one text, Ingrassia criticized Martin Luther King Jr., saying, “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.” Ingrassia used an Italian slur for Black people in another text, saying, “no moulignon holidays … From kwanza to mlk jr day to black history month to Juneteenth.” He said of the holidays, “Every single one needs to be eviscerated.” In another text, Ingrassia said, “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it;” other participants on the chat said they did not interpret the comment as a joke at the time. Elsewhere in the message chain, he responded with “Lmao” when someone in the chain referred to him as Paul Adolf Ingrassia.

Growing scandals for Ingrassia, GOP

Ingrassia was initially defensive in the face of the leaked messages. Through his lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik, Ingrassia both questioned the authenticity of the messages (which Politico confirmed with other participants in the chat) and claimed that the comments “read as self-deprecating and satirical humor making fun of the fact that liberals outlandishly and routinely call MAGA supporters ‘Nazis.’” But with confirmation hearings set to begin later this week, Ingrassia decided to withdraw after several GOP senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, indicated that they would not support his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which protects government whistleblowers, among other functions.

Ingrassia’s scandal comes just after multiple leaders of the Young Republicans were exposed as having shared racist and offensive messages in a separate text scandal. And Ingrassia’s nomination was being questioned, even by some Republicans, before his messages leaked. Politico previously reported that Ingrassia had been investigated for possible sexual harassment of a colleague, though it noted that the woman involved later withdrew her complaint. Ingrassia, who is 30 years old, had also been criticized for his relative lack of experience compared to other recent officials to lead the Office of Special Counsel. Even after Ingrassia’s withdrawal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Trump to “immediately” fire Ingrassia from his current position as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security.

This isn’t anywhere near enough. Trump has to fire him immediately. https://t.co/XR5KU4aOPY— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 22, 2025

For now, there is no word on whether Ingrassia will continue to represent the White House to DHS. But it is now clear that he will not fight to save his embattled nomination to lead a major government watchdog agency, and his withdrawal adds to the fallout that the GOP is facing from a widening series of scandals involving racist and offensive messages that Republicans have shared with one another.

The post Trump Nominee Called MLK ‘1960s George Floyd,’ Said Hoilday Should Be In ‘Seventh Circle Of Hell’ In Texts appeared first on Blavity.



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