Florida International University has opened a formal investigation after discovering a group chat containing racist slurs, antisemitic remarks, and misogynistic content that was initiated by a Miami-Dade Republican Party official.
According to the Miami Herald, which reviewed and confirmed the authenticity of the messages, the chat included university students along with prominent conservative figures from the campus community. State Republican leadership has publicly condemned the content.
University officials announced Thursday that campus police are examining student behavior in the chat while working alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
“FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism,” declared university President Jeanette Nunez, who previously served as Florida’s lieutenant governor and as a Republican state legislator. “This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for.”
Florida’s Republican Party issued its own statement announcing “an internal review of this situation” while denouncing “the repugnant comments” as being “completely contrary” to the party’s values and principles.
This incident follows a similar controversy from last fall when New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican group after offensive group chat messages surfaced, including inappropriate jokes about sexual assault and casual references to gas chambers.
The Republican Jewish Coalition joined the chorus of criticism Friday, with spokesman Sam Markstein reinforcing the Florida GOP’s position.
“Antisemitism and bigotry have no place in the Republican Party,” Markstein stated.
