South Florida Republican and Democratic politicians, along with other community leaders, are condemning the racist messages in a WhatsApp group chat that was started last fall by the secretary of Miami-Dade County’s Republican Party for conservative students at Florida International University.
The chats, reported Wednesday by the Miami Herald and The Floridian, a conservative online outlet, contained hundreds of uses of the n-word and many other instances of antisemitic and anti-gay slurs, replete with references to Nazi Germany.
“Antisemitism and racism have no place in our society. We strongly condemn and find despicable the vile and unacceptable language that has been discovered in a group chat associated with the Miami Dade County’s Republican Party Secretary,” a joint statement from Republican state Sens. Ana Maria Rodriguez, Ileana Garcia and Alexis Calatayud said.
“The statements made by those individuals clarify their moral and intellectual corruption and demonstrate a complete misalignment with core, shared American values.”
“We call for the resignation of the Secretary, immediately. We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party,” the statement continued.
FIU officials told the Miami Herald that WhatsApp chat conversation are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
“The university takes very seriously any allegation of discriminatory conduct. The alleged conduct is under review and will be addressed in accordance with the university’s policies and applicable law," Madeline Baró, FIU media relations director, said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
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State Rep. Ashley V. Gantt, D-Miami, said she was “disgusted by the racist, antisemitic, and violent language exposed in a group chat hosted by the Secretary of the Miami-Dade County Republican Party.”
“There are messages calling for the killing and maiming of Black people and repeatedly using the n-word derogatory slur,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “This is a clear example of the vitriol that Black communities are continuously gaslighted about when statements are made that we are a colorblind country.
“The blatant racism and detestable behavior exhibited in the group must be met with immediate action.”
Widespread condemnation
Gantt joined with others in calling for an investigation by top FIU officials and the immediate removal of Miami GOP Secretary, Abel Alexander Carvajal; Dariel Gonzalez from the FIU College Republicans Membership Director, and Ian Valdes from his position as FIU Chapter President of Turning Point USA.
Miami-Dade Republican Party Chairman Kevin J. Cooper condemned the “racist group chat,” saying the party’s board voted to request Carvajal resign from his position.
“His words and actions are reprehensible and are completely inconsistent with the values of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County,” Cooper posted on X. “The words and actions of this individual does not speak for our Party.”
Republican state Rep. Juan Porras, of Miami, posted on X that news of the group chat was “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable.”
Unlike Democrats, @MiamiDadeGOP will hold our party officials accountable. Please see my statement below in regard to comments made by a member of the board. pic.twitter.com/c3HnuRxhA2
— Juan C. Porras (@JuanPorrasFL) March 5, 2026
Justin Mendoza Routt, president of the Miami-Dade Young Democrats and a state house candidate for District 113, said “Florida International University and the Miami-Dade Republican Party of Florida owe our community apologies, and detailed explanations on forms of accountability for those involved.”
“We must continue working to ensure that our civic and political spaces are inclusive, respectful, and representative of the people they serve."
"I am horrified as a Jewish woman, and mother, to read the leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party write, 'I would def not marry a Jew' and 'I refused to be indoctrinated by the coloreds',” said Ashley Litwin Diego, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 106.
“This goes beyond vile language, it's antisemitism seeping deeper into our community,” Litwin Diego said in a statement.
'Must be swift action, full repudication'
Christian Ulvert, President and CEO of EDGE Communications and top political advisor to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the emergence of the “vile and antisemitic messages” in the WhatsApp chat conversations led by the Miami-Dade Republican secretary “should open the eyes to many in our community as racial slurs, antisemitic rhetoric, and jokes about violence against Black Americans are shared without concern.”
“This is bigger than one group chat or one party official,” Ulvert said in a statement. “There must be swift action and a full repudiation of the language, the ideas, and the people participating in this chat.
“This is the same Miami-Dade Republican Party that is actively pushing a recall effort against Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the county's first woman and first Jewish mayor,” Ulvert said. “They want voters to trust their judgment about who should lead this community, while their own leadership was running a group chat filled with racism and antisemitism.”
“Before the Miami-Dade GOP tries to remove anyone from office, it needs to clean its own house,” he said.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, said he was “outraged and deeply disturbed” by the WhatsApp text messages.
“Language that demeans Black residents, Jewish people, or any community is not only offensive — it is dangerous,” Jones said. “It fuels the very hate and division that too many families in our country have suffered from for generations.”
“Let me be clear: there must be real accountability,” Jones said in a statement. “Words like these cannot simply be dismissed as jokes, private conversations, or poor judgment. They reflect attitudes that are incompatible with leadership in a community as diverse and proud as Miami-Dade.
“Hate has no place in Miami-Dade, and those who promote it should not represent our community,” Jones said.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this story.
