{"id":14573,"date":"2025-10-18T00:16:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T00:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/lawmaker-resigns-after-involvement-in-racist-chat\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T00:16:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T00:16:52","slug":"lawmaker-resigns-after-involvement-in-racist-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/lawmaker-resigns-after-involvement-in-racist-chat\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker resigns after involvement in racist chat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NEW YORK \u2014 The Vermont state senator involved in the hate-filled Young Republican group chat uncovered by Blue Light News<\/u><\/a> announced his resignation Friday.<\/p>\n

Sam Douglass, a state lawmaker who represented an area near the Canadian border, said in a statement that \u201cif my Governor asks me to do something, I will act, because I believe in what he\u2019s trying to do,\u201d referring to Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott\u2019s call<\/u><\/a> for Douglass to step down.<\/p>\n

Douglass was the only elected official in the group chat, though four others worked for elected officials at the time the messages were being sent. Those officials include New York\u2019s state senate minority leader and the Kansas attorney general. One member of the chat worked in President Donald Trump\u2019s Small Business Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that this decision will upset many, and delight others, but in this political climate I must keep my family safe,\u201d Douglass said, adding that his resignation will be effective Monday at noon. \u201cSince the story broke, I have reached out to the majority of my Jewish and BIPOC friends and colleagues to ensure that they can be honest and upfront with me, and I know that as a young person I have a duty to set a good example for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

His lengthy statement<\/u><\/a> also cites hateful messages he received from others in his state since the story broke.<\/p>\n

Douglass\u2019 resignation comes as at least six others in the chat are out of jobs<\/u><\/a> since Blue Light News began reporting on the exchanges. He served as the chair of Vermont\u2019s Young Republicans organization.<\/p>\n

In one portion of the chat, Douglass refers to an Indian woman as someone who \u201cjust didn\u2019t bathe often.\u201d In another instance, Brianna Douglass, Sam\u2019s wife and the Vermont Young Republican\u2019s national committee member, says her husband may have erred by \u201cexpecting the Jew to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vermont state lawmaker initially resisted strident calls to resign from top state Republican leaders \u2014 including Scott and the GOP conferences<\/u><\/a> in the state\u2019s House and Senate.<\/p>\n

One day after Blue Light News published its initial story about the Telegram group, Douglass apologized for the chat<\/u><\/a>, saying \u201cI am weighing all my options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglass was a first-year lawmaker and said Friday he was proud to pass his first bill on agriculture and begin his work to reform the state\u2019s welfare system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to do what I have done my entire life, the very reasons why I was elected; I will help others in my community, be active, foster communication, and look out for others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Liz Crampton contributed reporting<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 The Vermont state senator involved in the hate-filled Young Republican group chat uncovered by Blue Light News announced his resignation Friday. Sam Douglass, a state lawmaker who represented an area near the Canadian border, said in a statement that \u201cif my Governor asks me to do something, I will act, because I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}