Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on President Trump to withdraw Paul Ingrassia’s nomination for the Office of Special Counsel after texts surfaced in which Ingrassia admitted to having a “Nazi streak” and made racist remarks in a 2024 chat with GOP operatives.
“These texts are foul and disqualifying,” Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “And it’s hard to believe there is any process in any White House that would allow such a man through to be nominated.”
Politico reported that Ingrassia told GOP operatives Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs,” and admitted he has a “Nazi streak.” The 30-year-old also called Africa a “s—hole” and claimed “we need competent white men in positions of leadership.”
Ingrassia’s attorney, Edward Andrew Paltzik, told Politico they “do not concede the authenticity” of the alleged messages, suggesting they may have been doctored. Even so, Schumer claimed Ingrassia “does not merit confirmation” and urged Trump to withdraw the nomination.
“Mr. Ingrassia is not going to pass through this chamber,” said Schumer. He added that Ingrassia should be fired from his job as White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security and “should never hold a position of leadership within the Republican Party or the government again.”
The Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on Ingrassia’s nomination on Thursday, though GOP Senators Rick Scott (FL) and Ron Johnson (WI) have already voiced their opposition.
The controversy follows revelations that Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones sent disturbing text messages three years ago. In the exchange, Jones raged against then–House Speaker Todd Gilbert and other Republicans, saying they deserved “bullets to the head” and that he would “piss on their graves.” He also referred to Gilbert’s wife and children as “breeding little fascists” and suggested they should die too. While President Trump and others have urged Jones to drop out, many Democrats, including Schumer, have refused to call for his withdrawal.
Additionally, some social media users have defended Ingrassia, pointing out that his controversial text messages are meaningless compared to the actions of recent leftists:
I don’t care what Paul Ingrassia thinks about MLK day pic.twitter.com/MLfbEhdNPb
— Sarah Stock ✟ (@sarahcstock) October 20, 2025
