When Giunta was eighteen, he worked on
Joe Borelli's campaign for
New York State Assembly. After Borelli was elected, Giunta continued to work for him for six years as a special assistant and then deputy chief of staff. He previously led the Staten Island Young Republicans. Giunta unsuccessfully campaigned to lead the National Young Republicans in 2024. Amid allegations by the
New York Young Republican Club of "serious potential financial misconduct" at the NYSYR, Giunta resigned as Chair on September 23, 2025. He reportedly failed to pay a $14,000 hotel bill in
Syracuse, New York and took lavish vacations funded by the NYSYR account. Giunta was fired from Reilly's staff in October 2025, after group text messages that were racist and
xenophobic in nature were leaked following an investigation by
Politico. The
Politico article argued that "the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely — and where the
Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party's next leaders". The chat discussed votes, social media strategies, and logistics. It also included
racist and
antisemitic slurs,
white supremacist slogans and symbols, comments encouraging rape of political opponents to drive them to suicide, praise for
Adolf Hitler, promotion of
gas chambers, and enthusiasm for Republicans believed to support
slavery. Giunta in particular joked about putting his political opponents in gas chambers and wrote "I love Hitler". Giunta and its members referred to Black people as monkeys and "the
watermelon people". One member stated "I'd go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball" about an invitation to an NBA game. The slurs
faggot,
retard, and
nigger appeared over 251 times. In discussing Giunta's defeat in an election for chair of the Young Republicans National Federation, one member called for the winner to be raped. On October 15, 2025, Peter Giunta was terminated from his role in the office of Republican New York Assembly member Mike Reilly. On October 17, 2025,
New York Republican State Committee executive board officials voted unanimously to suspend the NYSYR. Party chair
Ed Cox stated that "vile language of the sort made in the group chat has no place in our party or its subsidiary organizations". A New York state Republican official, speaking anonymously to
The New York Times, said disbanding would allow a fresh start by eliminating the group's charter to reconstitute it with new leadership. ==Personal life==