First Thing: JD Vance brushes off racist texts in Republican group chat as ‘what kids do’

Vice-president downplays messages such as ‘I love Hitler’ in chat by 24- to 35-year-olds as ‘stupid jokes’. Plus, Virginia Giuffre on her abuse at the hands of Epstein and MaxwellGood morning.JD Vance sought to downplay the revelation that leaders of a group called the Young Republicans exchanged hundreds of racist, sexist text messages – including one in which rape was called “epic”, and another in which someone wrote “I love Hitler” – as youthful indiscretions.How old are the people who exchanged the messages? Mother Jones reports that public records indicate that eight of the 11 Republican operatives who took part in the offensive chat appear to range in age from 24 to 35.What has the US said about the return of the dead hostages? Though well short of the 28 dead hostages expected by Israel, senior US advisers later said they believed Hamas was committed to finding and returning the others. Continue reading...