Senior Republicans are increasingly alarmed that the next generation of conservative talent is saturated with what one veteran described as "rabid, incompetent idiots," according to a Politico report published Saturday.

The concern, shared by GOP insiders, is that the pipeline feeding young conservatives into government roles has deteriorated under a Trumpist ideology that values blind loyalty over competence. That pipeline has long been sustained by organizations like the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, and campus Republican groups, which historically served as grooming grounds for future Republican staff, policy advisers, and judicial clerks. "We have a generation of rabid, incompetent idiots," a senior GOP congressional staffer told Politico. "The organizations that bring young staffers to Washington, D.C. have spent the last decade prioritizing blind ideological loyalty instead of competence or intelligence."

The frustrations extend well beyond generational complaints, according to Politico's reporting. As institutions like the Heritage Foundation have reshaped their conservative missions around the MAGA movement, they have drawn in young activists whom several sources described as bringing serious ideological problems into the fold.

The sources cited include four senior Republican congressional staffers, think tank scholars, former Heritage Foundation staff, academics, and younger Republican figures. "Critics fear a decline of merit and skill," Politico reported, "along with a tolerance for darker ideologies that could cripple the party's ability to govern in the long run."

Central to these concerns are the so-called "groypers" — followers of white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and other anti-establishment figures on the far right. The groyper movement, which originated as an online meme campaign in the late 2010s, has sought to inject white nationalist and antisemitic rhetoric into mainstream conservative spaces, often by confronting mainstream conservative figures at public events.

"Prominent conservative commentators have alleged that groyperism is spreading among younger members of the GOP, including in government — a view seemingly backed by examples like the young Trump administration lawyer who admitted to a 'Nazi streak' in text messages revealed by POLITICO," the report stated. "Others point to social-media posts from official government accounts that echo the language or memes of the online far right."

Younger Republicans, however, contend that the groyper label is being weaponized against anyone who questions the party's alignment with Israel. Marty Bertao, a senior at UC Berkeley and president of the College Republicans of America, told Politico, "there is not this mass groyper issue." Rachel Bovard, VP of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute, added, "They're counting as 'groyper' anyone who's remotely anti-Israel."

E.J. Fagan, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, argued the core issue is not groyperism specifically but social media culture more broadly. He pointed to the case of E.J. Antoni, a Heritage Foundation economist whom President Donald Trump nominated to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nomination was later rescinded after reports — including from CNN — revealed that Antoni had operated a now-deleted X account that directed sexual insults at then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Another source characterized the problem as "a generation hooked on the conspiratorial musings of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens."

"Five, eight years from now," that source said, "if we're reliant on people with this view of the world, we're in serious trouble."