Gavin Wax

Chelsea Hill

​

(m. 2024)​

Gavin Wax
Official portrait, 2025
President of the New York Young Republican Club
In office April 2019 –April 2025
Children	1

Gavin Mario Wax (born January 1994) is an American political operative who has served as the chief of staff to Darren Beattie, the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, since August 2025. Wax served as the chief of staff to Federal Communications Commission commissioner Nathan Simington from April to June 2025 and as president of the New York Young Republican Club from 2019 to 2025.

Early life and education (1994–2017)

Gavin Mario Wax ^[1] was born in January 1994. ^[2] He is of Jewish descent ^[1] and his grandmother, Pina Frassineti, along with her mother and brother, evaded Nazis in World War II by posing as Italian nuns for two years. Frassineti's grandfather was killed at Auschwitz concentration camp; other relatives were killed at Dachau. Frassineti moved from Rome to New York City near the end of the war. ^[3]

Career

Early political involvement (2017–2019)

By November 2016, Wax had served as editor-in-chief of Liberty Conservative, ^[4] and by March 2017, Wax was a member of the Metropolitan Republican Club. ^[5]

New York Young Republican Club and marketing work (2019–2025)

In 2019, Wax was elected president of the New York Young Republican Club. He marked his tenure with a sharp shift towards Trumpism; the organization was the first charter of Young Republicans to endorse Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential campaign. ^[6] In 2024, he married Chelsea Hill, the club's former communications chair. ^[7] Wax resigned from his presidency in April 2025 to spend more time with his wife his and six-month-old child. He was succeeded by Stefano Forte. ^[8]

Wax worked for Gettr's marketing department. ^[9]

Trump administration positions and group chat leak (2025–present)

In April 2025, Wax became the chief of staff to Federal Communications Commission commissioner Nathan Simington. ^[10] After Simington resigned in June, Wax became the chief of staff to Darren Beattie, the acting under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, in August. ^[11]

Peter Giunta, the president of the New York State Young Republicans, faced criticism over a deposit for a party held at the National Women's Republican Club in December 2023; Giunta later resigned and blamed the ire of the club on his criticism of Wax. ^[12] In October, Politico obtained thousands of messages from leaders of Young Republican charters. Michael Bartels, a senior advisor in the Office of the General Counsel for the Small Business Administration, claimed in a notarized affidavit that Wax had provided the messages to Politico, an assertion corroborated by Giunta. ^[13]

Views

Advocacy

Wax speaking at CPAC Hungary in 2023

In a column for American Thinker in October 2018, following an altercation between Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, and left-wing protesters at the Metropolitan Republican Club, Wax wrote a column with a headline enjoining Republicans with the Proud Boys. He decried "leftist terrorist" attacks on conservatives. ^[10]

In June 2020, Wax publicly defended Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt amid a wave of removals of offensive statues following the murder of George Floyd. ^[14] At CPAC Hungary in 2022, he disavowed military assistance sent to Ukraine and the "nonstop media propaganda pushing for World War III". ^[15]

Political support

In January 2022, Wax criticized Donald Trump's endorsements of Morgan Ortagus and Greg Abbott. ^[16] In September, Wax donated $500 to George Santos' joint fundraising committee; Santos personally called Wax after reports that he had embellished his biography. ^[17] Prior to the Chinese businessman Guo Wengui's indictment, Wax defended Wengui. ^[9]

References

1. Weisman 2022.
2. Gavin M Wax in the U.S., Index to Public Records, 1994-2019.
3. Asbury 2025.
4. Barrett 2016.
5. Vilensky & Gay 2017.
6. Freedlander 2023.
7. Coltin, Reisman & Ngo 2024.
8. Krichevsky 2025.
9. Friedman 2023.
10. Mencimer 2025.
11. "Former Commissioner Prospect Wax Joins State Department". Export Compliance Daily.
12. Beeferman 2025.
13. Beeferman & Ngo 2025.
14. Small 2020.
15. Higgins & Novak 2022.
16. Goldmacher 2022.
17. Przybyla, Marsh & Piper 2023.

Works cited

Articles

• Asbury, John (January 13, 2025). "Baldwin woman, 100, who survived the Holocaust by hiding in a convent, is honored as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day". Newsday . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Barrett, Paul (November 22, 2016). "Elon Musk vs. the Trolls". Bloomberg News . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Beeferman, Jason (September 26, 2025). "Scandal in the NYS Young Republicans". Politico . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Beeferman, Jason; Ngo, Emily (October 14, 2025). "'I love Hitler': Leaked messages expose Young Republicans' racist chat". Politico . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Coltin, Jeff; Reisman, Nick; Ngo, Emily (November 21, 2024). "An unconventional NYPD pick". Politico . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• "Former Commissioner Prospect Wax Joins State Department". Export Compliance Daily. August 28, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Freedlander, David (June 2, 2023). "How a Staunchly Blue State Let MAGA Seep In". Politico Magazine . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Friedman, Dan (July 6, 2023). "Far-Right Influencers Defended an Accused Fraudster. They Had Help". Mother Jones . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Goldmacher, Shane (January 31, 2022). "Trump's Grip on G.O.P. Faces New Strains". The New York Times . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Higgins, Andrew; Novak, Benjamin (May 19, 2022). "In Hungary, Cheap Russian Oil Fuels Right-Wing Culture Wars". The New York Times . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Krichevsky, Sophie (April 9, 2025). "New York Young Republicans have a new leader". City & State . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Mencimer, Stephanie (April 19, 2025). "Far-Right Activist Who Vowed "Retribution" Lands Role at the FCC". Mother Jones . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Przybyla, Heidi; Marsh, Julia; Piper, Jessica (January 20, 2023). "Santos leans on group with white nationalist ties". Politico . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Small, Zachary (June 28, 2020). "Defenders of Roosevelt Statue Converge on Natural History Museum". The New York Times . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Vilensky, Mike; Gay, Mara (March 12, 2017). "Republican New York Council Member May Test Anti-Trump Election Waters". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 18, 2025.
• Weisman, Jonathan (December 14, 2022). "A New York Gala Draws Incoming G.O.P. Lawmakers, and Extremists". The New York Times . Retrieved October 18, 2025.

Documents

• "Gavin M Wax in the U.S., Index to Public Records, 1994-2019" (Document). Index to Public Records.