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RED FLAGS

MAGA Senator’s Aide Busted Thirsting Over Nazis

A 25-year-old campaign staffer, who has since been fired, made no attempt to hide his interest in the SS on social media.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, arrives in the U.S. Capitol for a vote on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Bill Clark/Bill Clark, Getty Images

A Republican in a critical Senate race has been exposed as hiring a top aide who once made a photo of SS soldiers his Facebook profile picture.

Stephen Woytek, 25, was hired as Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s political director in August, but a bombshell report by The Washington Post suggests that the campaign overlooked glaring details in Woytek’s background.

Woytek’s public Facebook profile shows that he follows a military reenactment group whose members dress as the Waffen-SS, the Post revealed Friday. Another photo from the group shared on Flickr appeared to show Woytek as a teenager in an SS uniform as part of a reenactment, the paper reported.

The Post also found that Woytek “recently” added songs celebrating Rhodesia—a defunct White-minority-ruled nation often venerated by white supremacists—to a public playlist.

Husted’s campaign says that Woytek has since been fired.

A spokeswoman told the Post, “Steve serves our country honorably as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and is a proud graduate of The Citadel. He studies military history and routinely reenacts historical battles. While he denies negative intent, his social media activity displays a complete lack of judgment and disregard for its impact on others.”

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She added, “Sen. Husted demands better of those who represent him. Upon learning about the social media posts today, Sen. Husted made the immediate decision to part ways.”

A photo shared on Flickr shows part of a historical reenactment by the group Woytek has been involved with.

A photo shared on Flickr shows part of a historical reenactment by the group Woytek has been involved with.

Kapture King/Flickr

In a statement of his own, Woytek told the Post that he rejects Nazi ideology.

“I want to be unequivocal: I reject the racist and antisemitic ideology the SS and Nazi Germany represented,” he told the Post. “I believe it is important to educate our younger generations, which is why I participate in historical reenactments.”

A photo of SS soldiers holding captured Soviet flags in 1941 was once posted on Woytek's Facebook.

A photo of SS soldiers holding captured Soviet flags in 1941 was once posted on Woytek's Facebook.

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He has taken part in other historical reenactments, dressing as a Union soldier in the Civil War in 2018 and 2019, and more recently, as a member of the US 83rd Infantry Division in a World War II reenactment in 2025 and 2026, the report notes.

Nazi flags were visible in one of the reenactment scenes.

Nazi flags were visible in one of the reenactment scenes.

Kapture King/Flickr

A public Spotify playlist created by an account bearing Woytek’s name and photo also appeared to pay tribute to Rhodesia, a former white-minority ruled state in Africa that has been romanticized by white supremacists.

Woytek took part in reenactments when he was still a teenager.

Woytek took part in reenactments when he was still a teenager.

Kapture King/Flickr

The playlist, titled “Tales From Rhodesia,” was captioned, “homesick for a place that no longer exists.” It was set to private on Friday after the Post drew attention to it with its reporting.

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