Overview
- The campaign cut ties with political director Stephen Woytek on Friday after The Washington Post reported his public social posts included a 2018 Facebook profile photo of Leibstandarte SS soldiers and a Spotify playlist titled “Tales From Rhodesia.”
- Reporting shows Woytek followed reenactment groups that portray the SS, followed suppliers of SS uniforms, and appears in 2018 photos wearing an SS uniform while the Rhodesia playlist included at least one song using a racial slur.
- Woytek said he rejects Nazi and antisemitic ideology and defended his activity as historical reenactment and education, and he acknowledged poor judgment about his online posts.
- Husted’s campaign described Woytek as a Citadel graduate and National Guard lieutenant and said the senator acted immediately on learning of the material, but the episode has raised public questions about how the campaign vetted new staff.
- The episode underscores why SS and Rhodesia symbols matter politically: both are widely linked to white supremacist movements and the controversy could shape messaging and scrutiny in the competitive race with Democrat Sherrod Brown.