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Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him 'treasonous creep'

Retired lieutenant colonel and impeachment witness defeated by Democratic Socialists of America candidate Angie Nixon

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
(Official White House photo by Molly Riley)

What this story says

  • Alexander Vindman, a central figure in Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment, lost the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida on 19 August 2026.
  • Angie Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America member and state representative, defeated Vindman after raising less than $1 million to his $16 million.
  • Trump called Vindman a 'treasonous creep' on Truth Social and described Nixon’s victory as the 'most gratifying loss' of the primaries.
  • Trump repeated his claim that his 2019 call with Ukraine’s president was 'perfect' and called for Vindman to be prosecuted.

Who covered it

Left 0%(0)Centre 14%(1)Right 86%(6)

Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

40/100

Craft

55/100

Hype

75/100

9 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Alexander Vindman, the retired lieutenant colonel who testified in Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment, lost the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida on 19 August 2026. His opponent, state Rep. Angie Nixon, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Nixon raised less than $1 million for her campaign; Vindman raised more than $16 million.

Vindman was director of European affairs at the National Security Council when he reported concerns about Trump’s July 2019 call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump was impeached by the House in December 2019 and acquitted by the Senate in February 2020. Trump has repeatedly called the call 'perfect' and said it was recorded.

On 20 August 2026 Trump posted on Truth Social that Vindman’s defeat was the 'most gratifying loss' of the primary night. He called Vindman a 'treasonous creep' and said Nixon 'can’t speak or think properly'. Trump also said Vindman should be prosecuted for his role in the impeachment.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests or the centre-rated digest mentioned that no left-rated outlet ran the story at all. None of the digests reported that Vindman had served in the U.S. Army for 21 years or that he was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in Iraq.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 20 Aug 2026, 10:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Centre

1 rated outlet

  • The Hill’s digest led on Trump’s celebration of Vindman’s loss. It carried Trump’s description of Vindman as a 'treasonous creep' and his reference to Nixon as a 'Radical Left Lunatic'. The digest did not mention the fundraising gap or the amount either candidate raised.

Right

6 rated outlets

  • All six right-rated digests led on Trump’s reaction to Vindman’s defeat. They carried Trump’s description of Vindman as a 'treasonous creep' and his call for Vindman to be prosecuted. Five of the six digests named Nixon as a Democratic Socialists of America member; one, from Breitbart, described her as a 'DSA candidate'.
  • WND’s full report quoted Trump’s Truth Social post in full. It described Nixon as a 'Radical Left Lunatic' and Vindman as a 'real treasonous creep'. The report also repeated Trump’s claim that the 2019 call was 'perfect' and said it had been 'routinely recorded'. It included tweets from three conservative commentators calling Vindman a 'traitor' and an 'architect of the Trump-Russia hoax'.
  • Four of the six right-rated digests mentioned the fundraising gap. Three gave the amounts: Nixon raised less than $1 million, Vindman more than $16 million. Two digests did not mention fundraising at all.

Read it at the source

9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Centre

1

Right

6

Not rated

2

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him…?
Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him… left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him… biased?
Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him 'treasonous creep' is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him…?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary as Trump calls him…?
9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Who won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida?
Angie Nixon, a Democratic Socialists of America member and state representative, defeated Alexander Vindman in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida on 19 August 2026. Nixon raised less than $1 million for her campaign; Vindman raised more than $16 million.
What did Donald Trump say about Alexander Vindman’s primary loss?
Donald Trump called Alexander Vindman a 'treasonous creep' and described his defeat as the 'most gratifying loss' of the primary night. Trump posted on Truth Social that Vindman should be prosecuted for his role in the 2019 impeachment and repeated his claim that the call with Ukraine’s president was 'perfect'.
Which outlets reported on Alexander Vindman’s primary loss?
Six right-rated outlets and one centre-rated outlet reported on Alexander Vindman’s primary loss. No left-rated outlet ran the story. The right-rated reports led on Donald Trump’s reaction; the centre-rated report also led on Trump’s comments.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Alexander Vindman loses Florida Senate primary | MediaBias News