Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery
Political director Stephen B. Woytek dismissed after social media posts surfaced.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 09, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. U.S.
Photograph: Newsweek (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Ohio Senator Jon Husted dismissed his political director, Stephen B. Woytek, following reports of social media activity featuring Nazi imagery.
- Woytek's deleted Facebook profile picture showed SS soldiers, and he created a Spotify playlist titled 'Tales From Rhodesia' that celebrated the former white-minority-ruled state.
- Woytek is a 25-year-old lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard and a graduate of The Citadel.
- The dismissal occurred after The Washington Post reported on Woytek's social media content.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 9 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 11 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
74/100
Craft
95/100
Hype
15/100
11 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 2 of the 9 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
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.
Ohio Senator Jon Husted has ended his working relationship with political director Stephen B. Woytek. The decision came after reports surfaced regarding Woytek's social media activity, which included imagery associated with Nazi Germany and content that appeared to celebrate Rhodesia, a former white-minority-ruled state.
Woytek's deleted Facebook profile picture reportedly showed SS soldiers holding captured Soviet banners. He also created a Spotify playlist titled "Tales From Rhodesia," which included songs that celebrated the nation before its independence in 1980. According to The Washington Post, Rhodesian symbolism has been embraced by some white supremacist movements.
Woytek is 25 years old and serves as a lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard. He is also a graduate of The Citadel, a military college. A spokesperson for Senator Husted stated that while Woytek denies negative intent and participates in historical reenactments, his social media activity showed a "complete lack of judgement and disregard for its impact on others."
Disagreement on attire
The Washington Post reported that Woytek wore a Nazi uniform, while Newsweek stated that Woytek participates in historical reenactments while dressed in period uniforms and that he denies Nazi ideology.
Omissions in coverage
None of the left-rated digests mention the specific detail that Stephen B. Woytek was a political director for Jon Husted for Senate since August.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 12 Sept 2026, 00:15, 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
6 rated outlets
- Left-rated reports led on the discovery of Nazi imagery and content celebrating Rhodesia. Multiple outlets highlighted that The Washington Post uncovered the social media activity. Reports mentioned Woytek's role as a lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard and his graduation from The Citadel. Some reports noted that Husted's campaign chair had also resigned recently due to other issues, raising questions about the campaign's vetting process.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report stated that Senator Jon Husted fired his campaign's political director after discovering the staffer had posted Nazi imagery on social media and made playlists of songs celebrating Rhodesia. It attributed this information to The Washington Sun.
Right
2 rated outlets
- The right-rated report stated that Ohio Senator Jon Husted "parted ways" with a campaign staffer after it was reported that he had used an image of Nazi soldiers as his Facebook profile picture. It noted that the now-deleted photo showed SS soldiers holding captured Soviet banners, as reported by The Washington Post. The report also mentioned Woytek's role as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a graduate of The Citadel, and quoted a spokesperson saying his activity displayed a "complete lack of judgement."
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery?
- Of the 9 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 11% are rated centre, 22% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 11. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 9 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 Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery biased?
- Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery is one event reported by 11 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 Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right 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 Ohio Senator Jon Husted fires staffer over Nazi imagery?
- 11 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.
- Why was Stephen B. Woytek fired?
- Stephen B. Woytek was fired from his role as political director for Ohio Senator Jon Husted after reports surfaced of his social media activity. This activity included a deleted Facebook profile picture showing SS soldiers and a Spotify playlist celebrating Rhodesia.
- What is known about Stephen B. Woytek's background?
- Stephen B. Woytek is 25 years old and serves as a lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard. He is also a graduate of The Citadel, a military college. He had been working for Senator Husted's campaign since August.
- What was the nature of Woytek's social media posts?
- Woytek's deleted Facebook profile picture reportedly showed SS soldiers holding captured Soviet banners. He also created a Spotify playlist titled 'Tales From Rhodesia' that celebrated the former white-minority-ruled state, which has been associated with white supremacist movements.
Read it at the source
11 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
6- Husted Fires Political Director Over Past Nazi Posts (opens washingtonsun.com in a new tab)
washingtonsun.com — is washingtonsun.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Jon Husted political director out over Nazi SS photo, second campaign exit in two months (opens tiffinohio.net in a new tab)
tiffinohio.net — is tiffinohio.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- GOP senator's top staffer posted Nazi content — and mourned white supremacist regime (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- Husted Campaign Chief Had Nazis As Profile Photo (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio Senate campaign staffer used Nazi soldiers as profile photo (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- GOP Senator Fires Campaign Staffer After WaPo Flags Nazi Profile Photo (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
Centre
1Right
2Not rated
2How 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.
