Republican senator fires aide who used Nazi soldiers as Facebook profile picture

Key Points:

• Ohio Republican Senator Jon Husted fired his political director, Stephen Woytek, after discovering Woytek's Facebook profile picture depicted Nazi SS soldiers, and he followed a reenactment group portraying the Waffen-SS division.
• Woytek, 25, also created a Spotify playlist celebrating Rhodesia, a former white-minority regime viewed by some as a symbol of white supremacy, raising further concerns about his online activity.
• Husted's campaign condemned Woytek's social media posts for poor judgment and ended their relationship immediately upon learning about them, though it did not clarify if vetting had occurred before his appointment.
• Woytek, a National Guard member and Citadel graduate, expressed regret and rejected the racist and antisemitic ideology of Nazi Germany, stating his interest in historical reenactments is educational.
• This incident is part of a broader pattern of controversies involving young Republicans and their staff expressing pro-Nazi or white supremacist sympathies online, including recent issues in Georgia's Republican Senate campaign.