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WASHINGTON POST: Ohio Senate campaign staffer used Nazi soldiers as profile photo

CLEVELAND, OHIO — This week, Jewish and Black faith leaders across Cleveland came together to condemn Jon Husted for hiring a Nazi enthusiast as a member of his senior campaign team.

The Washington Post reported that Jon Husted hired a Nazi sympathizer “wearing an SS uniform” as his political director, who used a “photo of SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo and recently added to a public playlist of songs celebrating Rhodesia,” an apartheid colony that has become a rallying symbol for white supremacists. 

“What Senator Husted’s staffer posted, wore, and celebrated is just egregious and reprehensible,” said Pastor Napoleon Harris, Antioch Baptist Church. “But the fact is that even with his publicly documented history, he was still appointed as a political director of a United States senator’s campaign. It’s not just an error in judgment. It’s just wrong. It’s just evil. It’s just sinful.”

“At the core of this issue is a basic responsibility: doing the necessary research and due diligence before hiring someone to serve as a political director — one of the most important positions on a campaign — and secondly, is the lack of accountability and the lack of apology and ownership after the fact, after this all came to light,” said State Representative Eric Synenberg (District 21 – Beachwood). “I believe Jon Husted owes Ohioans answers about what his campaign knew and when they knew it, and we call on him today to tell Ohioans how he will take accountability and change and try to prevent this from happening in the future.”

“This press conference is not just about condemning Senator Husted,” said Reverend Dale Edwards, Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church. “We also have to acknowledge the responsibility as to how someone with this history reached such a senior campaign position in the first place. It’s about saying to the political campaigns and everybody who participates in our democracy that we must exercise careful judgment about who is placed in positions of public trust.”

“We know in this moment that Jewish Americans and our allies need to take action to combat the rise of antisemitism and hatred and defend our values,” said Adam Rosen, Jewish Democratic Council of America, Ohio Chapter Lead. “Why should we trust Jon Husted’s judgment to repair the trust in our institutions when he can’t choose people for positions of power who aren’t Nazis? Jon Husted has clearly shown poor judgment in surrounding himself with a white supremacists.”

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Columbus, Ohio — In the Columbus Dispatch, Vivek Ramaswamy refused to commit to selling his sweeping data center investments if elected governor. Ramaswamy has millions invested in data centers, has repeatedly said he wants more data centers in Ohio, and praised them as “good” and a “good thing.” In just over one month, he praised data centers on 10 separate occasions. His desperate data center scam did nothing to convince Ohioans he’s out for anyone but himself and was slammed by energy policy experts.

“There is no politician in the state of Ohio who stands to benefit more from Ohio’s data center boom than Vivek Ramaswamy. His campaign is bought and paid for by data centers,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Let’s be clear; Vivek Ramaswamy wants more data centers in Ohio. Ramaswamy doesn’t care about rising costs or what Ohioans want; he only cares about himself and his bottom line”

READ MORE about how Ramaswamy is the pro-data center candidate in this race:

The Columbus Dispatch: Amy Acton calls on Vivek Ramaswamy to sell stocks

• Machan did not say whether Ramaswamy, who made his fortune in biotech investments, would sell his individual stocks. Ramaswamy owns stock in data center companies Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia, according to his most recent financial disclosure form. He reported more than $20,000 in dividends from Microsoft on that report.
• In 2023, Ramaswamy reported investing between $1 million and $5 million in Microsoft, which is building data centers across the nation, according to disclosures reported in the New York Times.

Signal Ohio: Vivek Ramaswamy’s thoughts on data centers

• Like other Republicans, Ramaswamy has become far more measured in his comments about data centers as his campaign has progressed. During a March 2025 appearance before the Jefferson County Republican Party, he described Ohio’s data center boom as a “good thing.” 

TiffinOhio.net: Ramaswamy wants more data centers in Ohio — and profits from them

• Vivek Ramaswamy wants Ohio to welcome more AI data centers and Bitcoin mining operations. He has said so repeatedly — in speeches, in social media posts, and at campaign events across the state.
• He has called the data center boom “good” on his verified X account at least three times since March 2025, consistently framing it as an economic opportunity while blaming rising electricity costs on insufficient fossil fuel production rather than the facilities themselves.

Innovation Ohio: Vivek Ramaswamy’s Data Center Portfolio

• Vivek Ramaswamy’s […] deep ties and investments in data centers call into question whether his policies will put Ohio, or himself, first. 
• His 2025 financial disclosure, filed last month with the Ohio Ethics Commission, reveals a personal investment portfolio that spans the data center supply chain. Nearly every data center project built in Ohio puts money in Ramaswamy’s pocket.

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WASHINGTON POST: Ohio Senate campaign staffer used Nazi soldiers as profile photo

COLUMBUS, OHIO — In a new interview, Jon Husted downplayed the disturbing public conduct of his top campaign staffer as “war reenactments” that simply gave a “bad impression.” 

In reality, Jon Husted hired a Nazi sympathizer “wearing an SS uniform” as his political director, who used a “photo of SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo and recently added to a public playlist of songs celebrating Rhodesia,” an apartheid colony that has become a rallying symbol for white supremacists.

WATCH:

Transcript: 

Husted: Well, this young man was highly recommended to us. He’s a lieutenant in the National Guard, and he does war reenactments [laughs], and some of those- used some of those photos, which- which gave a very bad impression of where he might have been ideologically…

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“It’s disgusting that Jon Husted is downplaying his top campaign staffer’s conduct as simply ‘war reenactments’ when he dressed up as a Nazi soldier, used Nazi soldiers as his profile photo, and had a Spotify playlist celebrating white supremacy. Ohioans deserve leaders who will condemn hatred in all its forms, not someone willing to make excuses for Nazi sympathizers.” 

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Columbus, Ohio — In a column for the Dispatch, Thomas Suddes is calling out Vivek Ramaswamy for using Ohio as a convenient springboard for his self-serving ambitions as he sets his sights on another presidential campaign. As Suddes notes, Ramaswamy’s newfound interest in the Buckeye State comes after “moving his main enterprise… out of Ohio and into Texas.”

“Vivek Ramaswamy is busy flying over Ohio while on his way to Texas, Florida, Iowa, and New Hampshire,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “On the ground, working families are stretching every dollar to make ends meet in the middle of an affordability crisis. They’re ready for real change, not a shamelessly ambitious billionaire plane enthusiast who uses their state as a dress rehearsal for his presidential run.”

READ: Vivek Ramaswamy doesn’t really want to be Ohio governor. I know what he wants | Opinion

• Republicans have run the state Senate continuously since 1985. Except for two years, Republicans have run the Ohio House of Representatives continuously since January 1995. And since 1987, the Ohio Supreme Court has had a Republican majority.

• Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t so much obliged to campaign as he is required to explain why Ohio is (supposedly) adrift without sails or paddles thanks to 30 to 35 years of GOP rule at the Statehouse, with state senators and representatives elected from GOP-rigged districts.

• Meanwhile, Ramaswamy has signaled his confidence in Ohio by moving his main enterprise, Strive Inc., a big player in Bitcoin markets, out of Ohio and into Texas.

• Looming over the calendar is the undisputed fact that Ramaswamy would like to move into (what’s left of) the White House after Donald Trump finishes wrecking the place.

• Do the math: The Ohio governor’s inauguration will be on Jan. 11, 2027.

• His or her first state operating budget must be passed within six months, by July 1. Then, six months after that, on Jan. 3, 2028, Iowa will stage its presidential caucuses, and on Jan. 11, 2028 — exactly one year after Ohio’s gubernatorial inauguration — New Hampshire will hold its presidential primary election.

• Meanwhile, Republican Vice President J.D. (James David) Vance, of Cincinnati, also wants to succeed Trump, which could split Ohio Republicans right down the middle. (Advantage: Vance.)

• If Ramaswamy becomes governor, then seeks the presidency less than a year after gaining Ohio’s “supreme executive power,” who’ll be minding the Statehouse store while Ramaswamy trudges through New Hampshire’s snow? Faceless aides and grasping lobbies.

• That is, the question becomes who’d really run Ohio come January: A Ramaswamy-for-president campaign doing business as the state of Ohio, or an Amy Acton administration anchored not to her future but to Ohio’s?

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NBC 4 COLUMBUS: “[Husted] backed billions in tax breaks for data centers.”

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Coming off of a rough weekend, Jon Husted is facing more tough questions over his record of bringing hundreds of data centers to Ohio. Husted is desperately trying to blame anyone else but himself for sending utility bills soaring, even going as far as blaming Ohioans for data centers in an attempt to escape accountability for his actions.

WATCH:

Jon Husted has been called the “face of data centers” in Ohio for his record of bringing hundreds of data centers to the state while local communities were left with the bill. 

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Once again, Jon Husted is looking to blame anyone else for his role in bringing hundreds of data centers to Ohio which have sent utility bills through the roof. Excuses don’t pay the bills, and Ohioans will hold Jon Husted accountable in November.” 

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