Alex Vindman Survived Trump’s Retaliation Machine. Now He’s Running for Senate
Alex Vindman knows a thing or two about pissing off President Donald Trump. In 2019, Vindman rose to national prominence when he served as a
Alex Vindman knows a thing or two about pissing off President Donald Trump. In 2019, Vindman rose to national prominence when he served as a witness during Trump’s first impeachment trial. If you’ve lost track of that particular scandal, it’s the one involving Trump, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the Biden family … and Vindman listening in on a troubling phone call in his capacity as the director for European affairs on the Security Council. Vindman’s congressional testimony describing that pivotal call was widely lauded, even as it ended his storied military career: After being ousted from the NSC, Vindman retired from the Army in 2020. Six years later, he’s got his eye on another governmental gig. In January, Vindman announced plans to challenge Republican incumbent Ashley Moody for the Florida seat in the US Senate previously held by Marco Rubio. Vindman, who tells me he moved to Florida in 2023 because his wife wanted to escape politics, is the latest candidate I’m chatting with ahead of the November midterms.
He’s particularly interesting to me, and WIRED, for a few reasons: Vindman has lived through—and emerged from—the Trump retaliation machine, and I wanted to hear more about that journey; he’s been vocal about his opposition to both the war in Iran and ICE, two topics we cover frequently; and I wanted his view, as a longtime service member, on AI through the lens of national security. Then there’s the fact that Vindman, running in what’s ostensibly a Republican stronghold, has a decent shot at winning the damn thing: Though Senator Moody still leads in most polls, Vindman is often within spitting distance—no small feat for a first-time candidate whose campaign started around five months ago. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. KATIE DRUMMOND: Welcome to the Big Interview, Alex. ALEX VINDMAN: Thanks. Good to be here with you, Katie. So glad to have you here. You are maybe best known on a national level as a whistleblower, but you were also an Army veteran of more than 20 years.
You were honored with a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq, and you were on the Security Council. I'm curious if you feel like your role in the first impeachment trial of President Trump overshadows your work and your career. What would you like to be best known for? I thought you were gonna say that I was best known for my appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm. A lot of folks seem to recognize me from there. Certainly the public knows me from [the impeachment] context. I didn't necessarily recognize the impact. I was sitting, testifying in front of Congress. I was the focus of the story, but I wasn't really a part of that story. I was just doing my job. But behind the scenes, a lot of folks knew me for having a pretty exceptional military career. My family came to the US in 1979. I was 4 years old. We were Jewish refugees that fled from the Soviet Union.
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