Senator Jon Ossoff launched one of the sharpest attacks of Thursday night’s contentious Georgia Senate debate, accusing Representative Mike Collins of bringing in “half of the Third Reich” to work in his congressional office.
The Democrat repeatedly redirected questions about artificial intelligence data centers, the war in Iran, immigration and Flock surveillance cameras toward allegations linking his Republican opponent to extremist figures.
“And that’s the problem, Mike. It’s not just that you’ve hired half of the Third Reich to staff your congressional office and that you’ve promoted neo-Nazi content online,” Ossoff said.
Ossoff established that combative tone from the outset, saying Collins had dishonored Georgia through what he described as “personal bigotry” and “widely documented ties to white nationalists.”
Collins also received unwelcome news earlier in the day. The Senate GOP’s leading super PAC is moving nearly $2 million in planned advertising from Georgia to neighboring South Carolina, where another Senate contest is underway, according to AdImpact Politics.
Collins responded by portraying Ossoff as an affluent liberal who has little understanding of the lives of everyday Americans.
“He’s a trust fund kid who’s never had a job in his life,” Collins said in one of his most pointed attacks.
The debate’s discussion of AI data centers soon became another opening for Ossoff to challenge Collins.
Ossoff criticized Collins for supporting President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, arguing that the legislation had placed additional financial pressure on Georgians before returning to the allegations involving extremist associations.
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff began the debate by accusing Representative Mike Collins of dishonoring the state through what he called Collins’ “personal bigotry” and “widely documented ties to white nationalists.”
“He’s a trust fund kid who’s never had a job in his life,” Collins shot back at Ossoff.
A family photograph on Representative Mike Collins’ campaign website shows his daughter, Summer Collins, with her husband, David Alan Scheer II, a social media influencer accused of sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalist material and imagery associated with Nazi Germany.
Ossoff’s accusations followed a moderator’s questions about two men connected to Collins: former staffer Preston Parra and Collins’ son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II.
Parra, who previously worked as a Collins intern and contractor, operates an X account that has included Nazi imagery, racial slurs and references to “White Power,” as well as nearly nude selfies.
A spokesperson for Collins’ campaign described the posts as “vile” and “completely unhinged,” while saying Parra has no connection to the congressman’s office or campaign.
Scheer, a fitness and masculinity influencer with roughly 1.5 million followers, has also faced accusations that he shared antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalist content and propaganda linked to Nazi ideology.
He also liked a comment quoting “Erika,” a German marching song associated with the Nazi era.
Scheer is registered to vote at a property owned by Collins and has appeared in photographs connected to the campaign.
Preston Parra, 24, previously interned for Collins and later worked for his campaign. He describes himself as a “racist twink” and has frequently posted sexual and derogatory material while operating a political firm.
Collins accused Ossoff of making inflammatory allegations about his family but did not directly condemn his son-in-law’s online persona.
‘If John Lewis was marching from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club,’ Ossoff said
‘I’ve condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate. I don’t care where the source is,’ Collins said. ‘It’s wrong. We have no place in this world for that’
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Collins has said Scheer plays no role in his campaign and that he does not share his son-in-law’s views.
Asked by the moderator what family dinners looked like at his home, Collins rejected the premise and accused Ossoff of spreading inflammatory claims about his family. He did not denounce Scheer by name.
‘That’s my family. And the craziness Jon Ossoff is spewing,’ Collins said.
He said family members had received death threats and pointed to the arrest this week of a New York man accused of threatening him and Scheer.
‘I’ve condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate. I don’t care where the source is,’ Collins said. ‘It’s wrong. We have no place in this world for that.’
Ossoff kept pressing. ‘Imagine running for the US Senate while neo-Nazi propaganda is disseminated to an audience of millions from your home,’ he said.
He also invoked the late civil rights leader John Lewis, a towering figure in Georgia politics.
‘If John Lewis was marching from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club,’ Ossoff said.
Collins sought to paint Ossoff as an out-of-touch liberal, repeatedly raising his links to Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and far-left streamer Hasan Piker.
The pair also clashed over a House Ethics Committee investigation Collins faces over allegations involving his former chief of staff, Brandon Phillips.
The probe centers on payments to Phillips’ girlfriend, Caroline Craze, who was hired as an intern and allegedly received more than $10,000. Witnesses told investigators they never saw her working in the office.
Collins dismissed the accusations as a ‘nothing-burger,’ denied wrongdoing and challenged the House Ethics Committee to release its findings.
Ossoff has maintained a lead in public polling throughout the race, with surveys consistently putting the Democratic incumbent ahead of Collins.
The prediction market Kalshi currently gives Ossoff a 96 percent chance of winning the election.
If Ossoff can once again deliver a win for Georgia, his increasingly high-profile rallies and viral attacks on Trump have further raised his national profile, fueling speculation about whether the senator could emerge as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender.
But Ossoff has repeatedly squashed the rumors, saying he has ‘zero interest’ in running for president in 2028 and calling the speculation ‘fantasy football.’
