Ossoff accuses Collins of white nationalist ties in heated Georgia Senate debate

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff used Thursday's Georgia Senate debate to go after Republican Rep. Mike Collins over extremists in his orbit, at one point saying Collins had staffed his House office with "half the Third Reich."

A sharp opening

Ossoff set the tone in his first remarks. He told viewers that Collins "has brought dishonor to our state through his personal bigotry" along with what he called widely documented links to white nationalists.

The Third Reich line came later during a question about data centers. It appeared to point to past aides of the congressman who held extreme views.

What reporters have found

A CNN investigation described Collins' son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, as a pro-white nationalist influencer who has shared antisemitic material and Nazi imagery online. He appears in family pictures on Collins' campaign website and social accounts.

The Washington Post reported that a onetime Collins staffer posted a swastika and a picture of himself in Ku Klux Klan robes on X. That former aide said Collins never knew about the account. Collins later condemned the posts.

The Daily Beast reported that at least two people working on the Collins campaign are tied to a far-right group started by a former Klan leader. The campaign said both were unpaid volunteers and that it did not know about the connection, according to The New York Times.

Collins responds

Asked about his son-in-law, Collins said he has condemned racism, antisemitism and hate no matter the source. "It's wrong," he said. "We have no place in this world for that."

Ossoff pushed back. He said neo-Nazi propaganda was being spread to millions of people from Collins' own home and accused the congressman of amplifying it himself online. Collins has denied that his posts are racist or antisemitic.

Voting rights clash

On voting rights Ossoff invoked the late civil rights leader John Lewis. "If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club," he said. Elsewhere in the debate he said flatly that Collins "is a bigot."

Collins answered by hitting Ossoff for repeatedly voting against the SAVE Act. Voting rights advocates warn the bill could keep millions of eligible voters from casting ballots. Collins argued the country should have the most secure elections in the world.