Ossoff and Collins trade personal attacks during heated Georgia Senate debate

In a combative Georgia Senate debate Thursday night, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and his challenger, Republican Rep. Mike Collins, wasted no time trading blows on the economy, tariffs, healthcare cuts, data centers and more.

As he has in recent months, Ossoff accused Collins of having ties to white nationalists and being blindly loyal to President Trump. He called Collins a "bigot" and questioned his fitness for office. Collins rejected those accusations, saying he has condemned racism and antisemitism, while repeatedly portraying Ossoff as a radical liberal out of step with Georgia voters.  

Georgia's Senate race has drawn considerable national attention heading into the midterms. Ossoff is the only Senate Democrat running for reelection in a state that President Trump won two years ago. Keeping the seat is vital to Democratic hopes of reclaiming a Senate majority. 

Collins has been endorsed by Mr. Trump, who called the Republican lawmaker a "true Friend, Fighter, and WARRIOR" ahead of June's GOP Senate primary runoff. In September, Collins also received the endorsement of outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who had originally backed his runoff opponent, former college football coach Derek Dooley. 

Ossoff has been endorsed by former President Barack Obama, who recorded radio ads for him. He has also been endorsed by other Democratic leaders, including former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Inflation takes center stage

Collins and Ossoff disagreed over the root cause of the high inflation plaguing the U.S. economy. Collins argued that former President Joe Biden's economic policies were the primary cause, while Ossoff took aim at Mr. Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" and his ongoing tariffs, which Collins has supported.

Collins defended his support of the president's policies, saying the legislation's tax cuts will "funnel back into the economy and cause this economy to grow."

Ossoff said that he wants to end the war in Iran, which he said is damaging Georgia's farming industry, and end the Trump administration's tariffs on foreign goods.

"If you want to understand whether the Trump-Collins budget has helped you, just go fill up a tank of gas, go to the grocery store, try to buy food for your kids, look at your electric bill this year," Ossoff said.

Ossoff also attacked Collins for voting seven times against a resolution that would block Mr. Trump from taking further military action in Iran. 

While Ossoff continued to emphasize the effects of tariffs, Collins took aim at Ossoff on border security, saying that the senator chose to shut down the government for 48 days to defund the border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement rather than vote on an aid package supporting farmers after Hurricane Helene.

Candidates trade barbs on healthcare and hospital closures

Collins touted what he said the "Big, Beautiful Bill" has done to support rural hospitals, and said Democrats were to blame for skyrocketing health insurance costs. 

"The Affordable Care Act is what has caused your insurance to go sky high. Our premiums have gone through the roof and your coverage has gone through the floor," Collins said. 

If elected to the Senate, Collins said he would push for more transparency in insurance costs, and would work to keep drug drug costs down. 

Ossoff blamed the closure of rural hospitals, including one he said closed in Collins' district, on Republican efforts to cut Medicaid. He also pushed for Medicaid expansion in Georgia. 

Data center issue devolves into personal attacks

While both candidates agreed that local communities should have a say on whether data centers should be built in their areas, the question quickly became personal.

Collins said that one of Ossoff's major donors was Silicon Valley investor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor who had ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Ossoff, in turn, said that the "Big, Beautiful Bill," which Collins supported, gave $70 million to data center developers.

"It's not just that you hired half the Third Reich to staff your congressional office and you've promoted neo-Nazi content online, it's that you're robbing your constituents to subsidize your donors," Ossoff said. 

The candidates both agreed that they have concerns over the threat that Flock cameras could be abused by local, state and federal agencies. 

Ossoff defends vote to block arms shipments to Israel

In December, Ossoff voted to block some shipments of U.S. arms to Israel. During Thursday's debate, he avoided calling the situation in Gaza a genocide, saying that while he had believed that Israeli forces violated humanitarian law, he said the labeling of the conflict was a question for the International Criminal Court.

"I care deeply about the security of the Israeli people, among whom are members of my family. I also care about innocent Palestinian life, and make no apology for my votes," he said.

Allegations of white supremacist ties connected to Collins

In his opening statement Thursday, Ossoff described the debate as "the trial of Mike Collins."

"Mike Collins has brought dishonor to our state through his personal bigotry and his ties to white nationalists, and he has sold out Georgia in his pathetic childlike devotion to Donald Trump," Ossoff said, a reference to a report that alleged Collins' former chief of staff was in a group chat with white nationalists. 

Ossoff has called for Collins to release all communications between Kip Talley, Collins' former chief of staff, and a group that included white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer.

In the chats, originally reported by Slate in May, Talley discussed efforts to get Charles Johnson out of custody. Johnson, who Ossoff described as a "white nationalist" and "prominent Holocaust denier," was in federal custody for contempt of court from November 2025 to February 2026.

Collins called the allegations by the Ossoff campaign "craziness."

"I've condemned racism, antisemitism, hate. I don't care where the source is," Collins said. "And I tell him that too. It's wrong. We have no place in this world for that."

Collins countered that Ossoff was a "radical" and "extremist" who "left our state less safe, more expensive, and worse off." He alleged Ossoff has connections to Hasan Piker, the controversial left-wing activist and streamer, as well as Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, who he claimed "hates Israel and loves Iran."  

Ossoff argued that Collins himself has amplified hateful content online, calling him a "bigot" and saying that his words were "disqualifying to be a U.S. senator."

At one point during a question about voting laws, Ossoff said: "If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club."

Polls see Democratic-leaning Georgia

The Cook Political Report and the University of Virginia's Center for Politics have both recently rated the Georgia Senate race as likely Democrat. Polling from Insider Advantage, Big Data Poll, and YouGov in the last few weeks have found Ossoff with a lead of eight, 10, and 10 points respectively.

This was the first debate between the two candidates this election season. Ossoff and Collins will meet again on Oct. 13 as part of the Atlanta Press Club's Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.