Senate race erupted into a heated confrontation Tuesday night as Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., accused GOP challenger Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., of allowing the dissemination of "neo-Nazi propaganda" inside his own home, prompting Collins to fire back over Ossoff's financial support from a billionaire with ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The exchange unfolded during the candidates' second and final debate ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, which was hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and broadcast by Georgia Public Broadcasting network. During the debate, Ossoff sought to tie his GOP opponent to White nationalism and repeatedly demanded that Collins commit to stopping the dissemination of hateful rhetoric involving his campaign staff, in particular Collins' son-in-law, which Ossoff alleged has continued despite blowback. Meanwhile, Collins accused his Democrat opponent of fueling threats against his family, refusing to return campaign support connected to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and questioned Ossoff over his support for candidates linked to controversial streamer Hasan Piker.
DEM ‘EPSTEIN CLASS’ ATTACK BACKFIRES AS TOP CANDIDATES FUNDED BY EPSTEIN-TIED BILLIONAIRE "How weak a person do you have to be to be unable to stop someone under your own roof from disseminating neo-Nazi propaganda while you run for the Senate?" Ossoff asked, referencing reporting about his opponent's son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, who was the subject of a CNN investigation about sharing Nazi propaganda imagery, promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and polling his online followers about whether he should produce a video titled "Why Gen-Z Doesn't Hate Hitler." "How about this, Mike? We can shake hands on it," Ossoff continued to press. "Will you commit tonight that for the remainder of this campaign, it's just three weeks, Mike, you won't allow any more neo-Nazi propaganda to be produced from your house?
Can you make that commitment?" Collins responded by accusing Ossoff of inflaming hostility toward his family, pointing to threats he said he and his son-in-law had received. "I'm a little tired of this, Jon," Collins said. "There's a crazy person in jail right now because of your rhetoric," he alleged, before saying he had received another threat just the previous day.
JON OSSOFF SILENT ON SPLC INDICTMENT AFTER TAKING MORE THAN $700K FROM AFFILIATE OF INDICTED GROUP "You have not denounced, you've not condemned Reid Hoffman, one of your largest donors out there, one that's been supporting you with over $1 million," Collins shot back. "Why don't you denounce that? Why don't you return that money?" Collins was referring to Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder and major Democratic donor whose past relationship with Epstein has drawn scrutiny.
Hoffman has acknowledged meeting with Epstein after the financier's 2008 conviction for sex offenses and visiting his private island. Hoffman also contributed $7,000 directly to Ossoff's campaign and $1 million to a political action committee supporting the Georgia Democrat, according to previously reported campaign finance records. Earlier in the debate, Collins went further, accusing Hoffman of sending Epstein ice cream with a message referencing girls, while again pressing Ossoff to reject his financial support.
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