GPB: Ossoff calls opponent Mike Collins ‘a scandal piñata’ at Atlanta rally

Atlanta, Ga. —  With less than 100 days until Election Day, Senator Jon Ossoff is continuing his “no-mercy strategy” exploiting the multiple missteps of GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins. At Ossoff’s Atlanta rally Sunday, he addressed more than 1,600 Georgians and “methodically laced into each of Collins’ controversies to cheering supporters.” 

Collins was caught on video last week during a campaign event in Savannah after a January 6th rioter from Georgia asked if Collins would support “some form of compensatory relief” for violent insurrectionists who ransacked the United States Capitol. Collins answered, “That’s easy. Yes.”  

Collins’ disgraceful stance, as previously highlighted by reporting in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is just his latest misstep in a series of scandals that have so far defined his campaign. Throughout his U.S. Senate bid, Collins has faced scandal after scandal, including an active federal investigation into the illegal misuse of tax dollars and disturbing “close ties” to white nationalism that led to his office working with notorious white nationalists – including Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer – to try to get a Holocaust denier out of jail. Collins has also faced public outrage over his antisemitic harassment of a Jewish reporter and praise for the viciously racist harassment with monkey sounds of a Black woman on a college campus. 

See more below on what Georgians are reading and watching after Sen. Ossoff exploited Mike Collins’ latest missteps: 

Georgia Public Broadcasting: Ossoff calls opponent Mike Collins ‘a scandal piñata’ at Atlanta rally
By: Sarah Kallis | August 17, 2026

KEY EXCERPTS: 

• U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff rallied supporters for his reelection bid in Atlanta on Sunday. 

• Ossoff spoke about high grocery and gas prices, healthcare and his opposition to the war in Iran during his speech to more than 1,000 supporters at Center Stage Theater. 

• He also took shots at his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, citing ties to white supremacist social media influencers and crypto trading.

• “He’s like a scandal piñata: Every time you shake him, more misdeeds fall out,” Ossoff said to the crowd, “The Mar-a-Lago mafia really has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights.”

• He also sharply criticized President Donald Trump, calling him corrupt as well. […]

• […] Voting for the November election begins in just over eight weeks. 

CBS Atlanta: Ossoff rallies Atlanta, targets Trump and Collins as Georgia U.S. Senate race intensifies
By Zachary Bynum | August 17, 2026

KEY EXCERPTS:

• U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff rallied supporters in Atlanta on Sunday, sharpening his case against President Trump and Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins as one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races moves into its final months. […] 

• Ossoff is seeking a second term against Collins, the Trump-backed Republican nominee who won the GOP runoff in June. Ossoff is the only incumbent Senate Democrat seeking reelection this year in a state Mr. Trump carried in 2024, adding national stakes to a contest that could help determine control of the chamber. […]

• The senator repeatedly shifted between attacks on Mr. Trump and Collins, seeking to tie his Republican opponent closely to the president’s agenda.

• That included a recent exchange between Collins and Dominic Box during a campaign stop in Savannah.

• Box, who was convicted in 2024 on two felony civil disorder charges and four misdemeanors stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, asked Collins whether he supported compensating Americans who were improperly targeted by the federal government. […] 

• “When the federal government harms you, then yes, they have a liability too. That’s easy. Yes,” Collins told Box. […] 

• As the race enters its final stretch, Ossoff has also sought to demonstrate that his coalition extends beyond Democratic voters.

• Earlier this month, former Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Tifton Mayor Julie Smith endorsed Ossoff over Collins — a trio of Republican endorsements the senator has highlighted as he campaigns for a second term. […] 

AJC: Jon Ossoff Wants More Than a Win Against Mike Collins
By Greg Bluestein | August 17, 2026

KEY EXCERPTS:

• U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is showing no mercy.
  
• The Democrat leads Republican challenger Mike Collins in every major public poll, holds a massive fundraising advantage and is now trying to peel away GOP voters. At his Sunday rally in Atlanta, Ossoff made plain that he sees no reason to let up.
  
• “A wave is building,” said to 1,600 supporters crammed into a Midtown Atlanta concert hall. “The kind of wave that comes once a generation when the people have been pushed too far, and they decide altogether all at once to say: Enough is enough.” […]
  
• Ossoff is using [rallies] to imprint a straightforward argument on Georgia voters… He says he is the check on Donald Trump that Georgia needs and calls Collins a “crumbling little bigot” MAGA loyalist whose political baggage makes him unfit to represent a closely divided state. […]

• On Sunday, Ossoff piled on, calling Collins a “scandal piñata” who has lived up to earlier warnings from Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republicans that he’s too tied to Trump to win in November.
  
• His no-mercy strategy amounted to a dual effort to keep Trump-weary Democrats energized while giving swing voters and disaffected Republicans a reason to abandon Collins. […]
  
• The Democrat has some help winning over GOP voters from two recent Georgia defections: Mayors Scott James Matheson of Valdosta and Julie Smith of Tifton.
  
• The two Republicans will play a key role in the Democrat’s pitch to uneasy conservatives. He pointedly said more “bipartisan friends” will soon add their names to the list.
  
• And even some veteran Republicans who aren’t crossing the aisle are sounding increasingly fatalistic about Collins’ prospects.
  
• Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson is distancing himself from Collins while Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has criticized Collins’ lie that Trump “won” Georgia’s 2020 election, notably declined to endorse him over the weekend.
  
• Jordan Fuchs, a Raffensperger deputy and longtime GOP strategist, took it a step further in a “Politically Georgia” podcast interview. She said she’s normally reluctant to write off a candidate months before Election Day. Not this time.

• “I’ve seen amazing recoveries,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s going to be the case here in the Senate race. I think there’s too many forces going against Mike in that particular race.”

• Ossoff methodically laced into each of Collins’ controversies to cheering supporters.
  
• Collins’ son-in-law was exposed as a white nationalist influencer who posted antisemitic propaganda and Nazi imagery online, forcing the Republican’s campaign on the defensive.
  
• Then came Collins’ exchange with a Jan. 6 rioter, which Ossoff quickly seized on to accuse him of supporting taxpayer-funded payouts to Trump loyalists who assaulted the U.S. Capitol. […]
  
• And there’s an unresolved House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that Collins misused congressional funds. Collins has called the allegations bogus and said he expects to be cleared.
  
• “By the way,” Ossoff said, “if you think what’s come out so far about Mike is bad, there’s more and worse on the way.” […]

WXIA: Ossoff criticizes Trump, Collins at rally 

• [WXIA] Now, one of the most competitive and closely watched Senate races in the country is right here, where Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is trying to defend his seat against Republican challenger Congressman Mike Collins. Ossoff held a rally in Midtown earlier today. […] 

• [GILAT MELAMED, WXIA] Senator Jon Ossoff fired up the crowd of over 1,000 supporters, attacking President Donald Trump throughout his remarks and criticizing Congressman Mike Collins as being, quote, ‘Trump puppet’. […]

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “Georgia deserves better. Better than pro-war, pro-tariff, pro-cutting-your-health-care Trump puppet Mike Collins. And America deserves better than Donald Trump.”

• [GILAT MELAMED, WXIA] Ossoff also came after Collins for his answer at a campaign event in Savannah last week. A man asked Collins if he would support a Trump administration proposal from May, described as a compensation fund for people unjustly wronged by the federal government, or if Collins would support some type of similar compensation.

• [GILAT MELAMED, WXIA] Critics of the Trump administration proposal, including many Democrats, argued the fund could be used to compensate convicted January 6th rioters. 

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “He wants to pay those violent criminals with your tax dollars.”

WANF: Senator Jon Ossoff campaigns in Atlanta

• [WANF] […] Senator Jon Ossoff holding a rally, while Congressman Mike Collins plays defense. […] Hundreds chanted for six more years for Senator Jon Ossoff and a victory over his opponent, Republican Representative Mike Collins. […]

• [CRYSTAL KING] […] “That’s the whole difference between these two men. One record shows what you pay and how it raises and needs to account for that. The other one is fighting every day to bring it down.”

• [WANF] The struggles of everyday rising costs are felt with this Georgia father of three.

• [DAVID SUTHERLAND] “This year, we were left deciding between school supplies and putting gas in the car. What’s a family, an average American family, supposed to do? Well, we have an answer Georgia. Senator Ossoff understands these issues.” 

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “Georgians work harder and longer, but the bills just get higher and higher. A 60-hour workweek still needs SNAP. Santa can’t make your little girl’s wish come true this year.” 

• [WANF] In addressing Collins’ position on the now-terminated anti-weaponization fund that would’ve compensated people who alleged they were wrongfully targeted under Biden administration for the January 6th attacks at the U.S. Capitol, Ossoff says “Georgia deserves better.”

WAGA: Sen. Ossoff hosts rally ahead of midterm election

• [WAGA] […] Senator Jon Ossoff brought a crowd together to rally for his campaign on Sunday afternoon.

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “I know many of you are here today because you just can’t stand what’s been done to our country.”

• [WAGA] The senator focused his speech on the rising costs that Americans face.

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “It costs more than ever to stock your fridge, to power your home, to make a cup of coffee, to buy school supplies for your kid, or a tractor for your farm.” […]

• [WAGA] Ossoff criticized his opponent, Representative Mike Collins. […] The senator says his campaign is for everyone, not just Democrats. He says he wants to unite Georgians together.

• [SEN. OSSOFF] “This is a campaign for everyone who craves sanity and competence and quality public service. This is a campaign for decent folk of all stripes who love our state and our country and care for each other.”

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