Key takeaways:
- Ossoff said he has “zero interest” in a 2028 presidential bid and pledged to serve a full Senate term if reelected.
- Collins denied being a white nationalist, while Ossoff challenged him over allegations involving his son-in-law.
- Asked whether Biden won the 2020 election, Collins did not answer directly but said Biden had been president.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff ruled out a 2028 presidential run Tuesday night, pledging to serve a full six-year term if reelected as he and Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins clashed in their final Georgia Senate debate.
“I have zero interest in running for president,” Ossoff said when a moderator asked him directly. “I’m not running for president. I’m running for re-election to the Senate.” Collins countered that Ossoff would run as the “DSA candidate,” referring to the Democratic Socialists of America. Ossoff is not a member of the group, CBS News reported.
The Atlanta Press Club debate took place as early voting began in Georgia. The nationally watched race could help determine control of the Senate. Ossoff is the only Senate Democrat seeking reelection in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024.
The candidates sparred over the economy, Trump’s tariffs, the war with Iran and the 2020 election. Collins portrayed Ossoff as an out-of-touch incumbent, calling the contest “a race between Georgia and Georgetown.” Ossoff pressed Collins over his support for Trump’s tariffs and accused him of ties to white nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology.
Asked directly whether he was a white nationalist, Collins denied the label. “I condemn any sort of hate speech,” he said. “Antisemitism, hate of any kind. It’s abhorrent.” CBS News reported that Collins said he had fired people over such matters. Ossoff raised allegations that Collins’ son-in-law had shared hateful material online, asking how Collins could not stop someone “under your own roof from disseminating neo-Nazi propaganda.” Collins did not directly address that allegation. He said Ossoff’s rhetoric had motivated a New York man accused of making death threats against him.
The two also traded accusations over Jeffrey Epstein’s files. Collins pressed Ossoff to condemn Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor whose name appeared in the files and who had meetings with Epstein. Hoffman has said he knew Epstein only through a fundraising relationship with MIT, which he regrets, according to CBS News. Ossoff accused Collins of voting against efforts to release the files in 2025. Collins said he voted to release them. Legislation to release the files later passed by a near-unanimous margin after Trump backed it, CBS News reported.
Collins again declined to say directly whether former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. “Joe Biden went into office, and boy, Georgians paid for it,” he said. Pressed later, Collins said, “Yes, Joe Biden was the president.”
On other issues, Ossoff said he would consider any House-passed articles of impeachment against Trump “on the merits as a juror in the Senate.” He also defended his vote to block some U.S. arms shipments to Israel, saying senators should assess whether governments receiving American weapons act consistently with U.S. interests, laws and values. He said Israel had every right to go to war with Hamas after its terrorist attack, while senators had a responsibility to ensure laws were respected by those using U.S. weapons.
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