Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) fired one of his staffers over a post on X, made on the Mike Collins War Room account, which he decried as “despicable and unauthorized.”
Earlier on Friday, Luke Thompson, an adviser to Collins’s Republican runoff primary rival Derek Dooley, shared polling data showing Dooley ahead of Collins in a potential matchup with incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). The Mike Collins War Room account responded with a crude sexual reference targeting Thompson’s wife.
“Matt Laurer’s [sic] sloppy seconds chiming in to take an L,” the account said.
Thompson’s wife, Brooke Nevils, was a former staffer at NBC News, where she accused former Today show anchor Matt Lauer of sexually assaulting and raping her during her time there. She later revealed that she attempted suicide over the incident. Lauer has denied any wrongdoing.
The Mike Collins War Room account’s post went over many heads until Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein provided further context, igniting widespread outrage. The post was quickly deleted.
“Collins surrounds himself with unprofessional and incompetent cretins. This is not a team capable of holding its own against the Ossoff war chest. Just a deeply stupid group of low grade operators,” Thompson said in response to the post.
Blame for the post soon fell on longtime Collins adviser Brandon Phillips, who has previously faced an ethics inquiry. Collins announced his firing on his main account.
“Earlier today, a campaign advisor sent out a despicable and unauthorized twitter comment using a Team Collins campaign account. The statement was made without my knowledge or approval and in no way represents or reflects my values or the values of this campaign. I want to apologize for this offensive tweet. I have made staffing changes to ensure this type of behavior never happens again,” he wrote.
Collins got 40.5% of the vote in the Republican primary earlier this week, while the Gov. Brian Kemp-backed Dooley got 30.2%, sending both to a runoff.