GOP primary chaos erupts as 'unelectable extremist' fires top aide

The Georgia Republican Senate primary was already rife with party infighting, and now tempers are running even higher after election frontrunner Representative Mike Collins (R-GA) was forced to fire a top aide over offensive online behavior.

MAGA-backed Collins is currently in a primary runoff against former college football coach Derek Dooley, who has the support of Governor Brian Kemp, who himself has been at odds with President Donald Trump over the past 18 months. To that end, the primary represents yet what many have suggested is an ongoing battle for the GOP, pitting Trump loyalists against more traditional Republicans. But it is also the party’s bid to oppose incumbent Senator John Ossoff (D-GA) in a key state. Georgia has long been safely red until turning purple in recent years, and now conservatives are struggling to bring it more firmly into their camp.

Technically, Collins was well ahead of Dooley, winning the first round of the primary by 11 points. But as Punchbowl News reports, “Negative headlines of the past few days opened the door for Dooley to argue that Collins is an unelectable extremist who can’t flip this critical Senate seat.”

The latest controversy came on Friday, when Dooley-affiliated GOP strategist Luke Thompson tweeted a poll on X showing that Collins' 11-point lead over Dooley had narrowed from 46 percent to 41 percent in the runoff, saying, “48 hours later and the Collins lead has cut in half. Dooley beats Ossoff. Collins can’t. Not hard to understand.” This is in line with what many strategists have suggested: that MAGA-backed candidates may win primaries within the GOP, but are not poised to do the same in general elections amid Trump’s plummeting approval rating.

The Collins campaign, however, replied to Thompson’s tweet with the offensive declaration, “Matt Laurer’s sloppy seconds chiming in to take an L.”

As Punchbowl News explains, “Thompson is married to Brooke Nevils, a former NBC News staffer who accused disgraced former anchor Matt Lauer of sexual assault. Lauer has denied the allegations.”

Collins then fired his longtime staffer and former chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, saying, “Earlier today, a campaign advisor sent out a despicable and unauthorized twitter comment using a Team Collins campaign account. I want to apologize for this offensive tweet. I have made staffing changes to ensure this type of behavior never happens again.”

According to Nevils, Collins also apologized to her personally, but she still questions the ethics underlying the campaign, saying, “I think the bigger question is, why was there a culture that permitted that kind of behavior? This is why people don’t come forward.”

“This kind of disgusting behavior does not represent Georgia values — or frankly any values — and is exactly why Mike Collins cannot be our nominee this November,” Dooley declared. “A vote for Collins is a vote for Ossoff.”

“The controversy is adding to GOP skepticism about Collins’ ability to beat Ossoff in the general election,” Punchbowl News explains. “Collins is a firmly right-wing member with an unapologetic MAGA brand. While Trump won Georgia in 2024, some Republicans fear that nominating Collins is a recipe for losing the state in a midterm that could favor Democrats.”

As Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham responded to the criticized (and now deleted) post, “Disgusting. If he’s our guy, @MikeCollinsGA has ($) 44 million reasons to get rid of this amateur.”

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