GOP Senate nominee Mike Collins' campaign condemned 'vile' social media posts by a former intern and PAC contractor as the Georgia race against Jon Ossoff heats up.
Republican Senate nominee Mike Collins is facing fresh heat after a report surfaced hateful social media posts from a former congressional intern and PAC contractor. The Georgia congressman's campaign responded swiftly, calling the posts vile and completely unhinged while making clear the man has no connection to the campaign. The story lands just weeks before one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that 24-year-old Preston Parra, who interned in Collins' congressional office in 2024 and later worked as a contractor for the congressman's political action committee, shared the images on X earlier this summer. His work with the PAC ended in 2025, before Collins launched his Senate bid.
According to the report, Parra shared an image in June appearing to show him wearing Ku Klux Klan robes and posted a swastika in July. Other posts included racial slurs, references to white power, and Nazi-related language. The posts have since been deleted.
Parra told the Post that much of his social media activity was satirical and intended to provoke, and he said the image of him in the robes was generated using Grok, the artificial intelligence feature on X. The report also noted that a number of people in Collins' orbit have been accused of ties to white nationalists or of making racist and antisemitic comments, and that the congressman's own social media presence has drawn scrutiny.
Collins' campaign did not hesitate. A spokesman said Parra has no affiliation with Collins' office or campaign, and delivered a blunt condemnation.
"The posts are vile, completely unhinged, and Mike Collins unequivocally condemns them," the statement read. "Rep. Collins believes the rise in antisemitism and hate among younger Americans and among Jon Ossoff's allies like Hasan Piker and Abdul El-Sayed is equally abhorrent and, unlike Ossoff, has condemned it from all sources directly."
The statement draws a sharp contrast with the Democratic incumbent, pointing to figures in Ossoff's orbit who have drawn their own scrutiny over antisemitism. Collins' team is clearly betting that a fast, forceful response will blunt the story's impact with voters.
Collins secured the Republican nomination in June, winning a runoff against former football coach Derek Dooley with the endorsement of President Donald Trump. He now faces two-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November in a state that has become a battleground for control of the Senate.
Georgia has been at the center of national political fights for years, and both parties are pouring resources into the state. For Collins, the challenge is to keep the race focused on issues like border security, the economy, and inflation rather than a former low-level contractor's deleted social media posts.
The Post report lands at a delicate moment, with early voting in Georgia still weeks away and both campaigns trading daily attacks. Collins has already moved on, hammering Ossoff on the campaign trail over everything from spending to crime, while his team works to frame the story as a non-story involving someone with no current ties to the campaign.
Democrats and Ossoff's allies are expected to push the report in the coming days, but Collins' quick and total condemnation gives him cover with independent voters. The bigger question is whether the pattern allegations -- involving former staffers and associates rather than the candidate himself -- gain traction with voters who are already deeply divided. If the race stays focused on policy and the economy, the story likely fades; if it lingers, it could test whether Georgia voters care more about a candidate's response or the company he once kept.
GOP Senate nominee Mike Collins' campaign condemned 'vile' social media posts by a former intern and PAC contractor as the Georgia race against Jon Ossoff heats up.
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