Mike Collins

Nearly a week after a CNN report accused Georgia Representative Mike Collins of supporting a white supremacist influencer, Collins has commented.

The influencer, who CNN identified as Collins' son-in-law, shared anti-Semitic memes, made white supremacist comments on videos and promoted groups like the Patriot Front for years online, building a significant following.

Collins, a Trump-backed candidate and MAGA loyalist, is locked in a heated Senate race against incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who holds a significant lead in recent Georgia polls. Collins did not appear with President Trump during an appearance in Marietta, Georgia this week, despite previous reports suggesting he would be in attendance. Collins said in a social media post he needed to stay in Washington, D.C. for key votes, but some, like Ossoff, have questioned whether Collins' absence was intended to shield the president from his recent scandal.

The July 16 CNN report not only questioned the social media presence of his son-in-law, but brought past controversial posts and messages from Collins himself back into the spotlight.

Now, in comments made to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution's Tia Mitchell, Collins responded to the report, but did not denounce his son-in-law's rhetoric.

'Nobody speaks for me'

According to a post shared by Mitchell on July 21, Collins responded to questions about his son-in-law by saying "nobody speaks for me, and I don't speak for anybody else."

He continued to say "I think it's pretty clear on where I've always stood with Israel."

Mitchell said she asked if Collins found it harder to speak out given the accusations are against a family member, and Collins said "you know it always is. You love your family." He also called the decision to remove a photo that included his son-in-law from his campaign website a "personal decision."

In a statement made to CNN by a Collins campaign spokesperson, Collins' team defended his record and denied the representative was anti-Semitic.

"Rep. Collins' lifelong support for Israel is unquestionable and backed by his consistent record in Congress of standing up for Israel and her people," the spokesperson said.

Multiple previous attempts to reach Collins and his campaign team by USA TODAY have gone unanswered.

What was in the CNN report?

A CNN investigation found Collins' son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, spreads white nationalist rhetoric on social media and associates with white supremacist groups.

Sheer, who is married to Collins' daughter Summer, uses the handle "@scheereddzz" on social media and has more than 293,000 followers on Instagram. He has an additional 346,000 subscribers on YouTube where he describes himself as a "Christian, Husband, Father, Carpenter."

He is registered to vote at a property owned by Collins, CNN reported, and has appeared in family photos used for campaign websites, at election-night events and created promotional materials for Collins' trucking company.

His social media posts range from workout routines to Bible verses to anti-Semitic messages.

In a post made in June of last year on Instagram, Sheer said the "deep state" is "the same old Synagogue of Satan that killed our Lord Jesus. Nothing new under the sun." The image with the post showed a meme depicting a Simpson's character holding another character hostage with a gun, as "AIPAC" holding "U.S. Politicians" hostage.

He has also shared posts promoting the White supremacist group Patriot Front, and said "Gen-Z doesn't hate Hitler" in a now-deleted video that was saved by CNN. He also responded "There's nothing wrong with White Nationalism" on a YouTube comment that called his content "disturbing."

The posts and messages span years, according to CNN, and include Nazi imagery, claims that Jews were responsible for porn, the death of JFK and the 9/11 attacks.

Collins has faced widespread criticism for some of his more fringe comments before, including sharing pro-Israel counterprotestors making ape-like movements directed toward a Black woman at the University of Mississippi in 2024 and telling a Venezuelan migrant he could "buy him a ticket on Pinochet Air," referencing a Chilean dictator who threw opponents from helicopters.

Collins' former chief of staff, Kip Talley, was also accused of participating in a group chat with far-right figures Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer who discussed helping a Holocaust denier who is currently jailed on contempt charges.

Ossoff calls accusations 'disqualifying'

During a virtual press conference called by the Ossoff campaign on July 23, the Senator said the accusations against both Collins and Scheer are "disqualifying," and simply referring to a political record is not enough.

Ossoff, who is also Georgia's first Jewish senator and the first Jewish senator elected from the Deep South since 1974, said Collins' association with white supremacists is "certainly disqualifying for a promotion to the United States Senate."

"Let me be very clear," Ossoff said. "It is in the vital public interest that Georgia voters know whether this sitting congressman has been paying a neo-Nazi propagandist, why his office has these links to white supremacists, whether he will apologize for his office's documented links to white supremacists ... Mike Collins needs to come out and answer questions today. He needs to come clean with Georgia voters."

Ossoff pointed out that Collins has not publicly denounced any of the rhetoric shared by Scheer.

"Even if Mike Collins were not running for the Senate, for a sitting member of Congress to refuse to answer these questions and instead hide is disqualifying for high office," Ossoff said. "Why is the congressman refusing to answer these very straightforward questions?"

Irene Wright covers Georgia politics and elections as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at [email protected].