{"id":394,"date":"2026-05-25T15:11:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=394"},"modified":"2026-05-25T15:11:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T15:11:55","slug":"gop-primary-chaos-erupts-as-unelectable-extremist-fires-top-aide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=394","title":{"rendered":"GOP primary chaos erupts as ‘unelectable extremist’ fires top aide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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. <\/p>\n

Read more New court filing \u2018obviously written by Trump\u2019 tries to leverage shooting for ballroom<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

Technically, Collins was well ahead of Dooley, winning the first round of the primary by 11 points. But as Punchbowl News reports, \u201cNegative headlines of the past few days opened the door for Dooley to argue that Collins is an unelectable extremist who can\u2019t flip this critical Senate seat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest controversy came on Friday, when Dooley-affiliated GOP strategist Luke Thompson tweeted a poll on X<\/u> showing that Collins’ 11-point lead over Dooley had narrowed from 46 percent to 41 percent in the runoff, saying, \u201c48 hours later and the Collins lead has cut in half. Dooley beats Ossoff. Collins can\u2019t. Not hard to understand.\u201d 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\u2019s plummeting approval rating. <\/p>\n

The Collins campaign, however, replied to Thompson\u2019s tweet with the offensive declaration, \u201cMatt Laurer\u2019s sloppy seconds chiming in to take an L.\u201d <\/p>\n

As Punchbowl News explains, \u201cThompson is married to Brooke Nevils, a former NBC News staffer who accused<\/u> disgraced former anchor Matt Lauer of sexual assault. Lauer has denied the allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump enemy\u2019s new electoral filing just made the 2028 race a lot more interesting<\/a><\/p>\n

Collins then fired his longtime staffer and former chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, saying, \u201cEarlier 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Nevils, Collins also apologized to her personally, but she still questions the ethics underlying the campaign, saying, \u201cI think the bigger question is, why was there a culture that permitted that kind of behavior? This is why people don\u2019t come forward.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of disgusting behavior does not represent Georgia values \u2014 or frankly any values \u2014 and is exactly why Mike Collins cannot be our nominee this November,\u201d Dooley declared. \u201cA vote for Collins is a vote for Ossoff.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe controversy is adding to GOP skepticism about Collins\u2019 ability to beat Ossoff in the general election,\u201d Punchbowl News explains. \u201cCollins 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham responded to the criticized (and now deleted) post, \u201cDisgusting. If he\u2019s our guy, @MikeCollinsGA has ($) 44 million reasons to get rid of this amateur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump caught in a \u2018bear trap\u2019 with no easy way out: ex-GOP strategist<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 again…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGOP primary chaos erupts as 'unelectable extremist' fires top aide - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=394\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOP primary chaos erupts as 'unelectable extremist' fires top aide - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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