New reporting from the Daily Caller revealed how “MAGA warrior” Buddy Carter, MAGA extremist Mike Collins, and failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are ramping up their attacks on each other.
This latest reporting comes after the Daily Caller previously covered how Georgia’s GOP U.S. Senate primary is becoming a “powder keg” for President Trump as Carter, Collins, and Dooley battle it out to prove their loyalty to the increasingly unpopular president ahead of the May 19th primary.
Daily Caller: Georgia Senate Primary Heats Up As Rep. Buddy Carter Blasts Rivals’ Records
By: Ashley Brasfield | March 20, 2026
KEY EXCERPTS:
- Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter called out his opponents in Georgia’s GOP Senate primary race.
- Carter appeared Friday on the Ruthless podcast, where host Josh Holmes asked him to assess the “deficiencies” of his primary opponents, former football coach Derek Dooley and fellow Georgia Rep. Mike Collins.
- “If you look specifically at Collins or Coach Dooley, how do we match up? What are the deficiencies in the opponents?” Holmes asked Carter.
- Carter first pointed to Dooley’s voting record.
- “If he were running in the state of Tennessee he wouldn’t be eligible,” Carter alleged. He also claimed that Dooley has voted only once in the past two decades, describing him as a “nice guy” who lacked political experience.
- Derek Dooley Spokesman, Connor Whitney, alleged to the Daily Caller that Carter is willing to misrepresent opponents to hold onto power.
- “Career politicians like Buddy Carter will say and do anything to stay in power — including lie about their opponents […]”
- Carter then addressed Collins in the interview, outlining what he views as vulnerabilities in a potential general election matchup against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
- “You go to Mike Collins colleague no question about that but you got baggage. I’m sorry. Two ethics complaints right now against him, that’s significant with the House of Representatives bipartisan committee—three Republicans, three Democrats, the votes 6 to 0 in both of those,” Carter alleged.
- “One of them includes, you know, paying an intern, a girlfriend or whatever, and not working. The other is misappropriating $400,000 of taxpayers’ money. That’s pretty serious, so there’s baggage and there are other things as well. But again I would just emphasize that I’ve got the experience, I’ve done the job and I’ll continue to do the job.”
- A Collins spokesperson, Corbin Keown, fired back at Carter’s comments regarding an ongoing House review.
- He dubbed Carter “squeaker” and suggested he focus on his own campaign.
- “Squeaker, as they call him in Savannah, is in the middle of a tallest midget contest right now for last place and should focus accordingly because even when spending three times the field, he’s coming up short,” Keown told the Caller in a statement.