DPG Chair Charlie Bailey: “Rick Jackson needs to do more than just flee Mike Collins and his numerous scandals, he needs to denounce Collins today.”
Today, DPG Chair Charlie Bailey held a press call to address GOP Gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson fleeing GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins over his white nationalist and neo-Nazi ties ahead of them campaigning at the same event tomorrow afternoon.
So far, Collins and Jackson haven’t campaigned together since winning the GOP statewide nominations in the June 16th runoff. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the ongoing toll of GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins’ extensive ties to white nationalism, and today, Senator Jon Ossoff and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms challenged Rick Jackson to denounce Collins.
As Collins remains embattled by scandal, many are questioning whether his controversies, including his ties to white nationalism and an active federal investigation into the illegal misuse of tax dollars, will drag Jackson’s candidacy down.
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution recently discussed how Collins “could be dragging Jackson’s chances down” and on FOX5’s The Georgia Gang, strategist Tharon Johnson asked, “is Mike Collins really dragging down the Rick Jackson ticket right now? Is he somebody that maybe Republicans don’t feel that they want to be associated this closely with because of his inability to come out and explain some of these very factual and, I believe, fair attacks on his campaign?”
These calls follow the recent and sudden replacement of Collins’ top aide, Kip Talley, who was revealed to have worked with white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes, to try to get a Holocaust denier out of jail. Talley originally replaced top aide Brandon Phillips, who mocked a rape victim on Collins’ official account – all while in the midst of an ongoing federal investigation into the illegal misuse of tax dollars. Collins continues to face scrutiny over a number of controversies, including his ties to white nationalism, which has led to growing concerns about Collins’ candidacy coming from within his own party.
WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
“[…] as Collins remains embattled by scandal, a lot of people are wondering why the Republican nominee for Governor, Rick Jackson, has remained silent [and] not answered whether he still stands by Collins after these ‘close ties’ to these white supremacists were made public,” said DPG Chair Charlie Bailey. “That’s why you see today Senator Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms calling on Rick Jackson to denounce Collins.”
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