Georgia Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R) on Friday fired a campaign staffer after they sent an inflammatory post toward an adviser to a PAC supporting opponent Derek Dooley’s campaign, alluding to the adviser’s wife’s accusations against former “Today” anchor Matt Lauer.
The post responded to a poll on the social platform X that showed Collins with a 5-point lead over Dooley going into next month’s Republican Senate runoff race. The post, coming from the “Mike Collins War Room” X account, replied, “Matt [Lauer’s] sloppy seconds chiming into take an L,” referring to the former NBC host.
The wife of GOP consultant Luke Thompson, who shared the poll, was one of several women who accused Lauer of sexual assault. Brooke Nevils later attempted suicide, according to People magazine, which cited investigative reporter Ronan Farrow’s book “Catch and Kill.”
The reply has since been deleted. Collins called it “despicable and unauthorized,” and did not name the staffer who shared the post.
The Hill has reached out to Collins’s office for comment.
“The statement was made without my knowledge or approval and in no way represents or reflects my values or the values of this campaign,” Collins wrote on X. “I want to apologize for this offensive tweet. I have made staffing changes to ensure this type of behavior never happens again.”
Other outlets confirmed that the staffer was dismissed. Thompson slammed Collins in a separate post that shared a screenshot of the reply.
“Collins surrounds himself with unprofessional and incompetent cretins. This is not a team capable of holding its own against the Ossoff war chest. Just a deeply stupid group of low grade operators,” he wrote, referring to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).
Collins and Dooley, who was endorsed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), were the two top vote-getters in Tuesday’s five-way Republican race to take on Ossoff this fall.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
