Brooks tells Ossoff to stop calling opponents Nazis but calls Collins's circle disturbing
David BrooksColumnist for The Atlantic, speaking as a PBS News Hour political analyst
On PBS News Hour, David Brooks said Ossoff should stop calling political opponents Nazis, but said it is accurate that Collins has a disturbing number of young men around him with ties to the alt-right and antisemitic content online.
“Jon Ossoff, my advice to him is, if you start calling your political opponents Nazis, maybe it's time to shut up. That's just not what we do here in this country. And the Bull Connor stuff -- and a lot of these candidates have real weaknesses. Like, Mike Collins, who's the Georgia Republican, I think what's accurate to say about him is, he has a disturbing number of young men on his -- around him who have ties to the alt-right and some of the vile antisemitic stuff online.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Did Mike Collins hire aides with white nationalist ties, as Jon Ossoff claimed?
At the October 8, 2026 Georgia Senate debate, Sen. Jon Ossoff told Rep. Mike Collins he had hired "half the Third Reich" to staff his congressional office and had promoted neo-Nazi content online. The charge followed months of reporting about a former Collins chief of staff, a former intern, Collins's son-in-law and two campaign organizers. Collins says he condemns racism and antisemitism and fired people when problems arose. Whether those aides and associations match Ossoff's description is disputed.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
PBS News Hour segment and transcript in which David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart discuss the October 8 Senate debates in Georgia, Michigan and Maine, including Ossoff's remark about Collins's staff.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Amna Nawaz said the previous night's debates were heavy on personal attacks and asked Jonathan Capehart whether Senate control was why they were so heated. After Capehart answered, Nawaz asked Brooks whether he agreed. Brooks said candidates no longer believe lying will hurt them, called Troy Jackson's description of Susan Collins as a war profiteer ridiculous, and called Mike Rogers's insinuations that El-Sayed is involved in terrorism because he is Muslim ridiculous.
After the quotation
Host Amna Nawaz added that the accusation is that people around Collins shared white nationalist content online, and Brooks agreed. He then criticized El-Sayed's views on Iran and said the candidates could have pursued legitimate weaknesses but in each case went too far and were dishonest.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to Collins's staffing and associations as Ossoff described them, Brooks says it is accurate that Collins has "a disturbing number of young men" around him with ties to the alt-right and antisemitic content online, which condemns those associations. He also tells Ossoff to stop calling political opponents Nazis. That criticism is aimed at Ossoff's rhetoric and does not defend Collins's hiring, so it does not change the label.
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- People and groups discussed
- Jon Ossoff, Mike Collins
More from this case
Read the full caseJosh Marshall says Ossoff's Third Reich line stated facts in the public record
“Ossoff didn’t call Mike Collins a Nazi. ... This isn’t some random swipe. It’s been one of the biggest stories of the campaign season that week after week reporters keep finding members of Collins campaign, political operation or family who are associated with far-right or neo-Nazi individuals and organizations or who distribute anti-Semitic propaganda. This is merely an aggressive statement of facts that are unambiguously in the public record.”Read statement
Filipkowski calls Ossoff's line hyperbolic but says Collins hired the Third Reich's disciples
“While it was a bit hyperbolic for Ossoff to say that Mike Collins hired half the Third Reich to staff his office, it is accurate to say he hired their disciples.”Read statement
Collins calls Ossoff's attacks craziness and says that when he "had things happen," he fired people
“You know, Rick, that’s my family. That’s the craziness that Jon Ossoff has been spewing out there. I actually had a crazy person get put in jail this weekend, because he not only wanted to kill my son-in-law, but he wanted to kill me. And you’re exactly right. I’ve got a daughter and grandkids there, as well as my wife. I’ve condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate. I don’t care where the source is. And I tell him that, too. It’s wrong. We have no place in this world for that. But I’ve never heard him say a word about his DSA pick up there, Abdul El Saeed, Hassan Piker. How about Reid Hoffman? None of those. He doesn’t denounce anybody or anything or condemn them, because he’s part of them. But yet he wants to take that and spew that on me. That’s not me. When I had things happen, I’m a businessman. I fired them. I got rid of them. Don’t need them.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Brooks tells Ossoff to stop calling opponents Nazis but calls Collins's circle disturbing". First published: 2026-10-13. Last updated: 2026-10-13. https://disputeindex.com/events/5650-on-pbs-news-hour-david-brooks-said-ossoff