The Dispute Index
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2026 Midterm Elections

Public disputes concerning the 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle, including campaigns, candidates, conventions, advertising, endorsements, and election-related policy promises.

Related cases

Case

Jon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

At an Atlanta reelection rally, Senator Jon Ossoff said President Donald Trump did not want to do the work of the presidency and instead wanted to build a ballroom and “travel with Natalie” on a Qatari aircraft. Trump allies accused Ossoff of misogyny and of implying an affair with White House aide Natalie Harp. Ossoff did not apologize and said senior White House aides are powerful taxpayer-paid public officials whose influence is fair to scrutinize.

Case

Did Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

At an August 11 Savannah campaign event, Mike Collins said the federal government has a liability when it harms someone after a pardoned January 6 defendant asked about compensation for people he said were targeted by a weaponized political system. Jon Ossoff said the answer backed taxpayer-funded payments to violent January 6 participants; the Collins campaign said it did not back automatic or blanket payouts for people prosecuted for January 6.

Case

Did Jon Ossoff’s Social Security ad fairly represent Mike Collins’s radio interview?

Jon Ossoff’s campaign ran an ad using Mike Collins’s words “get off of Social Security, get back into the workforce” to say Collins wanted to push beneficiaries off Social Security. Collins’s campaign said he misspoke and meant Medicaid; Ossoff’s campaign said the ad fairly reflected Collins’s support for pressuring beneficiaries into work. The full radio interview contains the surrounding discussion of tax cuts, Medicaid, Social Security, and work incentives.

Case

Hasan Piker’s “Hamas over Israel” comparison

Hasan Piker affirmed a hypothetical preference for Hamas over Israel through lesser-evil reasoning. Jon Favreau disputed the moral comparison, while the ADL cited it as whitewashing terrorism. Piker later acknowledged Hamas war crimes and denied endorsing its domestic policies, while maintaining that Israeli occupation was the overriding concern.

More cases

Statements

Dana Nessel

Role at the time: Michigan attorney general

Condemned

Responding to

El-Sayed's cycle-of-violence framing rationalized the antisemitic attack or improperly shifted explanatory responsibility toward Israel and Jews.

"making excuses for an attempted mass killing of children"
Why we used this label

This is direct Democratic criticism grounded in the impact of the framing on the targeted community.

The David Frum Show: Dana Nessel and Jewish voters in Michigan (opens in a new tab)Closing exchange after the Piker clip
Read statementAbdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack

Glenn Greenwald

Role at the time: Journalist and host

Minimized

Responding to

Hasan Piker’s remarks about American Jews, Israel, and antisemitic violence

"they seem to be reserving their greatest venom and the bulk of their energy attacking Hasan Piker, who isn’t on the ballot"
Why we used this label

The statement minimizes the controversy’s electoral relevance without clearly endorsing Piker’s exact wording.

Glenn Greenwald response to the political reaction to Hasan Piker (opens in a new tab)X post
Read statementHasan Piker’s remarks about American Jews, Israel, and antisemitic violence

Abdul El-Sayed

Role at the time: U.S. Senate candidate and former Wayne County health director

Condemned

Responding to

Hasan Piker’s remarks about American Jews, Israel, and antisemitic violence

"Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms."
Why we used this label

El-Sayed condemns antisemitism and rejects rhetoric that endangers the Jewish community.

Here's What Hasan Piker Said And Why It's So Controversial (opens in a new tab)
Read statementHasan Piker’s remarks about American Jews, Israel, and antisemitic violence

Wanda Townes

Role at the time: Georgia Democratic county party chair

Defended or excused

Responding to

Jon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

"That softness is the reason Trump is in office. Stop being soft."
Why we used this label

Affirmative defense of the tactic rather than a literal claim about an affair.

Ossoff’s Natalie Moment (opens in a new tab)Full article
Read statementJon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

Aaron Parnas

Role at the time: Attorney and political commentator

Challenged the characterization

Responding to

Jon Ossoff’s “travel with Natalie” remark insinuated that Donald Trump and Natalie Harp were having an affair.

"All Jon Ossoff said was that Donald Trump wants to fly with Natalie."
Why we used this label

Direct challenge to the characterization that the statement itself alleged an affair.

CNN Connect the World transcript — August 19, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Segment replaying the Ossoff line and response
Read statementJon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

David Axelrod

Role at the time: Democratic political strategist

Mixed or conditional

Responding to

Ossoff’s remark was sexist and misogynistic because it reduced a female White House aide’s professional role to a sexual implication.

"I thought that the attack was tough, fair, pointed. I thought the ‘with Natalie’ part was gratuitous and unnecessary and distracted and detracted from the attack."
Why we used this label

Expressly splits approval of the political argument from disapproval of the personal phrasing.

Ossoff’s Natalie Moment (opens in a new tab)Full article
Read statementJon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

Jon Ossoff

Role at the time: United States senator and reelection candidate

Condemned

Responding to

Jon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

"He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar."
Why we used this label

Ossoffs statement directly criticizes Trump conduct and the reported travel arrangement.

Scandal piñata — Jon Ossoff Atlanta rally transcript (opens in a new tab)Paragraph beginning “He doesn’t want to do the job”
Read statementJon Ossoff’s travel with Natalie remark about Donald Trump and Natalie Harp

Mike Collins

Role at the time: Mike Collins U.S. Senate campaign, through spokesperson Meyer Siegfried

Challenged the characterization

Responding to

Did Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

"“Mike Collins fully supports holding the government accountable when federal agencies abuse their power and believes Americans who’ve been wronged by their government ought to have a path to seek justice. He does not support a blank-check fund or automatic taxpayer-funded payouts to anyone simply because they were prosecuted for January 6.”"
Why we used this label

The campaign expressly disputes Ossoff’s characterization of Collins’s answer as support for taxpayer-funded payouts to January 6 defendants.

Georgia Recorder report on Mike Collins’s January 6 compensation remarks (opens in a new tab)Savannah breakfast Q&A; Collins campaign clarification
Read statementDid Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

Jon Ossoff

Role at the time: United States senator from Georgia and Democratic candidate for reelection

Condemned

Responding to

Did Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

"“Congressman Collins needs to immediately come out and publicly retract his support for these taxpayer-funded payouts to violent insurrectionists.”"
Why we used this label

Ossoff directly characterizes Collins’s answer as endorsement of payments to violent insurrectionists and calls it unacceptable.

Ossoff campaign calls on Collins to retract January 6 compensation support (opens in a new tab)August 12, 2026 press release and linked virtual press conference
Read statementDid Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

Mike Collins

Role at the time: Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia

Mixed or conditional

Responding to

Did Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

"“A lot of things have been politicized and weaponized. And when the federal government harms you, then yes, they have a liability to you. That’s easy, yes sir.”"
Why we used this label

Collins’s answer is conditional on government harm and responds to a question broader than January 6 defendants, but the question was posed by a pardoned January 6 defendant who explicitly included January 6 participants.

Georgia Recorder report on Mike Collins’s January 6 compensation remarks (opens in a new tab)Savannah breakfast Q&A; Collins campaign clarification
Read statementDid Mike Collins support compensation for January 6 defendants?

Scott Jennings

Role at the time: Republican political strategist and CNN political commentator

Condemned

Responding to

El-Sayed's cycle-of-violence framing rationalized the antisemitic attack or improperly shifted explanatory responsibility toward Israel and Jews.

"That's how you would justify any and all political violence. That is a dangerous mindset."
Why we used this label

The statement directly rejects the explanation-versus-justification distinction at the center of the dispute.

Scott Jennings Podcast — Radical Left Lunacy (opens in a new tab)01:02:50
Read statementAbdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack

Jon Ossoff

Role at the time: Jon Ossoff U.S. Senate campaign

Condemned

Responding to

Did Jon Ossoff’s Social Security ad fairly represent Mike Collins’s radio interview?

"“He wants to push you off Social Security.”"
Why we used this label

The campaign uses the excerpt to make a critical policy characterization of Collins’s position on Social Security.

FactCheck.org review of Ossoff’s Social Security advertisement and campaign responses (opens in a new tab)Ossoff advertisement, full radio quotation, and campaign responses
Read statementDid Jon Ossoff’s Social Security ad fairly represent Mike Collins’s radio interview?

Tim Miller

Role at the time: Host of The Bulwark Podcast

Condemned

Responding to

El-Sayed's cycle-of-violence framing rationalized the antisemitic attack or improperly shifted explanatory responsibility toward Israel and Jews.

"Anyone who would think a statement condemning a terorrist attack on a synagogue is a 'risk' is insane and should be fired from the campaign."
Why we used this label

The authored post directly rejects the political hesitation surrounding condemnation of the attack.

Archived Tim Miller reaction to El-Sayed's Temple Israel response (opens in a new tab)
Read statementAbdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack

Mike Rogers

Role at the time: Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan

Condemned

Responding to

El-Sayed's cycle-of-violence framing rationalized the antisemitic attack or improperly shifted explanatory responsibility toward Israel and Jews.

"If you're having a moral crisis over whether to condemn terrorism, you're unfit for office."
Why we used this label

The statement treats El-Sayed's contextualization as disqualifying sympathy for the assailant.

Abdul El-Sayed calls statement on Temple Israel attack a risk (opens in a new tab)Full report
Read statementAbdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack

Abdul El-Sayed

Role at the time: U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan

Challenged the characterization

Responding to

The Temple Israel attack should be understood in part through the cycle of violence created by the regional war and the Israeli airstrike that killed members of the assailant's family.

"It was a risk."
Why we used this label

He maintained the decision to provide causal context rather than accepting critics' characterization of the statement as excusing terrorism.

Abdul El-Sayed calls statement on Temple Israel attack a risk (opens in a new tab)Full report
Read statementAbdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack

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