Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said Tuesday night during a debate that he will not run for president in 2028. Ossoff made the statement in response to a question while facing off against his Republican rival, Rep. Mike Collins. Ossoff is seeking a second six-year term in Georgia and said he would serve the full term. “I have no interest in running for president,” Ossoff said when asked directly by one of the moderators. “I’m not running for president. I’m running for re-election to the Senate.” Ossoff has been regularly discussed as a possible Democratic contender in 2028. If he were to win the presidency, he would have to give up his Senate seat, which he stressed Tuesday night that he would not do. After the brief comment, Ossoff quickly moved on to press Collins on why she had supported President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a major focus of both her campaign and a debate the two had last time. week. Tuesday was the second debate in the Georgia Senate race, which was followed nationally and hosted by the Atlanta Press Club. Collins joked that Ossoff was actually trying to run for president and will be “your DSA candidate,” referring to the Democratic Socialists of America. The exchange came at the beginning of the hour-long debate, which covered topics including data centers; the economy under Trump, whose approval rating is at historic lows; the war in Iran; and the issue of Collins’ son-in-law’s promotion in white nationalist social media posts. Ossoff directly asked Collins if he considered himself a “white nationalist.” “I condemn any type of hate speech,” Collins said. “Anti-Semitism, hatred of any kind. It’s abhorrent.” The exchange continued when Collins again asked Ossoff to denounce Reid Hoffman, a major donor to Democratic causes — including Ossoff-aligned political committees — whose name appeared in Epstein’s files. Collins mentioned Hoffman several times last week and did so again during the second debate. Ossoff did not respond directly and again pointed out the fact that those close to Collins were amplifying white nationalist posts. “How weak must a person be to not be able to stop someone under their own roof from spreading neo-Nazi propaganda while running for Senate?” Ossoff said. “The newspaper reported that this is still going on today.” When given the opportunity to respond, Collins did not address the issue directly. But he said rhetoric like Ossoff’s had motivated a New York man accused of threatening to kill him. “I’m a little tired of this, Jon,” Collins said. “This crazy guy is in jail right now because of his rhetoric.” Neither candidate responded directly to the other’s accusations. Collins also, once again, did not answer questions about whether or not Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. He was asked about audio of a call Trump made after the 2020 election asking Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” to help overturn the 2020 election. “You know, Joe Biden took office and, boy, Georgians paid for it,” Collins said.
