Georgia held a Senate debate Thursday night, and the main event was a man being asked the same question over and over while declining to answer it. Republican Rep. Mike Collins, one of Donald Trump's most loyal allies in the Senate map, spent an hour reaching back to the Biden era rather than explain a single thing about the economy he is currently campaigning to protect.
The Question Collins Never Answered
Here is how the night went, according to NBC News. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff asked Collins why he supports Trump's tariffs. Collins did not answer. Ossoff asked again. Collins did not answer again. By the time Ossoff delivered the line of the night, "Still have not heard an explanation for the tariffs," he had already asked about the tariff regime several times.
That is not a debate. That is a man standing at a customer service desk while the employee stares at the wall.
The tariffs matter because they are a key factor in the rise in consumer prices that has kept Trump's approval ratings at historically low levels. In an election where an NBC News poll shows the economy and prices are the top issues on voters' minds, Collins had one job. Explain the thing. He did not.
A Debate Against a Man Who Wasn't There
What Collins did instead was spend the hourlong debate, hosted by WANF-TV of Atlanta, trying to saddle Ossoff with votes from the Biden years. "That Bidenomics, that Green New Deal my opponent voted for, that's where this inflation came from," he said.
This is a classic move. When you can't defend the current president, you run against the last one. It worked great in 2022. It is a harder sell when you are a sitting member of Congress who voted for the biggest legislative achievement of the current president's second term.
The whole night felt like Trump and Biden were onstage in spirit, with Ossoff and Collins as their stunt doubles. Only one of the stunt doubles seemed willing to talk about the guy who is actually in office.
The Port Answer That Wasn't
When Collins did try to defend the tariffs, he said they make trade with China "fair" and help Georgia's ports, which are central to the state's economy. "Savannah port and Brunswick port have been on my mind," he said.
On his mind. Great. Lovely. A man can have a lot of things on his mind. What he did not offer was a single specific about how the tariffs have helped those ports.
That is the entire pitch. Trust me, the ports are on my mind. If your whole economic argument is that you've been thinking about a harbor, you have not made an economic argument. You have described a mood.
Iran, the War Nobody Asked For
Collins was also pressed about the Iran war, which is increasingly unpopular. He defended Trump's decision to begin bombing raids with Israel in February. "The president had every right to make sure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. Jon Ossoff knows this," he said.
Note what he did there. He did not defend the war's results, its costs, or its strategy. He asserted that the president had a right to start it and then told his opponent what his opponent supposedly knows. That is a sentence designed to end a conversation, not to inform a voter.
Across the country, Republican candidates have been putting distance between themselves and Trump on tariffs and the war. Collins has not. He remains one of Trump's staunchest allies in the key midterm Senate races, which is either admirable loyalty or a very expensive decision, depending on how November goes.
Tax Cuts, 2020, and the Deficit Elephant
Collins voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill and leaned on its talking points, including no taxes on tips for hospitality workers and on Social Security. "Tax cuts are the answer to keeping more money in people's pockets," he said.
Democrats keep pointing out that the bill disproportionately benefits the wealthy and added $1.4 trillion to the federal deficit. That number did not come up in Collins's answer, which tracks.
Then there was 2020. Ossoff accused Collins and Trump of being "still obsessed with overturning the 2020 election." Collins did not back down from the idea that the election was stolen. Instead he pivoted to the SAVE Act, the Trump-backed bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. "Voters need confidence," he said. The bill passed the House and has stalled in the GOP-led Senate for lack of support, which suggests that even Republicans are not feeling quite as confident as Collins.
The Dingo Take
"Savannah port and Brunswick port have been on my mind." Congratulations, Mike. They have also been on the minds of the shipping crews, the warehouse workers, and every Georgian standing in a checkout line watching the total climb. The difference is that they are not asking for a Senate seat on the strength of thinking about it.
Look at what this debate actually was. An incumbent senator asked a plain question about the central policy of his opponent's party, repeatedly, on live television. The challenger could not answer it, so he talked about Joe Biden. In a race where the voters have told pollsters that prices are the number one issue, the Republican spent the night auditing the previous administration and calling it a plan.
Georgia voters deserve better than a candidate whose entire economic message is that someone else's bad policy justifies his own. If the tariffs are working, say how. If the war is worth it, say why. If you cannot do either, maybe the problem is not the question.
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