GOP Senate Candidate’s Campaign Account Calls Alleged Matt Lauer Rape Victim ‘Sloppy Seconds’

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images.

A campaign account for Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, sparked a firestorm of controversy and anger on Friday for mocking an advisor for his rival’s campaign over past rape allegations.

Luke Thompson, an advisor helping elect former college football coach Derek Dooley, shared new polling data in the race between Dooley and Collins on X and wrote, “48 hours later, and the Collins lead has cut in half. Dooley beats [Democratic Sen. Jon] Ossoff. Collins can’t. Not hard to understand.”

“Mike Collins War Room” account then replied to Thompson, “Matt Laurer’s [sic] sloppy seconds chiming in to take an L.”

Greg Bluestein, a veteran reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shared the exchange and added some additional context to the shocking attack on Thompson’s wife. “A campaign account for Senate candidate Mike Collins mocks an adviser to rival Derek Dooley’s PAC whose wife attempted suicide after accusing Matt Lauer of rape,” Bluestein noted.

The account soon deleted the post, which quickly went viral and sparked the ire of conservative commentators.

Erick Erickson, a popular conservative radio host, said of the attack, “A campaign that can’t help but make rape jokes about a rape victim will be unable to avoid antisemitic jokes about Jon Ossoff. Mike Collins’s campaign needs to go away.”

Former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Guest, added, “Mike Collins is paying for this trash. After Collins made fun of rape victims, his paid online operation doubles down on the disgusting content. This is not a serious operation. It’s a dirtbag circus.”

Collins has long raised eyebrows and grabbed headlines with his trolling, off-color social media posts. For example, in May of 2024, he joked about RFK Jr.’s brain worm, writing, “You either die a Kennedy with a hole in the brain or live long enough to become a Kennedy with a hole in the brain.”

UPDATE: Mike Collins has fired top campaign aide Brandon Phillips, and said in a statement, “Earlier today, a campaign advisor sent out a despicable and unauthorized twitter comment using a Team Collins campaign account. The statement was made without my knowledge or approval and in no way represents or reflects my values or the values of this campaign. I want to apologize for this offensive tweet. I have made staffing changes to ensure this type of behavior never happens again.”

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