Mike Collins who is running for the Georgia Senate has cut ties with campaign advisor Brandon Phillips over an ‘offensive’ tweet on Friday. Collins made the announcement on X, ahead of the June GOP runoff against Derek Dooley.
This comes at a time when there is heightened scrutiny around Collins’ activities, including his social media posts.
“Earlier today, a campaign advisor sent out a despicable and unauthorized twitter comment using a Team Collins campaign account,” the Republican wrote. “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,” he added.
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While Collins did not name the individual, he was identified as Brandon Phillips by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Senate candidate Mike Collins has cut ties with Brandon Phillips, a controversial operative at the center of a House Ethics complaint who has a history of provocative social media posts,” the AJC reporter wrote. He also shared a screenshot of the offensive post made by Phillips from the Mike Collins War Room X account.
Collins’ post drew a variety of reactions. While some backed the incumbent state senator’s stance, others were quick to ask questions. “Thank goodness, we are all working g hard out here to let some idiot sabotage your campaign. They are coming hard after you, Do not give them the stick to beat you with,” one wrote. Meanwhile, another asked about Phillips “Not good enough. You need to be explicit about the staffing changes. Was the person fired?”.
Amid the interest, here’s all you need to know about Brandon Phillips.
Brandon Phillips: 5 things to know
- Brandon Clay Phillips is a veteran political operative in Georgia. He was Collins’ chief of staff and has been helping him for a long time in shaping the combative online persona and his political attacks, which have grabbed attention, as per AJC.
- Phillips was President Donald Trump’s state director from November 2015 to September 2016, as per Ballotpedia.
- There have been multiple allegations against Phillips of violent or threatening behavior. He has been mired in public controversies as well, as per AJC. More recently, a nonpartisan Congressional watchdog alleged that Phillips hired a romantic interest in the role of an office intern and illicitly used Congressional resources of his office.
- Phillips was state director when Mitt Romney was running for president. He was also District Delegate for the 2016 Republican National Convention. Apart from that, Phillips acted as director of Wiregrass Strategy Group LLC. When working for Collins, he began as a Transition Aide, before making his way up to Chief of Staff, and then Senior Policy Advisor. “He’s a great guy, and I have full confidence in him,” Collins had told AJC about Phillips’ tactics earlier.
- As per court records from 2008, Phillips admitted to destroying a laptop and slashing another person’s tires in Bibb County. In 2022, he was reportedly arrested and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty charge for kicking a woman’s dog.
