# Ossoff and Collins clash over data centers and inflation > Georgia's Senate candidates traded personal attacks and disputed claims about tax breaks, military funding and the causes of inflation in their first debate. - Title: Ossoff and Collins clash over data centers and inflation - Summary: Georgia's Senate candidates traded personal attacks and disputed claims about tax breaks, military funding and the causes of inflation in their first debate… - Keywords: jon ossoff, mike collins, georgia senate race, 2026 midterms, senate debate, data centers, inflation, tax policy, military funding, politics, fact check, Ossoff - Source: PolitiFact — https://politifact.com/article/2026/oct/09/collins-ossoff-georgia-senate-debate-data-centers - Author: Louis Jacobson - Published: 2026-10-09T21:00:29+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: jon ossoff, mike collins, georgia senate race, 2026 midterms, senate debate, data centers, inflation, tax policy, military funding, politics, fact check ## Georgia Senate debate turns personal Incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and Republican Representative Mike Collins spent much of their one-hour debate on October eighth trading personal attacks rather than policy discussion. ## Collins attacks Ossoff's background Collins called Ossoff a radical and a trust fund kid who has never had a job in his life, attacking his personal history and wealth. > radical ## Ossoff raises white supremacy concerns Ossoff called Collins a bigot and said his son-in-law posted white supremacist content online, saying neo-Nazi propaganda was disseminated from Collins' home to millions. > Imagine running for the U.S. Senate while neo-Nazi propaganda is disseminated to an audience of millions from your home. That's Mike Collins. ## Collins denies racism allegations Collins responded that he has condemned racism and anti-semitism, rejecting Ossoff's accusations about his family and associates. ## The monkey sounds video from May twenty twenty-four In May twenty twenty-four, Collins posted a video on X showing a Black woman at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mississippi with white men, one appearing to make monkey sounds. > Ole Miss taking care of business. ## Collins' statement on the video After criticism, Collins said if anyone treated another human improperly because of race they should be punished, but said he did not believe that was the video's focal point. > If that person is found to have treated another human being improperly because of their race, they should be punished appropriately. ## Staff members' extremist connections The Washington Post reported in August that a former Collins staffer posted Nazi and Ku Klux Klan images on social media. ## Ossoff claims on data center tax breaks Ossoff said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave seventy billion dollars to data center developers. > gave $70 billion of your money to data center developers. ## Data center tax breaks need context Trump's twenty twenty-five tax legislation did not target data centers specifically, but companies used provisions like accelerated expensing. The bill's benefits apply to all investments, though they proved especially lucrative for AI infrastructure companies. ## Collins mischaracterizes Ossoff's military vote Collins said Ossoff voted against infrastructure improvements at Fort Benning and Fort Stewart. Ossoff helped write and pass the bill in subcommittee and full Senate, but voted against a larger funding package it was bundled… ## Green New Deal was never enacted Collins blamed the Green New Deal for inflation, but the twenty nineteen legislation was never enacted and could not have affected prices. It addressed climate change and environmental protection but never gained universal Democratic support. ## Ossoff never voted for Green New Deal Ossoff took his Senate seat in twenty twenty-one, after the Green New Deal was proposed.He voted for the Inflation Reduction Act in twenty twenty-two, which included green energy incentives, but this did not spike inflation. ## Inflation fell after Inflation Reduction Act Year-over-year inflation fell from mid-twenty twenty-two highs of around nine percent after the Inflation Reduction Act passed. Economists say supply chain difficulties and Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove the inflationary peak, not Democratic legislation. ## Trump's policies now driving inflation Experts say today's inflation, higher than when Trump began his second term, largely stems from his tariff increases and war against Iran, which sought to control the Strait of Hormuz, raising prices for gasoline, diesel… ## Key takeaway In Georgia's Senate debate, incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Mike Collins made competing claims about tax policy and military spending that fact-checkers found partially or wholly inaccurate.