First Georgia Senate debate spotlights fight over Trump- and Biden-era policies

Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins tried to blame each other for policies enacted by the current and former presidents.

It was debate night in Georgia, but President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden seemed to be onstage. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins squared off Thursday in the first debate in this nationally consequential Senate race, with both trying to hit the other for policies implemented by the current and former presidents. Ossoff repeatedly asked why Collins supported tariffs that have been a key factor in the rise in the cost of consumer goods that has kept Trump’s approval ratings at historically low levels, a question Collins never directly answered. “Still have not heard an explanation for the tariffs,” Ossoff said after having already asked about Trump’s tariff regime several times.

Collins spent the hourlong debate, hosted by WANF-TV of Atlanta, not directly answering questions about the unpopular war in Iran or Trump’s economy but rather trying to saddle Ossoff with votes he took during the Biden administration to make the case that Biden is the reason for the current state of inflation and high prices. “That Bidenomics, that Green New Deal my opponent voted for, that’s where this inflation came from,” Collins said. The debate was broken up into four segments, but each was dominated in some form by the economy and consumer prices, topics that an NBC News poll showed are the most