The 2026 Senate race in Georgia is already drawing national attention, with control of the U.S. Senate at stake and both parties preparing for what is expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive contests in the country.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who won his seat in the 2021 runoff elections, is seeking reelection.
Republicans are eager to reclaim the seat, though the party has not yet determined who its nominee will be.
Among the declared GOP candidates is Rep. Mike Collins, who has begun to sharpen his attacks on Ossoff following remarks the senator made in a recent interview.
Ossoff’s comments came during an appearance on Pod Save America, where he was questioned about the Democratic Party’s handling of concerns over Joe Biden’s age and ability to serve another term.
The discussion was prompted by claims made in Kamala Harris’ new book, which revisits internal party debates over whether Biden should have sought reelection in 2024.
During the exchange, Tommy Vietor, a former Obama administration spokesman and one of the podcast’s hosts, asked Ossoff why Democrats had not been more forthcoming about Biden’s vulnerabilities before the election.
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“Do you think that there was something preventing, I don’t know, a more honest conversation about his prospects within [the] Democratic Party?” Vietor asked.
“Because, like the data was there, voters were telling us he was too old. Focus groups were telling us he was too old. We just didn’t listen to the mounds and mounds of data that was out there.”
In response, Ossoff acknowledged that Democrats were aware of Biden’s weaknesses but chose not to address them publicly because of concerns it might hurt their chances against Donald Trump.
“I think that like the most brutally honest answer to that question is, you know, when you’re facing the spectre of Donald Trump potentially being reelected to the presidency and you have in the sitting president the presumptive nominee, it’s understandable that you’re not going to be inclined to do or say things that might weaken that presumptive nominee against Trump, given the threat that he posed and poses,” Ossoff said.
WATCH: Jon Ossoff admits that he knowingly lied to the nation about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline because beating President Trump was more important to him.
Georgia, your Senator lied to you— because he cares more about Democrats having power than our state’s best interests. pic.twitter.com/k8y3zX3hxn
— Mike Collins War Room (@TeamOverhaulGA) September 26, 2025
Ossoff’s remarks are among the clearest acknowledgments from a Democratic senator that party leaders were aware of Biden’s challenges but chose to remain quiet.
The admission is likely to feature prominently in the 2026 campaign, particularly as Republicans argue that Democrats prioritized electoral strategy over transparency with voters.
Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia, has already seized on the comments, calling them proof that Ossoff and his colleagues misled the public.
He has argued that the remarks raise broader questions about judgment, accountability, and who was effectively making decisions in the White House while Biden was in office.
Jon Ossoff last year said he found Biden to be “sharp, focused, impressive, formidable, and effective.”
Georgia’s Senator lied to all of us. https://t.co/69rYEiSmlz pic.twitter.com/2z9YxYXr9r
— Mike Collins (@MikeCollinsGA) September 26, 2025
The Georgia race is expected to draw substantial national investment from both parties, much like the North Carolina contest where former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is likely to face former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.
Both states will play a central role in determining which party controls the Senate after 2026.
For Ossoff, the challenge will be to defend his record while addressing growing scrutiny over his remarks and the broader implications of what they reveal about Democratic strategy in 2024.
For Republicans, the focus will remain on capitalizing on the senator’s admission and framing the election as a referendum not only on his tenure but on the decisions made under Democratic leadership in recent years.
As the campaign season intensifies, Ossoff’s interview is expected to remain a flashpoint, raising new questions about how much Democratic officials knew about Biden’s decline and why they withheld those concerns from voters ahead of the 2024 election.
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