A Republican super PAC’s attempt to mock Sen. John Ossoff (D-GA) over his makeup expenses is being criticized as a desperate new stunt in Georgia’s escalating Senate race.
The ad, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund in support of Republican nominee Mike Collins, portrays Ossoff as a “pretty boy” who spends thousands on hair and makeup services. Its narrator tells the senator to “put down the mascara and join the real world.”
But Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy argued Thursday that the spot says more about Collins’ struggling campaign than it does about Ossoff.
“The ad reeks of a flailing candidate closing his eyes and trying to land a haymaker,” Torpy wrote in his opinion piece. “Collins’ campaign has been a hot mess of ethics allegations and charges of antisemitism, racism and aggravated stupidity from a family member and former aides.”
The attack stems from campaign disclosures showing that Ossoff’s campaign paid an Atlanta-area makeup artist $2,887 this year. Ossoff’s campaign responded by calling Collins a desperate opponent, Torpy told readers.
The columnist noted Thursday that makeup is standard for politicians of both parties. “It’s a technical necessity,” CNN makeup artist Tymeka McNeal-Juniors told Torpy, especially under high-definition lights.
Torpy pointed to two prominent MAGA Republicans who use makeup for television appearances: President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump reportedly keeps containers of Swiss-made Bronx Colors face makeup nearby, Torpy wrote, citing reporting from the Washington Post.
Hegseth, meanwhile, had a Pentagon green room modified into a makeup studio for television appearances, officials with the department told CBS News. A defense official told the outlet that Hegseth applies his own makeup, Torpy added.
Because, as he concluded, “real men do their own makeup.”