A MAGA congressman and frontrunner for a Georgia Senate primary race lied about having high-profile campaign endorsements, according to multiple reports.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) lied on his campaign website about having the endorsement of Georgia sheriffs, commissioners, and other local officials, according to reporting by The Daily Beast. He even touted having the same endorsements as those of his GOP primary opponent, Derek Dooley, the Beast added.
Wayne County Sheriff Chuck Moseley had his name listed on Collins' campaign website as an endorsement. However, he says he only talked to Collins' campaign twice, and when he saw his false endorsement, he told them to take it down, according to reporting by The Daily Caller.
"They've had their opportunity to correct it, and they haven't," he told the Caller. "I wouldn't vote for [Collins] if he's the only one running."
Worth County Sheriff Don Whitaker supported Dooley, but Collins' campaign website listed him as an endorser, according to The Daily Beast.
The GOP chair for Grady County, Jeff Jolly, said that he was also falsely listed as supporting Collins, along with a Grady County commissioner and the county's sheriff, according to The Daily Beast.
"I talked to them in private, and I said, 'Look, you do what you want to do, but for my own sake, I need to know why you endorsed Mike Collins,'" Jolly said, per The Daily Beast. "Both of them looked at me funny, like, 'What are you talking about?' They didn't know anything about it."
Grady County Sheriff Earl Prince said he had "never spoken to Mike Collins or any of his people," according to reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Meanwhile, Grady County Commissioner Sam Kline said he only ever sent a "generic reply" to a Collins campaign event and has actually supported Dooley, the Journal-Constitution reported.
