周四晚间，佐治亚州参议院选举的首场辩论迅速演变成一系列人身攻击和竞选口号的交锋。在备受关注的中期选举中，民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫（Jon Ossoff）与共和党众议员迈克·柯林斯（Mike Collins）正激烈争夺选民支持。根据近期民调，现任民主党参议员在共和党挑战者中保持微弱领先，但共和党人仍寄希望于在11月成功翻盘。
The first debate for Georgia Senate on Thursday evening quickly devolved into a string of personal attacks and campaign talking points as Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) and Rep. Mike Collins (R) wrestle for voters’ support in the closely-watched midterm race. The incumbent Democrat has maintained a slight lead over his GOP challenger in recent polling, but Republicans are still holding out hope to flip this seat in November.
在亚特兰大“新闻第一”（Atlanta News First）组织的辩论中，两位候选人就人工智能、边境安全、农村医疗和农业等一系列议题的立场接受了提问。柯林斯和奥索夫多次利用分配给他们的时间互相批评对方的家庭背景，并声称对手不适合在国会山代表佐治亚州。以下是他们首次交锋的四个要点：周四晚间，这位民主党现任参议员多次称柯林斯为“偏执的国会议员”，这一侮辱性称呼他此前在竞选活动中也反复使用。
The candidates faced questions during the Atlanta News First debate in Atlanta about their stance on a range of issues, including artificial intelligence, border security, rural health care and agriculture. Repeatedly, Collins and Ossoff used their allotted time to criticize each other's family backgrounds and argue that their opponent was not fit to represent Georgia on Capitol Hill. Here are four takeaways from their first face off: The Democratic incumbent referred to Collins several times on Thursday evening as “the bigot congressman,” an insult he has repeatedly invoked on the campaign trail.
奥索夫指出，这位议员过去在社交媒体上发布过一些争议性内容，其中包括2024年分享的一段来自密西西比大学的视频：一名黑人女性被一群白人学生包围，这些学生模仿类人猿的动作并发出猴叫。柯林斯为这段视频配文称：“老密西西比大学正在处理事务。”奥索夫在回应这段视频时说道：“如果约翰·刘易斯今天还在从塞尔马向蒙哥马利进行游行，迈克·柯林斯恐怕早就拿起警棍了。”
Ossoff pointed to the lawmaker’s past controversial social media posts, including a sharing a video from the University of Mississippi in 2024 in which a Black woman is surrounded by white students who are mimicking ape-like motions and making monkey sounds. Collins captioned the post, “Ole Miss taking care of business.”“If John Lewis were marching today from Selma to Montgomery, Mike Collins would be grabbing a billy club,” Ossoff said in reference to the post.
这位参议员还指控该共和党人传播“新纳粹宣传”，并指出其女婿和一名前工作人员在社交媒体上发布的相关内容。奥索夫在回答关于数据中心的问题时回应道：“问题不仅在于你雇佣了半个第三帝国的人来为你的国会办公室工作，还在线上传播新纳粹内容。更严重的是，你正在掠夺选民的利益来补贴你的捐赠者。”
The senator also accused the Republican of promoting “Neo-Nazi propaganda,” pointing to social media posts made by his son-in-law and a former staffer. “It’s not just that you hired half the Third Reich to staff your congressional office and you have promoted Neo-Nazi content online. It’s that you’re robbing your constituents to subsidize your donors,” Ossoff said during his response to a question about data centers.
柯林斯在回应一位主持人关于其女婿发帖的提问时表示，他“谴责种族主义、反犹太主义和仇恨言论”。“我不在乎这些言论来自哪里，我也这么告诉过他。这是错误的，”他说。这位共和党候选人称他的对手是“靠信托基金长大的富家子弟”，并认为他无法理解该州民众面临的负担能力问题。在回应一场关于该州农村医院财务困境的辩论提问时，柯林斯再次提出了这一批评。
Collins responded to a moderator question about his son-in-law’s posts, saying he “condemned racism, anti-Semitism, hate.”“I don’t care where the source is, and I tell him that too. It’s wrong,” he said. The Republican nominee called his opponent a “trust fund kid," arguing he's unable to understand the affordability issues faced by people in the state.
“你知道问题所在，而乔恩·奥索夫不会理解这一点，因为他根本不必为医疗保健发愁，”他说。“他不必为家人购买医疗保险而担忧。他永远都不会。”奥索夫在闭幕陈词中反击称，他的对手“继承了一个国会席位”。这位共和党人的父亲是已故的佐治亚州议员麦克·柯林斯，他在众议院任职了12年。随着美国全国范围内生活成本不断上涨，这一问题在选举日前仍备受选民关注，柯林斯和奥索夫因此围绕各自在负担能力问题上的立法记录展开交锋。
Collins reupped this criticism in response to a debate question about financial troubles facing rural hospitals in the state. “You know the problem is, and Jon Ossoff won’t understand this because he doesn’t have to worry about health care,” he said. “He doesn’t have to worry about trying to buy health care insurance for his family. He never will.”Ossoff hit back, claiming his opponent “inherited a seat in Congress” during his closing statement.
这位民主党候选人指出，伊朗战争以及特朗普政府征收的关税导致柴油和化肥价格不断上涨。“就在我们说话的时候，佐治亚州的农民正承受着迈克·柯林斯和唐纳德·特朗普所推行的关税带来的最沉重负担，”奥索夫说。“同样，佐治亚州的农民也在承受高柴油价格带来的最沉重负担。”这位共和党候选人则将责任归咎于去年的政府停摆，并指责民主党人造成了这一局面。
The Republican's father is Mac Collins, the late Georgia lawmaker who served 12 years in the House. Collins and Ossoff hit one another over their legislative record on affordability, as rising costs of living across the country remain top of mind for voters ahead of Election Day. The Democrat pointed to rising diesel and fertilizer costs amid the Iran war and the Trump administration’s tariffs.
“是他导致了政府停摆，各位，”柯林斯说。“就在我们试图为海伦飓风争取紧急资金，以便我们的农民和小型社区能够修复并为本年度的收获季做好准备的时候。”在周四的辩论中，奥索夫还就其对手支持特朗普总统关于2020年总统选举存在选民欺诈（包括佐治亚州富尔顿县）的无根据指控一事对其施压。
“As we speak right now, it’s Georgia farmers bearing the brunt of the Mike Collins-Donald Trump tariffs,” Ossoff said.
“迈克·柯林斯是国会中最极端的成员之一，”这位民主党人说道。“他是个特朗普的傀儡，还是个否认选举结果的人。我想听听迈克是否仍然相信2020年的选举是被偷走的。你怎么看，迈克？”奥索夫转过身面对他的对手，而对方则低头看着自己的笔记，直到一位主持人就他提出的《莱肯·赖利法案》向他提出了新的问题。
“Just like it’s Georgia farmers bearing the brunt of these high diesel prices. The Republican nominee placed blame on last year’s government shutdown, which he and other congressional lawmakers have accused Democrats of causing. “He shut it down, y’all,” Collins said. “Right when we were trying to get that emergency money out for Hurricane Helene so that our farmers and our small communities could repair and prepare for this year’s harvest.” Ossoff put his opponent on the spot during Thursday’s debate about his support for President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, including in Georgia’s Fulton County. “Mike Collins is one of the most extreme members of Congress,” the Democrat said. “He’s a Trump puppet election denier. I want to hear if Mike still believes the 2020 election was stolen. What do you say, Mike?” Ossoff turned to face his opponent, who stared down at his notes before a moderator asked him a new question about The Laken Riley Act he introduced.