USAupdated 2h ago2 min read
Jon Ossoff Says He Has No Interest In Running For President In Georgia Senate Debate
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Ossoff says zero interest in running for president in 2028 during Georgia debate. He will seek a second six-year Senate term and will serve the full term.
Ossoff rules out 2028
Senator Jon Ossoff told the Georgia Senate debate moderators that he has “no interest in running for president,” and he said he is “running for re-election to the Senate.”
“I’m not running for president. I’m running for re-election to the Senate.”
Ossoff said he would seek a second six-year term in Georgia and said he would serve the full term, while he faced Republican opponent Representative Mike Collins during the Atlanta Press Club-hosted debate.
Ossoff pressed Collins about why he backed President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and Ossoff also asked Collins whether he considered himself a “white nationalist.”
Collins responded by saying, “I condemn any kind of hate speech,” and Collins added “Antisemitism, hate of any kind. It is despicable.”
Epstein files dominate
Ossoff and Collins traded attacks over the Jeffrey Epstein files during the second and last exchange ahead of the midterm elections, with both candidates tying the dispute to donor and voting questions.
Collins said, “The Epstein class that you’re talking about? I’m looking at him right now,” and he framed the issue as a response to Ossoff’s campaign support from Reid Hoffman.
Ossoff countered by saying, “Mike, who on your team advised you to raise the Epstein files? You voted to cover up the evidence,” and he added that Trump is named “a thousand times in the Epstein files.”
Collins also refused to answer whether Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and Collins said, “You know, Joe Biden took office, and, well, the Georgians paid for it.”
What the race turns on
The debate in Georgia centered on whether Ossoff would commit to serving a full six-year Senate term, and Ossoff said, “Yes, I will,” when asked to pledge his commitment if he wins in November.
“‘Yes, I will,’ Ossoff said, when asked to pledge his commitment serving a full term if he wins the race in November.”
Ossoff also said he has “zero interest in running for president,” and he reiterated that he is not planning a 2028 presidential campaign while the race is contested with early voting underway.
CNN described the broader stakes as control of the narrowly divided Senate at issue, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats to flip the chamber.
CBS News said both candidates fought over the war with Iran, rising costs, and the 2020 election results, as Ossoff weighed whether to consider impeachment if the U.S. House sends articles.