In Georgia, Senate hopeful Mike Collins celebrates being Trump's latest 'MAGA' pick in GOP primaries

A man in jeans and a button-down shirt stands in the bed of a pickup truck with a microphone in his hand and an american flag on his right
U.S. Rep Mike Collins campaigns in Woodstock, Ga., Sunday, June 14, 2026. ( AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) — In the closing stretch of Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate runoff, Rep. Mike Collins celebrated his 11th-hour endorsement from Donald Trump on Sunday and dismissed any ideas that the Republican president’s stamp of approval is a risky bet in a potential showdown with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.

Trump disclosed his choice of Collins over former football coach Derek Dooley in a middle-of-the-night social media post that praised the second-term congressman for his loyalty.

“I’ve always said that President Trump has this just impeccable ability to put his thumb on the scale at the right time,” Collins said at a campaign stop Sunday in the northern Atlanta exurbs.