{"id":3467,"date":"2018-03-04T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/?page_id=3467"},"modified":"2024-03-14T14:46:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T18:46:15","slug":"jewish-insider-rep-mike-collins-doubles-down-on-post-supporting-antisemitic-racist-social-media-account","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/jewish-insider-rep-mike-collins-doubles-down-on-post-supporting-antisemitic-racist-social-media-account\/","title":{"rendered":"JEWISH INSIDER: Rep. Mike Collins doubles down on post supporting antisemitic, racist social media account"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Marc Rod<\/a>, Jewish Insider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has continued to defend his social media comment endorsing a post by an antisemitic, racist account that was attacking a reporter for being Jewish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, an account called \u201cGarbage Human\u201d retweeted a New York Post<\/em> story about a Washington Post<\/em> reporter, commenting<\/a>, \u201cIn case you were wondering, yes she is.\u201d Collins responded<\/a>, \u201cNever was a second thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garbage Human\u2019s initial post was widely interpreted \u2014 by both critics and supporters \u2014 as referring to the fact that the reporter, Maura Judkis, is Jewish. The \u201cGarbage Human\u201d account later confirmed as much, posting \u201cTake note. It\u2019s antisemitic to point out somebody is Jewish when they actually are indeed Jewish.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cGarbage Human\u201d account almost exclusively posts blatantly antisemitic, racist and homophobic content. But Collins has spent days refusing calls to apologize. He has not responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid early criticism, he posted<\/a>, \u201cSome of y\u2019all having a rough time wanting to see something that ain\u2019t there,\u201d accusing his critics of \u201cgrasping at straws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to a Georgia state Senate speech by Democratic legislator Josh McLaurin, Collins again defended his post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess pointing out that a Washington Post journo excusing crime because she believes USA is on \u2018stolen land\u2019 makes her a garbage human is anti-Semitic?,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cY\u2019all just see stuff that ain\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McLaurin, a Democrat, told Jewish Insider<\/em> on Tuesday he delivered the speech to emphasize the need for his colleagues to confront antisemitism even when it comes from elected officials, noting that they had come together to condemn other antisemitic incidents and pass antisemitism legislation<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s antisemitism, and it\u2019s overt, and it is dealing with the same type of extreme elements that we have been condemning all session, it doesn\u2019t matter that the person doing it is a sitting congressman,\u201d McLaurin said. \u201cAnd in fact, that just makes it even more important for all of my colleagues to use their connections and their platform to draw a hard line and let him know that it\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech, McLaurin appealed to his colleagues, including Republicans, to reach out publicly or privately to Collins to take down the post. Collins, instead, responded by doubling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McLaurin said that several Republicans, including members of GOP leadership, applauded his speech on the Senate floor on Monday, and some communicated privately their condemnation of Collins\u2019 post. But he said it remains to be seen if they\u2019ll \u201cconfront him in any meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McLaurin argued that Collins\u2019 response to criticism has only compounded the original offense, accusing Collins of \u201cspitting in the faces of people who are not confused about what they\u2019re seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, he added, even if Collins wasn\u2019t aware of the meaning of the original post or if it was posted by a staffer, Collins has since been made aware, \u201cand so by refusing to reject that meaning, I think he has adopted that meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish state representative in Georgia, urged Collins<\/a> to delete his post on Sunday and condemned him once he doubled down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to give people the space to do the right thing without embarrassing them,\u201d Panitch, who is also a Democrat, told JI. She explained that she had wanted Collins to \u201cjust take it down, because he enables antisemites by doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she said her view of the situation changed when Collins dug in, adding that she found herself bombarded by antisemitic trolls for criticizing him. Collins responded dismissively to a social media post by Panitch, telling her she is \u201cwast[ing] ammo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to mistakenly do this, it\u2019s another thing to double down on it,\u201d Panitch said. \u201cNow, I believe the Jewish community is owed an apology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She called Collins\u2019 latest explanation of his comment \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins, a first-term congressman, gained a wider profile on the internet when he began sharing memes during the drawn-out House speakership race last year. He has told reporters he writes his own tweets, with assistance from staffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t Collins\u2019 first time engaging with far-right internet culture \u2014 in early February, he posted that a migrant accused of a crime should be put on \u201cPinochet Air for a free helicopter ride back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was a reference to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet\u2019s \u201cdeath flights,\u201d when enemies were executed by being thrown out of helicopters. The practice, and Pinochet\u2019s regime in general, are valorized<\/a> by some on the far right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel caused antisemitism to skyrocket nationwide, Georgia faced a series of antisemitic incidents, including threats to synagogues and the distribution of antisemitic fliers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marc Rod, Jewish Insider Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has continued to defend his social media comment endorsing a post by an antisemitic, racist account that was attacking a reporter for being Jewish. On Sunday, an account called \u201cGarbage Human\u201d retweeted a New York Post story about a Washington Post reporter, commenting, \u201cIn case you were wondering, yes she is.\u201d… more JEWISH INSIDER: Rep. Mike Collins doubles down on post supporting antisemitic, racist social media account<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3468,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3467","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nJEWISH INSIDER: Rep. 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