Georgia Congressman confronts campaign trail questions regarding white nationalist and antisemitic rhetoric linked to David Alan Scheer II.
The midsummer heat hung heavy outside the Monroe County Hospital in Forsyth, Georgia, as Representative Mike Collins stepped to the podium. Surrounding him was a pack of news cameras and microphones, assembled for what was intended to be a routine campaign stop targeting healthcare costs and criticizing his opponent, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. On stage, Collins leaned on his familiar persona, a straight-talking conservative businessman ready to hold political opponents accountable for their associations and stances.
Yet beneath the polished campaign optics, an undeniable shadow stretched from the rural edge of his own family property.
Over the preceding weeks, investigative reporting from CNN, The Guardian, and local news outlets had illuminated the online world of David Alan Scheer II, the husband of Collins’ daughter, Summer. Scheer was no distant stranger to the campaign; he was registered to vote at a Collins-owned residential property in Georgia, appeared in family photographs, attended Collins’ primary election victory party, and had produced promotional materials for the family’s trucking enterprise.
Behind a digital footprint spanning Telegram, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to over a million followers, Scheer cultivated an explicit white nationalist persona. He reshared material from neo-fascist groups like Patriot Front, circulated Nazi-era propaganda imagery from the 1930s, invoked classic antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Jewish figures for societal issues, and called for mass deportations. In one post on Telegram, Scheer shared an antisemitic infographic targeting government and financial institutions, explicitly telling his followers that his wife, Collins’ daughter—had created it. Shortly before news reports broke, he had even polled his social media audience on whether he should post a video detailing why “Gen-Z doesn’t hate Hitler”.
When reporters in Forsyth raised their microphones, the campaign’s structured talking points quickly gave way. Asked directly whether he disavowed and condemned his son-in-law’s white nationalist and antisemitic broadcasts, Collins attempted a quick pivot. “We fully addressed that,” Collins insisted, attempting to turn the focus back onto Ossoff before cutting the press conference short after just eight minutes and walking away from the podium.
In the days that followed, written statements from Collins’ campaign sought to draw a clear line, stating that the congressman “has always condemned all forms of antisemitism and racism regardless of the source,” and emphasizing that Scheer held no official role in the campaign and spoke for no one but himself. Outside Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, faith leaders and civil rights activists gathered to demand greater clarity, pointing out the stark contradiction between calling out political adversaries and staying silent on extremist rhetoric emerging from one’s own household.
As the campaign moved toward November, the silence around Collins’ home perimeter remained one of the most visible, unscripted realities of the race—a persistent challenge for a candidate whose platform was built on scrutinizing the company others kept.
Atlanta News First report on Mike Collins responding to questions about his son-in-law.
This video shows news coverage of reporters pressing Representative Mike Collins on his son-in-law’s social media activity and his subsequent redirection during a press event.
