A former intern-turned-campaign-contractor for Rep. Mike Collins, the Georgia Republican running for U.S. Senate with President Trump's endorsement, posted a swastika made from the word "twink" and a photo of himself wearing Ku Klux Klan robes to his personal social media account, according to a Washington Post investigation published Thursday. It is the latest in a run of extremism controversies that has now trailed Collins's campaign for months.

The staffer, 24-year-old Preston Parra, interned in Collins's House office for two months in 2024 before going on to work as a paid contractor for the congressman's leadership PAC. Over the summer, Parra also used a racial slur against Black people and posted the phrase "White Power" on his account, the Post reported. He told the paper the KKK image was AI-generated using Grok and described his posts as "satirical," asking, "What, is there supposed to be some kind of CIA background check?"

A pattern, not an incident

Parra's posts land on top of a string of staffing controversies that have dogged Collins since he launched his Senate bid against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Collins replaced his chief of staff, Kip Talley, in July after Slate reported Talley had participated in a group chat alongside white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer. Separately, Collins cut short a press conference in July rather than answer questions from CNN's KFile about his son-in-law, Cody Scheer, who was found to have shared Nazi imagery, antisemitic conspiracy theories and material from the white nationalist group Patriot Front. Collins has since declined to say whether he ever paid Scheer personally, through his campaign or through his congressional office.

Earlier this month, four dozen Black Georgia state lawmakers sent Collins a letter demanding he explain his ties to white nationalist figures and disavow them unequivocally. Collins is also facing a House Ethics Committee inquiry into whether his office misused taxpayer funds for campaign work and arranged a low-show internship for his girlfriend — allegations he has dismissed as a "nothing burger."

"What, is there supposed to be some kind of CIA background check?" — Preston Parra, defending his social media posts to the Washington Post

Collins's campaign did not substantively address the Parra revelations Thursday. Coverage from other outlets notes that even some Georgia Republicans have grown uneasy with the pattern of staffing choices around a candidate the national party is counting on to flip a top-tier Senate seat.

Ossoff, who has not lost an opportunity to press the issue, has called Collins's silence about the extremism swirling around his operation "disqualifying" for a candidate seeking statewide office. Georgia's Senate race is rated a toss-up by most national handicappers and is central to Democrats' hopes of retaking the chamber in November.

With the Nov. 3 election just over nine weeks away, Collins has yet to give a detailed, on-the-record accounting of his campaign's vetting practices. Whether the latest revelations dent his standing with GOP primary-adjacent voters or simply add to a controversy Democrats are already featuring in ads is likely to become clearer as early voting approaches.