KFile: Mike Collins joked about pushing Pelosi from a plane, suggested hanging US leaders
By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
(CNN) — In last week’s Georgia Senate debate, Democrat Jon Ossoff accused Republican congressman Mike Collins of calling for immigrants to be thrown to their deaths from helicopters, referring to a social media post Collins sent in 2024.
Collins didn’t address the accusation directly and instead pivoted to immigration enforcement and criticized Ossoff.
But it wasn’t the first time Collins commented on killing people by throwing them out of an aircraft. In an August 2021 tweet, amid the chaos of the Afghanistan withdrawal, Collins suggested American military and political leaders deserved to be hanged from a helicopter. He also joked about pushing then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of an airplane.
A CNN KFile review of Collins’ past social media posts and interviews reveals previously unreported remarks that were part of a broader pattern of promoting January 6 conspiracy theories and suggesting extrajudicial killings of political opponents and perceived enemies.
Collins repeatedly downplayed the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol as a peaceful tour by grandmothers. He also continued to praise and accepted the endorsement of Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers after she called for “more gallows” while speaking at a White nationalist conference in 2022 and was censured by her own party’s led state senate.
The findings come as Collins, in his race against the incumbent Ossoff, faces scrutiny over his associations with figures linked to White nationalism and the far-right.
In July, KFile revealed that Collins’ son-in-law is a pro-White nationalist and social media influencer with a track record of sharing antisemitic material and Nazi imagery in comments across the internet.
The Collins campaign did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Collins’ August 2021 tweet came as the Biden administration was grappling with the fallout of its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left 13 US service members dead. Collins reposted and commented on posts of an image that purported to show the Taliban hanging someone from a helicopter.
“If someone said this is what should happen to some of our military/political leaders for everything that’s happened in AFG lately they’d probably get banned,” Collins wrote. “So good thing no one says that.”
Just weeks earlier, during a July 2021, appearance on the conservative Christian radio program “Sandy Rios in the Morning,” Collins joked about pushing Pelosi out of a plane.
During the interview, fellow Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent was discussing his travel arrangements when host Sandy Rios joked that he could catch a ride with Pelosi.
“She’d be happy to give me a ride, I’m sure,” Kent said. “Might push her out,” Collins interjected. Rios immediately interjected. “Oh, don’t say that. They’ll be after you. You know they will,” Rios said. “I was joking,” Collins added.
The comments have drawn renewed attention amid scrutiny of Collins’ political associations and past statements. During the latest debate, Collins was asked directly whether he was a White nationalist.
“No, I condemn any sort of hate speech, antisemitism, hate of any kind. It’s abhorrent,” Collins replied, adding that he had fired people over previous incidents. Ossoff repeatedly challenged Collins to commit to stopping what he described as “neo-Nazi propaganda” being produced from the congressman’s home, referring to KFile’s reporting that Collins’ son-in-law lives on a property owned by Collins.
“I’m a little tired of this, Jon,” Collins said, accusing Ossoff of fueling threats against him and his family.
Since that reporting, CNN has also identified an additional antisemitic comment connected to a new skincare business launched Wednesday by Collins’ son-in-law. The comment, posted from the business’ Instagram account, included a reference to “goyslop,” an antisemitic phrase commonly used in White nationalist circles to disparage unhealthy products that they say Jews market to non-Jews.
Continued praise for a censured Republican
Collins has also repeatedly praised Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, the outspoken far-right Republican who was censured by her own state’s Republican-led Senate in March 2022 after speaking at a White nationalist conference and making inflammatory statements about her political enemies.
Rogers had addressed the America First Political Action Conference, which was organized by White nationalist Nick Fuentes, in February 2022 where she called Fuentes “the most persecuted man in America.” She also praised his followers as “the future” and declared that “we need to build more gallows.”
The Arizona Senate voted 24-3 to censure Rogers days later, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats in condemning her conduct.
Despite the nationally publicized controversy, Collins continued to praise Rogers publicly and highlight her support.
In June 2022, nearly four months after Rogers’ appearance at the conference and her subsequent censure, Collins thanked her for supporting his congressional campaign. “Very grateful to Senator Rogers! An early supporter who never backed down! Thank you!” Collins wrote on X.
In August 2022, Collins included Rogers among several political allies he wished good luck to ahead of their elections.
The relationship continued years later.
On July 28, 2025, the day Collins launched his campaign for the US Senate, he responded to Rogers on X, writing, “Thank you, Wendy!” after she endorsed his campaign.
Downplaying January 6
Collins also repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories and misleading characterizations of January 6, including suggesting that the FBI was more focused on prosecuting peaceful grandmothers than investigating the pipe bombs discovered near the Capitol.
During an August 2022 appearance on “In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels,” Collins raised conspiracy theories surrounding Ray Epps, a January 6 participant who became the subject of baseless claims that he was a federal agent who helped instigate the riot.
“I wanna know about January 6th,” Collins said, before questioning why some defendants remained jailed and called them “political prisoners.” Daniels then characterized the attack as a “grandma-guided tour through the capital,” suggesting that participants had been denied due process. “Amen, brother,” Collins responded.
Collins went on to raise questions about Epps and the pipe bombs discovered outside the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters.
“Who is Ray Epps? What role did he really play?” Collins asked. “And another thing, what about these pipe bombs that they supposedly had out there? What is the deal with those? We need full investigations on that.”
The program was carried on the Stew Peters Network, a platform founded by a far-right conspiracy theorist who has promoted Holocaust denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Peters had also spoken at the same February 2022 White nationalist conference addressed by Rogers. During his remarks, Peters asked why Dr. Anthony Fauci was not “hanging by the end of a noose somewhere.”
Collins continued to downplay the Capitol attack after entering Congress.
On January 6, 2025, the fourth anniversary of the riot, Collins posted a lengthy message on X characterizing the events as an unauthorized tour by peaceful elderly protesters.
“On #ThisDayInHistory in 2021, thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building,” Collins wrote.
He then claimed that peaceful protesters had subsequently been “hunted down, arrested, held in solitary confinement, and treated unjustly,” and criticized the federal government’s prosecution of the January 6 defendants.
During the latest debate, Collins repeatedly declined to directly answer questions about whether Trump won the 2020 presidential election. When he was asked by a moderator whether he still believed Trump had defeated Joe Biden, Collins pivoted to criticizing Biden’s administration.
“There was a lot of doubt in that election,” Collins said.
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