Rogers declines to say if he will appear alongside Trump before election
In their first face-off of the race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers offered sharply divergent positions Thursday evening in Grand Rapids on U.S. policy toward Israel and Iran, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, healthcare and tariffs. Michigan is a crucial state for Senate control in November’s midterm election, and the hourlong debate aired foreign-policy and domestic issues that the candidates have contested, with the Middle East having played a major role in the contest.
The Middle East has played a major role in the Michigan Senate race, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rogers and Republicans have continually tried to stir fears about El-Sayed’s Muslim faith, his ties to Muslim groups and his vocal criticism of Israel, the newspaper reported, and El-Sayed’s positions have also tested divisions among Democrats over U.S. policy with Israel.
Onstage, Rogers criticized El-Sayed for not better recognizing this week’s three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. “He could not bring himself to even acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders,” Rogers said.
El-Sayed replied: “I’ve condemned that. I don’t turn it into political theater like you just did.”
When asked by the moderator whether Israel or Iran posed a bigger threat to America, El-Sayed called the question “ridiculous” and disputed Israel’s status as an ally. “Both of them have proven dangerous in their own way,” El-Sayed said of Israel and Iran. “One at risk of attacking us, one getting us into wars we have no business fighting.”
On immigration, El-Sayed was far more critical than Rogers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, specifically referencing the killing of two U.S. citizens on the streets of Minneapolis in January. Rogers called the actions in Minnesota “probably not appropriate” while suggesting the administration’s enforcement efforts have reduced crime. “It has been the largest decrease in murders ever recorded. Why? They were targeting murderers and rapists,” Rogers said.
El-Sayed countered that ICE has been “terrorizing our streets” instead of conducting proper immigration enforcement. “You don’t have to do that by violating the whole Constitution in the way that ICE has been able to do by this rogue administration,” El-Sayed said. He called for “a safe and secure southern border” and “a pathway to citizenship for folks who are stuck in limbo right now.”
On healthcare, El-Sayed — whose signature policy position is support for Medicare for All — told the moderator he could still see a role for private insurance. “If families want to keep their private health insurance, that’s fine by me,” El-Sayed said. “I want to guarantee every single person in this country cradle-to-grave coverage without premiums, copays, deductibles, that doesn’t have a network, that does not pay a corporate CEO tens of millions of dollars a year.”
Rogers repeatedly questioned his opponent’s medical credentials. “He’s not really a doctor,” Rogers said, suggesting El-Sayed would “go to jail” if he formally treated a patient. El-Sayed has called himself a physician, but there is no public evidence he has experience as a licensed medical doctor, according to The Wall Street Journal; he studied to be a doctor and then moved into public health and politics.
On trade, Rogers — who broke with Trump earlier in the week over tariffs on Canada, the latest step he has taken to distance himself from the administration’s economic agenda — said he had spoken with the White House and the secretary of commerce about reaching a deal. “I would like to see the deal made,” Rogers said. “I have actually called the White House this week, talked to the secretary of commerce about getting the deal done. Canada still has some high tariffs for U.S. goods, and they did this before this started. Those should be eliminated. There are tariffs that I think are too high and not helpful for us.”
El-Sayed suggested Rogers has flip-flopped on the issue and called for “smart tariffs” tied to manufacturing jobs that “protect our own market.”
The exchanges continued less formally in the “spin room” after the televised session ended, with both candidates asked about people they prefer not to talk about. Asked by a reporter whether he would campaign with President Trump at his side, Rogers declined to directly answer. The president, who has recently recorded some of the lowest approval ratings of his political career, has said he plans to campaign in Michigan before the Nov. 3 election. During the debate, Rogers said there are “a lot of people that want to hear from the president.”
El-Sayed, meanwhile, was asked about his ties to Hasan Piker, a left-wing streamer. A reporter suggested it was fair to ask El-Sayed to respond to the things Piker says, if Rogers is expected to answer questions about what Trump says and does.
“That’s a serious question?” El-Sayed asked. “Donald Trump is the president of the United States, which means he has significant power, including the nuclear football. And when he makes war, which he has the power to do, it is a very different thing than a streamer in California.”