On a Wednesday night in late October, two Michigan Senate candidates met for the second time in a race that may help decide who controls the chamber. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed spent the hour returning again and again to a president who was not on the stage, while Republican Mike Rogers tried to show voters a candidate who thinks for himself. Behind the sharp exchanges lies an old question of democracy: whether a campaign is judged by its loyalty to a national figure or by the record of the person seeking office.
Trump Looms Over Michigan Senate Debate as El-Sayed Attacks Rogers, Who Breaks With Trump on Trade
Trump was the unofficial third person onstage
Mark
Eighteen mentions of Trump in an hour. Why does that number matter?
Mimi
It shows El-Sayed's strategy. He wanted the race to be about Trump, not about himself, and he kept pulling Rogers toward the president.
Mark
Yet Rogers split with Trump on a few things.
Mimi
Yes. He called the tariffs a "mixed bag," said the Canada tariffs may not have been well thought through, and wants Chinese automakers barred from building cars here.
Luke
Worth noting that El-Sayed then pointed to Trump saying he'd be open to Chinese automakers building here. That's El-Sayed's characterization in the debate, and the reporting doesn't give us Trump's own words.
Mark
And the exchange on public safety?
Mimi
That was the sharpest moment. Rogers raised defunding the police, deleted posts and Morsi comments. El-Sayed called it shameful and said he was proud to be an American.
Luke
Rogers' claims about donors tied to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood are his assertions. The coverage offers no evidence for them, and El-Sayed's response here was about his patriotism, not a point-by-point rebuttal.
Mark
What about the Jewish community point?
Mimi
Rogers said his campaign is doing well there. Some Jewish Michiganders have disavowed El-Sayed, but how widespread that is remains unclear.
Luke
Right, that's Rogers' claim. We don't have polling here.
The Pulse
- Trump's name came up eighteen times as El-Sayed tried to brand Rogers as a 'sock puppet' with no independent voice.
- Rogers answered with 'MAGA bingo' jabs of his own, turning the tables on the Democrat's repeated invocations of the president.
- Rogers broke from Trump on tariffs, calling them a 'mixed bag,' and backed banning Chinese automakers from building in the U.S., pressing El-Sayed on whether he would stand up to the president.
- Public safety and terrorism accusations escalated the debate, with Rogers raising defund-the-police votes and donor ties, and El-Sayed calling the questions 'shameful.'
- With the midterms weeks away and control of the Senate at stake, the race is becoming a referendum on the progressive wing in a swing state.
On a Wednesday night in late October, two Michigan Senate candidates met for the second time in a race that may help decide who controls the chamber. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed spent the hour returning again and again to a president who was not on the stage, while Republican Mike Rogers tried to show voters a candidate who thinks for himself. Behind the sharp exchanges lies an old question of democracy: whether a campaign is judged by its loyalty to a national figure or by the record of the person seeking office.
By the end of Wednesday's hour-long debate in Michigan, Donald Trump had been named eighteen times by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who was trying to cast his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, as the president's "sock puppet." It was the second meeting between the two men, held just weeks before an election that could help decide control of the Senate.
El-Sayed called many of Rogers' answers "MAGA bingo," accusing him of repeating Trump-aligned talking points. Rogers fired back that the real game was how often El-Sayed worked the president into his own answers. The Republican also broke with Trump on trade, calling the tariffs a "mixed bag" and backing a ban on Chinese companies building cars in the United States, a position El-Sayed challenged by asking whether Rogers would confront the president over it.
The night's sharpest moments came on public safety and national security. Rogers pressed El-Sayed on his past support for defunding the police and on his ties to groups he characterized as extremist, while El-Sayed answered that such questions were beneath a candidate and called them shameful. El-Sayed, a Muslim and first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Egypt, has faced scrutiny over his Gaza rhetoric, and some Michigan Jewish voters have publicly disavowed him.
After the debate, Michigan Republicans kept up the pressure, citing El-Sayed's appearance with a streamer who once made remarks about the 9/11 attacks. The race now turns on a plain question: will voters weigh Trump's shadow more heavily than El-Sayed's own record?
By the end of Wednesday night's hour-long Michigan Senate debate, Donald Trump had been named 18 times by a man who was not his opponent. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed kept bringing the president into his answers, trying to cast Republican Mike Rogers as Trump's "sock puppet."
The debate was the second between the two candidates, held just weeks before the midterm election. El-Sayed labeled many of Rogers' answers "MAGA bingo," accusing the Republican of leaning on Trump-aligned talking points. He used the phrase after Rogers accused him of backing socialist policies, open borders and defunding the police. Rogers eventually turned it around, suggesting the real bingo game was the number of times El-Sayed worked Trump into his own answers. El-Sayed's broader framing was of Rogers as a "corporate politician."
Rogers did not line up with Trump on everything. On trade, he called the president's tariffs a "mixed bag" and said the tariffs on Canada may have been "not well thought through." He also said Congress should ban Chinese companies from building cars in the United States. El-Sayed countered that Trump has said he would be open to Chinese automakers building vehicles here, and asked whether Rogers would stand up to the president on the issue.
Rogers pressed his own line of attack. He said El-Sayed has a "pattern of deception," accusing him of misrepresenting his record and shifting positions. He tied El-Sayed and his policies to the Democratic Socialists of America and hammered him over past support for defunding the police. He also claimed that some of El-Sayed's donors and supporters have ties to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood, and asked, "Are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?"
The most heated exchange came on public safety. Rogers raised El-Sayed's past support for defunding the police, accused him of deleting social media posts on the subject, and pointed to his past comments involving former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed answered that it was "beneath" Rogers to question his commitment to the Constitution, said he was "proud to be an American," and called the line of questioning "shameful."
El-Sayed is a Muslim and first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Egypt. He has faced scrutiny over his rhetoric on the war in Gaza and his positions on Israel, and some members of Michigan's Jewish community have openly disavowed him. Rogers said his campaign is doing well with that community, which he claimed fears El-Sayed's rhetoric. He called El-Sayed too "extreme" for Michigan and cited prominent Democrats who say they cannot back the nominee, including the former Michigan Democratic Party chairman and the former finance chair of Sen. Elissa Slotkin's campaign.
El-Sayed is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His platform includes Medicare for All, higher taxes on the wealthy, ending U.S. military aid to Israel and abolishing ICE.
After the debate, Michigan Republicans repeated the argument. They noted that El-Sayed once campaigned with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America deserved the 9/11 attacks. State GOP Chairman Jim Runestad said in a statement that Michigan cannot afford El-Sayed's "far-left, big-government policies" or risk electing someone who campaigns with Piker and "seemingly justified" the attack targeting children and the Jewish community in Bloomfield Hills.
The open seat in a swing state could help decide control of the Senate, and it doubles as a test of the Democratic Party's progressive wing in a key battleground. With the election weeks away, the question is whether Trump's presence or El-Sayed's own record weighs more with Michigan voters.
Notable Quotes
It was "beneath" Rogers to question his commitment to the Constitution; he was "proud to be an American."— Abdul El-Sayed
Are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?— Mike Rogers
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