Dem Star Skewers Must-Win MAGA Candidate in Fiery Debate
The clash got heated as the candidates tried to talk over each other.
Democratic rising star Abdul El-Sayed has torn into his Republican opponent in a fiery midterm election debate.
In the final sprint toward an election that could help flip control of the upper chamber, El-Sayed squared up in Detroit against former Republican congressman Mike Rogers.
Less than two weeks before Election Day, polls show a neck-and-neck contest in Michigan to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
During the showdown in WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) studios, El-Sayed sought to tie Rogers to President Donald Trump at every turn, painting his opponent as a corporate sellout. When asked about addressing cost-of-living concerns, El-Sayed argued that rising gas and grocery prices are direct products of Trump’s war on Iran.
El-Sayed, left, and Michigan Republican Senate candidate, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.
Pool/Getty Images
“We need a war powers resolution rather than a senator who is going to stand hip to hip with Donald Trump on this war that made no sense when it started and certainly makes no sense now,” El-Sayed said.
“I’m looking forward to standing with my colleagues in the United States Senate to hold Donald Trump accountable for this war. The other thing that we’re going to need to do is take on the corporations who bought and sold politicians for a very long time.”
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Rogers has distanced himself from Trump’s Iran war, cutting an ad calling for the conflict to wind down. Yet he has also claimed there was good reason to launch it to target Iran’s nuclear program. Asked by NBC News if Trump made a mistake starting the war, Rogers offered a soft defense: “I don’t think so.”
Separately, Rogers aimed to tie El-Sayed to Islamic fundamentalist groups overseas while questioning his résumé and trustworthiness.
“Everything that he said is not accurate, not correct,” Rogers said in response to criticisms from El-Sayed. He added that El-Sayed had misled voters about his connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and his own medical background, declaring, “This is a pattern that we need to understand for us to trust this candidate.”
Rogers elevated allegations about the Muslim Brotherhood, claiming El-Sayed and his family had connections to the Islamist organization. On stage, Rogers claimed El-Sayed asked the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt “to defund the police there, too. I mean, it’s unbelievable.”
El-Sayed fired back, noting that the smears targeted his family: “He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I’ve never been a part of because of my mom, who’s a nurse in Missouri.”
Rogers previously questioned El-Sayed’s mother, Fatten Elkomy, over her work at a charity the U.S. government later labeled a supporter of terrorist groups. Elkomy was never accused of wrongdoing.
The men shook hands after the debate.
Pool/Getty Images
El-Sayed, who told NBC News, “I have no ties, we have no ties,” dismantled the claims on stage.
“It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s actually really quite beneath you, Mike. It’s really quite beneath you,” El-Sayed said. “To call into question my loyalty to the Constitution.”
When Rogers tried to interrupt, El-Sayed pointed his finger at him: “I’m talking. I am talking. I’m talking. Excuse me.”
He added, “To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really beneath you. I am proud of America. I’m proud to be an American. I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray, and the question that you would ask that, I think, is actually really quite shameful.”
Rogers shot back: “You could pray any way you want, and I know you want to make this about you being a victim. This is about an ideology.”
El-Sayed mocked the Republicans’ reliance on canned rhetoric, inviting viewers to play a “MAGA bingo” game at home. Rogers retorted that “the bingo game ought to be how many times can he put the word ‘Trump’ in any answer.”
“They’re going to use buzzwords, and I’m hoping that y’all can play at home,” El-Sayed said. “Every time you hear one of those buzzwords, just remember, when they’re distracting you, they’re also trying to pick your pocket.”
El-Sayed added that Rogers could not win without Trump’s help. “You cannot win this race without Donald Trump coming here and stumping for you. That’s why you begged him to come. This is what you’re going to get: Donald Trump policies,” he said.
Trump has regularly amplified claims against El-Sayed, calling him a “Muslim radical” and writing on Truth Social, “He’s a Muslim Brotherhood member.”
Trump’s misspelling of El-Sayed’s middle name, Mohamed, and his use of terms like “Jihadist lunatic” underscore his persistent dog-whistles against the candidate, who would be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
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