GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Democrat Abdul El‑Sayed wasted no time going after former Rep. Mike Rogers over the Iran war — and he didn’t let up in their first U.S. Senate debate, arguing that Michiganders are struggling to make ends meet because of President Trump’s war and his tariffs.
Mr. Rogers stood his ground, saying Mr. El‑Sayed’s liberal agenda would “raise the cost of everything you touch” and then accused him of falsely portraying himself as a physician.
“If somebody came into his office and he tried to treat that patient, he’d go to jail,” Mr. Rogers said. “He is actually selling the best con I think I’ve ever seen.”
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The sparks flew early and often when the two met for their first debate of the Michigan Senate race, trading both personal and political punches in a purple‑state contest to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, in a contest that could determine who controls the Senate in the final two years of the Trump presidency.
By the end of the debate, Mr. El-Sayed, former head of the Wayne County Health Department, decried Mr. Rogers, a former special FBI agent, as a warmonger, a “sock puppet for the Trump administration,” and a finger in the wind politician.
“He won’t stand up until his poll numbers drop,” he said.
Mr. Rogers warned Mr. El-Sayed is a terrorist sympathizer, “a glitchy AI chatbot,” and a “manufactured candidate.”
“We cannot afford Abdul,” he said.
They both criticized each other for owning properties out of state, with Mr. El-Sayed criticizing Mr. Rogers’ “McMansion in Florida,” and Mr. Rogers questioning him about the properties he owns overseas.
The back-and-forth began right at the start.
Asked whether he’d support pausing the federal gas tax, Mr. El‑Sayed said “yes,” then immediately tied the issue to the war. He said filling his tank costs $80 and blamed the conflict — which he said Mr. Rogers has backed from the start and once called a “win, win, win.”
“I don’t know about you, but when I go to the gas tank, I don’t feel like I’m winning,” Mr. El‑Sayed said.
He argued the war must end now or Iran will keep squeezing the Strait of Hormuz, driving up prices at the pump and the grocery store. He also called for holding oil and gas companies accountable for profiteering.
Mr. Rogers, who has recently shifted some on the Iran war and called for a quick end to it, said he’s “been pretty aggressive” about pushing for a gas‑tax pause at both the state and federal level.
He said Democrats in Lansing rejected a 50‑cent‑a‑gallon break for drivers. He also pitched a diesel rebate and a pause on diesel exports to help farmers, and said he believes the war will end.
Then he went after El‑Sayed again, arguing the Democrats’ policies would raise utility rates and saddle families with $20,000 a year in costs under a Medicare for All plan that would eliminate private insurance.
Mr. Rogers said he’s running because Michigan has lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs over the past 25 years and has the highest utility rates in the Midwest and the highest auto insurance rates in the country. He said Mr. El‑Sayed won’t explain how he’d pay for his proposals.
Trade tensions flared too.
Pressed on why Mr. Rogers recently changed his tune on Canadian tariffs, the Republican said he wants a deal done with America’s northern neighbor, adding that he’s been pressing the administration directly.
“I have actually called the White House this week, talked to the Secretary of Commerce about getting the deal done,” he said.
Mr. El‑Sayed said he flip‑flopped because of “sagging poll numbers,” mocking an ad in which Mr. Rogers drinks Labatt and talks about the Red Wings. He said Mr. Trump’s tariffs cost Michigan families thousands of dollars a year and that he’d support “smart tariffs” tied to industrial policy, as the United Auto Workers has advocated.
On foreign policy, Mr. Rogers said he “staunchly” supports Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, and he accused Mr. El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim to hold a U.S. Senate seat, of being unwilling to back Israel’s defense, saying his opponent would not even support the Iron Dome a defensive system that shoots down incoming missiles.
Mr. El-Sayed said he opposes sending free U.S. weapons to any foreign country without conditions, but also argued that Israel lobbied the U.S. into the war with Iran.
Pressed on whether Israel or Iran is the greater threat to the U.S., Mr. El-Sayed first called the question “dumb,” then said both “have proven dangerous in their own way.”
Mr. Rogers strongly criticized Mr. El-Sayed for his response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel in which the Islamist terror group killed more than 1,100 Israeli and foreign civilians and kidnapped more than 200 others.
“He could not bring himself to even acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders, cutting off of women’s breasts, putting children in ovens, and killing them in front of their families,” he said.
Mr. El-Sayed said he did condemn the attack, “but I didn’t turn it into political theater like you just did.”
Mr. Rogers shot back, “your whole campaign is political theater, including putting on a white jacket and calling yourself doctor.”
Mr. El-Sayed has a doctorare in public health from Oxford University and worked as an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia. He also acquired an M.D. from Columbia but he has never done a clinical residency or acquired a state medical license.
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