Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers traded personal insults during a bitter Michigan Senate debate, as the Democratic and Republican candidates clashed over the Iran war, immigration, healthcare, trade and their financial affairs.
El-Sayed called his opponent “weak”, “cowardly” and a “sock puppet for the Trump administration”. Rogers responded by describing El-Sayed as a “glitchy AI chatbot” running a “con” who would “say anything to win”.
The hour-long contest in Grand Rapids was one of the most closely watched encounters in a race that could help decide control of the US Senate. The candidates are competing to replace retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters, with polling showing a razor-thin contest.
The exchanges became so heated that moderator Rick Albin, of WOOD-TV, said the pair had continued arguing during the commercial break. At several points he urged them to “work with me” and said: “I appreciate your passion, but please, let’s try to keep this orderly.”
Iran war dominates Michigan Senate debate
Foreign policy dominated much of the debate, particularly the conflict involving Iran. Rogers said “this would be the time to wrap it up”, arguing that Iran’s nuclear programme and conventional military had been severely weakened.
El-Sayed, a strong critic of the war, accused Rogers of failing to challenge Donald Trump and called the conflict a “stupid war”.
“He’s got a direct line to the president who’s making sure the war does not end, and he’s not using it,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed said he supported a diplomatic solution and pointed to the Obama-era agreement that restricted Iran’s uranium enrichment, a deal Mr Trump ended during his first term. He also portrayed Rogers as a hawk who “thinks there’s a war for everything”.
Rogers described himself as a staunch supporter of Israel. Asked whether anything Israel could do would make him withdraw that support, he said: “If they were talking about using nuclear weapons, they would definitely lose my support. I’ve never heard them say that, though.”
El-Sayed, who has criticised the Israeli government’s conduct during its war against Hamas in Gaza and opposes US military assistance to Israel, rejected a question asking whether Iran or Israel posed the greater threat. He called it a “ridiculous hypothetical” and said both had “proven dangerous in their own way”.
Rogers also attacked his opponent for not issuing a statement marking three years since Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel. He alleged that El-Sayed “could not bring himself to even acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders”.
El-Sayed said he had condemned the attack but “didn’t turn it into political theatre like you just did”. He later told reporters that he believed anything he said about the attack would have been scrutinised and politicised.
Candidates clash over trade, immigration and healthcare
Both candidates backed pausing the gas tax as the Middle East conflict keeps energy prices high. They also questioned the tariff dispute with Canada, with Rogers saying the disagreement should end through a deal with the US’s northern neighbour.
Rogers said he had spoken to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about reaching an agreement. El-Sayed accused him of following the Trump administration’s position rather than standing up to the president.
On immigration, Rogers said the intense operations carried out in Minnesota earlier in the year were “probably not appropriate”. He said corrections had since been made, while arguing that agents were “targeting murderers and rapists who were here illegally doing bad things”.
El-Sayed, who has called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished, was asked whether an undocumented immigrant who committed a violent crime should be deported.
“Yes, but you don’t have to do that by violating the whole Constitution,” he said.
Rogers also criticised El-Sayed’s support for Medicare for All, calling his healthcare views “dangerous” and saying the policy would take private health insurance from families and give it to the government.
When El-Sayed said families who wanted to retain private insurance could do so, Rogers interrupted: “That is absolutely news to me.”
Both men repeatedly accused the other of changing positions and questioned their opponent’s financial interests. El-Sayed raised Rogers’s waterfront home in Florida, while Rogers referred to a rental property owned by El-Sayed’s wife in the United Arab Emirates.
“At least Florida is in the United States,” Rogers said at one stage.
“It’s not in Michigan, my guy,” El-Sayed replied.
El-Sayed secured the Democratic nomination after a divisive primary in which he clashed with the party’s moderate wing over his support for single-payer healthcare and opposition to US military aid for Israel. Rogers, a former congressman, won the Republican nomination with little opposition after receiving Mr Trump’s endorsement.
