Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed clashed onstage Wednesday in their second and final debate, at WXYZ-TV in Southfield, Michigan, in a Senate race that has grown increasingly bitter.1,2,3,4
El-Sayed repeatedly argued that Rogers would act as a proxy for President Trump in the Senate, while Rogers cast his opponent as untrustworthy and as trying to run from past positions further to the left. The race is neck-and-neck, one of the most closely watched contests in the November midterms, and could help decide which party controls the Senate.1
El-Sayed called Rogers' platform a "MAGA vision" and argued that the former congressman would stand with Trump on what he called the president's worst policies, including those raising gas prices and making groceries unaffordable. The Democratic former health official invited the audience to play "MAGA bingo" in response to Rogers' attacks.1
"He's going to bend to Donald Trump because he is a sock puppet for the man," said El-Sayed. Rogers pushed back, saying: "He wants to make this about Donald Trump. The bingo game ought to be: 'How many times can he put Trump in any answer?'"1
During the debate, Rogers argued that El-Sayed had not been honest about his platform and accused him of a "pattern of deception." Rogers also said, "Think about this: there are so many Democrats who are coming out today and saying they can't vote for Abdul El-Sayed because he's too extreme." He claimed he was "doing exceptionally well with Jewish Democrats who are literally afraid," a remark that alluded to reluctance among some community members to support El-Sayed, a frequent critic of the Israeli government.1
One of the most contentious moments came when Rogers tried to link El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood and suggested he had the same supporters as terror groups such as Hamas. El-Sayed has vehemently pushed back against those allegations. Earlier this month, social media posts by El-Sayed's half sister suggested that his mother had supported the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group and political movement founded in Egypt, the mother's home country. El-Sayed has disavowed any connection to the organization and has noted that he was not raised by his birth mother after his parents divorced when he was young.1,7
Rogers said El-Sayed was trying to make himself look like "a victim." "You can grin and you can smile and you can talk real pretty, but I'm going to tell you what, that is a risk to our national security," Rogers said. He told reporters after the debate that he questions whether El-Sayed could obtain a security clearance if elected.1,7
El-Sayed called the allegations "shameful." "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?" the Democrat said. "It doesn't make any sense, and it's actually really quite beneath you, Mike."1
El-Sayed pressed Rogers on the Iran war, pointing to the conflict as a cause of high consumer prices and describing the Republican as a hawk who has "a war for everything." Asked how he would bring costs down, El-Sayed said, "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."1
Rogers has called for the war to end, but on the debate stage he also said that if Iran were allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz or build a nuclear weapon, gas prices could rise even higher. Asked whether he views Iran as a significant threat to U.S. national security, El-Sayed said, "there's no doubt that Iran has posed a threat," but he argued that "that threat had been contained" by the Obama-era deal that limited Iran's nuclear program. Trump ended that deal during his first term. Rogers said Iran is "absolutely" a threat and argued that El-Sayed's previous answers on Iran were "an absolute nonstarter if you're going to send somebody … to the United States Senate."1
Rogers also pressed El-Sayed on progressive policy positions, including his support for Medicare for All, a single-payer health care plan. The debate was less heated than the candidates' first meeting earlier this month, which featured insults and interruptions in virtually every answer, though it remained testy, according to CBS News. The Hill described the debate as less fiery than the first and characterized the contest as pivotal for control of the upper chamber.1,4
Democrats hope to benefit from Trump's unpopularity and voters' frustration with inflation and the Iran war, while Republicans have sought to capitalize on divisions between progressives such as El-Sayed and more moderate Democrats over Middle East policy and Medicare for All. Asked by reporters whether he planned to attend Trump's Michigan rally on Sunday, which El-Sayed had raised during the debate, Rogers said he would go but did not yet know all the final details.1
The debate ends the candidates' formal face-to-face meetings before the November midterm elections.1,4
