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Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed traded personal attacks and accusations during a heated Michigan U.S. Senate debate Thursday night, clashing over everything from affordability, the war in Iran and U.S. support for Israel to their respective financial dealings and personal backgrounds.
The contentious showdown in Grand Rapids marked the first time the two candidates faced off onstage ahead of November’s closely watched election after Rogers declined to participate in a debate last month hosted by FOX 2 Detroit, citing concerns about the moderator’s impartiality.
At the top of Thursday’s debate, what began as a discussion about affordability quickly devolved into personal attacks, with Rogers repeatedly questioning El-Sayed’s medical credentials and accusing him of misleading voters. El-Sayed accused the former congressman of enriching himself through corporate connections.
“He’s lying. So, he lied about being a physician. He lied now about being an Egyptian citizen or not being an Egyptian citizen,” Rogers charged during one particularly heated exchange. “That’s a con man.”
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El-Sayed, who holds a medical degree from Columbia University, rejected the attacks and accused Rogers of attempting to distract voters from issues affecting their everyday lives.
“He wanted to make this about him or me. But the question is about you,” El-Sayed responded. “Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries under this guy who’s going to rubber stamp everything Donald Trump tells him to rubber stamp?”
The candidates also sparred over their personal finances, with El-Sayed repeatedly accusing Rogers of profiting from corporate relationships after leaving Congress and referencing his Florida property and alleged yacht ownership.
Rogers, who denied owning any yachts, countered by questioning El-Sayed’s investments and alleged overseas property holdings in the UAE, while also slamming him for accepting money from billionaires despite simultaneously stumping on not taking money from corporate PACs and getting money out of politics.
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The exchanges became so heated that moderator Rick Albin repeatedly intervened.
“Look, here’s the situation. We’ve got dozens of questions we want to get to. You can’t litigate all of these with 14 different rebuttals,” Albin told the candidates.
After a commercial break, Albin remarked that, in 30 years of moderating debates, he had never witnessed candidates continue arguing throughout a commercial break.
The personal accusations remained constant throughout much of Thursday night’s debate, but one of the evening’s sharpest policy disagreements emerged over Israel and Iran.
Asked whether he would support providing defensive weapons to Israel if the country were attacked by Iran or another state actor, El-Sayed indicated he would not and reiterated his opposition to using American taxpayer dollars to fund foreign militaries.
“I don’t want our tax dollars buying weapons for other countries. I don’t know what’s so hard about that,” El-Sayed said.
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“I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way. One at risk of attacking us, one getting us into wars we have no business fighting,” he added, referring to Israel and Iran.
El-Sayed also declined to say whether Israel or Iran posed the greater threat to the United States despite repeated questioning from the moderator.
“I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way,” El-Sayed said. “One at risk of attacking us, one getting us into wars. We have no business fighting.”
Rogers, by contrast, indicated he would support providing defensive weapons to Israel and reiterated his support for the Jewish state.
He repeatedly accused El-Sayed of having connections to individuals and organizations supportive of terrorist groups as well, allegations El-Sayed disputed.
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The pair also differed on whether the war could come to an end if Iran still maintains the ability to produce a nuclear weapon and continues to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz.
El-Sayed blamed the conflict for rising gas prices and accused Rogers of supporting an unnecessary war, arguing that diplomacy could resolve the conflict even if Iran retained the ability to produce nuclear weapons.
Rogers argued that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been significantly diminished and said the war should end, while maintaining that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
On domestic policy, El-Sayed expressed openness to federal price controls on domestically produced oil, arguing that high gasoline prices constituted an emergency.
“Look, I definitely think that’s something we should consider,” El-Sayed said.
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Rogers rejected price controls, instead advocating temporary gas tax relief, diesel rebates and a pause on diesel exports.
Healthcare also became a major flash point.
El-Sayed defended his Medicare-for-all proposal, insisting that Americans who wanted to retain private insurance could do so. Rogers argued that the proposal would eliminate existing private coverage and impose significant new taxes on families.
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The debate unfolded against the backdrop of an exceptionally competitive Senate contest.
A late-September Fox News poll showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 50% to 49% among likely voters, a statistical dead heat.
The candidates are competing for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, with Republicans hoping to flip the seat and Democrats seeking to maintain their hold on it.
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