Michigan Senate debate: Key takeaways from El-Sayed, Rogers clash

Michigan Senate debate: Key takeaways from El-Sayed, Rogers clash

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Candidates in two key United States Senate races have faced off in their final debates, less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections . In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers exchanged accusations on Wednesday regarding their political views and the US-Israel war on Iran. In Kansas, Republican Senator Roger Marshall and his Democratic opponent, Adam Hamilton, disagreed about the rising price of diesel and President Donald Trump’s plan to import Russian fuel. The results of both elections will influence which party ends up in control of the Senate. The Republicans currently dominate Congress’s upper chamber with 53 of its 100 seats. Democrats hold 45, and two senators are independents who caucus with the Democratic Party.

Rogers questioned some of Trump’s tariffs, describing them as a “mixed bag”. While he supported taking steps to bring automobile manufacturing back to Michigan from China and Mexico, he questioned the impact of tariffs on Canada. “I have stepped back and said maybe these Canadian tariffs were not well thought through,” Rogers said, referring to the close ties between the automobile industries of the two countries. Michigan sits on the Canadian border and is the US state with the most car-manufacturing jobs. Rogers insisted he would put Michigan’s interests first if elected. “If it’s good for Michigan, I’m going to be for it. If it’s bad for Michigan, I’m going to be against it,” he said.

El-Sayed accused Rogers of backing Trump’s war with Iran, saying “He's got a war for everything, and he won't back off the war now. He supports this war.” Rogers fired back, reiterating a moment from their first debate when El-Sayed refused to answer whether Israel or Iran posed a greater threat to the U.S. “My opponent can't even condemn the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], which is the terrorist enforcement arm of Iran, and doesn't believe Iran is any more dangerous than Israel. This is an absolute nonstarter,” Rogers said.

Rogers accused El-Sayed of deleting social media content about defunding the police, saying “I will tell you this: he did call for defunding the police … [and] he deleted all of this material. Why would you do that? Why would you go through and take all of that time to delete all of that material?” El-Sayed responded by saying “It's really quite beneath you.”