Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul-Sayed clashed onstage during the second and final debate on Wednesday in an increasingly heated debate. Michigan Senate race. El-Sayed has repeatedly argued that his opponents are and will be President Trump’s “puppets” in the Senate, while Rogers believes his opponents are untrustworthy and is trying to move away from past, more left-wing positions.
this neck-and-neck competition It’s one of the most closely watched races in the country in the November midterm elections and could help determine which party wins control of the Senate. Democrats hope to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity and voter dissatisfaction with inflation and the war with Iran. Republicans have sought to exploit differences between progressives like El-Sayed and more moderate Democrats over Middle East policy and Medicare for All.
El-Sayed called Rogers’ platform a “MAGA vision” and thought the former congressman was “firm in his stance.”[s] Stand with Donald Trump on all the worst policies that raise gas prices and make groceries unaffordable. The Democratic former health official responded to the attack by inviting viewers to play “MAGA bingo.”
“He will give in to Donald Trump because he is this man’s puppet,” El-Sayed said.
Rogers retorted at one point: “He wanted to make this story about Donald Trump. The bingo game should be: ‘How many times can he put Trump in any answer?'”
After the debate, when reporters asked Rogers if he planned to attend Trump’s rally in Michigan on Sunday, which El-Sayed mentioned, Rogers said he would go but didn’t know all the final details yet.
During the debate, Rogers argued that El-Sayed was dishonest about his platform, accusing him of engaging in a “pattern of deception.”
“Think about it: There are a lot of Democrats coming out today saying they can’t vote for Abdul-Sayed because he’s too extreme,” Rogers said. He also claimed he “gets along really well with Jewish Democrats who are really scared,” alluding to The reluctance of some community members Backing El-Sayed, a frequent critic of the Israeli government.
The debate was a little more subdued than the debate between the two candidates. The first confrontation earlier this monthalmost every answer contains insults and interruptions. But it’s still cranky.
One of the most controversial moments occurred after Rodgers tried to contact El-Sayed To the Muslim Brotherhood and suggested he had the same supporters as terrorist groups such as Hamas – a charge Saied strongly refuted.
Earlier this month, multiple news outlets reported on social media posts by El-Sayed’s half-sister suggesting the Democratic candidate’s mother supports the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization and political movement founded in her native Egypt.
El-Sayed denies any connection to the group and notes that he was not raised by his biological mother since his parents divorced when he was young. Rogers said El-Sayed was trying to look like a “victim.”
“You can smile, you can smile, you can say it beautifully, but what I’m telling you is this is a threat to our national security,” Rogers said. He told reporters after the debate that he questioned whether El-Sayed would be able to get a security clearance if elected.
Said called the accusations “shameful”.
“He kept asking questions about connections to organizations that I had never been a member of because [of] My mom, she’s a nurse in Missouri? ” said the Democrat. “That makes no sense and is actually really rude, Mike.”
El-Sayed puts pressure on Rodgers iran warPointing to the conflict as the cause of high consumer prices and portraying the Republican Party as a hawk who “wages war on everything.”
Asked how to reduce costs, Said said: “We need a war powers resolution, not a senator who is fighting alongside Donald Trump in this war that made no sense at the beginning and makes no sense now.”
Rogers has Call for an end to the warbut also said on the debate stage that natural gas could rise even higher if Iran was allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz or build nuclear weapons.
The host asked El-Sayed if he believed Iran posed a significant threat to U.S. national security. It was a variation of a question from the first debate, when Saied was asked whether Iran or Israel was the greater threat, which he called a “ridiculous assumption.”
El-Saeed said on Wednesday that there was “no doubt that Iran poses a threat” but that he believed the Obama-era deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program “has contained that threat.” Mr Trump closed that deal during his first term.
Rogers said Iran is “absolutely” a threat and argued that El-Sayed’s previous answers about Iran “are absolutely not going to work if you’re going to send someone… to the U.S. Senate.”
At the same time, Rogers pushed some progressive policy ideas to El-Sayed, including his support for Medicare for All, a single-payer health care plan.
“Do you have money in your pocket? When you’re done, you’ll be lucky to own a pair of damn pants,” said Rogers, who believes El-Sayed’s policies will require significant tax increases.
El-Sayed responded, “Right now, the people taking money out of your pockets are the big corporations that bought his campaign.” Asked by CBS News after a debate about how much the plan would cost, El-Sayed argued that if implemented it would be cheaper than current health care costs and said the platform has bipartisan support.
About tariffsEl-Sayed criticized Trump’s tariffs but said he was open to some import duties. “You don’t do chemotherapy all at once, at the same time,” he said.
Rogers called the president’s tariffs a “mixed bag” and questioned the trade war with Canada, but said “the reshoring of manufacturing is underway.”