Rogers, El-Sayed Clash in First Michigan Senate Debate

Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers debated for the first time tonight in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

In November, voters will decide who to send to Washington, D.C., to represent the Wolverine state. The two traded attacks on investments, whose funding their campaigns, and immigration policy. 

El-Sayed called for price controls on gasoline, but also called to “hold oil and gas companies accountable.” 

“Look, I definitely think that’s something we should consider,” El-Sayed said. “Look, we’re in an emergency. When you’re paying $5 gas and $8 diesel, that’s an emergency, and I think we have a responsibility right now to make sure we do everything we can to address it.” 

The two talked about tariff policy, the Iran war, and grocery prices. 

El-Sayed says he supports targeted tariffs. Rogers initially supported tariffs but last week said that some of the tariffs were hurting Michigan. 

Rogers said that he’s running in Michigan because of a failing economy. 

“First of all, I’m running because in the last quarter century, we’ve lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs in Michigan,” Rogers said. “The last eight years, we have the highest utility rates in the Midwest, highest auto insurance rates in the Midwest, highest auto insurance rates in the country. Now, you have to be 40 years old, or the average homeowner is 40 years old. Our education is now 45th in the country.”

Everything Conman Abdul says and does is a LIE. “He’s consistently not telling the truth…he lied about being a physician, he lied now about being an Egyptian citizen or not…that’s a conman.” https://t.co/SOBeh5tbPR

— Senate Leadership Fund (@Senate_Fund) October 8, 2026

Mike Rogers on Abdul El-Sayed: “He’s not really a doctor.“ https://t.co/shVHzHFhYf

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

Rogers said that El-Sayed, who wants Medicare for All, wants to take away private insurance.

Abdul El-Sayed wants to raise your taxes until you can’t afford anything. An estimated $20,000 for every Michigan family. I can’t afford that. My friends can’t afford that. We can’t afford Michigan LAST Abdul El-Sayed. https://t.co/NjDxz65HO3

— Democrats For Mike Rogers (@DemsForMike) October 8, 2026

Rogers backed Immigration and Customs Enforcement but said that ICE should have gotten the “bad guy” quietly and then gotten out. Rogers said that Brandon Ortiz-Vite, an illegal alien in Grand Rapids, killed Grand Rapids woman Ruby Garcia. 

El-Sayed says that he wants to abolish ICE, but then claimed that we have to keep a secure border. 

Are you paying attention, Michigan? Abdul El-Sayed calls for mass amnesty for illegal aliens on the debate stage. https://t.co/j61T7kTXR9

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

Mike Rogers just looked Abdul El-Sayed in the eye and reminded him that his mother worked for a group that funneled money to terrorists. https://t.co/B3N9Klishu

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

Rogers slammed El-Sayed for not condemning terrorists. 

“He can’t condemn Hamas, he can’t condemn the Muslim Brotherhood,” Rogers said. “He says his home is Egypt.

Mike Rogers puts Abdul’s radicalism on full display: “If you can’t condemn the IRGC, you have NO BUSINESS in the United States Senate.” “His supporters funnel money from a group that supports the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a HUGE problem!” https://t.co/Bz99QR22WL

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

El-Sayed attacked Rogers for owning a home in Florida, and Rogers returned fire at El-Sayed, who owns homes in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. 

BOOM: Mike Rogers just eviscerated Abdul El-Sayed for owning homes in Dubai and Pakistan. All Abdul can muster is that Rogers owns a home in Florida. “At least Florida is in the USA!” https://t.co/0LkGXgPpEG

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

El-Sayed claimed that Israel pushed the U.S. to fight the Iran war, which Rogers denied. Both candidates agreed that the war needs to end soon. 

When asked whether Israel or Iran is a bigger threat to the U.S.,  El-Sayed again refused to answer. 

Abdul El-Sayed REFUSES to say that Iran is a bigger threat than Israel… …ON THE DEBATE STAGE. https://t.co/RcNkT3r37h

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2026

The moderator moved to how the candidates plan to solve the $40 trillion national debt. 

Rogers said that lawmakers must sit in a room and cut waste, fraud, and abuse from budgets. He suggested there was $500 billion worth of fraud across the national government. 

El-Sayed claimed that the U.S. could reduce the national $40 trillion debt by taxing billionaires. 

Rogers also attacked El-Sayed for refusing to condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. 

El-Sayed previously snapped at a reporter who asked whether he regrets not condemning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad.”

Abdul El-Sayed gets ANGRY when asked whether he regrets saying he can’t condemn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad.” https://t.co/Lw54RVdotN

— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) October 8, 2026

Abdul El-Sayed has a short temper — and is always quick to dismiss anything he perceives as potentially politically damaging and pivot to the same few tired slogans/lines. Ill-tempered. Lacking in depth. Radical and revolutionary politics, associations, backers. Let’s see if all these issues come to the fore during the debate.

— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) October 8, 2026

At the end of a press gaggle in Grand Rapids, Mich., I asked Abdul El-Sayed why he didn’t put out a statement yesterday recognizing three years since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. He didn’t respond. https://t.co/4jZ9mfimdt

— Mychael Schnell (@mychaelschnell) October 8, 2026

Michigan Republican Party Senior Communications Advisor Greg Manz said that the debate showed El-Sayed’s true nature. 

“Tonight in Grand Rapids, Abdul El-Sayed presented the same clumsy, contradictory conman act that defines his entire campaign,” Manz told Townhall in an email. “This debate showcased Conman Abdul’s anti-American, extremist policies which Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent, decisively exposed. “Conman Abdul cares more about Palestine than Michigan, which should concern every Michigander, given that the same radical Islamists who fund him also fund the Muslim Brotherhood.”  

Rep. Bill G. Schuette, R-Midland, also slammed El-Sayed in a comment sent to Townhall. 

“Like a typical conman, Abdul El-Sayed’s attacks tonight are as fragile as the house of cards of his campaign. He says he wants money out of politics but fundraises with liberal billionaires like the Soros’ in California. His claims of ending endless wars are cheap when he profits off a second home in the Middle East protected by the U.S military. He talks about affordability while bilking taxpayers out of thousands in ‘consulting’ fees while running for U.S. Senate. You can’t trust Abdul’s words, so look to the company he keeps: his top political ally Hasan Piker believes America deserved 9/11 and he was just dining with Socialists like Mamdani in New York.”

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.