Senate candidate Rogers clashes with CNN host, accusing press of being 'eager' to protect his rival
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers has accused the press of being 'eager' to protect his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed. He made the accusation during an interview with host Dana Bash on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday.
During the interview, Bash repeatedly pressed Rogers to comment on President Donald Trump calling El-Sayed a 'jihadist'. It was in answering that question that Rogers turned to criticising his opponent.
Rogers denied ever referring to El-Sayed as a terrorist himself. But he argued that there were legitimate concerns and questions over El-Sayed's ideology and his family's alleged past support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Rogers said El-Sayed has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which, in his words, diminishes women's role in society, just as it did when it took over in Egypt in 2012 and 2013. Rogers claimed El-Sayed supported that regime.
As Bash began interrupting, Rogers remarked that the press should be more concerned. He said El-Sayed had called for the purging of the press and the purging of police — 'As a matter of fact, if I were the press, I would start looking at this.'
Later in the segment, the two sparred again over a viral clip of El-Sayed responding to whether he disavows the Muslim Brotherhood, a question raised after past scrutiny of his family's alleged connections to the group.
Bash insisted that El-Sayed responded 'Sure, yes' when asked. Rogers denied that, calling it a larger issue with his opponent's ideology.
'No, that's not true. Dana, listen —' Rogers said. 'I don't want to debate with you,' Bash interjected. 'I don't know why the press is so eager to protect this guy,' Rogers remarked. 'Congressman, I just want to be factual,' Bash said. 'And it is. It's an ideology. My argument is, is that ideology something we should worry about? I think it is,' Rogers said.
El-Sayed's campaign, in a statement, described Rogers' accusations as 'racist and untrue'. The statement read: 'Abdul is a dad and a doctor. He has spent his entire career working to keep Michiganders healthy and safe. Independent fact checkers have repeatedly debunked Mike's lies, but their campaign continues to use bad faith attacks on Abdul's faith and family.' The statement also argued that Rogers wants to distract from Trump's agenda, which it said is terrorising Michigan families at the pump and at the grocery store.
El-Sayed has faced increased scrutiny over his family after unearthed social media posts from his half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, implied that their mother was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed's campaign has denied these claims.
A review of Grabien transcripts found that several legacy news organisations hesitated to report the initial allegations last week. When media did report on the claims, it was often limited to reporting on El-Sayed's denial.
As the Michigan Senate race moves forward, this televised clash has sharpened the fight between the two camps — Rogers attacking over identity and ideology on one side, and the El-Sayed campaign answering with charges of a racist campaign on the other.
