Trump dominates El-Sayed's attacks against Rogers, but GOP rival offers unexpected policy split

Michigan's U. S. Senate race has become a test of how far left the Democratic Party can go in a battleground state, and Wednesday's debate between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers showed both candidates leaning on President Donald Trump, though in different ways. It was their second meeting, with the midterm election only weeks away, and the open seat could help decide which party controls the Senate, according to Fox News.

El-Sayed brought up Trump 18 times over the hour and tried to portray Rogers as the president's puppet, dismissing his answers as "MAGA bingo." Rogers answered that the real game was counting how often El-Sayed named Trump. He also described El-Sayed as someone with a pattern of deception who misstates his record and changes positions, and he accused him of favoring socialism, open borders and cutting police funding.

Rogers did part ways with the president on some trade matters. He judged the tariffs a mixed bag, suggested the ones aimed at Canada may not have been carefully considered, and said Congress should bar Chinese companies from making cars in America. El-Sayed noted that Trump has signaled openness to that, and asked whether Rogers would resist him.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →