Rogers breaks with Trump on el Sayed attacks: ‘I’ve never called him a terrorist’

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers broke with President Donald Trump on Sunday, declining to agree with the president calling Democrat Abdul el Sayed a “vicious, violent jihadist.”Rogers rejected the idea that he has referred to his opponent in such a manner, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker he has “never” called el Sayed a terrorist. Welker then pressed Rogers about Trump’s language regarding el Sayed, asking if it was up to his standard.“No, I don’t — I’ve never called him a terrorist. I’ve never called him a terrorist,” Rogers said. However, Rogers said on Oct. 10 that Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy calling el Sayed a terrorist was “exactly right” and released a statement following the primary elections that claimed el Sayed “pledged his support to the Muslim Brotherhood,” four branches of which the United States has designated terrorist organizations.Trump referred to el Sayed as a “vicious, violent jihadist” on Friday while speaking with reporters. He also called the Democrat a “phony” and a “liar” for portraying himself as a centrist. While rejecting the terrorist claims, Rogers aligned with the idea that el Sayed is further left than he is letting on.“This election is about me vs. Abdul,” Rogers said. “I mean, he’s a Democrat Socialist of America-aligned candidate who has these pretty radical support groups that don’t like America. I think those are issues people ought to decide their election on.”Rogers also rejected the notion that el Sayed has disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group designated a terrorist organization by several Middle Eastern countries.During a town hall last week, el Sayed was asked to disavow the organization, which he did, but made a broader point that he is being asked to do such a thing because he is Muslim.El Sayed has faced questions regarding his family’s connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as his signing on to a letter in 2012 supporting the decisions of a senior Muslim Brotherhood official in Egypt to support protesters fighting against the Egyptian dictator at the time.Welker asked Rogers about his own statements about the Muslim Brotherhood as it related to the 2012 conflict in Egypt. The Meet the Press host read Rogers one of his own statements claiming there are moderate members of the organization, but the Republican claimed his words were being twisted.2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS AND ANALYSIS“I’m happy to talk to you about what that was about, so what happened was we had relationships where Israel and Egypt had relationships in their intelligence services that the Muslim Brotherhood was trying to undo, and what that would have meant is more violence in the region. So, as chairman of the intelligence committee, I said we’re going to have to find a way to try to not sever that relationship, which they did, by the way,” Rogers said.The Michigan Senate race presents Republicans’ best pickup opportunity, considering it is to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). El Sayed and Rogers are technically in a statistical tie, with the Democrat, on average, having a 3-percentage-point edge, according to RealClearPolitics.