Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed tore into his Republican opponent Mike Rogers Monday night during an appearance on Fox News with an attack so biting that even conservative host Jesse Watters was forced to admit he found it “funny.”
“I have a lot to talk about when it comes to my work taking care of communities,” El-Sayed said, speaking of his run for Senate against his opponent backed by President Donald Trump.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to have those conversations, and I feel really good about being able to bring communities together and beat Mike Rogers, who you and I both agree is a beta and won’t come on your show and won’t debate me, in November.”
Watters, laughing, responded: “Didn’t agree to that, but that’s funny.”
As noted by Zeteo’s Martin Pengelly in an analysis published Tuesday, El-Sayed “made Watters laugh, repeatedly, by calling Rogers a ‘beta’ for avoiding campaign confrontation and not appearing on Watters’ show.”
Pengelly attributed the joke landing with the conservative host to El-Sayed employing a “frat-boy-ish edge” to his commentary, an observation shared by a CNN panel Tuesday morning, which noted the “unusual chemistry” between the conservative and progressive.
El-Sayed has repeatedly called out Rogers for refusing to confront him in a debate, including debates that would have been held on Michigan television stations Fox 2 and WDIV.
“Mike, I’m happy to wipe the floor with you on October 8th, but in case you think we forgot, I challenged you to five debates,” El-Sayed said in a recent statement. “I’ve accepted every single debate invite. On September 15th, I’m showing up to Fox 2’s debate and they’re prepared to run with an empty podium whether you have the courage to show up or not.”
