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'Craziest lie I have ever heard': Dem responds after MAGA candidate claims his endorsement

David McAfee
October 22, 2026 8:38AM ET
Republican Mike Rogers of Michigan, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the November 3 midterm elections, speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, U.S., September 10, 2026. REUTERS/Jessica Koscielniak

The chair of the Michigan Democratic Party says Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers used a debate to suggest something that isn’t true: that Rogers has his support.

Rogers, a former congressman who led the House Intelligence Committee, faced Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in a debate in Detroit. In his closing statement, he appealed to Democrats who backed Rep. Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed beat in the Democratic primary.

“If you are worried — you went through, you’re a Haley Stevens voter and you came out of this and you said, ‘Man, I just can’t do it, he’s too extreme’ — like the chairman of the Democrat Party, like so many Democrats who are coming out for us. Well, guess what? You have a home with us,” Rogers said.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel fired back on X soon after.

“Mike Rogers lied a lot tonight, but to imply I endorsed him is the craziest lie I have ever heard,” Hertel wrote. “I support Abdul, and any sane person knows that already.”

His post drew more than 95,000 views within hours.

In the same closing statement, Rogers said, “we cannot afford Abdul El-Sayed’s policies and we cannot risk his ideology.” He argued that the race “really isn’t about left versus right anymore” and claimed that El-Sayed’s “rhetoric, his vitriol, is having consequences.”

“Democrats are openly supporting Rogers for Senate,” he said.

The open seat is one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country. Rogers narrowly lost Michigan’s 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

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