'Not answering my question': Mike Rogers interview goes off the rails over MAGA query

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers is running with President Donald Trump’s backing. On Sunday, he wouldn’t say whether he considers himself a MAGA Republican.

Near the end of a combative interview on “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker put the question to him directly.

“Let me ask you big picture, do you consider yourself to be a MAGA Republican?” Welker asked.

Rogers, a former GOP congressman and ex-chair of the House Intelligence Committee, turned his fire on the media instead.

“Listen, I will tell you something. I get you guys on the national press, but this is a little bit disgusting to me,” Rogers said. “You know what you don’t cover?”

He then pivoted to Democrats who have said they won’t support his opponent, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

“Congressman, I am asking about you,” Welker said.

“This is important. This is important,” Rogers replied.

“It’s not answering my questions,” Welker said.

Rogers kept going, arguing that Jewish Democrats and Black voters in Detroit, Flint, and Pontiac “can’t vote for” El-Sayed and calling him “a fringe candidate.”

Welker tried again.

“No, are you a MAGA Republican?” she asked.

“I answered the question,” Rogers said.

“That’s what I want to know. Do you consider yourself a MAGA Republican?” Welker said.

Rogers didn’t say yes or no. Instead, he said his campaign has support in Detroit, Flint, and Pontiac “because we are there talking about issues,” and called El-Sayed “too extreme for them.”

He closed by inviting the national press to “come to Michigan, talk to some of these people.”

The dodge came during a tense exchange in which Welker also confronted Rogers with his own 2012 comments about working with “moderate” members of the Muslim Brotherhood, after he had attacked El-Sayed over the group. Rogers also denied ever calling his opponent a terrorist.

The president has endorsed Rogers in the race. He attacked El-Sayed on Truth Social this weekend and urged Michiganders to “VOTE FOR MIKE ROGERS!”