Rogers repeats donor allegation at first Senate debate
Mike RogersRepublican U.S. Senate nominee in Michigan, at the first televised debate
At the October 8 debate, Rogers said El-Sayed had taken money from groups he said support the Muslim Brotherhood, and from individuals on his campaign who he said openly support Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. He named no donor or group in the passage.
Responding to
Abdul El-Sayed is funding his campaign with money from terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.
“He has taken money from groups associated and support the Muslim Brotherhood. He has taken money from individuals on his campaign who openly support Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda.”
Original video
Analysis
Where this statement fits
Mike Rogers’s allegation about Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign received funding from a terrorist organization
At a September 10, 2026 Republican National Convention midterm speech, Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Abdul El-Sayed was funding his campaign with money from “terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.” Rogers did not name a donor, amount, or campaign-finance filing in the speech. The research documents an outside-support chain involving CAIR Action, Unity & Justice Fund, and a Super PAC supporting El-Sayed, while examining whether any record establishes the specific allegation.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
NewsNation, which carried the debate with WOOD TV8, posted this recording of the full Grand Rapids debate between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Analysis
About this source
PolitiFact reports that El-Sayed's mother worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency from 1999 to 2004, that Treasury designated the group in 2004 for supporting terrorism, and that she was not charged with a crime. A correction adds that court documents tie her to wire transfers prosecutors said violated Iraq sanctions, without establishing that the money financed terrorism. It says Rogers cherry-picked donations and associations in his donor claim.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Rogers began by saying El-Sayed repeats himself like a glitchy AI chatbot.
After the quotation
He went on to say the George Soros family had paid for El-Sayed's education and was paying for his campaign. PolitiFact said Rogers was cherry-picking donations and associations.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the case's question of whether El-Sayed's campaign took money from terrorist-linked sources, Rogers asserts the allegation again and uses it against El-Sayed, as in his earlier statements here. The label records his stance, not whether the allegation is true.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Abdul El-Sayed
More from this case
Read the full caseHasan Piker calls the accusations against El-Sayed slanderous
“But if you are a competent media organization, you don't raise the salience of heinous and slanderous accusations. Because when you present them as a serious media organization, you're offering legitimacy to the claim.”Read statement
Rogers calls El-Sayed's denial of Brotherhood ties a lie
“This morning, Abdul El-Sayed was asked about his family’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. And he denied it — an outright lie. The truth is, Abdul and his family have surrounded themselves with some of the most heinous organizations and anti-American actors in history.”Read statement
El-Sayed denies family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood
“No. Let me ask you, though, why this is even a subject of debate. Because his only strategy is to point to me and my name and my faith and to say that we're different.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Rogers repeats donor allegation at first Senate debate". First published: 2026-10-13. Last updated: 2026-10-13. https://disputeindex.com/events/5656-at-the-october-8-debate-rogers-said-el