Curtis Hertel
Role at the time: Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party
Statement summary
In a statement issued after Rogers's September 10 convention speech, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Rogers was "trafficking in dishonest, Islamophobic attacks" to distract from how, in Hertel's words, Rogers's and Trump's agenda is "spiking costs and hurting Michiganders." The Michigan Advance reported the statement.
“trafficking in dishonest, Islamophobic attacks because he wants to distract from how his and Trump’s agenda is spiking costs and hurting Michiganders.”
Michigan Advance report by Ben Solis on Rogers's September 10 convention address and the responses to it. The address included the campaign-finance allegation. Neither Roxie Richner's nor Curtis Hertel's quoted words mention the funding sentence, so neither response is recorded as a denial of it.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is Rogers's use of a 9/11 accusation against El-Sayed, and the Islamophobia charge El-Sayed raised in response. Hertel, reacting to Rogers's September 10 convention speech, called Rogers's attacks on El-Sayed dishonest and Islamophobic. The Michigan Advance framed the remark as a response to Rogers's rhetoric about El-Sayed's heritage, and Hertel's quoted words do not single out the 9/11 accusation. The statement expressly criticizes the conduct under scrutiny, so we labeled it Condemned.