DI has documented statements by Mike Rogers on 2026 Midterm Elections, Antisemitism, and Campaign Finance, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Republican candidate for the United States Senate in Michigan
Defended or excused
Response to this claim
Abdul El-Sayed believes the United States deserved the September 11 attacks.
“He can’t walk away from this, and he said multiple times that he won’t disavow what [Hasan Piker] said.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Mike Rogers renews criticism of Abdul El-Sayed over Hasan Piker · Mike RogersOpening and sections “On Conman Abdul El-Sayed’s Running Mate Hasan Piker” and “On Conman Abdul El-Sayed Begging for Chuck Schumer’s Money.”
Why we used this label
Rogers uses El-Sayed’s association with Piker and an asserted refusal to disavow him as a rationale for continuing the earlier attribution. The record classifies that defense of the accusation without treating the underlying attribution as established.
Role at the time: Michigan Republican Senate nominee
Condemned
Statement summary
Mike Rogers's campaign published a press release naming specific CAIR-connected donors and a dollar figure to support his earlier terrorist-financing allegation against Abdul El-Sayed.
“Abdul has repeatedly accepted money from terrorist organizations... Nearly $130,000 from donors with identified connections to CAIR... including national board chair Manal Fakhoury, national board treasurer Eyas Abdeen, national board vice chair Emad Sabbah, and Michigan board member Muzammil Ahmed.”
Rogers escalates his original allegation with specific donor names and a dollar figure, an express, more detailed condemnation continuing his original position.
The case records the competing argument as whether declining to disavow an ally warrants an adverse inference about a candidate's judgment or beliefs. The campaign uses Piker's own words to argue that El-Sayed's September 11 anniversary video was insincere, sustaining the accusation by casting his public rejection of the attacks as performance. That supports the adverse inference rather than questioning it. The closest competing label is condemns, previously carried here; it loses for the same reason as Rogers's other records. Relabelled from condemns in a September 17 audit: condemns was being carried both by the speakers making this accusation and by those attacking it, so the label was doing opposite work on one conduct under scrutiny. Speakers who assert or support the accusation are now classified “Defended or excused”, matching Alyssa Brouillet (433) and John Fetterman (974); speakers who criticise it, including El-Sayed (434, 509, 512), Cole Wozniak (459) and Jon Favreau (437), keep condemns.
Role at the time: Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan
Defended or excused
Response to this claim
Abdul El-Sayed believes the United States deserved the September 11 attacks.
“It’s disqualifying that Conman Abdul is using Washington speak about the help Congress provided victims and their families to distract from how he’s platforming someone who believes “America deserved 9/11.””
The reference point is Rogers's accusation that El-Sayed believes America deserved the 9/11 attacks. Here Rogers keeps the accusation's basis, El-Sayed's association with Piker, and repeats it as a reason El-Sayed is unfit. That backs the accusation, so we used Defended or excused. Challenged the characterization fits only his rebuttal about his own 9/11 votes, which is a separate dispute. The quote is from his own X post.
Role at the time: Republican U.S. Senate nominee speaking at the party's September 10 convention
Condemned
Response to this claim
El-Sayed's cycle-of-violence framing rationalized the antisemitic attack or improperly shifted explanatory responsibility toward Israel and Jews.
“And Abdul's instinct was to excuse it.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Mike Rogers's full September 10 convention speech · Mike RogersFull campaign-published transcript; passage beginning That's why I never imagined; later Temple Israel passage beginning We saw that tested
Why we used this label
The selected passage directly condemns El-Sayed's explanation of the synagogue attack. It records Rogers's interpretation, not a finding that El-Sayed approved the attack.
Role at the time: Republican U.S. Senate nominee speaking at the party's September 10 convention
Defended or excused
Statement summary
In his September 10 convention speech, Rogers criticized El-Sayed for campaigning with Piker and portrayed their association as sympathy for extremism.
“Together, they attack America, excuse extremism, and treat our country like the villain.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Mike Rogers's full September 10 convention speech · Mike RogersFull campaign-published transcript; passage beginning That's why I never imagined; later Temple Israel passage beginning We saw that tested
Why we used this label
The case records the competing argument as whether declining to disavow an ally warrants an adverse inference about a candidate's judgment or beliefs. Rogers advances the accusation at his party's convention, grounding it in the association rather than in any statement by El-Sayed: he attributes the 9/11 sentiment to Piker and holds El-Sayed answerable through their campaigning together. That is support for the adverse inference the case turns on. The closest competing label is condemns, previously carried here; it loses for the same reason it does on his other records. The shift from his earlier direct assertion about El-Sayed's belief to attribution via Piker is preserved and no retraction is inferred. Relabelled from condemns in a September 17 audit: condemns was being carried both by the speakers making this accusation and by those attacking it, so the label was doing opposite work on one conduct under scrutiny. Speakers who assert or support the accusation are now classified “Defended or excused”, matching Alyssa Brouillet (433) and John Fetterman (974); speakers who criticise it, including El-Sayed (434, 509, 512), Cole Wozniak (459) and Jon Favreau (437), keep condemns.
Role at the time: Michigan Republican Senate nominee
Condemned
Statement summary
At the September 2026 GOP midterm convention, Mike Rogers escalated his criticism of El-Sayed's Temple Israel "cycle of violence" framing to a national stage, calling him a "conman" who sympathizes with terrorism.
“Michigan needs a senator fighting for the victims. You don't sympathize with terrorists. You don't sanitize extremism... He's a conman. I'm a lawman. He wants to apologize for America. I want to defend America.”
Rogers directly and sharply condemns El-Sayed's Temple Israel framing as sympathizing with and sanitizing terrorism, escalating his existing position to a national convention stage with new, sharper language.
Role at the time: Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaking at the RNC midterm convention
Condemned
Response to this claim
Abdul El-Sayed is funding his campaign with money from terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Abdul is funding his campaign with money from terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Mike Rogers's full September 10 convention speech · Mike RogersFull campaign-published transcript; passage beginning That's why I never imagined; later Temple Israel passage beginning We saw that tested
Why we used this label
Rogers uses the allegation to condemn El-Sayed’s campaign. The classification describes Rogers’s stated stance and does not assess whether the funding allegation is true.
The White House says waiving the Graham Act's Russia measures preserves room for peace negotiations. Lawmakers from both parties and Volodymyr Zelenskyy say relief weakens pressure on Russia. Thomas Massie welcomes Trump's use of the authority Congress granted.
Trump said Russia would supply millions of tons of diesel after a call with Putin, and Treasury authorized Russian diesel imports until April 2027. Zelenskyy and lawmakers in both parties objected.
Abdul El-Sayed supports federal privacy guardrails for Flock cameras. Mike Rogers says states can act and opposes tracking people who have committed no crimes. The dispute concerns who should set the rules.
Abdul El-Sayed declined to rank Israel and Iran as threats during Michigan's Senate debate, describing different dangers from each. Pete Buttigieg answered that Iran is an enemy and Israel an ally, while saying he would still vote for El-Sayed.
Rogers says prices are too high and the tariff fight with Canada should end. El-Sayed says Rogers backed the tariffs from the beginning. Trump reads the ad as a call for Canada to make a deal.
Abdul El-Sayed says families could retain private insurance under his Medicare for All proposal. Mike Rogers describes it as a government takeover. The campaign allows additional private coverage but expects universal public insurance to make it unnecessary.
Hasan Piker told Axios the US has caused more terrorism than al-Qaeda "pound for pound." The full episode added more contested claims -- on Iran's nuclear programme, Mao Zedong, China and Zionism -- and drew condemnation from both parties.
Mike Rogers accused Abdul El-Sayed of funding his Senate campaign with terrorist-group money. The case examines the allegation, FEC records documenting outside-support transfers, related public responses, and whether any record establishes a direct payment from a designated organization.
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Read twelve distinct appeals by Mike Rogers and his campaign for Abdul El-Sayed to disavow Hasan Piker, documented as of September 21, 2026. The timeline counts dated requests and excludes repeated coverage.
Mike Rogers attributed a belief about 9/11 to Abdul El-Sayed based on his association with Hasan Piker. El-Sayed rejected that belief and challenged the premise that campaigning together establishes agreement.
After the Temple Israel attack, Abdul El-Sayed condemned antisemitism but linked the assailant’s actions to an Israeli airstrike that killed relatives, describing violence as a cycle. Critics said it rationalized the attack or shifted responsibility; El-Sayed denied justification and later apologized for adding context.
