A Trump-endorsed MAGA candidate for Senate is facing a brutal reality check in a battleground state where Republican voters are going rogue.
Mike Rogers, 63, who is up against rising Democratic star Abdul El-Sayed, 41, in Michigan, was the target of voters’ ire during a focus group segment on the political news show State of Play with Peter Alexander.
MS NOW analyst Elise Jordan brought together 10 self-described Michigan conservatives who admitted to suffering severe “buyer’s remorse” after voting for Donald Trump in 2024.
After giving the disgruntled voters room to air their grievances against the second Trump administration, Jordan put the high-stakes Senate race directly to a show of hands.
“Show of hands,” Jordan asked in the clip. “Who has decided who they’re going to vote for in the Senate race?”
Out of the 10 participants, six raised their hands. “OK. How many of you are going to vote for Mike Rogers?” Jordan pressed.
One solitary person in the room raised her hand.
“So how many of you are going to vote for Abdul El-Sayed?” Jordan asked.
Five former Trump voters raised their hands without a second thought, leaving analyst Jordan stunned back in the studio.
“I was surprised that there wasn’t more support or more leaning [toward] Rogers in that group,” Jordan confessed to host Peter Alexander after the segment aired.
The brutal focus group reaction highlights a widening polling deficit for the Republican campaign. Mitchell Research & Communications found Democratic nominee El-Sayed leading Rogers by 45.6 percent to 41.4 percent, a 4.2-point advantage within a 3.8-point margin of error.
Meanwhile, FiftyPlusOne puts the matchup at 47.9 percent for El-Sayed and 44.3 percent for Rogers, while the 270toWin polling average shows a 4-point gap, 48.4 percent to 44.4 percent.
The battle to replace retiring Democrat Gary Peters has become a central battleground for control of the upper chamber on Nov. 3. Republicans have failed to win a Senate election in Michigan since Spencer Abraham captured the seat in 1994, making Rogers’ Trump-backed bid a critical test for the national party.
As his numbers falter, the Republican candidate has resorted to personal attacks against his opponent. Rogers has repeatedly tried to link El-Sayed, who is Muslim, to extremist violence and national tragedies.
“Abdul doesn’t represent a vision for the future. He’s leading a movement grounded in ideological fanaticism,” Rogers claimed after El-Sayed secured the Democratic nomination in August.
Rogers, a former FBI special agent, doubled down on the incendiary line, claiming, “I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11.”
The inflammatory accusation was debunked by The New York Times, which noted that the 41-year-old physician has consistently condemned the terrorist attacks. In a 2021 column for The Incision newsletter, El-Sayed reflected on the tragedy.
“I watched terrorists with names like mine attack my country in the name of my faith,” El-Sayed wrote. “Three thousand of my fellow Americans were killed in the craven terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. The attack devastated me.”
