Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, says he has never called his opponent Abdul El-Sayed a “terrorist.” The comments come after President Donald Trump publicly characterized El-Sayed with anti-Muslim rhetoric, including calling him a “jihadist” and a “violent terrorist,” prompting questions about whether Rogers endorsed or echoed that language.
Rogers addresses the issue in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker. The coverage focuses on whether the Michigan Republican breaks with Trump on the characterizations of his Democratic rival, and on the candidate’s insistence that he does not use the “terrorist” label.
Across outlets, the central shared point is Rogers’ denial and his engagement with the Trump-related question on national television. The differences are mainly in emphasis—some foreground that Rogers is distancing himself from Trump, while others frame the exchange more narrowly around the denial itself.
