Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said he never called Abdul El-Sayed a terrorist
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers told NBC interviewer Kristen Welker that he had never called challenger Abdul El-Sayed a terrorist. Asked whether he agreed with President Trump’s overnight post describing El-Sayed as a “Muslim Brotherhood Jihadist,” Rogers said no. Welker said there was no evidence supporting the post’s claims. Rogers criticized El-Sayed’s support groups as “pretty radical.”
More context
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that he had never called his opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, a terrorist. NBC interviewer Kristen Welker asked whether Rogers agreed with President Trump’s overnight post calling El-Sayed “a Muslim Brotherhood Jihadist who hates Jews and Blacks and Americans.” Welker said there was no evidence for those claims. Rogers answered, “No, I don’t,” and repeated that he had never called El-Sayed a terrorist. He described El-Sayed as a “Democrat-Socialist-of-America-aligned candidate” with “pretty radical support groups that don’t like America,” adding that voters should decide the election based on those issues. Welker later said El-Sayed had denounced the Muslim Brotherhood when asked directly and challenged Rogers on Trump’s description of El-Sayed as a “violent terrorist.” Rogers replied, “Kristen, that’s not true.”
Was this story useful?
What was the main problem? (optional)
Reporting
- NBC News — Meet the Press – October 25, 2026
- 2paragraphs.com — Rogers Denies El-Sayed Charge, Saying “I Never Called Him a Terrorist”
Verifier’s note
Both results report Rogers saying he had never called El-Sayed a terrorist, in response to Trump’s remarks, on October 25. The event is current and consistent with the proposed claim.