The second Michigan Senate debate on Wednesday featured several heated clashes between Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, though it was far more tame than an explosive first meeting earlier this month.
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it → feature → meeting
The debate, which took place in Detroit, came less than two weeks before Election Day in the bitterly contested battle for an open Senate seat.
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which → take → seat
Polls show a neck and neck contest to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat.
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Polls → show → Peters
El-Sayed sought to tie Rogers to President Donald Trump at every turn while also painting his opponent as a corporate sellout.
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Sayed → seek → sellout
During a question about addressing cost-of-living concerns, El-Sayed said rising gas and grocery prices are all products of the war with Iran
“We need a War Powers resolution rather than a senator who is going to stand hip to hip with Donald Trump on this war that made no sense when it started and certainly makes no sense now,” El-Sayed said.
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Sayed → address → sense
“I’m looking forward to standing with my colleagues in the United States Senate to hold Donald Trump accountable for this war.
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Trump → look → war
The other thing that we’re going to need to do is take on the corporations who bought and sold politicians for a very long time.”
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who → go → time
Rogers has sought to create space between himself and Trump on the war in recent weeks.
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Rogers → seek → weeks
The Republican cut an ad calling for the war to wind down, though he has also said there was good reason for Trump to go to war initially to target Iran’s nuclear program.
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Trump → cut → program
In an interview with NBC News last week, Rogers said “I don’t think so,” when asked if Trump made a mistake launching the war.
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Trump → say → war
Separately, Rogers aimed to tie El-Sayed to Islamic fundamentalist groups overseas while questioning his resume and trustworthiness.
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Rogers → aim → resume
“Everything that he said is not accurate, not correct,” Rogers said in response to criticisms from El-Sayed, adding that the Democrat had misled voters about his connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and his own medical background.
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Democrat → say → Brotherhood
“This is a pattern that we need to understand for this to trust this candidate.”
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this → need → candidate
Rogers has sought to elevate the Muslim Brotherhood in the final weeks of the race, claiming on several occasions that El-Sayed and his family had connections to the Islamist organization.
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Sayed → seek → organization
On Wednesday, he said El-Sayed asked the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt “to defund the police there, too.
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Sayed → say → police
I mean, it’s unbelievable.
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it → mean → ?
“He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I’ve never been a part of, because of my mom, who’s a nurse in Missouri,” El-Sayed responded.
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Sayed → raise → Missouri
In their last debate, Rogers questioned El-Sayed’s mother, Fatten Elkomy, over her work at a charity that the U.S. government later as a supporter of terrorist groups, leading to its closure.
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Rogers → question → closure
Elkomy was never accused of wrongdoing.
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Elkomy → accuse → wrongdoing
El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, telling NBC News last week, “I have no ties, we have no ties,” when he was asked about the accusations.
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he → deny → accusations
“It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s actually really quite beneath you, Mike.
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it → make → you
It’s really quite beneath you,” El-Sayed said Wednesday.
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Sayed → ’ → you
The exchange culminated in the most heated moment of the debate as Rogers tried to interrupt El-Sayed.
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Rogers → culminate → Sayed
“I’m talking,” El-Sayed said while pointing his finger at Rogers.
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Sayed → talk → Rogers
“I am talking.
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I → talk → ?
I’m talking.
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I → talk → ?
“To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really beneath you.
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bring → bring → you
I’m proud to be an American,” El-Sayed continued.
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Sayed → ’m → ?
“I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray, and the question that you would ask that, I think, is actually really quite shameful.”
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I → ’m → that
Rogers responded that El-Sayed “could pray any way you want, and I know you want to make this about you being a victim,” adding, “This is about an ideology.”
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This → respond → ideology
The debate highlighted a contrast in style between the two candidates that has been playing out for months on the campaign trail, though El-Sayed was far less aggressive than he was during the first contest.
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he → highlight → contest
El-Sayed looked directly into the camera nearly the entire time he was speaking.
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he → look → camera
Rogers, meanwhile, offered few looks directly into the lens, opting instead to make eye-contact with the moderators.
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Rogers → offer → moderators
The moderators kept tight control over the candidates’ time to answer questions and appeared to get through every subject they wanted to address, with the debate concluding a couple of minutes before the full hour had passed.
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hour → keep → minutes
They addressed healthcare, immigration, crime, Social Security and tariffs, among other issues.
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They → address → issues
On tariffs, Rogers seemed to put additional distance between himself and Trump after earlier this month calling for an end to the trade war with Canada.
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Rogers → seem → Canada
He said Wednesday that although some tariffs had brought “positive” developments for his state, he said “maybe these Canadian tariffs were not well thought through.”
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tariffs → say → state
He framed himself as being someone who could stop Trump from enacting policies that would be harmful to Michigan.
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that → frame → Michigan
“You might want to send the guy back who can actually get the meeting to get these things worked out,” he said.
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he → want → guy
“If it’s good for Michigan, I’m going to be for it.
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I → ’ → it
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
