Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdulrahman El-Sayed traded sharp accusations over the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack during a U.S. Senate debate Thursday night in Grand Rapids.
Rogers, a former Michigan congressman, confronted El-Sayed over his campaign’s decision not to issue a statement marking Wednesday’s anniversary of the 2023 attack in Israel.
“Let me tell you this one thing. Yesterday was October 7th. This is why you should get absolutely angry: [El-Sayed] could not bring himself to even acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders, cutting off of women’s breasts, putting children in ovens and killing them in front of their families — could not even muster—” Rogers said.
El-Sayed interrupted before Rogers could finish the thought, saying, “I’ve condemned that. I didn’t turn it into political theater like you just did.”
Rogers tried again to continue his statement, but El-Sayed cut him off a second time.
“I didn’t turn it into political theater for political gain,” El-Sayed said. “So, I’m so sorry, but like, I just, I’m not somebody who tries to make political theater out of other people’s pain.”
Rogers fired back by calling El-Sayed’s entire candidacy an exercise in political theater, adding a pointed jab about El-Sayed’s medical background: “Including putting on a white jacket and calling yourself a doctor.” El-Sayed holds a medical degree, though reports have raised questions about whether he has practiced as a licensed physician.
Following the debate, a reporter with MSNOW asked El-Sayed directly why his campaign had not released a statement on the Oct. 7 anniversary. El-Sayed did not answer the question.
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