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A top newspaper in battleground Michigan is skewering left-wing Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over past radical rhetoric as it endorses Republican rival former Rep. Mike Rogers in a crucial midterm showdown.
The race between El-Sayed and Rogers to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is a must-win battle for the Democrats as they try to recapture the Senate majority from the GOP.
The Detroit News, which has the second largest newspaper circulation in Michigan, charged in its endorsement of Rogers that El-Sayed “has worked so hard covering his tracks leading up to this Senate race that it’s impossible to know who he really is or where he would stand in the Senate.”
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The Detroit News, Michigan’s second biggest newspaper by circulation, endorsed Republican Senate nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers, left, in his race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed (Sarah Rice/Getty Images ; JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images))
“He has deleted social media posts that reportedly called into question his attitude about America in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He’s taken down roughly 100 YouTube videos that paint an unflattering picture of him and his cultural views,” the conservative-leaning newspaper argued. “A candidate who feels the need to hide his past from voters is not someone who can be trusted to be the same person after Election Day as he was on the campaign trail.”
As he runs for the Senate, El-Sayed has removed or archived thousands of past social media posts and older podcast/YouTube videos.
Some of those past comments include floating the idea of abandoning fireworks on July 4th, suggesting replacing the nation’s Second Amendment with the “right to have health care,” and one-time support for the “defund the police” movement.
El-Sayed, who was captain of his high school football team, also criticized football’s ties to toxic masculinity and a “bro culture.”
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Michigan Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at a campaign event on Sept. 3, 2026 in Waterford, Michigan. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
The Rogers campaign and other Republicans have blasted El-Sayed for many of his past controversial comments.
The El-Sayed campaign said this summer that some of the past comments were removed “to prevent any old posts from being taken out of context.”
And last week, around the 9/11 25th anniversary, the El-Sayed campaign emphasized that “Abdul has always unequivocally condemned terrorism and the September 11 attacks.”
Digital reached out to the El-Sayed campaign for additional comment on the Detroit News’ criticisms, but didn’t receive a response at the time this story was published.
The newspaper praised Rogers, calling him “the prototype of a United States Senator.”
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Republican Senate nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan stands for a Digital interview, on August 2, 2026 in Farmington Hills, Michigan (Paul Steinhauser/)
“He spent 14 years in the House of Representatives, rising to chair of the vital Intelligence Committee. The 63-year-old Republican left Congress at the end of 2014, having been elected to his House seat seven times by his mid-Michigan constituents. Rogers then embarked on a successful career in private industry, becoming an expert in cybersecurity,” the newspaper noted as it referred to his career.
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An average of the latest polls in the El-Sayed-Rogers showdown indicate a margin-of-error race.
The most recent poll in Michigan, conducted a month ago, showed Rogers holding a slight four-point edge.
