Michigan Senate Debate Puts Prices and Auto Trade at Issue

Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed blamed President Donald Trump’s war in Iran for higher gas and grocery prices, while Republican nominee Mike Rogers questioned tariffs on Canada because the countries’ auto industries are closely tied. At their final debate Wednesday, the candidates put prices, trade and immigration enforcement at the center of the closing stretch of one of the nation’s most closely watched and competitive Senate races.

Prices and Auto Trade

Rogers called Trump’s tariffs a “mixed bag.” He questioned the duties imposed on Canada, pointing to the close ties between the Canadian and U.S. auto industries. The debate account didn’t specify how tariffs had affected auto workers, companies or consumers, but both candidates made the cross-border industry a point of disagreement.

El-Sayed said the president’s war in Iran had contributed to higher gas and grocery prices. Rogers, meanwhile, defended the threat posed by Iran. The candidates gave opposing accounts of the war’s consequences and the security threat, but the debate report offered no figures on price increases or the conflict’s cost.

The hourlong debate opened the campaign’s breakneck final stretch. Former President Barack Obama was scheduled to rally in Detroit on Saturday, and Trump was set to appear Sunday. Those events put the Senate race alongside national campaign activity in Michigan.

A Contest Over Loyalty

The candidates returned again and again to their central attacks. El-Sayed sought to tie Rogers to Trump, while Rogers argued El-Sayed’s progressive policies would be too extreme for Michigan.

“Those playing MAGA bingo at home, you just heard like three of the buzzwords,” El-Sayed said after Rogers criticized his policies. Rogers later replied, “The bingo game ought to be how many times can he put the word Trump in any answer.” Their exchange turned the debate back to Trump, whose tariffs and Iran policy also figured in their discussion of trade and prices.

The sharpest exchange came when Rogers tried to link El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood, an allegation Rogers and Trump had raised in recent weeks. El-Sayed has denied any affiliation with the group. “If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know: Are you for America, or are you for these terrorist groups overseas?” Rogers said.

El-Sayed, who would be the country’s first Muslim senator, called Rogers’ questioning of his commitment to the Constitution “shameful.” “I’m proud to be an American,” El-Sayed said. “I’m proud of our Constitution that guarantees all of us the right to pray as we choose to pray.”

The Campaign’s Closing Stretch

The debate followed an Oct. 8 encounter that devolved into personal insults and attacks, with the candidates continuing to argue during a commercial break. Wednesday’s exchanges were slightly less contentious and more focused on policy, though both candidates kept returning to their central attacks.

Rogers also praised Trump’s immigration enforcement. The debate account gave no details about the measures or their effects on workers, immigrants or employers. It reported the candidates’ competing positions, but didn’t describe specific policy proposals from either campaign beyond their positions on tariffs, immigration enforcement and Iran.

The closing debate left voters with sharply different claims about economic costs, national security and political loyalty. The campaign’s next public events were Obama’s and Trump’s scheduled Detroit rallies, on Saturday and Sunday, followed by the Senate election contest’s final stretch.