A reporter who spent last week in Michigan wondered why Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers was so hard to find on the campaign trail, saying that he had to go looking for him at a parade that he hadn’t even announced he would attend.
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere told “CNN This Morning” anchor Audie Cornish that he could find only one public campaign event for the former congressman during his recent trip.
“Mike Rogers has been very hard to find on the trail,” Dovere said. “In fact, I had to track him down in Grand Rapids on Saturday morning, where he was marching in a parade, and that was the only campaign event that I could find.”
Cornish joked that a candidate in a parade isn’t exactly hiding, but Dovere said the campaign hadn’t told anyone Rogers would be there. He found out on his own, then walked about a mile of the parade route with him over roughly an hour before getting an interview – which he said was also a rare occurance for Rogers.
In that interview, Rogers repeated the argument from his new TV ad, which has him breaking with President Donald Trump on tariffs. “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy,” Rogers says in the ad. “We need to end this tariff war now.” He has said his relationship with Trump would let him work with the president even when they disagree.
But Dovere said Rogers dodged two direct questions on whether he would vote to end the Iran war and whether he would vote to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominees.
“He didn’t answer those questions,” Dovere said. “When I asked him, he said some other words that were not answers.”
Dovere’s reporting also found problems on the Democratic side. Some Democratic supporters, including Black and Jewish community leaders, told him they were uneasy about Abdul El-Sayed or opposed him outright, but Dovere said those same voters wanted someone who would stand up to Trump – which undercuts Rogers’ message.
“Rogers saying [he’s] going to work with Trump is not what other people in Michigan are responding to,” he said.
El-Sayed has been daring the president to come campaign for Rogers himself.
“Your candidate can’t speak for himself. He doesn’t have anything to say,” El-Sayed said in a message to Trump. “I think you are too afraid to come to Michigan. Because, you know, when I beat your candidate and you came, I’m actually beating you. So, Donald, welcome to Michigan. I dare you to come.”
The most recent Fox News poll of likely Michigan voters shows the race within the margin of error. Cornish noted that in any other year, Trump would be in Michigan instead of making three trips to Texas.
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