A Michigan Senate debate became a solo act Tuesday night after the Republican candidate refused to show and the Democrat used the vacant stage as an attack line.
Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) appeared at Fox 2’s Detroit debate without former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), then framed Rogers’ absence as a choice between a short GOP speech in Texas and an hour in front of Michigan voters.
“The elephant was not in the room. The elephant decided that they did not want to be in the room. The elephant cowarded out. Although, the elephants were all in the room in Dallas,” El-Sayed said after the debate on Fox 2.
Rogers’ recent stop at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas gave El-Sayed the comparison he kept driving at after the debate.
“It’s wild to me that this guy is more interested in going to speak for what? Six minutes and 48 seconds in Dallas than he is to have 60 minutes with Michiganders here in Detroit,” El-Sayed said. “But it tells you who he is, he’s a coward.”
Reporter: The elephant in the room tonight, or lack thereof—
El-Sayed: No, the elephant was not in the room. The elephant decided that they did not want to be in the room. The elephant cowarded out. Although the elephants were all in the room in Dallas.
It’s wild to me that… pic.twitter.com/cd9OYD5smM
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 16, 2026
Rogers’ campaign said the Fox 2 event had a problem before either candidate could reach the stage.
Alyssa Brouillet, the campaign’s communications director, said Michiganders should see their candidates in “a healthy, fair debate — not one compromised by media bias.”
Fox 2 journalist Roop Raj, who moderated the debate, became the focus of Rogers’ objection, with Brouillet accusing him of favoritism toward El-Sayed.
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“Roop Raj has made his position clear, from praising Abdul as ‘brilliant’ to being celebrated by Hasan Piker as ‘my GOAT [greatest of all time]’ and bragging about his political stunts,” Brouillet said. “Mike looks forward to making his case to working families and to making Abdul answer to voters for the conman he is.”
Raj used Fox 2’s “Good Day Detroit” to deny that the station was helping one side.
“Nothing we do at this station is trying to take a side,” Raj retorted.
He said Fox 2’s political talk show, “The Pulse,” puts pressure on Republicans and Democrats alike, while Rogers’ side had settled on its own account of why the debate did not happen.
“We ask tough questions about Republicans and Democrats each and every night on our political talk show, ‘The Pulse.’ But as you can imagine, the narrative is the narrative. And for whatever reason, the Rogers camp did not want to do a debate with Fox 2,” Raj said.
Before the debate, El-Sayed had already folded Rogers’ Florida home into his mockery of the no-show.
A Tuesday social media video from El-Sayed said Florida has some “fine chickens” that “don’t want to debate.”
Speaking of chickens…
Today is the day that I will debate…an empty podium. Because Mike Rogers is…well… pic.twitter.com/nhFHknlpuL
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) September 15, 2026
“Speaking of chickens… Today is the day that I will debate…an empty podium. Because Mike Rogers is…well…” El-Sayed posted.
Rogers had used his Dallas convention remarks to draw a different frame around the race, presenting El-Sayed as aligned with people and ideas Rogers said Michigan should reject.
“And when somebody tries to blow up children, we don’t want a politician explaining away the terrorist motivations. Michigan needs a senator fighting for the victims,” Rogers said during the speech.
Michigan Republican Senate candidate @MikeRogersForMI SLAMS radical Democrat Abdul El-Sayed: "You don't sanitize extremism, and you sure don't ask the people of Michigan to send you to the United States Senate while surrounding yourself with people who despise America." pic.twitter.com/IwFXoSf0rb
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 10, 2026
Rogers also tied El-Sayed to people he said “despise America.”
“You don’t sympathize with terrorists. You don’t sanitize extremism, and you sure don’t ask the people of Michigan to send you to the United States Senate while surrounding yourself with people who despise America,” Rogers said.
The Republican then put the contrast in personal terms. “Abdul El Sayed may be comfortable with that crowd. I certainly am not. He’s a con man. I’m a law man. He wants to apologize for America. I want to defend America. He wants to represent Palestine. I want to represent Michigan,” Rogers added.
Hasan Piker has become part of that line of attack. The Free Beacon reported that Piker, a left-wing streamer whom El-Sayed has embraced, once said, “America deserved 9/11.”
El-Sayed said Piker’s remark had to be viewed in “context,” rather than condemned, according to the Free Beacon.
When Rogers criticized El-Sayed for campaigning with Piker, El-Sayed said Rogers was trying to distract voters from their own problems.
“It’s sad. He doesn’t really want to talk about any of the issues people are really facing… If he thinks that the issue is a streamer in California, then he’s got another thing coming,” El-Sayed said.
Rogers’ Florida connection also became the target of an online game from El-Sayed’s campaign.
“Come Home, Mike” puts Rogers’ face on a cartoon body aboard a boat and asks players to move him from Florida toward Michigan.
“Help Mike Rogers find his way from Florida back to Michigan,” the start screen reads. “(He hasn’t managed it yet).”
The game’s directions tell players to “drag Mike’s yacht” and “answer three questions to unlock the doors home.”
The opening scene places the boat on a pixelated Cape Coral, Florida, beach before sending it through a water maze toward a Michigan football field.
Players run into prompts along the route, but the “yes” answer cannot be selected.
One prompt asks whether Rogers would support lowering prescription drug prices if he reaches the Senate.
“Mike, Michiganders are really struggling with the cost of prescription drugs,” the game reads. “Will you agree to vote to lower prescription drug prices when you get to the Senate?”
At the last barrier, the path to “Michigan” closes and the game directs Rogers to the midterm convention in Dallas.
The football destination nodded to another argument in the race, with Rogers accusing El-Sayed of opposing football and El-Sayed challenging him to a tackle football game.
El-Sayed wrote on X that he would be “happy” to show Rogers how much he loves football.
Outside Michigan Stadium on Saturday, Rogers brushed off the challenge and pointed again to affordability.
“I think that is so unserious,” Rogers remarked. “You think about what the problems are here. People are facing this affordability [crisis]. He wants to thump his chest and show how macho he is.”
