Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the Senate GOP’s election chief, blasted Michigan Senate Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, arguing he was emblematic of Democrats’ shift to the left. He believed that would give GOP nominee Mike Rogers the edge in November.
FIRST ON FOX: The Senate GOP’s elections chief said Michigan voters have a clear-cut choice: pick a Trump-backed Republican or support an insurgent progressive who is "for Hamas."
"By going with [Dr. Abdul] El-Sayed, you're talking about socialism, Marxism, communism, and someone who seems to just not like America," Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. "The only thing he's not against, Hamas. He's for Hamas, but he's against America."
Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and Republicans are ramping up their rhetoric against El-Sayed, who eked out a win to secure the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan last week against the more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.
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Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
They're pouncing on unearthed hot takes he's made in the past and his proximity to Twitch streamer Hasan Piker in their quest to paint El-Sayed as a far-left candidate with extremist ties.
Republicans believe that they have a real shot at flipping Michigan’s open seat after Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., opted to retire. Scott and company view former Rep. Mike Rogers, who was the GOP nominee in 2024, as the man to secure the seat.
"I always believe that the wind's at my back, and I always believed that momentum's on our side," Scott said. "And there's no doubt about it when you look at the underlying conditions that you'd much, much, much rather be Mike Rogers than El-Sayed."
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For starters, Rogers has President Donald Trump’s backing in a state that he won by just over 1 point in 2024, a roughly 4-point swing from 2020, when former President Joe Biden nabbed the state.
Rogers also hasn’t had to deal with a messy primary like his previous run against Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who eked out a victory over the former House Intelligence Committee chair by just over 20,000 votes.
"Two years ago, it was a slog for Mike Rogers. He had a very expensive primary in August, and then essentially a 60-day sprint to the finish line," Scott said. "This time he has more cash than ever, a better ground game than ever."
"He is a strong, powerful, positive candidate. He is well known in Michigan. And so what we're going to see as we head towards the finish line is Michiganders will make the right decision for their future, for America's future, and it will be Mike Rogers," he continued. "I will say on the other side, it is not going to the past, it's going to a different, an alternate universe."
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