Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said during Michigan’s U.S. Senate debate Tuesday that his opponent, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), “clearly went through” deception training during her time at the CIA.
Rogers’ comment came during a rebuttal over the Iraq War, which derived from a question regarding the potential for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.
After Slotkin accused Rogers of being a proponent of the Iraq War during his time as a Congressman, which Rogers said was false, he pointed out Slotkin’s time in the CIA during the Iraq War.
“Why this is a little offensive to me, is I had my family in the military during the Iraq buildup, and so I was more cautious than most about us… using military force within the region,” Rogers said.
“And by the way, that information that was given to Congress was based on the CIA at a time that my opponent was in the CIA doing analytical work,” he added.
He then implicitly accused Slotkin of using CIA deception tactics on Michiganders.
“Listen, I get it, the CIA has deception training, my opponent clearly went through that, but you’re supposed to use that against your adversaries, not Michigan voters,” he said.
Regarding the potential for a ceasefire in the Middle East, Rogers contended that he feels a “ceasefire could happen today if we can get the hostages out” of Gaza.
“You can never go into anything thinking it’s never possible. I think a ceasefire could happen today if we could get the hostages out,” he said. “You can’t have a government in Gaza run by Hamas. It’s a terrorist organization. They clearly demonstrated who they are.”
Rogers’s view that there is potential for a ceasefire could appeal to Michigan communities with dense Arab-American and Muslim communities, considering the demographics are generally severely frustrated with Democrats’ handling of the war and the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to reach a ceasefire agreement.
The feeling of betrayal from the Democrat Party has even led to the Democrat Muslim mayor of Hamtramck in Wayne County, Amer Ghalib, endorsing former President Donald Trump in the presidential race.
When asked by Breitbart News “if the uncommitted movement and other campaigns like the ‘Abandon Harris’ folks are the swing demographic that will decide Michigan and, in turn, potentially the next president, Ghalib said, ‘Definitely.'”
There is potential that the issue could trickle down into downballot races, including this close Senate race between Rogers and Slotkin.
