Extended Interview: Mike Rogers

[0:00] you were in congress for 14 years you retired spent eight years in the private sector and then [0:06] you got back into politics in 2024. at this moment why do you want to be a united states senator [0:15] our state's in trouble we've lost 200 000 manufacturing jobs since the 20 2000 we have [0:22] the highest utility rates in the midwest we have the highest uh auto insurance in the country we [0:28] have uh our overall economic rating you uh is 46 and this is the one that really got us off the [0:36] couch and into the game uh two-thirds of our fourth graders can't read at the fourth grade level if you [0:42] can't read at the fourth grade level by the fourth grade you have a 70 percent chance of going to [0:48] prison being on welfare if we don't fix that this country is in serious trouble and it's not just [0:54] here but i have the solution for this based on things that we've done so we looked at all of [0:59] those things can we help on the bring back manufacturing yes can we help lower utility [1:04] rates absolutely can we help housing here the average new homeowner is 40 years old can we fix [1:10] that yep you bet can we fix this education problem can we put shop back in schools can we get kids [1:16] connected to the skilled trades the answer on all of that is yes and so we thought you know what we've [1:21] done well i'm in the private sector i've been a cyber security guy for the last decade and i think [1:27] we can take what i learned in congress what i learned in the private sector and fix these big important [1:32] problems so that's an answer that's about michigan but you're running in a national environment right [1:37] politics is local but politics is very national these days and midterms are always tough for the [1:43] incumbent party this midterm is shaping up to be especially tough for republicans nationwide so as a [1:51] republican candidate why do you think republicans have an uphill battle in 2026 well i'm not worried [1:58] about any other republican right now i'm worried about michigan i got in for michigan we've talked [2:03] about local issues we've had lots of national reporters come here and want to talk about everything [2:07] else other than michigan and i think they missed something this is a change election in michigan so [2:13] the last eight years have been the democrats have been in charge of our state in lansing [2:16] in the last quarter century two democrat u.s senators in all of that time all of those negative [2:22] trends that i just talked about being ten thousand dollars below the median wage they're feeling it [2:28] here in a different way and so when you talk about other states that have had uh you know that are more [2:34] red this is purple we're i think michiganders are looking at this saying who is the best choice to [2:40] make my life easier going forward and keep my kids with the option of staying in michigan that's what [2:46] we talk about we talk about it every day we talk about it everywhere and we've gotten into coalitions [2:52] that no republican uh certainly in my time in the state has gotten into and that part is a dynamic [2:59] change and it's all about opportunity and hope and prosperity that's why this is so different and [3:04] that's why i don't really care what's happening around the country i need to fix michigan but you are [3:09] running to join a existing republican senate majority in washington that's really unpopular [3:15] and i feel like part of your pitch has to be to answer the question what's going to be different [3:22] for a republican majority if mike rogers is part of it what is going to be different well i'll get [3:27] things done so again i'm going to be a broken record on this because this is what we're focused on [3:32] if we don't get our kids reading we are in serious serious trouble so there are five different [3:38] companies around that i bumped into early on in the campaign where and these are fabrication shops [3:44] tool and die shops that kind of thing so they're not huge they're smaller telling me they're taking [3:49] the measuring tape question off of the interview process to get kids interested in getting in there [3:54] and getting their getting their hands dirty building some amazing things and i asked why would [3:59] you do that and they said because we can't find a high school graduate that understands fractions [4:04] on a tape measure now my dad was a shop teacher he made sure all five of us boys took shop that's a [4:11] huge problem uh here in the city of detroit where we're filming this 15 of eighth graders can read in [4:18] the eighth grade about 12 can do math at the eighth grade level you are punishing those kids and sending [4:24] them on a path to poverty uh and i'm just not willing to do that and so when i get back i'm going to use the [4:31] skills that i developed when i was there my private sector skills in the last decade or so in the [4:36] private sector cyber security business uh and i'm going to put those coalitions together to start [4:41] fixing this i don't care who's there honestly i don't care if we're not why do you why do you think [4:45] those coalitions aren't getting put together right now i think it takes two people it's hard it was [4:50] hard when i did it and when i was chairman of the house intelligence committee uh i we sat down with [4:55] my i call him my partner in the project not my vice chairman or ranking member we said listen if this [5:01] is national security is important can we set aside differences to make sure that the national security [5:06] of the united states is protected uh we came to the conclusion we have to do it he was a former [5:11] prosecutor i'm a former fbi special agent uh that i think uh went a long way and we were able to get [5:18] amazing things done when we were doing it together it does take some skill it takes some time it [5:23] takes some effort i have relationships of people i know that went from the house to the senate i know [5:29] where to start those conversations and i know how to have those conversations i think americans want [5:35] us to get together on things like kids reading i think they want us to get together on making sure [5:41] that if you're in your 20s you have the capability to buy a new home i i just passionately believe it and [5:46] here defense industrial-based work that helps america should happen in michigan they're going to have an [5:52] advocate right here to make sure that we do that ship building drone building other things can [5:56] happen right here that's how i know it's going to get done so what's the number one piece of [6:00] legislation you'd want to work on on a bipartisan basis if you were in the senate reading literacy [6:06] you know we got onto this based on the fact that uh so many people who are taking the military test as [6:12] i said i'm a big military family my father my brother me our son is fourth generation my wife served in [6:18] iraq uh her father was a retired lieutenant colonel so i you know pay attention to these things service [6:24] is important uh to us protecting america those kinds of things patriotism runs deep in our family [6:31] one of the big reasons they were missing recruiting during covet and other places was the kids weren't [6:35] reading well enough to pass the test in america in 2026. if we don't change that we are all in trouble [6:44] so i have a plan to do it that's going to be the first effort that i do we're going to follow it up with [6:49] housing i'd love to put shop back in every high school i'd love to get skilled trades ramped up [6:54] here so that kids can go for a job that ai won't uh won't replace and china can't steal i think those [7:01] are the kinds of things that i can get done soon because of the way i can build these coalitions to [7:07] get it done what are you hearing on the campaign trail what's the number one issue for voters cost i [7:12] mean you know fuel costs are are it's just a heavy burden and of course that raises food costs which [7:17] is also a heavy burden and so we talk about the you know i've called for an end to the iran conflict [7:24] i believe it needs to end they did the original objective which i did support making sure they [7:29] don't have a nuclear capability to build a nuclear weapon army navy and air force is diminished where [7:35] they can't hurt their neighbors my argument is time to wrap it up don't keep this thing going [7:40] is that the biggest driver of inflation the iran war i think well when you have prices that fuel [7:46] prices that have raised raised this high it definitely has an impact on food prices and [7:51] everything you buy so i think it has been a major driver in that uh and i think the the the president [7:58] has actually done a good job getting costs under control where he can and where he can influence [8:04] making sure we have american energy the deregulation of it so when the conflict ends i think you're going [8:09] to see a very quick turnaround on prices uh you know fuel is coming down uh diesel is a problem here [8:15] that's why i've called for a temporary export ban to make sure we're dealing with the heavy costs [8:22] that's happening in agriculture primarily right and september and october two very very important [8:27] months in the state of michigan second most diverse agricultural uh crops in the united states [8:33] people don't realize that about michigan and september and october is important those high diesel prices [8:38] we had to do something about so i called for uh you know a export ban and a agricultural rebate [8:44] so when i get elected i'm going to work on making sure those farmers are held harmless on those fuel [8:49] prices what do you say to a voter who says i hated inflation under joe biden i voted for donald trump [8:57] and the republicans to bring down inflation they didn't bring it down it's still bad what do i say [9:06] you're asking that you're asking that voter to re to send you to the senate as a member of a [9:11] republican majority yeah and that voter says hey i just voted for republicans and inflation is still [9:16] high yep we i talk about getting out of the war that's going to start the first pressure the second [9:22] part is listening to what democrats are offering you for their solution the green new deal which [9:29] will raise property excuse me utility rates here two thousand dollars per house two thousand dollars [9:35] it'll increase gas prices by 20 cents a gallon if you remember what happened during the biden [9:40] administration that nine percent huge amounts of spending and also they mounted this huge regulatory [9:48] and mandate regime on car companies on you and everything that drove rates up it's going to take [9:53] time to peel out of some of that um and yes i do think the uran conflict added to some of the [9:59] increases in these fuel costs that are hurting families that's why we've got to unravel this thing [10:04] and find creative ways to get to them which is why i called for a tax holiday on fuel for commuters i [10:10] mean that commute is getting rough that's 70 cents a gallon the democrats in lansing just raised just [10:16] raised gas tax 20 cents a gallon so it's up to 52 cents here in the state of michigan we said let's get a [10:22] guest holiday until the conflict is done to try to give a little relief democrats said no we said yes to [10:29] me it's a great example of what you're going to get if the democrats take over control again they're [10:34] going to raise those regulatory requirements raise the cost of utility rates and gasoline and it won't [10:41] have anything to do with the iran war and that's what i keep telling people this we have a plan we're [10:45] going to get it done you know let's work through this when i get there and i'm not there now but when [10:49] i get there we're going to make sure that all of our prices start to come down when this conflict is [10:54] over for sure how do you think president trump's second term has gone overall so far well if you're [11:00] michigan and you're thinking about what happened here you know the chevy silverado was built in [11:05] mexico they general motors just announced it's coming back to michigan um and it is uh that's huge [11:12] for us it's a multi-billion dollar investment it's a plant called the orion plant detroit diesel is [11:18] adding a third shift for the first time these small manufacturers i was telling you about are now [11:24] getting extra work extra shifts because there's reshoring happening i think that's great i do [11:30] believe if you had an iran with a nuclear weapon and you know what i knew in 2014 as the chairman of [11:36] the house intelligence committee they were the big debate in the intelligence business was is it six [11:40] months eight months or a year is it less iran gets a nuclear weapon you're paying eight dollars a gallon [11:45] gas if you're lucky because they do control the straits if that happens and so i do believe that had to [11:51] happen now they just got to wrap it up a little sooner than i think they've anticipated but they've [11:56] got to get that done i've called them to get it done when i go back to the senate i'll work to make [12:00] sure that gets done but i i do believe that there are good things that happen when we have cherry [12:06] farmers that were getting ready to go out of business uh in because the turks were sending cherries [12:12] to brazil sprinkling some water on it sending it to uh this the rest of the country and it really hurt [12:18] our cherry farmers they couldn't even put cherries in a carton for what they were charging for those [12:22] cherries because they were subsidized by the turkish government so that's so that's a case that's a [12:27] case so you think the trump tariffs overall which is clearly one of the administration's signature [12:32] economic policies has been good for michigan uh i i do i don't i don't like the canadian tariffs i've [12:39] said so i've you know raised my concerns to the secretary of uh commerce and what did he say [12:46] uh i'll get back to you why do why do you think that there's a wave of tariffs on canada why do [12:53] you think we have this trade war canada is not innocent in this they have some of some of these [12:57] tariffs are 400 they really hurt our dairy farmers here in michigan and other industries there has to [13:03] be a fairer trade uh i'm just saying the way they did it i think they forgot about how integrated we [13:09] are in the automobile business here uh when you know the the jeep uh cherokee it goes over that bridge [13:16] probably a dozen times between detroit and windsor uh on its manufacturing journey that's really hard [13:23] to unravel what does that mean for tariffs and other things and i think that was a kind of a [13:28] hurl at our car companies that they probably didn't need so here's the thing i tell people on this do [13:34] you want to send somebody back that can actually sit down and have a conversation and get it fixed [13:38] if it's good for michigan i'm for it if it's bad for michigan i'm against it or do you want to [13:43] send somebody back that's trying to build a movement that's separate from what's happening [13:47] right here in the state of michigan i i argue that's why the numbers are moving our way our [13:52] coalitions are moving our way people are ready for a senator who pays attention to michigan and can [13:58] actually fix and get things done why can't other republican senators fix it though right like right now [14:03] there's a republican senate majority right obviously i would guess that there's a lot of republicans in [14:10] the senate they don't represent michigan but they represent other states affected by the trade war [14:15] i'm sure they would agree with most of what you've just said why can't they get the white house to [14:21] change course well you need one more republican senator there that's how you do it okay and i'm not i'm [14:27] absolutely willing to have those conversations with the president matter of fact the gordy hell bridge [14:31] which is not far from where we're filming right now got shut down because of this conflict between [14:36] the canadian government and uh the white house i was able to call work through it we got it open [14:43] right to me that's exactly what you want in a u.s senator from michigan matter of fact there was [14:48] some fema money up north we had a horrible ice storm uh that did a ton of damage up there that [14:55] families were having a hard time getting through we had fema money snagged up because there was a [14:59] dispute between the governor uh and the white house i was able to get that worked out free up that fema [15:04] money i'm not even a u.s senator yet so give me the opportunity when i go back i'm going to get [15:09] these things fixed pretty practical i'm not going back to be a senator i'm going back to be a michigan [15:15] guy who helps michigan move forward and stop this decline that we've been on for the last eight years [15:21] how about iran you've said you've called for the war to end you said you supported the war in the [15:27] beginning sport of the objectives yes what what has gone wrong between the beginning and where we are [15:34] right now not sure what the i don't have access to the intelligence um my you know when they told [15:40] us originally it was whatever it was six weeks and then it was it started creeping up i knew there was [15:46] some some issues but they did accomplish their original objectives at least from what i can clean [15:52] which was that you know getting rid of their nuclear program army navy air force is diminished [15:58] because they were causing harm uh and remember it was iran that sponsored hamas to go to this october [16:06] 7th attack that slaughtered brutally 1200 people killed killed and raped they cut breasts off of women [16:14] i mean this thing was horrific and we sometimes in america i think we're so desensitized to violence [16:19] that we didn't understand what happened on that day and so they support hamas they support hezbollah they [16:25] support the houthis so all of that problem is all coming out of iran i tell people who told me i [16:31] don't want to send money to israel okay here's how we do that we get rid of uh make sure that iran is [16:37] now part of the uh league of of nations that respect their borders and other people they're not the leading [16:43] sponsor of terror and guess what the hamas the houthis the hezbollah lose their funding which they should [16:51] guess what those go away we don't have to do anything for israel that place will be a boom in [16:57] the whole corridor of the middle east they have been the leading sponsor of terrorism in the world [17:03] all of those deaths all of the chaos and that's where they live and so okay but that's so that's a [17:08] good case for the united states being in a conflict with iran but you say you want the conflict to end [17:15] and as far as i can see and you were chairman of the house intelligence committee you're not read in [17:20] now but i assume you have a good sense of the landscape in the middle east right now iran the [17:26] iranian regime is still in power they're battered but not you know there hasn't been regime change [17:32] you mentioned the houthi with iranian support have become more powerful threatening saudi arabia [17:38] right uh and the key issue straight of hormuz we do have oil and gas moving through there [17:47] but only because of a massive u.s naval presence so if that's the context what does it mean to say [17:54] we should end the war so there was a very strong containment strategy uh actually under the first [18:02] administration for for the trump administration that i thought was really good you take that same [18:07] containment strategy and you lay over iran under its current condition i think that thing starts to [18:13] uh heal itself on the inside meaning uh we know that there are people there who want to this regime [18:19] to end um i think that helps empower people to be able to do that themselves we just don't need three [18:25] carrier groups there but what if you if you take two carrier groups away and then then then you then [18:32] it's harder to move oil and gas through then michigander gas prices go up right it's it doesn't seem as [18:38] easy to get out of it well i'm gonna disagree with your premise of your question i do think we [18:43] can get back to the fact that you can use that containment and when we had it we didn't have three [18:48] carrier groups there so what you can still do a lot what's in the containment policy well it is [18:54] sanctions uh really really important you got to have sanctions that are almost crippling for them [18:59] and are is crippling you have to have enough firepower that if they stick a shovel in the ground [19:04] uh in one of those nuclear sites that they don't ever do that again and so we can do that with a [19:10] less presence uh in iran and the president's going to have to wrap it up it just seems like though that [19:18] strategy given the willingness that they have shown to attack our gulf allies to attack energy [19:26] infrastructure that just doesn't sound like a strategy that is compatible with simply withdrawing a [19:33] lot of american forces it it doesn't seem like a war-ending strategy right now that's your opinion [19:39] okay you would not be happy if the president after the midterm election decided to escalate against her [19:47] i'm not even going to speculate on that i don't have access to what they have um i know that we got [19:53] to wrap this thing up uh i think it would be best uh if the current regime was so fragile that the [19:59] people of iran had the capability to kind of vote their own way in their own future i think that [20:04] would be the best thing for national security for the united states oh and by the way the rest of [20:09] the world and the rest of the region i think that would be more for peace than we possibly could [20:13] imagine is there one thing that you think the administration isn't doing right now on that front [20:20] or any other that they should be doing that would be more likely to bring about regime change or any other [20:24] good outcome i mean listen they have certain capabilities i don't know if they're using them or not [20:30] to help empower people of iran to stand up for themselves now i do think there's a reason [20:36] that the iranians slaughtered 50 000 people within the first month i don't think they were random [20:41] killings i think those were killings of people that their intelligence services identified as a possible [20:47] threat to their regime i think that was very orchestrated and that slaughter was horrific and [20:52] unfortunate but they did that for self-preservation so i think whatever they're doing next on that side [20:59] of that equation i think they uh it's going to be a little bit more challenging to get those people in [21:04] the right place at the right time with the right equipment but i think that's absolutely doable uh again [21:10] from what i saw back you know a decade ago there's obviously a lot of things change on both of these [21:16] issues foreign policy and war and tariffs the senate has ceded a fair amount of power to the [21:23] president president has tariff power that's been granted to him by congress congress has war powers [21:30] that are exercised less and less these days tariffs first would you support as a united [21:37] states senator as a republican senator trying to override the president on tariffs that you disagree [21:43] with like the canadian tariffs yeah if the opportunity were if i can't work it out uh and it came to [21:49] that yeah absolutely and i'll tell you why listen the senate has an important role every state has its [21:54] own unique equities and sometimes that one size fits all just doesn't work in america so you want [22:00] somebody that's going to go back to the united states senate and represent my state of michigan as i told [22:05] you if it's good for michigan i'm going to be for it if it doesn't work for michigan i'm going to be [22:10] against it at least i have someone there that can have that conversation and try to get this thing [22:16] unentwined uh so absolutely i will i'll use the tools of the senate uh to help michigan and that [22:22] doesn't mean you have to walk in with a club and an angry voice to get it done same kind of question [22:27] on iran you want the iran war to end let's say you're in the senate six months go by the u.s is still [22:33] in some kind of quagmire would you support senator congressional action to bring the war to an end [22:39] hypothetical i'm not going to go there what i can tell you is and this is what people they want a [22:43] very binary answer on a very complicated set of issues set and so that's the the weakness of [22:49] journalists yeah it sure is and so once i get there i'll guarantee you what i'm doing is doing all my [22:54] homework on what is the facts on the ground where are we where's the status of our military where's the [22:59] status of our intelligence services on and their assessments on what's happening on the ground i will [23:06] take all of that information i don't have access to any of it i'll take all that information to try [23:11] to get this thing wrapped up i'll offer suggestions i'll do what i can do i can uh again it's better to [23:17] have somebody in the room with having that discussion with that outcome in mind versus not having anyone [23:22] in and they're just lobbing rocks and want america to fail i think that's maybe the worst place that [23:28] they could be just wanting to have america not not come out of there with uh with the best outcome [23:33] possible let's stay with foreign policy you mentioned israel and by the way which hardly gets [23:39] talked about here but let's talk about it well it get it it doesn't get talked about here except [23:44] in the context of gas prices inflation right like clearly you yourself are making the argument that [23:50] there's a strong connection between the middle east what's going on in the middle east and the [23:54] concerns of voters here and one of the issues that's i think a big deal for your opponent's campaign [24:02] in terms of his ability to hold together the democratic coalition is the relationship between [24:08] the u.s and israel and your opponent is a fierce critic of that relationship and the way the u.s and [24:16] israel have sort of done business and what we have been getting out of that alliance tell me what you [24:21] think the u.s gets out of its alliance with israel well and maybe i passionately defend israel's right [24:28] to defend itself and to exist as a jewish state that sets me at odds with my opponent right off the [24:34] bat he refuses to even acknowledge that israel has the right to exist he equates iran with israel [24:42] the leading state sponsor of terror in the world with israel i i think that's unqualifying to go into [24:48] the united states senate if you don't know who your friends and enemies are around the world that's [24:52] trouble and so i start there uh i think he's wrong on it his language is wrong they use terms like [24:57] genocide chanting from the river to the sea i i will tell you there are jewish students at university [25:04] of michigan that my wife and i talk to who have to hide their star of david to walk across campus [25:10] because the harassment is so bad think of that i i was actually in a with students earlier today [25:17] where one of the questions was i'm not sure i understand this apec thing or jewish or whatever [25:21] or israel they don't know but by way all of their information they're getting is very anti-israel [25:28] and when leaders who are saying things like genocide saying they have blood lust saying that [25:34] they don't have the right to exist you're ramping up this language and it's not him but it's the [25:40] supporters that we worry about because we see that in action when jewish members of michigan walking [25:47] across that campus have to hide who they are we're in trouble that is anti-american that's not just [25:52] anti-jewish and it is it's anti-american that language he does she should not get a pass on his [25:59] language on this it is causing fear anger division which is why jewish democrats for rogers fast-growing [26:08] uh coalition for us because they're worried about their kids and what kind of america they get to grow [26:14] up in and this is becoming part of the democrat socialist agenda uh that you have to be anti-israel [26:21] right down the road here they were having a huge 7 000 delegate meeting in uh for uh the democrats [26:28] and one of the things is you had to be you had to say it's a genocide to get in the room [26:33] what this is becoming really dangerous and really fast and i'll guarantee you when i go back to the [26:39] united states senate we're going to get we're going to make plans to make sure that this isn't baked into [26:44] america in the future if you can imagine taking two two percent of our population and demonizing them [26:50] when that's done where do they go next this this is is that serious we see it on the ground here [26:56] in michigan what do you when you say you'll make sure that this isn't the future what does that mean [27:01] what can the u.s senate do about anti-semitism we're going to make sure we start at our universities [27:06] they're going to have real anti-semitic programs with teeth uh and we have ways that we can encourage [27:13] them to do the right thing i've already talked to people on uh regents at the university of michigan [27:19] and said i'm coming as soon as i am elected before i'm sworn in we're going to start having [27:22] these conversations they just had indictments for students part of the pro-palestinian movement [27:28] on the university of michigan eight indictments matter of fact one of them worked for abdul el [27:33] sayed right and that language that anger that divisiveness got translated into things like [27:40] throwing a chemical device into the uh window of one of the jewish regents though in michigan we have [27:47] regents that run the university and and all of them got things like their tires slashed graffiti all [27:54] of these things and it whips these young folks into doing things they ought not to be doing and it's [28:00] angry and it's divisive and so that's one way we think we can do it i don't think qataris should be [28:05] sending money to our universities i think we have to re-look at that very seriously uh to make sure that [28:11] they're not influencing uh these colleges to take a stance against anti-semitism and it believe me [28:17] it's blown past it here in michigan to being anti-jewish if you can't condemn a terrorist [28:24] who tried to kill 130 children right here in michigan uh by a put explosives in the back and [28:32] gasoline drove through the door trying to set it off you can't condemn that you don't understand how [28:37] serious that is man you have no business being in the united states senate i think what your opponent [28:42] said in that case was that he condemned the attempted terror attack but he said something [28:50] like hurt people hurt people right that basically a lot of the animus towards israel the rage you're [28:57] describing comes out of israel's own policies in the region what do you think of how israel has [29:03] prosecuted the war in gaza so we we believe that the terrorist who tried to kill 130 kids has the right [29:10] to do that because he disagreed with policy 5 000 miles away that's what he said and he said i'm [29:16] sorry he didn't the context he did to be clear i don't he did not say he had the right to do that [29:22] i think he was he was off you and i are interpreting this language and the good news and the good news is [29:26] you don't vote here because these jewish democrats are coming forward like crazy because they heard [29:32] exactly what he did which was say it's contextual i don't you can't this is how we get to violence on [29:39] campuses and chemical weapons thrown through people's doors because they're jewish we have [29:45] to stop this and stop it now and i don't know why the press wants to play games with how he very [29:51] carefully words his condemnation but this thing has grown out of control i guess i'm just interested in [29:57] where you think the rage and anger and anti-israel sentiment that you're describing comes from because [30:06] you're happy to talk about okay because you also see it on the political right there are people in [30:12] the republican coalition who have become very very harshly critical of israel and it has surged [30:20] at a time when israel has been making war in gaza so that's why i asked about are we going to talk [30:25] about what's going on in michigan by the way we've spent a lot of time on foreign policy i'm running for [30:30] michigan i know you guys are out of town but what's happening here in michigan is why i'm doing as well as i [30:36] i am so we'll just keep it to michigan you were just describing what you see as the rise of [30:42] anti-semitism and anti-israel sentiment in michigan yep do you think that that has anything to do with [30:49] events in the middle east well i certainly think that on october 7th when terrorists funded by iran [30:58] came across the border raped murdered killed whole families put babies in ovens [31:06] literally tore women's cut women's breasts off yeah you bet as a former army officer and a special [31:13] agent that gets my blood going that that kind of terrorist activity gets a kind of a pass [31:19] because they don't like the fact that israel decided i'm not going to let that happen to my people again [31:25] think about that you know that's equivalent of if the mexicans decided to come over the border and do [31:29] the same exact thing that would be 40 000 americans raped murdered kidnapped back across the border what [31:36] would we do i would hope we'd have the courage to do what we needed to do so yeah this so is that is [31:43] but but but the language is important i i hear you giving them a pass for the language i hear a lot of [31:48] press giving them a pass for the language which is why this thing continues to spiral out of the ground [31:53] we need to call it what it is and they have created language that is angry and divisive which is why [32:00] the very unique coalitions that are forming around my campaign are going to allow us to win in november [32:06] you can't disregard those people or their feelings or the feelings of the safety of their children [32:12] when they walk on a campus because they're jewish we can't let this happen i don't care if it's right [32:17] or left i don't care who it is it's wrong and i'm going to do something about it when i become a u.s [32:22] senate i want to promise you that my next question after we leave this topic is going to be about [32:27] that coalition and what you're building in michigan promise but i i promised but i want to just stay [32:33] with the topic of israel for a moment and just get your view on the the nature of the u.s israel [32:41] alliance what we get out of it and you suggested that basically they did what they needed to do in [32:49] gaza is that just is that your assessment of israel's war in gaza you'll never get to a [32:53] solution if hamas is in charge of anything they are a terrorist organization and you saw what they're [32:59] capable of on october 7th you know could one thing or two things be done differently i'm again i don't [33:06] have access to all that you know on the ground information maybe but think about what they they [33:13] just got attacked 1200 people no america seems to have forgotten about it he's walked past it and now [33:21] all the language is all forgiving oh he he said it's okay no that's not what's happening and i see [33:27] it because i see it on campuses here where the rhetoric is causing huge problem the next generation [33:34] of kids thinks it's really cool to be against the jews but what are we doing this sounds like 1933 it [33:41] doesn't sound like today and that's not the america i wore the uniform to defend and that's not the [33:46] america i want to live in so we're going to have to have conversations and some of them are going to be [33:50] really hard but if you have those conversations and one of those kids says you're a senate let's [33:55] say you're a senator at this point and they say look senator rogers i'm not an anti-semite i support [34:01] israel's right to exist i just think they went too far and committed war crimes in gaza i'm curious what [34:06] you say to that fair conversation but that's what that's not who we're talking about we're talking about [34:10] a guy who does not believe israel has the right to exist don't i wouldn't lose sight of that he just [34:16] said it again he just came out the other day and said israel is our enemy doesn't have the right to [34:21] exist it's not about netanyahu it's about israel i don't know how much clearer it can be and i [34:27] don't know why people are willing to give this guy a pass on any of that we've talked a lot about [34:32] everything other than the great state of michigan and how i'm going to win but isn't this i think [34:36] this is part of now i'm going to ask it again you can say you can say whatever you want and then we'll [34:41] move on but when i look at polls if you look at just again among republican voters younger republican [34:49] voters are less supportive of israel than older republican voters and i feel like if you got in [34:55] a conversation with whether it's younger republicans or younger progressives on college campuses they [35:03] would say to you something like i'm not an anti-semite i'm not anti-israel but i think israel committed [35:09] war crimes or went too far in the war in gaza and i'm just curious what you as someone running to help [35:15] conduct u.s foreign policy says to that complaint or critique you have to separate criticism of israel [35:23] from criticism of being jewish they have not mastered that the all of the information pouring [35:30] in on these kids phones is decidedly it's not just anti it's it is out and out anti-jewish and i can [35:38] tell you as a cyber guy there's outside influences pouring into those inboxes of those kids trying to [35:45] convince them of something that isn't true i had that question today was horrifically uninformed [35:50] he just didn't understand once i have an opportunity to sit down and talk to him and you know let's [35:56] work through this let's see do you think this this or this we get to a good place and that's how we have [36:01] to do this we're going to have to have better language about it uh and now you have a entire [36:06] political party trying to make this a plank in their platform going forward i think that's wrong and i [36:12] think that divisiveness is bad you want to talk about having i i know i talked to a lot of jewish [36:17] voters who don't like netanyahu this is okay you're allowed to have that difference and let's talk about [36:23] it what would be different how could we do it different that's a very different conversation [36:28] than a campaign who is basically trying to say israel is our problem if you're jewish you're our problem [36:35] we did this once in history and it was disastrous my argument is let's stop it right now so tell me about [36:43] the kind of coalition that you're trying to build around some of these issues which is why we've [36:47] been talking about them in michigan what does that coalition look like why is it different from a [36:52] traditional republican coalition so we have several and think about this the the state party democrat [36:58] state party chairman came out last week and said i i can't support abdul el-sayed he's too extreme [37:05] one of the finance chairs of elissa slakhan the new senator was elected two years ago came out and said [37:10] i cannot support abdul el-sayed he's too extreme uh that theme if you have a former democrat chair [37:18] saying wait a minute something's wrong when senator cory booker from new jersey met him he came out and [37:25] said this guy is a quote fringe candidate when van jones who's a cnn liberal commentator comes out and [37:33] said his policies are insane quote unquote when people around you are starting to talk like that maybe [37:39] we ought to be paying attention and what that has allowed us to do is have conversations in detroit with [37:45] the african-american community and it has been really productive they care they want to know that [37:52] someone's going to care about their housing issues their education issues uh affordable housing issues we [37:58] have a food desert that happens in detroit that i think i have a plan that i can get uh get get grocery [38:03] stores down here run by the community and run by people that you go to church with on sunday [38:09] so that they can be feel a part of the solution of these things not a government run one by the way [38:15] we're just going to have lots of uh uh commercial enterprise teaching people how to run i'm pretty [38:21] excited about all of this which is why we're doing so well in the african-american community not only here [38:27] in detroit but flint uh and pontiac say a little bit more about why you think african-american voters [38:34] in particular are more open to your pitch because i think again we've been talking about why jewish [38:39] democrats might be open to your argument but what about african-americans so a couple of things a [38:47] candidly abdul when he comes to town is very dismissive he told a group of pastors that uh you know [38:54] what i don't know you get on board i don't need your votes i'll make them up somewhere else maybe [39:00] about the worst thing you can say as a candidate that's trying to grow your grow your coalition [39:04] we don't have those conversations we come down we've had great pastor meetings across a very diverse [39:11] set of of uh pastors around the city who are engaged in different things in the community i've [39:17] talked to the law enforcement i've talked to the city council members who are eager to get us here [39:22] to talk about skilled trades to talk about getting education we are here talking to them about their [39:27] problems and how we're going to fix it together as a senator when somebody comes in and talks about [39:32] democrat socialism and a bigger government and we're going to go back and worry about being a [39:37] president in 2028 guess what completely turns them off and that's exactly what's happened we took that [39:42] as an opportunity to come have real conversations i mean i went into one uh pastor's church maybe two [39:49] weeks ago who said uh you know did a little work uh haven't found a republican in here in 76 years [39:55] uh and so what we're doing is having conversations in a way we just didn't have before and they're [40:00] welcome to hearing it and we're striking up real and lasting relationships this isn't about a fly by [40:06] night you know which i think has been happening in cities like detroit they get your vote you don't [40:11] ever hear from them again we're here we're committed to this they get it they get a sense of it [40:16] you know i had a pastor call me after one of the meetings i thought was the greatest compliment you [40:20] get he said you know i listened to you i've talked i've watched what you're doing he said you know [40:24] what you don't have a hole in your heart i want you i'm going to help you down here in the city huge [40:30] i mean for a pastor who is you know admittedly a lifelong democrat to say that and invite us in [40:37] huge for us and so that's why this coalition is getting bigger the fastest growing one is democrats [40:44] for rogers happens to be in detroit and we sell uh sell out we hand out but uh those the democrats [40:51] for rogers yard signs is the fastest thing we got flying out the door right now people are ready to [40:56] make that commitment and invest in their future and they're not worried about somebody who wants to [41:01] create a socialist movement either here or around the country i mean it was pretty amazing i'll just [41:07] tell you one quick story why one one of the folks uh is helping me here it's a elected democrat [41:13] invited my wife and i down and said i think we're ready to have a conversation getting through all [41:19] of our issue lists you know education and skilled trades and shop in school and how we get our you [41:23] know get our kids better opportunity here and i when it's all done she said this is great i'm going [41:28] to tell people that i think you're good for the city and you're you know and i said this is great but [41:32] why are you doing this she said over the weekend somebody knocked on my door uh and handed her a pamphlet [41:39] and basically said help us make detroit a democrat socialist of america city she closed the door and [41:45] said i'll be damned if that's going to happen on my watch nobody wants to travel down that road i mean [41:52] there are some obviously or they wouldn't be here and they wouldn't be campaigning and they wouldn't [41:56] be trying to get abdul el sayed elected but people who are here and know the community are not interested [42:02] in this big democrat socialist agenda that they're pushing uh and that has been an opening for us all [42:08] across this city and all across pontiac and flint in non-traditional republican coalitions one thing [42:15] that i've heard and i think maybe a couple of the examples you cited involve this is democrats lifelong [42:22] democrats saying they don't feel like they can vote for the democratic nominee but they can't vote for you [42:29] because it's a vote to empower the trump administration and the republican party and so they're just [42:35] leaving their ballot blank or staying home what is the pitch that you are trying to make to those [42:41] voters to get them from staying home to actually saying it's okay to add another republican in the [42:46] senate you know when i was uh in congress the tarp if you remember tarp was the the bailout wall street [42:54] came came with their hands out and we're asking uh for money that's probably the most pressure i've ever [43:00] had on a vote uh with what that i was in in congress to vote for it and it would have been bailed out wall [43:05] street uh including a heavy way in from the president um i said no because i didn't think that was the [43:12] right thing to do uh and it didn't help the state of michigan uh not an easy thing to do there was a lot [43:18] of pressure around that there was a lot of panic about what was going to happen i just couldn't get [43:22] there and i couldn't get there on the math and i didn't think it was right that people in michigan [43:26] were struggling to pay their mortgages because of this but we were going to send money to wall [43:31] street didn't like it i did vote for the auto bailout i think if you look at who i am and how [43:37] i've handled myself back in congress and what we're trying to accomplish now when i need to stand up for [43:43] michigan i will i don't care who the president is and uh don't you want somebody that can go back [43:49] and push a little bit when when we need a little pushing to happen you need that you need that [43:54] reputation you need that gravitas to walk in to do that i think i have earned that [43:59] and then i go down our list are you for kids reading are you for are you for homeowners trying [44:04] to get homes in their 20s versus 40s are you willing to go after these advanced manufacturing [44:12] jobs to bring it back to michigan in shipbuilding in submarine components in drones and the aerospace [44:20] industry that's going to need a lot of support and effort and jobs that's where we're going that's [44:26] what i talk about that's what i've talked about for two years uh people that people are drawn to [44:31] this to know that okay i'm i am a democrat i don't like donald trump but i know that this guy wants to [44:37] get my kids reading again i can get there and so we're not going to get them all we get people who say [44:42] you know i can't vote for you but i'm not voting for abdul great we'll take that we're getting a lot of [44:47] people and why that is we're spending time lots of time with people individual small meetings we've [44:55] done thousands of these things across the state and it's working and so we have this tradition and [45:00] when you say you look at polls how do you pull the fact that our jewish democrat jewish coalition which [45:06] is about 70 000 voters thinks that we're going to get 35 000 of those votes how do you pull that [45:11] can't pull it uh how do you pull that we're going to have african americans in the city of detroit uh [45:18] that are going to vote for us i mean we were at an event late last night uh talking to a lot of [45:24] you know people who said i've never voted for a republic we had long conversations we had a little [45:28] fun along the way uh and they're saying we're going to do this we're going to trust you [45:33] uh and that you can't pull most people aren't aren't answering polls one thing you saw throughout [45:39] the trump era is that there's lots of groups of people who don't answer polls right including [45:44] people who are trump voters and mega voters and so on it's part of what makes the landscape so [45:49] challenging one of the really interesting things about this race is that you're here talking about [45:55] going unconventional places adding voters who usually vote for a democrat and the syed campaign is [46:02] doing the same thing they're saying we're going to get a lot of people who voted for trump in 2024 [46:08] who've been republicans who are disillusioned with the iran war who are disillusioned with inflation [46:14] the issues we've been talking about and they're even you know they're taking bus tours up into more [46:19] rural parts of the state which traditionally lean republican what do you think about their play for [46:26] you know a new coalition part of the reason they have to go up north is they're losing the coalition [46:31] battle right here in southeast michigan where the majority of the votes are and so yep they're going [46:36] to get some help and support they go to colleges and universities and they whip that all up and [46:41] that's you know good for them that's certainly a strategy uh we're not seeing it on the doors and [46:47] here's what another thing i think the national folks just don't see we've crossed six million doors [46:53] knock since we started so why the democrats were fighting it out in their primary for a very long time [46:58] we built the largest ground game it's certainly in the history of michigan and i'm going to put it up [47:04] against any state uh it is so well organized it's tech uh tech uh enabled uh we are just ramping up [47:12] our contacts with doors and so here's what we're hearing on those doors and you get those assessments [47:17] they're fired up they're not going away yes there's some things they don't like but they're going to [47:21] stick with the team where they think is not going to increase their utility rates or their 20 cents a [47:28] gallon gas rates or make their lives a little more expensive through this green new deal higher taxes which [47:34] is what they're talking about well let me rephrase that they're not talking about that they don't [47:38] want to talk about that they just say gas prices are high vote for me what are you going to do about [47:42] it well the problem is their plan raises all of those costs so what we're getting off the doors [47:48] that's just not true that we're not seeing this trend of trump voters saying they're not going to vote [47:54] uh they're going to vote democrat in this election we don't see what about turnout though are you [47:58] worried about people who turn out for donald trump who don't turn out for down ballot races because [48:03] that's been a problem for republicans yeah in red states they're finding they have an intensity [48:09] problem this is a purple state democrats have been in charge since for the last eight years in lansing [48:14] last 26 years uh here they have had two democrat u.s senators every metric has gone down we're almost [48:24] at the bottom we can't go much lower and so what people know is okay democrats are in charge all my rates [48:29] went up my utility rates went up they raised gas prices they raised 20 cents a gallon under the [48:35] democrats the utility they passed their own green new deal bill they've raised utility rates since 2023 [48:43] nine times just did one last week people are tired of having the government impose high costs [48:51] on purpose we're just not seeing that at the doors and that's what people you know you can take a poll and [48:56] try to get sentiment and all of that nonsense we're here we're actually talking to people right and [49:01] they're telling us no pollsters do talk to people too in fairness well they try at least you see how [49:07] bad they were they had abdul winning 15 points going into the primary he won by nine-tenths of one [49:13] percent he had more democrats vote for him than vote for him he lost the city of detroit it was like 61 [49:20] something to 30 something well guess what we're in the city of detroit we're talking to people who are a [49:25] little bit hesitant to vote for the guy and we're out on the doors getting traditional republicans to [49:31] show up you can't if you can get that on a poll i think you're a genius honestly i don't know how they [49:35] do it uh they've been wrong and under polled republicans in the last few races by about four points [49:41] so even if we go tied with these individual polls that are flying around out there we think we're in [49:47] great shape you mentioned that you're selling yourself to people who are wavering or who might be [49:53] traditional democratic voters as someone who will be independent in dc well let me plus i've done [49:59] that and well let me ask you about a couple a couple of issues where that could be put to the [50:03] test the first is and i am going to cite those polls that are flying around but one of the issues [50:08] that voters keep citing in this election is corruption and there are a lot of allegations of [50:15] corruption around the trump white house do you think that the trump administration has a [50:20] corruption problem well i can tell you this i'm a i'm an fbi agent by training what did you work on [50:26] as an fbi organized crime and public corruption and public corruption yes yes so i'm going to act [50:32] as the united states center with the best interest of michigan i can tell you that right now can you [50:37] tell me a little bit more about what that would mean well i i always take the facts as that as i [50:42] see them and i'll take the facts as i see them and i'll make a decision based on that okay what [50:48] there's the speculation i i don't know it's all speculation okay well let's let's just be let's [50:53] be very concrete um the president of the united states accepted a jet from a middle eastern nation [51:02] do you think he should have done that i mean that's not what i would have done um but that's uh i don't [51:08] think it's illegal for the president to do that but i i it's not the tact i would have gone on that i i would [51:14] like to to make sure that we make sure that there isn't any question of uh uh impropriety [51:21] on those kinds of things okay you know or they should have gone through congress i think there's [51:24] a way that i understand that there's a way to do that i i assume that's what they did but i don't [51:30] know do you think and again this is all speculation that's what i don't like these conversations you [51:33] want me to speculate on something i just don't know the answer or the details of do you think that [51:39] it is reasonable for the u.s senate to examine the conduct of family members of people who hold [51:46] high office whether they are related to the president himself or related to cabinet officials [51:51] because we have a lot of examples this is very concrete it's not speculative of people with family [51:57] connections to the administration doing business deals in areas that are connected to u.s foreign policy [52:03] should the senate be concerned about that if it if it is against the interests of the united states [52:08] absolutely i think that's a pretty clear thing but again lots of speculation lots of that i don't [52:15] have the details when i get back i'll get my hands around the details i promise you that right but even [52:20] if it means having the president of the united states call you up and say you know leave this alone [52:29] right i've had the president of the united states call me before and i did what was right for michigan i [52:33] don't i this is i i have a track record people can say things i have a track record and that track [52:39] record is pretty good both uh matter of fact we were shouted out as the most bipartisan group in [52:45] the house at the time working on intelligence budgets and other things uh and certainly the the [52:51] tarp issue was the probably the biggest and most people probably don't remember it it was a real [52:57] significant issue i did what i did to me the best way to determine who's going to go back to the [53:02] united states senate what did they do then well i was independent then i'm going to be independent when [53:07] i talked to me about ukraine and russia this is an area as with iran where you have had a hawkish [53:15] perspective you've been supportive of ukraine you've said uh in the past quote i don't think we can give [53:22] putin an inch right now the president is giving putin sanctions relief whose side do you think the [53:30] president is on in that war right now i i don't know if what side he's on uh i have come out and said i [53:37] didn't like the diesel deal and i would have voted for this these sanctions and here's the difference [53:43] i'd be down at the white house talking through all this right now that's the difference uh you know [53:48] again i don't think everything has to be a poke in the eye run to the microphones i got more work done [53:54] when i didn't do that i worked under the divide administration as the chairman uh and when we had [53:59] differences trust me i went down and made made our differences known with the goal of getting it fixed not [54:06] necessarily getting a press release i think that's the difference but on that issue like iran like [54:12] tariffs right the senate has been unwilling to take the next step when those kind of conversations don't [54:21] seem to go anywhere and actually try and well that's why you need another republican back there [54:26] and is this also coming back to why we why we're running in michigan to make michigan different [54:33] i mean those are a lot of issues honestly i don't even hear about on the campaign trail [54:38] i just don't i do hear about kids can't read i do hear about costs i do hear about what you're going [54:43] to do on gas prices i hear all of that don't hear a lot of these issues on the on the campaign trail [54:47] because they they know who i am so these are these are questions now that are as identical as we can make [54:55] them to questions that we'll be asking your opponent and i'm going to start with what's the biggest thing [55:01] that's different about american politics if you win this election well i'm not sure about american [55:07] politics but i'm going to change the politics of michigan for sure uh we just really haven't had in [55:13] a quarter century u.s senators who are caring about the kinds of things we need to do here increase our [55:19] defense industrial base work uh i mean look at our education system look at our economic picture [55:25] i have a way to do that so i can tell you michigan politics is going to change because you're going [55:29] to have somebody who's an advocate for the state of michigan what should be the first economic [55:35] priority of the next u.s congress to continue to maintain we have low energy costs so increase and [55:43] unleash continuing to do that for american energy is the best way to get us up off our feet now that [55:50] also relates to utility bills gasoline prices adding more bureaucratic nonsense the green new deal [56:00] more government mandates is a will be a disaster for the state of michigan we'll be bumping along 50 [56:05] here pretty soon if they get their way what if anything should the next congress do to address [56:12] the risks of artificial intelligence so i have a plan there's a framework a national security framework [56:18] that i see working its through way through congress i think that has to happen uh and that we'll put [56:24] guard rails to make sure that these things don't get ahead of us uh and secondly and this is more unique [56:29] uh i think we ought to have uh look at antitrust laws to make sure that these ai companies can [56:36] cooperate on safety uh of their products right now they can't do it because of antitrust i argue get a [56:43] very narrowly crafted piece of legislation that where they can talk about safety where one company might [56:49] say oh that's bad and we already figured it out maybe we should share that with the other company [56:54] so they don't make the mistake and something bad happens we should be allowing that kind of cooperation [56:59] so uh guard rails on the um from a national security perspective and a safety cooperation [57:06] i think would be the right way to do this are you worried about the potential economic impacts of ai [57:11] in terms of the kinds of job losses that have not materialized to be clear but that ai tycoons keep [57:18] predicting yeah um clearly yes and so we've got to make sure we're going to be we have to take uh you [57:26] know kind of a month by month look at i've never seen a technology change so rapidly uh in in american [57:33] history as fast as this ai thing has developed like it used to be 18 months now they're saying nine [57:39] months it just doubles over again so yes i mean obviously we're concerned we have to be smart about [57:44] it we don't want to lose to china or russia and the ai uh or race if you will uh but we also need to [57:51] make sure that people are protected here at home what do we win if we win the race well shoigu who was [57:58] at that time the the russian defense minister came out and said this was probably a decade ago whoever wins [58:04] the ai race wins the next war and so what that does is tells you what their thinking is they have a more [58:12] weaponized automated weapon system idea of this we have a more productivity uh approach here in america [58:20] like how do we make things more approach uh productivity uh more productive excuse me um and so that's [58:27] just a different world view we have to make sure uh that they don't come up with weapon systems that are [58:33] you know ai driven uh that could cause us harm and put us behind the eight ball on those we must must must [58:40] uh take a look at all of those uh those capabilities and you can't lose you have to continue to innovate [58:46] to make sure you can beat them on a battlefield number one uh and then what does it do for our [58:52] economics number two two more describe your opponent in the most fair-minded possible terms he's a very [59:01] gifted democrat socialist of america uh his rhetoric is he's clearly a very gifted speaker he talks real [59:09] pretty problem is the outcome of what he's trying to do i don't know if that was completely in the [59:15] spirit of the question you're not going to get much better from me fair enough finally what's the [59:21] most important question that michigan voters specifically are weighing as they go to the polls [59:28] you know i think they're just looking for somebody that pays attention to them and and has their best [59:32] interests at heart if you go back thinking you're going to create a movement you've already got your [59:38] domain names for president that person isn't going to care about the kinds of things we need to do in [59:43] michigan i think they're looking for someone like me who worked on a car factory floor worked my way [59:49] through college served in the united states military served as a special agent with the fbi i think they're [59:55] looking for somebody who says i'm going to put america first i'm going to put michigan first [1:00:00] and i'm the right guy to do that i think that is very different than where my opponent is and i think [1:00:06] that's what's going to be the big difference maker uh come november you've called your opponent [1:00:10] the most extreme dangerous candidate to ever run for the united states senate in the history of our [1:00:16] country that is a pretty strong statement could you defend it please absolutely two just for two [1:00:23] reasons uh the democrat socialist candidate who's been supported who's raised money for them [1:00:30] uh certainly he has all of those proclivities if you look at his issue set defund the police [1:00:35] get let uh let people out of prison all of the things that are associated with that democrat [1:00:41] socialist big government government taking over private health care you lose your private health [1:00:46] insurance that's all dsa he also has an extra uh close relationship with organizations i think that [1:00:54] are probably not uh in in the best interests of of the united states one of his donors is the former [1:01:01] spokesman for the muslim brotherhood i think that's of concern he wrote a letter in support for the [1:01:06] muslim brotherhood uh in when they uh took over egypt in 20 uh whatever that was 2012 and 2013 [1:01:14] uh that i think is very very concerning and again it's not about how he prays it is his ideology it's [1:01:20] the way he thinks and if those are the kind of organizations that you support and by the way at that time [1:01:25] he said that he that the muslim brotherhood should purge the police and purge the press so i don't [1:01:32] know you press guys should be worked up over this he is uh talked about it that's exactly what they did [1:01:38] he supported it then he lied to michiganders when he looked him in the eye and said my family has no [1:01:44] relation with this my argument is that's a pattern of deception that is really really concerning uh like [1:01:51] i said he's very good on his feet he's an oxford train debater all of that is really important the [1:01:56] problem is you got to peel it back a little bit what is he trying to do more taxes higher utility [1:02:02] rates uh he believes that he wanted to be 100 renewables in 10 years which would absolutely [1:02:07] devastate uh our auto insurance but but there's a there's a little bit of a mismatch there between [1:02:14] is there between just between the examples of things you're afraid that he'll do like higher [1:02:19] higher utility rates may be a bad thing but they're not the most dangerous thing in the history [1:02:24] of the united states so what what is the thing that he would do as a united states senator that you're [1:02:30] most afraid of well he says he wants to serve on the foreign affairs committee he has lied about his [1:02:37] relationship with the muslim brotherhood remember he supported it through an op-ed sent it in we have him [1:02:42] on his own words uh supporting them uh he has taken money from organizations that finance the muslim [1:02:49] brotherhood he has donors uh including the former spokesman of the muslim brotherhood uh he has the [1:02:57] only he has the the uh only senate candidate or actually of any candidate in the united states [1:03:06] who got a congratulations on the front page of the muslim brotherhood said uh congratulations this is [1:03:12] exciting day was abdul el saeed that relationship as a former fbi guy is concerning when you take money [1:03:21] from people who support hamas and hezbollah when you take money from an organization that's directly [1:03:26] supporting the muslim brotherhood uh when you have uh family members that have been very openly [1:03:33] supportive of the muslim brotherhood but you won't talk about it you won't deny it and then you add on [1:03:38] the uh hezbollah who's on top can't condemn a terrorist hezbollah-sponsored terrorist who tried [1:03:44] to kill 130 school children right here in the state of michigan i'm sorry that is something we should be [1:03:50] concerned about and as a former fbi agent with that relationship with those financial uh connections [1:03:57] with you saying i support the muslim brotherhood who went in and treated like treated women like second [1:04:02] class citizens yeah i'm sorry that is something that people need to understand and he either needs to [1:04:08] clarify and he never quite does it he needs to either clarify so people can feel comfortable [1:04:14] or uh or that should be a concern when you walk into the ballot box completely different kind of [1:04:20] question if you had to give the second trump administration a grade what would it be oh i'm [1:04:27] an easy grader so you don't want to do that listen i i know i know then i definitely do i definitely do [1:04:33] i here's the thing i mean i get the whole thing there are things that i know are working a second [1:04:41] shift excuse me a third shift at detroit diesel huge the chevy silverado here is a multi-billion [1:04:48] dollar investment in michigan those are i can't tell you how important they are remember we are the [1:04:54] only state that lost 27 000 manufacturing jobs in the last eight years the rest of the country gained [1:04:59] 100 000. we are we are on a how many how many manufacturing jobs has michigan gained under [1:05:06] president trump in the last 18 months well with these announcements you'll get them they haven't [1:05:10] started yet the second shift with uh detroit diesel will be more manufacturing jobs these small uh [1:05:17] fabrication shops are getting calls right now for orders i mean i just i know that because we're [1:05:21] talking to them so it's happening that part of the reshoring is happening general motors is bringing [1:05:26] back um they'll build 500 000 more cars when they're done and it'll probably through 2027 from [1:05:33] china and mexico it's coming back i still want the grade though i can't well for that i give you an a if [1:05:39] you're if you got if you have jobs for for michigan workers right huge that's okay that's an a plus [1:05:45] plus okay so you got an a plus plus and then and then you've got um the canadian trade war that you've [1:05:52] criticized yeah the iran war that you think should end right now maybe throw in a couple other things [1:05:59] it's pulling the average down too well i don't look at it that way can i go back and have a conversation [1:06:06] to fix it i think the answer is yes so i'm not sure when i get back there that's the time to ask me [1:06:11] what the grade is if i can't get these things changed around i might have a very different opinion [1:06:16] i think i can based on my example of getting the bridge uh the gordi how bridge uh issue solved [1:06:22] getting the fema money up north solved uh i'm in contact with them right now about canada like [1:06:28] let's go we got to get you either get to get it done or you know you don't want to see me when i [1:06:32] get back i'll be a little ornery about it when was the last time you talked to the president gosh a [1:06:38] month ago but i talked to his people a lot so the secretary of commerce office and the secretary [1:06:44] himself talked to talk to somebody yesterday on canada uh and so we're having those productive [1:06:50] conversations you know it's hard to give a grade when you know that they're they're at least [1:06:54] listening to you and they're trying to get things right uh and they know i think they want me they [1:06:59] definitely know i'm coming back uh and so i think they're trying to work with me i think that's great [1:07:04] it's great for michigan it's great for our employment base and you have to remember we're down [1:07:08] at 46 46 in the nation on economic opportunity we this is not sustainable not sustainable and so [1:07:18] we have to have someone that goes back to try to fix things not to be you know you want to [1:07:24] make a very binary i just don't think it's that binary i think i've got to go back i'm going to [1:07:28] fight the things that aren't good for michigan i am going to applaud the things that are and i'm [1:07:32] going to try to get these things done so when i'm done people can say we're better off than when he [1:07:37] got elected uh in the economy in education in skilled trades uh food deserts in uh in detroit if we still [1:07:46] have food deserts in six years i may not you know i told folks get rid of me don't do it we've got to [1:07:52] get this done