US Congressman Rogers explains debate refusal with claims of bias — The Hill
Republican Congressman Mike Rogers said he had not agreed to take part in televised debates with his opponent in Michigan’s Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed spoke for an hour in the Fox 2 Detroit studio beside an empty podium after Rogers announced several hours before the event that he would not attend, The Hill reports.
Rogers’ objections to the format
Speaking with CBS News Detroit reporter Gith Kalb, Rogers called the event not a debate but a town hall meeting. He said he declined to participate because of alleged bias by Fox 2 Detroit host Roop Raj, who was set to moderate the event.
The Republican claimed that the journalist had already decided which candidate he supported. In Rogers’ view, under such conditions the broadcast would have become a “two-on-one confrontation,” rather than a debate. He also said that a media outlet should not independently set a date, call an event a debate, and state that an empty podium would be shown on air if a candidate was absent. Rogers called this approach unprofessional.
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Response from the host and opponent
Roop Raj rejected Rogers’ claims of his bias. On Good Day Detroit, he said that the Republican’s campaign did not want to take part in the debate “for some reason.” The host acknowledged that he had previously called El-Sayed brilliant because of his status as a Rhodes Scholar, but added that he considers both candidates strong political figures.
In a column for The Detroit Free Press, Raj said that on his programs he had both praised and criticized Rogers and El-Sayed. He also recalled that he had previously interviewed Rogers several times and moderated a forum involving him during the campaign against current US Senator Elissa Slotkin.
After the broadcast, El-Sayed criticized his opponent’s absence, calling Rogers a coward. Rogers, meanwhile, said that they have two televised debates scheduled in October. According to an assessment by The Hill’s polling partner Decision Desk HQ, as of Wednesday evening El-Sayed had a 66% probability of winning the race for the seat of Senator Gary Peters, who is leaving office.
