Watch: Abdul El-Sayed’s Attempt to Nail Mike Rogers for Out-of-State Home Backfires
On a recent Thursday, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed debated his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, in Grand Rapids amid their upcoming election.During the debate, Rogers criticized El-Sayed for previous statements and questioned his allegiance by highlighting properties El-Sayed owns abroad, including homes in Dubai, Pakistan, and Egypt, and also a property in the UAE.El-Sayed responded by clarifying his primary residence is in Michigan and addressing Rogers’ properties in Florida and elsewhere. Both candidates’ claims about property ownership are accurate, but Rogers’s point about the U.S. residence being more relevant too eligibility was seen as more compelling. The debate underscored the candidates’ differing positions and raised questions about scrutiny and political strategy leading up to the election.
Thursday saw Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed take to the debate stage against his Republican opponent Mike Rogers.
The two are less than a month away from Michiganders deciding who will represent them in the upper chamber of Congress.
Predictably, the stage from Grand Rapids produced some noteworthy moments as the two verbally sparred. Rogers laid into El-Sayed, rapid firing on several of his previous positions, only for the Democrat to step in with a “gotcha” that did not land.
“He can’t condemn Hamas, he can’t condemn the Muslim Brotherhood, he says his home is Egypt,” Rogers said.
El-Sayed jumped in. “His home is in Florida; my home is in Michigan,” he retorted.
Just as the moderator tried shifting the topic, El-Sayed went further.
“He does have a home in Florida. He took it off the market. I don’t know why.”
Rogers shot back as the moderator tried to move on.
“He has a home in the United Arab Emirates. At least Florida is in the United States.”
Abdul owns homes in Dubai and Pakistan, Mike owns homes in America.
“At least Florida is in the USA” 🇺🇸 https://t.co/V7cuCuVxcM
— Great Lakes HQ (@GreatLakes_HQ) October 8, 2026
This doesn’t play well for El-Sayed.
To corroborate Rogers’ first claim, in an October 2025 podcast appearance, RedState reported that El-Sayed did refer to Egypt as “back home.”
Moreover, Rogers’ second claim is also true.
The Washington Free Beacon reported in July that El-Sayed does own a rental property in the United Arab Emirates.
What about El-Sayed’s claim about Rodger’s home in Florida? American Vanguard confirms a property owned by Rogers in Cape Coral, Florida, which he and his wife bought in 2022.
In other words, both make claims about the other that are true.
Yet, when examining the logic at play, Rogers makes a better point. El-Sayed should have kept his mouth shut.
As Rogers said, Florida is in the United States. Egypt — El-Sayed’s “home” — and the UAE are in the Middle East.
American Vanguard notes that Rogers, through a Michigan residence, does meet the requirements for holding office.
With El-Sayed bringing up his opponent’s second home, the Democrat only opened himself up to further scrutiny with his Middle Eastern property.
After Thursday, it will be interesting to see if polling shifts in Rogers’ favor.
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