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US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was pictured during a television appearance on October 5, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
In Senate Debate, Abdul El-Sayed Rips Mike Rogers as 'Weak,' 'Cowardly,' and 'Bought Off'
"This is a guy who wants to do service for the corporations," the Democratic US Senate candidate said of his Republican opponent.
Oct 09, 2026
Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said during a televised debate Thursday night that his opponent, Mike Rogers, is "bought off," pointing to the Republican's financial support from the pharmaceutical industry and his opposition to legislative efforts to lower prescription drug prices and provide healthcare to all Americans as a right.
El-Sayed noted that Rogers once described himself as a "champion" of the pharmaceutical industry, which benefited from the Republican's tenure in the US House.
"This is what you can expect from a guy who's bought off: $5 million from corporations to run his previous campaigns," El-Sayed said of Rogers, who opposed the push to let Medicare negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.
El-Sayed said that Rogers "voted to raise your prescription drug prices or to keep them high 19 times" during his seven congressional terms.
"He has the audacity to do an ad looking at the drug prices in Canada," the Democratic candidate continued. "Except for he voted four times to keep you from buying the prescription drugs in Canada."
El-Sayed also touted his support for Medicare for All—which, according to new polling, is backed by two-thirds of US adults—and contrasted that position with Rogers'.
"He voted against the ACA, for God's sake," said El-Sayed, referring to Rogers' opposition to the Affordable Care Act. "I want to guarantee every single person in this country cradle-to-grave coverage, without premiums, co-pays, deductibles. That doesn't have a network. That does not pay a corporate CEO tens of millions of dollars a year."
"This is a guy who wants to do service for the corporations," the Democrat said of Rogers.
Later in the debate, El-Sayed accused Rogers of vying for the "Peeping Tom" vote, citing the Republican's consistent support for mass surveillance.
El-Sayed said he "absolutely" supports putting federal guardrails on Flock cameras and questioned why "we continue to have a situation in which we're watching more and more technology steal more and more data."
"The very Big Tech corporations that are buying his campaigns," El-Sayed added.
Ravi Mangla, national press secretary for the Working Families Party, applauded El-Sayed's performance in Thursday's debate and said that Rogers "has spent his career doing the bidding of Wall Street and Big Pharma CEOs, while watching jobs in Michigan get shipped overseas and prescription drugs grow more and more expensive."
"Tonight’s debate made it crystal clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the only candidate who will fight to put money back in the people's pockets, end the reckless wars abroad, and stand up to the billionaire CEOs who think they should be able to call the shots in Washington," said Mangla.
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Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said during a televised debate Thursday night that his opponent, Mike Rogers, is "bought off," pointing to the Republican's financial support from the pharmaceutical industry and his opposition to legislative efforts to lower prescription drug prices and provide healthcare to all Americans as a right.
El-Sayed noted that Rogers once described himself as a "champion" of the pharmaceutical industry, which benefited from the Republican's tenure in the US House.
"This is what you can expect from a guy who's bought off: $5 million from corporations to run his previous campaigns," El-Sayed said of Rogers, who opposed the push to let Medicare negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.
El-Sayed said that Rogers "voted to raise your prescription drug prices or to keep them high 19 times" during his seven congressional terms.
"He has the audacity to do an ad looking at the drug prices in Canada," the Democratic candidate continued. "Except for he voted four times to keep you from buying the prescription drugs in Canada."
El-Sayed also touted his support for Medicare for All—which, according to new polling, is backed by two-thirds of US adults—and contrasted that position with Rogers'.
"He voted against the ACA, for God's sake," said El-Sayed, referring to Rogers' opposition to the Affordable Care Act. "I want to guarantee every single person in this country cradle-to-grave coverage, without premiums, co-pays, deductibles. That doesn't have a network. That does not pay a corporate CEO tens of millions of dollars a year."
"This is a guy who wants to do service for the corporations," the Democrat said of Rogers.
Later in the debate, El-Sayed accused Rogers of vying for the "Peeping Tom" vote, citing the Republican's consistent support for mass surveillance.
El-Sayed said he "absolutely" supports putting federal guardrails on Flock cameras and questioned why "we continue to have a situation in which we're watching more and more technology steal more and more data."
"The very Big Tech corporations that are buying his campaigns," El-Sayed added.
Ravi Mangla, national press secretary for the Working Families Party, applauded El-Sayed's performance in Thursday's debate and said that Rogers "has spent his career doing the bidding of Wall Street and Big Pharma CEOs, while watching jobs in Michigan get shipped overseas and prescription drugs grow more and more expensive."
"Tonight’s debate made it crystal clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the only candidate who will fight to put money back in the people's pockets, end the reckless wars abroad, and stand up to the billionaire CEOs who think they should be able to call the shots in Washington," said Mangla.
Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said during a televised debate Thursday night that his opponent, Mike Rogers, is "bought off," pointing to the Republican's financial support from the pharmaceutical industry and his opposition to legislative efforts to lower prescription drug prices and provide healthcare to all Americans as a right.
El-Sayed noted that Rogers once described himself as a "champion" of the pharmaceutical industry, which benefited from the Republican's tenure in the US House.
"This is what you can expect from a guy who's bought off: $5 million from corporations to run his previous campaigns," El-Sayed said of Rogers, who opposed the push to let Medicare negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.
El-Sayed said that Rogers "voted to raise your prescription drug prices or to keep them high 19 times" during his seven congressional terms.
"He has the audacity to do an ad looking at the drug prices in Canada," the Democratic candidate continued. "Except for he voted four times to keep you from buying the prescription drugs in Canada."
El-Sayed also touted his support for Medicare for All—which, according to new polling, is backed by two-thirds of US adults—and contrasted that position with Rogers'.
"He voted against the ACA, for God's sake," said El-Sayed, referring to Rogers' opposition to the Affordable Care Act. "I want to guarantee every single person in this country cradle-to-grave coverage, without premiums, co-pays, deductibles. That doesn't have a network. That does not pay a corporate CEO tens of millions of dollars a year."
"This is a guy who wants to do service for the corporations," the Democrat said of Rogers.
Later in the debate, El-Sayed accused Rogers of vying for the "Peeping Tom" vote, citing the Republican's consistent support for mass surveillance.
El-Sayed said he "absolutely" supports putting federal guardrails on Flock cameras and questioned why "we continue to have a situation in which we're watching more and more technology steal more and more data."
"The very Big Tech corporations that are buying his campaigns," El-Sayed added.
Ravi Mangla, national press secretary for the Working Families Party, applauded El-Sayed's performance in Thursday's debate and said that Rogers "has spent his career doing the bidding of Wall Street and Big Pharma CEOs, while watching jobs in Michigan get shipped overseas and prescription drugs grow more and more expensive."
"Tonight’s debate made it crystal clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the only candidate who will fight to put money back in the people's pockets, end the reckless wars abroad, and stand up to the billionaire CEOs who think they should be able to call the shots in Washington," said Mangla.
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