I have spent my adult life in uniform. Again and again, I have watched men die for decisions by people who never carried a rifle. So when I see Mike Rogers preening about a war he championed, I feel cold disgust. Rogers is the Republican nominee for the Senate from Michigan. He is also a shameless enabler of Trump’s Iran war. In April 2026, Rogers called that war a historic chance for peace.
He called it “the best opportunity for peace in the Middle East I’ve ever seen” and described Iran as “absolutely a toothless wonder.” He called the war a “win-win-win for us.” Those are his words, not mine. I want every Michigan voter to read them slowly. Then I want them to look at the price of gasoline at their local station. As of late October, the national average for regular gasoline stands at $4.29 a gallon. That is up from $2.98 before the bombing began. Diesel has topped $6.
American consumers have paid an average of $471 more in fuel costs since February. Rogers called that a win. I call it a bill from a man who never met a payroll. Now Rogers is running a campaign ad from a grocery store. He says the war “needs to end and end quickly” because groceries cost too much. The conversion is as sudden as it is cynical. I have no patience for it.
A Hawk Built on Other Men’s Sacrifices—and Other People’s Noses
I have—and I will not be silent while Rogers pretends he was a peacemaker all along. That is the first charge against him. There are five more. I intend to lay them out plainly.
Let me be fair to Rogers on one point. He wore the uniform. He served as an Army officer and later as an FBI agent. I respect that service. But service in peacetime or law enforcement does not make a man a strategist. Rogers spent fourteen years in Congress. He chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. From that perch, he learned how to talk about threats. He never learned how to judge a war’s human cost. I have seen his type before. They sit in briefings and nod at PowerPoint slides. They confuse access with expertise.
Rogers defended Trump’s Iran war for months. He said the war “should have happened a long time ago” and said he “doesn’t mind” letting Trump continue the war indefinitely. He predicted the conflict would be over in sixty days. It is now late October. The war grinds on. Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the start. It remains a contested chokepoint. Rogers’s prediction was not a minor miscalculation. It was a failure of professional judgment. And he wants a promotion.
Furthermore, his new supporters admit they are holding their noses. David Kramer is a former campaign aide to Haley Stevens and Elissa Slotkin. He is a Democrat. He endorsed Rogers last week and told the Washington Examiner he cannot vote for El-Sayed because of Israel.
The Rubber Stamp Who Found the Constitution Only After the Polls Turned
I have testified before Congress and know how the game works. A president launches a war of choice. The intelligence committees receive a classified briefing that answers nothing. The members emerge and say they cannot discuss details. Rogers chaired the intelligence committee. He could have demanded answers. He might have insisted on a congressional authorization vote. Instead, he said he would vote to give the president the authority to continue Trump’s Iran war. That is not oversight. That is abdication. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. The framers did not intend for a president to bomb another nation for months.
They did not intend for legislators to hide behind security clearances. The House rejected war powers resolutions three times. Those votes largely followed party lines. Rogers supported that rejection. He did not stand up for the Constitution. He stood up for the president. Now he tells Michigan voters he wants the war to end. Which is it, Mr. Rogers? You cannot claim the mantle of a check on executive power. You spent months providing a rubber stamp. I have no use for men who discover constitutional principles only when polls turn against them.
From “Win-Win-Win” to “I Don’t Know What Intelligence They Had”
So the man who called Trump’s Iran war a “win-win-win” now talks about containment. The flip-flop is complete. It is not a strategy. It is a retreat dressed as wisdom. I have seen this maneuver before. When a man cannot defend his vote, he attacks his opponent’s patriotism. Rogers did exactly that on the debate stage. He accused El-Sayed of sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah. He asked if his opponent was “for America or for these terrorist groups overseas.” That is not a defense of his war record. That is a distraction from it. I will not let them distract me.
I have said this repeatedly, and I will say it again. Iran is a massive fortress. Mountains and deserts surround it. No one has successfully conquered it. Alexander the Great captured part of it and left. The Mongols caused immense damage and left. The idea that American air power can force a proud nation to surrender is a fantasy. I warned from the beginning that this war was a strategic dead end. Rogers and his neoconservative friends did not listen. They never do. They talk about “decapitation” and “regime change” as if Iran were a small Caribbean island and ignore the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran controls more than half the coastline.
A Fortress He Never Understood, a War He Never Stopped Cheering
Trump said Washington could launch another operation against Iran. He referenced “Operation Epic Fury.” He claimed it had severely damaged Iran’s nuclear capabilities and did not rule out a new strike. On October 24, Trump told reporters the US could attack Iran “tomorrow.” He also said he could reach a “big and beautiful” deal. He admitted the previous B-2 bombing campaign was not enough. That admission destroys Rogers’s central claim. Rogers said the strikes set Iran’s enrichment program back twenty years. The President himself now says that was insufficient. Rogers either lied or he was ignorant. Neither is acceptable for a man asking for a Senate seat. On October 26, Trump declared that the US had already defeated Iran.
On the same day, CNN reported that the Pentagon is preparing new and possibly major operations. Those operations could begin within 96 hours of a presidential order. The United States and Israel are preparing a post-election strike package. They will target Iran’s energy infrastructure, military sites, and nuclear facilities. Trump called the ceasefire “a waste of time.” This is Trump’s Iran war. It is the war he called a “win-win-win.” He has said nothing about the new strike package.
The Silence at the Rally: A Campaign Built on Forced Applause
Those who cannot defend Trump’s Iran war hide behind ten-dollar gift cards. Rogers is doing both. There is one more item that goes to his character. On the same day as the Port Huron rally, CNN reported on a 2012 comment. Rogers had spoken of “moderate Muslim Brotherhood individuals we are going to have to reach out to and talk to.” Now Rogers is running ads accusing El-Sayed of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Cameras caught him suggesting he once saw moderates in that same organization. When Kristen Welker pressed him, he accused her of something and moved on. This is a man who will say anything to win.
He will call Iran an enemy and a peace partner in the same week and will accuse his opponent of extremism while his own record shows accommodation. He has no fixed principles.
I have said that President Trump entered a special elevator to hell and is taking us with him. Mike Rogers pressed the button. He did not ask questions. He never demanded authorization. That is the definition of a man who should never hold higher office. The polls now show that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe we are not winning this conflict. More than three-quarters say the war was not worth it. Rogers has seen those polls. That is why he flipped. But a man who flips once will flip again.
Send the Cheerleader Home Before He Votes for the Next War
Rogers has no natural constituency. He has no moral authority. He has only a tenuous hold on a party that does not trust him and has a war that is destroying his chances. On October 27, a new statewide survey showed El-Sayed leading Rogers by about six points. The Marist poll had already shown the race tightening to 50–48. Vice President JD Vance came to Howell to stump for Rogers. The closing argument is now entirely about turnout and base motivation. Rogers has no positive case for Trump’s Iran war. He has only the fear of his opponent.
CNN’s Harry Enten delivered a devastating analysis on October 27. He said the Republican attack on El-Sayed’s Israel stance is backfiring. Among voters who consider Israel extremely important, El-Sayed leads by eight points and among Michigan voters, 54% support reducing or ending military aid to Israel. Among independents, that number climbs to 61%. AIPAC’s favorability is negative 25 points among likely voters. Rogers has tied himself to AIPAC and to the war. He thought those positions would win him votes. They are losing him the election. Enten concluded that the Israel issue “is helping Abdul El-Sayed.”
ly.