Michigan Senate Candidate Mike Rogers Attempts to Rebrand Amid Backlash Over Support for Iran War and Soaring Prices
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, once a vocal supporter of U.S. aggression against Iran, is now scrambling to distance himself from the disastrous conflict as public outrage grows over skyrocketing grocery and fuel costs. Rogers, facing Democratic progressive Abdul El-Sayed, is trying to shift blame for economic pain onto the war he once championed.
Mike Rogers, the Republican vying for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, has released a new television ad desperately trying to pin the blame for rising grocery and fuel prices on the ongoing war with Iran—a war he himself enthusiastically endorsed. In the 30-second spot, filmed in a grocery-store aisle, Rogers laments, "Groceries cost too much. We have to bring prices down," before cynically suggesting that ending the war would lower energy costs.
This sudden reversal is a far cry from Rogers’ earlier hawkish stance. At the outset of the conflict, which began on Feb. 28, Rogers loudly praised President Donald Trump’s reckless strike on Iran, calling the war "long overdue" and dismissing Iran as "absolutely a toothless wonder." He continued to justify the bloody operation on right-wing talk shows through July, insisting that the U.S. should continue its imperialist campaign until Iran’s nuclear ambitions were crushed.
Now, as the war’s devastating impact on working families and farmers becomes undeniable—especially with diesel prices gouging farmers during harvest—Rogers’ campaign is scrambling to change course. A campaign spokesperson admitted, "We’ve been pretty patient on the timeline. I think the best option now is to wind it down. There’s still other things you can do to make sure they can’t hurt their neighbors and can’t pursue a nuclear weapon."
This opportunistic shift comes just weeks before the November election, where Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a staunch opponent of the war who has consistently condemned U.S. militarism. Recent polling shows most Americans now oppose the conflict and doubt its legitimacy. Rogers, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee and a longtime supporter of endless war, is now trying to rewrite his record as he seeks a Senate seat after losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in 2023. He launched his latest bid in April 2025, after Sen. Gary Peters announced his retirement, running unopposed in the Republican primary.