GOP Goes Scorched-Earth On Abdul El-Sayed

The Bulwark: “Mike Rogers has been consistent about one thing: He won’t take on Trump directly. Whether talking about the ‘war’ with tariffs or the war with bombs, he won’t blame the president. And it’s no mystery why. Breaking with Trump is not something you can do in modern Republican politics.”

“That explains the precarious political position of Rogers and so many other Republicans, both here in Michigan and in the rest of the country as well. They can’t separate themselves from Trump without antagonizing him and his most rabid supporters. But if they don’t make a clean break from Trump, they are stuck leaving the impression that they support his policies or, maybe even worse, that they are afraid to confront him when they don’t.”

“Here in Michigan, Rogers’s solution has been to make the debate about El-Sayed—and then, to make El-Sayed seem as scary as possible—in hopes voters will forget about everything Trump has done to the state.”