Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson has publicly rejected Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan's closely watched Senate race, instead praising Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed's campaign style as "Trumpian". Speaking on his podcast alongside Saagar Enjeti, Carlson said he wouldn't vote for Rogers "at gun point" and branded him a "tool of Israel and the intel agencies", even as both hosts acknowledged El-Sayed is a radical leftist. The remarks matter because they highlight a widening rift between Carlson and mainstream MAGA Republicanism, and could complicate Republican efforts to win a seat rated a "toss up" in the fight for Senate control.

El-Sayed narrowly won a turbulent Democratic primary over Congresswoman Haley Stevens, prompting President Trump to call him a "Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel" while welcoming the tight result as good news for Republicans. Carlson's comments follow a summer gathering at his Maine cabin with figures including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Joe Kent, seen as part of a broader effort to build an alternative political movement outside traditional MAGA lines. The Daily Mail said Republican operatives and party representatives did not respond to requests for comment.