Trump pulls stunning election fraud claim out of his pocket in new interview: ‘They rigged him out of it’
President Donald Trump is claiming another election was “rigged” against a Republican candidate, this time pointing to former Rep. Mike Rogers’ narrow loss in the 2024 Michigan Senate race.
Trump made the claim during a new interview with Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News while discussing the Republican Party’s prospects heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
When Sherman said that Rogers lost his 2024 Senate bid while Trump was also on the ballot in Michigan, Trump said, “But I happen to think he won.”
“Ok, well–” Sherman interjected.
“No, no. I think it was a rigged deal,” Trump interrupted. “I think they rigged him out of it.
“But he’s a very good candidate,” Trump said in the interviewed published late Friday. “I think he should do well if we believe in polls. I actually sort of believe in polls.”
The Independent has contacted Rogers’ representative for comment.
Rogers, a former Michigan congressman, narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Slotkin received about 2.71 million votes, compared with nearly 2.69 million for Rogers, giving her a victory margin of less than 20,000 votes. The results were certified, and a subsequent standard audit did not uncover evidence that the election had been stolen.
Trump’s claim comes despite his own victory in Michigan in 2024, where he defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris by about 1.4 percentage points while Rogers lost to Slotkin by about 0.3 points. Trump also made a similar claim in January, saying the Senate race had been rigged against Rogers.
“I’ll be honest with you, Mike. They rigged the election on you. Mine was too big to rig. You won, I’m telling you, you won, but you’re going to do great this time,”
Rogers is getting another chance in 2026. He won the Republican nomination this week and will face Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in November for Michigan’s open Senate seat. The contest is expected to be closely watched as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of the Senate.
During Friday’s interview, Trump also discussed El-Sayed, referring to the Democrat by what the president claimed was his real name.
“It’s ‘Abdul,’ but I call him ‘Abdullah,’” Trump said. “The actual name is ‘Abdullah,’ and then it’s much longer than that. But if you believe in the polls, [Rogers] does better against Abdullah than he did against the young congresswoman [Haley Stevens].”
El-Sayed’s full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. He has previously accused Rogers and other political opponents of using his full name as a racist dog whistle.
