Fact-checking El-Sayed and Rogers on 60 Minutes

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With 48 hours to spell earlier polls adjacent successful Michigan, fewer midterm races successful the state person captured arsenic overmuch attraction arsenic the contention playing retired betwixt Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers.

Rogers is seeking to go Michigan's archetypal Republican U.S. legislator successful 25 years, arsenic Democrats effort to clasp onto the seat.

The contention has go progressively tense successful caller days, with El-Sayed engaged successful a nationalist rift with his superior opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who helium bushed by less than 15,000 votes.

In a stunning turn, Stevens, who had been expected to look alongside El-Sayed astatine a run event, alternatively appeared with Rogers Sunday astatine a Detroit religion work – and endorsed him for Senate.

"I don't beryllium successful Abdul's campaign," she said successful a video posted Sunday connected societal media.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic number leader, called Stevens' determination a "despicable betrayal."

It was lone the latest crook successful a hotly contested, intimately watched race, which is wherefore we led tonight's 60 Minutes broadcast with this story. Correspondent Ross Douthat sat down with some candidates arsenic they made their cases to Michigan voters: connected the economy, healthcare, Israel and different issues that person travel to specify the race.

The contention is adjacent and contentious. On the run trail, President Trump has been throwing his enactment down Rogers and disparaging El-Sayed arsenic a "jihadist."

Along with the broadcast segment, we decided to station extended interviews with El-Sayed and Rogers. We're doing truthful for a elemental reason: these conversations are successful the nationalist interest. And we beryllium our viewers arsenic overmuch transparency arsenic possible—especially successful a contention of specified consequence.

60 Minutes sat down with each campaigner for much than an hr successful precocious October. In their interviews, some candidates made respective claims that were false, misleading oregon unsupported by our reporting. We judge it is important to stock those claims and supply the facts and discourse viewers request to measure them:

Rogers claims El-Sayed wrote a missive supporting Muslim Brotherhood

Rogers claimed that El-Sayed "wrote a missive successful enactment for the Muslim Brotherhood … erstwhile they took implicit Egypt successful 20 — immoderate that was, 2012 and 2013 — that I deliberation is very, precise concerning. And, again, it's not astir however helium prays. It is his ideology. It's the mode helium thinks."

Our reporting shows that aft the Arab Spring, El-Sayed was among 46 Egyptian-Americans who signed a missive addressed to Egypt's caller democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, who was a elder person of the Muslim Brotherhood. The missive urged Morsi to instrumentality enactment against allies of the country's erstwhile authoritarian leader.

At the time, the United States had not designated the enactment arsenic a violent group. Earlier this year, the Trump medication called branches of the enactment violent entities.

El-Sayed denies immoderate ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has publically disavowed the group.

El-Sayed claims Michigan inferior DTE "buys disconnected astir each person successful our state"

When asked to springiness an illustration of a monopoly that has held powerfulness implicit an extended play of time, El-Sayed named DTE, saying, "They person raised our rates faster than successful 46 different states implicit the past 20 years. They bargain disconnected astir each person successful our state, truthful that, you know, they each look the different mode and they conscionable marque wealth manus implicit fist."

DTE and its governmental enactment committee person made extensive, publically reported contributions to Michigan politicians, including a ample bulk of authorities legislators, but 60 Minutes recovered nary grounds that DTE made improper payments successful speech for votes oregon regulatory decisions.

El-Sayed claims Rogers "made 14 cardinal bucks" aft leaving Congress

El-Sayed said "the rules of our crippled successful authorities are astir taking firm wealth to bash firm bidding and past marque wealth connected the backmost extremity of the aforesaid corporations you're regulating" and suggested his hostile has "played that game."

"He made 14 cardinal bucks and moved to Florida, bought a mansion and 2 yachts, and he's watching Donald Trump play that crippled and marque billions," El-Sayed claimed.

Financial disclosures amusement Rogers' household nett worthy roseate substantially aft helium near bureau successful 2015, to an estimated $7 cardinal to $14 cardinal oregon more, but those figures bespeak nett worth, not earnings, and 60 Minutes was incapable to verify that Rogers made $14 million.

As for the yachts, Rogers registered 2 boats successful Maryland (32 feet and 39 feet, respectively) and sold 1 earlier registering the other.

Rogers calls El-Sayed a Democratic socialist

Rogers called his hostile "a precise talented Democrat Socialist of America." While El-Sayed has campaigned with immoderate salient Democratic socialists, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, helium is not a subordinate of the Democratic Socialists of America, nor has the radical officially endorsed him.

When Douthat asked El-Sayed, "Were you ever a socialist," the campaigner responded: "No. I'm a capitalist."

Rogers says El-Sayed wants to defund the police

While expounding connected El-Sayed arsenic a Democratic socialist, Rogers said: "If you look astatine his contented set, defund the police, fto radical retired of prison, each of the things that are associated with that Democrat Socialist, large authorities — authorities taking implicit backstage wellness care, you suffer your backstage wellness insurance, that's each DSA."

It's existent that El-Sayed called for defunding the police backmost successful 2020 pursuing the sidesplitting of George Floyd successful Minneapolis. El-Sayed recently called it "a beauteous dumb and unnuanced slogan" but said "that was the speech that was happening." Most precocious portion campaigning for the Senate, El-Sayed has called for accrued backing for constabulary recruitment, retention and retirement.