LANSING — Donald Trump arrives in Michigan tomorrow, where he has complicated the already “unruly” and “aggressive” GOP Senate primary. Mike Rogers, Peter Meijer, and Sandy Pensler are “bashing one another” as they cave to pressure, “flip their tone,” and try to cozy up to Trump after facing criticism in this “doozy” of a primary.
Here’s what you need to know about the candidates “pil[ing] on” each other over their stances on Trump:
- Rogers called out Meijer for getting “snookered.”
- Meijer bashed his opponents saying “you don’t respect somebody who is just kind of willing to debase themselves.”
- Pensler slammed Rogers for being a “hack,” saying he has “a complete lack of principles” and “does whatever benefits him.”
- Pensler released an ad hitting Rogers.
See for yourself:
Detroit News: Anti-Trump baggage could dog some Republican Senate candidates in Michigan
- As the Michigan Republican primary for U.S. Senate gets cranking, so are the attacks on candidates who have been critical of former President Donald Trump…
- Top contenders for the nomination bashing one another over their Trump stances was inevitable… that could complicate their campaigns for the party’s nomination in the Aug. 6 primary election.
- In that sense, a new TV ad bashing former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, for his past criticism of Trump is likely just the beginning.
- The ad is from businessman Sandy Pensler of Grosse Pointe Park, who in his 2018 Senate campaign said he didn’t like Trump’s personal style and that he speaks “at a fourth-grade level,” calling it a “remarkable” talent that can sometimes backfire.
- Former U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer… elicited Trump’s wrath…
- Democrats argue that the Trumpy discord in the Senate GOP contest could help them by producing a weaker candidate in the general election who will be linked to Trump’s record on everything from abortion to the “big lie” claiming he won the 2020 election.
- “As the primary gets more divisive by the day, it’s clear that their brutal infighting will leave them with a badly damaged nominee who is out-of-step with Michigan families,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said.
- Rogers said [Meijer,] the one-term congressman got “snookered…”
- “You don’t respect somebody who is just kind of willing to debase themselves,” Meijer said of those who twist into knots to win the former president’s support.
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