LANSING — According to new reporting from The Bulwark, Mike Rogers’ comments dismissing and downplaying the skyrocketing gas prices in Michigan has left DC Republicans “concerned” that rising prices at the gas pump could cost them their Senate majority.
During a campaign event in March, Rogers told a Michigander concerned about rising gas prices “We’re gonna be fine, we got plenty of oil.” Last Thursday, Rogers addressed the issue again, finally acknowledging that “high prices of anything hurt people in Michigan,” but argued that “most Americans are there” with him and believe the higher prices are worth it.
As The Bulwark points out, Rogers sang a different tune in 2024, when he said “I’m not sure we can survive $3.99 a gallon going forward.” Now, with gas prices nearing $5 a gallon in Michigan under Trump, Rogers says Michiganders are “fine” paying more.
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(Photo illustration by The Bulwark / Photos: Getty, Shutterstock)
The Bulwark: As Gas Prices Go Up, Senate GOP Candidates Pipe Down
- At the onset of the Trump administration’s unilateral military action (war) against Iran, gas prices in the United States skyrocketed, which immediately spooked Republicans concerned with holding on to their Senate majority. In the two months since the opening of hostilities, prices have fluctuated in some states while continuing to climb in others, with those around the Great Lakes seeing particularly challenging increases.
- “We’re gonna be fine, we got plenty of oil,” Mike Rogers, a Republican candidate for Senate in Michigan, said in March. “You’ll get your oil, because we’re going to pump our oil right here in America, and we got plenty.”
- Six weeks later, though, GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan reported gas prices leaping upward in several middle-American states. In Rogers’s Michigan, they went up 88 cents. In Ohio, they climbed 94 cents. In Wisconsin, 33 cents. And in Indiana, prices grew by a calamitous dollar and nine cents.
- On Thursday, Rogers addressed the issue once again. When Newsmax host Ed Henry asked the candidate, “Are you nervous . . . about these stubbornly high gas prices?” Rogers finally acknowledged the reality of higher costs at the pump:
- “Listen, high prices of anything hurt people in Michigan. . . . Iran is about stopping their nuclear program, stopping their ballistic missile program so they can’t hurt others. I think most Americans are there […]”
- Well, Rogers sure doesn’t trust Democrats on affordability, at least. That might be why he framed the situation so differently when gas prices surged to four dollars per gallon during the Joe Biden administration.
- “I’m not sure we can survive $3.99 a gallon going forward,” Rogers said in a 2024 video campaigning against Democrat Elissa Slotkin.
- The national average price per gallon now sits at just under $4.50 per gallon, according to AAA. In Rogers’s Michigan, it’s over $4.80 per gallon.
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