LANSING — On Friday, local veterans and nurses protesting in Lansing against Trump’s Iran War slammed Mike Rogers, telling WLNS they “aren’t buying” Rogers’ eleventh-hour election pivot, who they say “just realized which way the wind’s blowing” after he was “behind everything as far as the war” from the very start of the conflict. 

This comes after new reporting from CNN’s KFILE exposed how Rogers “consistently supported President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran” from the very start of the war, calling it “long overdue,” “the best opportunity for peace in the Middle East I think I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” and “the right thing to do.” Rogers has argued for months that there “shouldn’t be a date” that the Iran war should definitively end, and said as recently as July that he supported “giving the president authority to continue” the Iran war indefinitely. 

Rogers has repeatedly dismissed Michiganders’ concerns as gas prices skyrocketed in Michigan, saying “We’re gonna be fine, we got plenty of oil,” and complaining about people who he said were “screaming and thumping their chest” over having to pay more for gas.

WATCH:

WLNS: Local Veterans Rally Against Iran War

• DUANE KLEINHARDT, VETERAN: This war has put fuel prices where you see them today. I can’t put diesel in my truck, because I can’t afford $6.79 a gallon.

• DAVID SACKRIDER, WLNS: The spike in fuel costs has led some Republicans to soften their stance on the war, including U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers. […] However, protesters here in Lansing aren’t buying it. 

• JACK TERPSTRA, VETERAN: I’d like to say that they finally got some courage, but I think they just realized which way the wind’s blowing.

• KIMBERLY BOGAN, NURSE: I’m not really buying it, at this point. It wasn’t too long ago that he was, you know, behind everything as far as the war.

• DAVID SACKRIDER, WLNS: Kimberly Bogan is an emergency room nurse from Holt. She held up a sign reminding people to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

• KIMBERLY BOGAN, NURSE: Every day I see people coming in and see exactly what every bit of policy that we legislate and the effects of this war and what they’re having on people.

• DAVID SACKRIDER, WLNS: Those impacts also felt by Jack Terpstra, even though he admits now that he’s retired he doesn’t drive much, it hurts everything from groceries to heating bills.

• JACK TERPSTRA, VETERAN: It just affects every aspect of our life. Every nook and cranny. And people gotta realize that we need more empathy. Just because it doesn’t affect me, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be concerned. 

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