LANSING — As Trump escalates his trade war with Canada and sends the state’s economy into chaos, Michiganders are reading about how Mike Rogers has “stood by the Trump administration’s policies, including on tariffs” and repeatedly dismissed their concerns about tariff price hikes.

Rogers has praised Trump’s reckless tariffs throughout his campaign, calling them “masterful” and falsely claiming they would yield “$2,000 dividend checks” for Michiganders, even as they raised costs and destroyed Michigan manufacturing jobs. Now, Rogers is refusing to speak out against Trump as he starts another trade war with Michigan’s largest trading partner—despite repeated requests for comment from Michigan Advance, Politico, Semafor, ABC, NBC and WDIV about Rogers’ continued support for Trump’s tariff regime.

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Michigan Advance: New tariffs on Canada heighten Michigan Democrats’ affordability attacks on Trump, GOP

• Michigan Democrats are taking aim at a new round of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Canada as talks between the two nations failed, with Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel saying the tariffs will “throw Michigan’s economy into chaos.”

• […] “Donald Trump is launching this trade war for his own vanity, and he’s asking Michigan families to pay the price. Michiganders were already paying over $3,200 a year for tariffs—over 50% more than the rest of the country because we share a border with Canada—and we have a president who cares more about his ego and saber-rattling than addressing the affordability crisis,” U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said in a press release. “Trump has been failing Michigan through these chaotic tariffs and bad trade deals for far too long. Mike Rogers won’t do anything but rubber stamp them.”

• El-Sayed’s U.S. Senate opponent, Mike Rogers, has stood by the Trump administration’s policies, including on tariffs, throughout his campaign, and has not commented to multiple reporters on the most recent round of tariffs. A spokesperson for Rogers’ campaign didn’t provide a direct comment on the new tariffs

MIRS: Democrats Take Sharp Turn To Tariffs

• Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis HERTEL opened a press conference alongside Senate Majority Leader Winnie BRINKS (D-Grand Rapids), Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Democratic congressional nominee Christina HINES. The lineup took turns targeting Republican opponents, pointing to their alignment with Trump policies that contribute to rising costs for Michigan families.

• Hertel focused criticisms on Rogers’ past descriptions of Trump’s tariffs as “masterful,” predicting they would yield $2,000 dividend checks for Michiganders.

• “All of that … is completely made up, and Mike Rogers knows it,” Hertel said, arguing that Michigan has lost manufacturing jobs while local businesses face decreasing profit margins.

• Hertel argued that Rogers remains “out of touch”, pointing to comments where Rogers remarked on increasing coffee prices by saying, “Oh my gosh, coffee went up. You know the horror.” Hertel framed the Senate contest as a choice between a “Trump sycophant” and El-Sayed, who he said would put Michigan first.

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