Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers fired back at NBC's "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker on Sunday over his allegations about Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing Welker of defending his rival during a heated exchange about the Islamist organization.Rogers challenged Welker after she said that El-Sayed had already disavowed any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and defended her previous interview with El-Sayed in which he denied any ties to the group."No, he has not, he dismissed the question ...I don't know why you give this guy a pass," Rogers said, as the two interrupted each other.
"You are giving him a pass on something he should be accountable for."MIKE ROGERS PRESSES CNN'S DANA BASH ON WHY THE PRESS IS 'EAGER' TO DEFEND ABDUL EL-SAYEDMichigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers challenged NBC "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker about her interview with his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed.(Getty Images)Welker pressed Rogers on his own 2012 remarks, displaying a past quote where he said the U.S.
would have to "reach out to and talk to" moderate members of the Muslim Brotherhood and asking whether he acknowledged having once been willing to engage with them. Rogers accused Welker of twisting his words to defend El-Sayed rather than scrutinize his opponent's record.He explained that, as House Intelligence Committee chairman at the time, his focus was on preserving intelligence cooperation between Egypt and Israel to prevent further regional violence."What you're doing now is trying to twist this thing to defend your position for letting him lie to you," he added.The confrontation intensified when Welker pressed Rogers about President Donald Trump's characterization of El-Sayed as a violent terrorist.
Welker challenged the accusation, saying there was no evidence to support it.She also noted that El-Sayed had denied any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and publicly disavowed the organizatio...