President Donald Trump falsely claimed in an interview released Friday that the 2024 Michigan U.S. Senate race was stolen from his endorsed candidate, adding yet another election to his years-long list of alleged Democratic conspiracies — even as his own approval rating sits at 39% and the 2026 midterms loom.
Trump made the comments while speaking with Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman, who pressed the president on his endorsement record after noting that former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican whom Trump has backed for the 2026 Senate race, lost his 2024 Senate bid. Rather than acknowledge the defeat, Trump insisted the race had been manipulated against his pick.
“I happen to think he won,” Trump said, before elaborating that he believed Rogers had been cheated out of victory.
A Familiar Playbook on Losing Races
Rogers lost his 2024 Senate contest against then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, by around 30,000 votes. Trump’s claim that the race was manipulated has no basis in evidence, but it fits a pattern the president has maintained for six years, dating back to his repeated and unfounded assertions that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
When Sherman pointed out the loss, Trump did not back down, insisting the race was rigged and calling Rogers a very good candidate who should do well based on polling.
Trump said that attributing Republican defeats to cheating rather than voter preference has become a consistent feature of his political brand, and that he has repeatedly floated the idea of running for a third presidential term in 2028 as compensation for the “rigged” 2020 proceedings.
Rogers Eyes a Rematch With a New Opponent
Despite the 2024 loss, Rogers is back on the campaign trail and now faces a markedly different Democratic opponent heading into the 2026 race. Abdul El-Sayed — whose full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed — clinched the Democratic nomination after defeating Michigan establishment Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens in the primaries last week. El-Sayed is a progressive candidate.
Trump wasted little time making El-Sayed’s name a political talking point, mocking it during the Punchbowl News interview in a way that El-Sayed and others have flagged as a deliberate effort to weaponize his Muslim heritage. El-Sayed has suggested that his political opponents, Rogers included, appear to be using his name as a racist dog whistle. Trump, for his part, referred to the candidate as “Abdullah” and argued that Rogers polls better against El-Sayed than he did against Stevens.
Trump did not address El-Sayed’s concerns about the nature of that framing.
Sagging Numbers and a Familiar Deflection
The interview came at a turbulent moment for Trump’s political standing. The latest poll from Fox News has placed his job approval rating at 39%, a figure that reflects growing dissatisfaction even among working-class voters without college degrees — a core constituency that powered his 2024 re-election. Those voters have now joined their college-educated counterparts in disapproving of his performance.
When asked about the dismal numbers earlier this week, Trump said he didn’t know why the numbers were low, suggesting voters were angry at Republicans but not at him. The response drew attention for its attempt to separate Trump’s personal brand from the broader Republican Party at a moment when both appear to be struggling with voters.
Stakes Rise for Michigan’s 2026 Senate Seat
Michigan is shaping up to be a closely watched Senate contest of the 2026 cycle. Trump’s decision to re-endorse Rogers — and to retroactively cast the 2024 loss as the product of fraud rather than a legitimate defeat — signals how much weight the president is placing on flipping the seat this time around.
Whether that strategy proves effective may depend in part on whether voters in Michigan are persuaded by Trump’s endorsement or by the broader political environment. Rogers will need to outperform his 2024 showing by a substantial margin to win, and doing so while the president who backs him sits at 39% approval presents its own set of challenges — regardless of how Trump characterizes what happened two years ago.