Nicolai Haugsted
Mike Rogers challenged over campaign pastor who backed convicted former church leader.
Questions about who surrounds a political candidate can become almost as uncomfortable as questions about the candidate himself.
Mike Rogers found himself dealing with exactly that problem Wednesday, as reporters pressed the Republican candidate for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat about a pastor involved with his campaign’s faith outreach and connected to a church network rocked by child sexual abuse convictions.
Rather than directly addressing whether pastor Brian Ford still has a role on his Faith Leadership Coalition, Rogers repeatedly shifted attention toward Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed and controversial streamer Hasan Piker.
Reporting on the controversy stretches back months. Ford has faced scrutiny over his support for former pastor James Randolph, who was convicted in a child sexual abuse case connected to the Living Word Church network. Three church leaders have been convicted of sex crimes involving children.
Reporters wanted an answer about Brian Ford
Rogers was appearing in Saginaw to receive an endorsement from Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel when questions turned toward his campaign’s Faith Leadership Coalition.
Two pastors associated with the coalition have faced scrutiny over connections to Living Word.
Ford, pastor of Living Word Church in Ludington, attended Randolph’s trial in support of the former pastor and has remained associated with Rogers’ faith team, according to reporting cited by the Michigan Democratic Party and a report summarizing Wednesday’s exchange.
Another coalition member, Tim Cross, previously stepped away after acknowledging that he initially did not believe victims who accused church leaders of abuse.
Reporters specifically asked Rogers about Ford.
Rogers responded by pointing toward Piker, a left-wing political streamer who has been associated with El-Sayed.
“This is a guy that came to our students and preaching that we deserved 9/11, that’s a story,” Rogers said according to Rawstory.
Rogers has repeatedly sought to make Piker an issue in the Michigan Senate campaign. El-Sayed has said that nobody other than himself and official campaign spokespeople speaks for his campaign.
Rogers was pressed again
Questions about Ford did not disappear after Rogers changed subjects.
Reporters returned to the two pastors and asked about their involvement with the campaign.
“Our volunteers, the people that volunteer for us, one of those folks have stepped away from his volunteer work, someone is still in the faith volunteer work, we think the most important part here is about who is stepping up and who is surrogates,” Rogers said.
His answer acknowledged that one person remained involved in faith-related volunteer work but did not directly clarify Ford’s current status.
Previous reporting had already identified Ford as remaining on Rogers’ campaign leadership team months after the controversy became public.
Ford could not be reached for comment by ABC 12, according to the account of Wednesday’s event.
Rogers turned the spotlight toward El-Sayed
Rogers’ pivot toward Piker fits into a broader and increasingly combative general-election campaign against El-Sayed.
Piker has generated controversy over remarks about 9/11 and comments involving Jewish Americans and Israel. Rogers has repeatedly used El-Sayed’s association with the streamer against his opponent.
Questions have also emerged over some of Rogers’ own characterizations of El-Sayed.
The Guardian reported in September that Rogers had falsely suggested El-Sayed himself said the United States deserved the September 11 attacks. Congressional records also show Rogers voted twice against legislation providing health care and other benefits to 9/11 first responders and survivors during his previous congressional career.
Separate fact-checking has challenged other attacks in the race. Bridge Michigan found no evidence supporting Rogers’ claim that El-Sayed had “pledged his support to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
El-Sayed has faced scrutiny of his own over his relationship with Piker and has sought to establish limits around who represents his campaign.
“But I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed said in August.
Democratic sheriff crosses party lines
Wednesday’s event also carried another political subplot.
Federspiel is a registered Democrat, yet the Saginaw County sheriff used the appearance to throw his support behind Republican Rogers.
Local Democrats were unimpressed.
Saginaw County Democratic Party Chair Brandell Adams described Federspiel as “a Democrat in name” and pointed toward his history of supporting Republican candidates, including Tudor Dixon during her unsuccessful 2022 campaign for Michigan governor.
Federspiel rejected the idea that party affiliation should determine his endorsement.
“I am not loyal to a party just because of a party. I have worked with the feds, I know Mike was an FBI agent, I like what he is proposing, to help me to help my citizens. I am going to support that and I have chosen people from the other party occasionally, and it’s not to stick in the eye of Democrats, there are good people who are in both parties,” Federspiel said.
Midland County Sheriff Scott Holzinger, a Republican, also endorsed Rogers on Wednesday.
