ElSayed Aide Compares Rogers' Truck Video to KKK

A staffer for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul ElSayed compared a campaign video from his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, to a Ku Klux Klan cross burning, sparking immediate backlash and a swift distancing from the ElSayed campaign. The controversy began on August 16, 2026, when Rogers posted a 17-second video of himself riding in the passenger seat of a vintage red Ford pickup truck during the Woodward Dream Cruise, a celebration of automotive culture in Michigan. The video featured two American flags on the tailgate and the song "American Ride" by Toby Keith playing in the background. Rogers captioned the post, "Gotta love this American Ride! There's no better way to do the Woodward Dream Cruise!"

Mason Pressler, a 20-year-old political manager for ElSayed in northern Michigan, responded on the social media platform X, writing, "Mike Rogers campaign has the aesthetics of a 1960s white flight suburb and a KKK cross burning." The comment drew widespread criticism online and from political opponents. The Rogers campaign quickly seized on the remark, accusing Pressler of believing that "driving a Michigan-made Ford truck is akin to the KKK." The campaign also added...