Mike Rogers: Media Q&A at Detroit business luncheon

Talk to me about, I'm going to head right into what some are maybe critical of, that in terms of issues like the economy or opposition to involvement in Iran, having to get out, there are those who feel maybe you've come too late to the party on that, on those positions. What would you say to them? Why not voice these concerns earlier? So it was really important, I think, that we made sure that Iran did not get a nuclear weapon. You want to pay $8 a gallon in gas, Iran gets a nuclear weapon, controls the Straits forever, huge problem for America. So they had to make sure that that program was set back. Their Army, Navy, and Air Force is no longer in a position to hurt its neighbors, which means destabilize the region. All of that was really important to me. They did that, and then there was the entered into a phase I just didn't understand. So I looked at the facts on the ground and said, hey, it's time to wrap this up. And I do believe we can go back to a containment strategy on this. But I thought it was really, really important that Iran get a nuclear weapon. You know, my opponent and his running mate, Hassan Piker, believe it's OK for Iran to get a nuclear weapon. That's dangerous to the world, certainly dangerous to U.S. national security. The other thing I've heard people share that when it comes to tariffs and other economic policy issues, they wish you and all candidates, we'll talk more about that, versus the Hassan Piker, the absurdity that's been injected into this election, staying on point with the economics and the meat and potatoes issues versus raising all these other specters? Well, I will say that this has never been about how you pray. I wore the uniform of the United States. You get to pray any way you want, and I passionately believe that. It is about your ideology and how you think. That's very, very different. We can't let this be a campaign decide to hunker down because they're trying to say it's Islamophobic or racist or fill in the blank. That's just completely wrong. You do have to answer for your ideology. That's what happens in a campaign. Secondly, we've come out and said, hey, these Canadian tariffs aren't working for Michigan. We need to do something about it. who's the one guy that you can send back to Washington, D.C. that can actually get a meeting with the administration and work to undo some of these harmful tariffs? There's only one person in the election right now that can do it. That's me. You want that. The president's going to be here for two years. You want somebody who can go in and make sure if it's good for Michigan, I'm going to be for it. If it's bad for Michigan, I'm going to be against it. That, to me, is really, really important. So that's why we're pushing on the Iran conflict to come to an end. That's why we're pushing on these Canadian tariffs to make sure that we're in a better position going forward. What was your reaction to the campaign finance report that Abdu'l-Assad posted yesterday? $30 million. Spent $29, so we're fine. Listen, they have a high cost of raising money. We get that. It's a lot of money for sure, but we feel really good where we are. We've been working this race for over a year. Remember, we've been out talking about issues. They were talking about abolishing the police. They were talking about abolishing ICE. They were talking about Israel and Palestine. We were out talking to people about real issues, reading, housing, affordability, real costs, health care and reforms that we can do without the government taking over your private healthcare. We've had those conversations for a year. I think people underestimate the value of that time that we've spent literally with thousands of different meetings around the state. So we feel pretty good where we're at. One follow-up to what John asked. I was watching today the video that you and Christy put out after the primary where you were sitting on the couch reaching out to Democrats. And you said in that video, people are tired of the anger and divisiveness. And if you are, my campaign is for you. Come join. Do you feel like you guys are on running a divisive campaign with some of the ads you're running right now? No, I'm not sure which ones you're talking about. Facts are stubborn things in elections. We stuck to the facts. If you look at what we've been able to accomplish in the African-American community around Detroit and Pontiac and Flint, unprecedented. And it's because we've been there. We've been there more than once. We're going back. We're actually developing relationships. chips. We're not eating chips at a gas station. This is an important feature of our campaign, and it has been. We're talking about how we can help the students in Michigan learn how to read, better housing in the city. In Flint, we're going to fix the water issue. I'm just shocked that anyone after 10 years could look themselves in the mirror and know that Flint residents are paying $157 a month for water that they can't drink. Well, we're going to go back and fix those things. So those relationships are really, really important. And we're building that relationship. If you don't have your base sewn up by now, 20 days, whatever it is, 18 days out from the election, you've got problems. And we've been doing that in a way that's bringing people together. And it is a factor of his anger and divisiveness and the things he wants to abolish. Guess what? People need to know that. There hasn't been great media coverage about his past, the things he stands for, the things he wants to do, man, he got a free pass on that. So, unfortunately, sometimes you've got to talk about it on the campaign trail. I'm sure you saw the awful news yesterday out of Oregon where three kids and a teacher were shot and killed at their school. Do you think this is a conversation for meaningful gun reform? I think we have mental health issues in this country. When you talked, my wife was at her home school out in Lansing and Waverly. She asked, what's the number one problem for kids? mental health. They have three counselors that are busy literally from 8.30 in the morning to 4.30 in the afternoon, no breaks. Something's going on. We have got to get ahead of this mental health issue. When you think 30% of teenage girls have suicidal ideation, something is going on. I happen to think it's a lot to do with social media, and that would be a really good place to start to try to give our kids a little break there. But we've got to do something about mental health. You do something about mental health that's going to fix this problem. Thank you all.