First appearance on Fox: The Republican Senate primary in the battleground state of Michigan is the second time a wealthy investor has poured money into a massive state-wide advertising campaign aimed at front-runners in the race backed by former President Trump. He is running for president, and the battle is fierce..
And a new campaign commercial by businessman Sandy Pensler aired across Michigan on Monday, praising former Rep. Mike Rogers as part of a House investigation into the deaths of a U.S. ambassador and three other people a decade ago. He is criticizing his service as committee chairman. Other Americans who took part in the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The ad, first shared on Fox News on Monday, is the latest by a deep-pocketed entrepreneur to put his own money behind his Senate bid. The spot is part of what the Pensler campaign claims is a seven-figure ad buy across broadcast, cable and digital.
Mr. Rogers, a former FBI special agent before joining Congress, is backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. And in March, Mr. Rogers won the endorsement of Mr. Trump, the party’s presidential nominee. Rogers teamed up with the former president twice last month at Trump campaign events in the key battleground state of the Great Lakes.
Trump-backed candidates aim to flip Democratic seats in key Senate battlegrounds
Former President Trump listens to a speech by Michigan Senate candidate and former Congressman Mike Rogers at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, on May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia)
In addition to Mr. Rogers and Mr. Pensler, the crowded Republican primary field also includes former Rep. Justin Amash. The final Republican nominee will likely face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in November to replace Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is not seeking re-election this year.
The seat is one of a handful of seats Republicans aim to flip from blue to red in November, hoping to regain the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle.
The 30-second ad claims that Mr. Rogers helped Hillary Clinton hide key facts about the Benghazi attack. Clinton was secretary of state in then-President Obama’s administration at the time of the attack, which killed Christopher Stevens, the ambassador to Libya, Sean Smith, a U.S. Foreign Service official, and two CIA contractors.
The narrator of Penzler’s spot called the attack “Hillary Clinton’s worst scandal” and accused “Mike Rogers of helping Hillary cover up.”
What happened during and after the 2012 Benghazi attack?
The ad includes a video clip of former Army Ranger Chris Paronto, who was one of several CIA contract guards protecting the consulate during the attack. Paronto and his fellow Guardsmen said in their book that they were instructed by CIA and State Department officials to wait for 20 minutes while the attack unfolded.
“I looked Mike Rogers in the eye and said if I hadn’t delayed, I could have saved the ambassador’s life,” Paronto said in the video.
A narrator at the scene said, “Rogers called our soldiers liars.”
An audio clip can then be heard of Rodgers saying, “It’s all nonsense. What they said back then didn’t happen.”
Report from a highly polarized political party House of Representatives Standing Special Committee on Intelligence Investigations The Benghazi coverage spotlighted bureaucratic and interagency mismanagement that contributed to the deaths of Americans, but did not specifically blame Clinton or other U.S. officials.
“The actions of the Obama administration’s White House and State Department before, during, and after the September 11, 2012 Benghazi terrorist attacks ranged from incompetence to deplorable political manipulation in the midst of election season,” Rogers said in an op-ed. “It will span,” he said. After publication of the report.
This is Pensler’s second commercial in a week. The previous ad, which ran as Mr. Rogers joined Mr. Trump at a rally in Michigan, featured Rashida, the Michigan Democrat, criticizing the far-left “Squad” congressman’s controversial comments about the war between the two countries.・It was targeted at Mr. Slotkin, who did not condemn Congressman Tlaib. Israel and Hamas.
“Rashida and Elissa, you have no moral compass,” Pensler says in the ad. “You are a disgrace to Michigan and America.”
Republicans aim to flip six key Senate seats in November
Republicans seeking to win Michigan’s first Senate race in 30 years are avoiding costly and potentially explosive primaries, especially since Mr. Slotkin faces little challenge for the Democratic nomination. I was thinking about it.
Former Congressman Peter Meyer recently ended his campaign, and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig withdrew from the race in February.
But Pensler has vowed to run ads all the way through the Aug. 6 primary.
Entrepreneur and investor Sandy Pensler is seeking the Republican Senate nomination for the second time in the key battleground state of Michigan.
“He’s going to spend a lot of money,” Stu Sandler, a senior adviser to Pensler’s campaign, told Fox News. “We will continue to broadcast.”
NRSC spokesman Mike Berg said the committee “will do whatever it takes” to ensure Mr. Rogers is the party’s nominee.
Additionally, NRSC Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (Montana) said at a recent Christian Science Monitor breakfast in the nation’s capital that “Trump’s endorsement of Mike Rogers will lead to a loss in the primary.” I think the agreement is now really certain.”
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But “Michigan voters will decide this,” said Sandler, who served as the NRSC’s political director during the last term when Florida Sen. Rick Scott ran the committee.
The NRSC’s no-participation policy in the 2022 cycle’s Republican Senate primaries has been blamed by many for a small number of divisive primaries that could lead to the party regaining the Senate majority. Critics point out that this was a contributing factor to the company’s failure.
This cycle, Daines and the NRSC have been pragmatic in elevating candidates and largely avoiding a messy primary.
As for Trump, the Pensler campaign claims the candidate is a major supporter of the former president.
Pensler is running for the Republican nomination for the Michigan Senate for the second time. He lost his 2018 candidacy to the current congressman. John James ran an ad attacking Penzler for accusing James of criticizing Trump “behind closed doors.”
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