Democrats spent the summer defending a Senate candidate who partied poolside with a man who said America deserved 9/11.
Now one of that candidate's own staffers just handed Republicans their next attack ad.
A Ford truck with two American flags just got compared to a burning cross.
El-Sayed Staffer Compares Mike Rogers Ford Truck to KKK Cross Burning
Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers posted a video Sunday of himself riding in a red antique Ford pickup at Michigan's Woodward Dream Cruise.
Two American flags flew off the tailgate.
Toby Keith's "American Ride" played underneath.
Mason Pressler didn't see Americana.
He saw the Klan.
Pressler, who serves as Abdul El-Sayed's political manager in northern Michigan, posted on X that Rogers' campaign "has the aesthetics of a 1960s white flight suburb and a KKK cross burning."
That's what triggered the comparison from a man working to elect Michigan's next senator.
Mike Rogers Campaign Fires Back at El-Sayed Staffer Mason Pressler
Rogers' team wasted no time.
The campaign accused Pressler of believing that "driving a Michigan-made Ford truck is akin to the KKK."
Staffers added "Old Ford trucks" to their running list of things they say El-Sayed's operation hates.
El-Sayed communications director Roxie Richner tried to contain the damage, telling Fox News Digital that Pressler's views don't represent the campaign because his X bio labels his posts as personal opinion.
She never explained why a campaign staffer felt comfortable posting it in the first place.
This isn't new territory for Democrats.
A Kankakee County, Illinois Democratic Party chapter once circulated a meme comparing MAGA hats to KKK hoods, and the posts were quietly taken down soon after.
The instinct to reach for Klan imagery over ordinary conservative culture keeps resurfacing on the left, and it keeps backfiring.
Michigan Senate Poll Shows Abdul El-Sayed Trailing Mike Rogers
Pressler's truck tantrum didn't happen in a vacuum.
El-Sayed spent the final night of his primary campaign poolside with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, a man on record saying America "deserved" 9/11.
His former primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, later told Fox News that Democrats need to see El-Sayed "get rid of this Hasan Piker affiliation."
Even James Carville drew a line, telling Fox News he has "no intention of ever being in the same political party" as Piker.
El-Sayed won his primary anyway.
A brand new Fox News poll has Rogers ahead statewide.
More Michigan voters dislike El-Sayed than like him.
CNN election analyst Harry Enten said El-Sayed's four-point deficit is the weakest showing for a Democratic Senate nominee at this point in a race in the entire century.
Democrats Have Compared MAGA Symbols to KKK Imagery Before
Democrats didn't lose the "racism" word overnight.
They spent it.
Every time a red truck, a country song, or an American flag gets treated as a coded threat, the accusation gets a little cheaper and the voters who actually own that truck notice.
Michigan is full of Ford employees, UAW retirees, and small-town gearheads who see a Woodward Dream Cruise video and think "nice truck," not "cross burning."
El-Sayed is already underperforming with Black voters, women, and suburbanites compared to past Democratic nominees in the state.
Black voters in Detroit know the difference between actual Klan terror and a car show, even if El-Sayed's campaign doesn't.
A staffer publicly likening a pickup truck to Klan intimidation isn't going to win any of those voters back.
It's the kind of unforced error that turns a close race into a runaway.
Rogers didn't say a word.
His opponent's own staff said it for him, and Michigan heard every bit of it.
Sources:
- Peter D'Abrosca, "El-Sayed aide likens GOP opponent's campaign to 'KKK cross burning' over video with Ford pickup," Fox News, August 17, 2026.
- "Kankakee County Democrats Take Down Meme Comparing Trump's MAGA Hats To KKK Hoods," CBS News Chicago.
- "Poll: Mike Rogers holds narrow lead over Abdul El-Sayed in high-stakes Michigan Senate race," Jewish Insider.
- "Rogers has slight lead over El-Sayed — but there are warning signs in the US Senate race in Michigan," Blaze Media.
- "Haley Stevens urges El-Sayed to ditch Hasan Piker affiliation after Michigan primary," Fox News.
- "El Sayed disavows Hasan Piker's controversial 9/11 comments," Washington Examiner.
