Busted: Republican called out by powerful union after false claim of invitation snub

Pro-Trump Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers claimed that one of the most important labor unions in the state snubbed him for one of their key events, rather than the other way around — but the union had the receipts proving otherwise.

On Wednesday morning, Detroit News Washington bureau chief Melissa Nann Burke reported, the United Auto Workers "save[d] a seat on stage at this Michigan US Senate forum in DC for Mike Rogers 'in case he shows up.' Rogers told me this week he's not attending." Specifically, she continued, "Rogers' team says UAW never had any convos w/ them. They learned about the event from UAW social media post last week and Rogers had other commitments today by then."

UAW's official X account, however, says that's not what happened.

"The UAW invited Mike Rogers the same day we invited everyone else: December 19, 2025," said the account, posting the letter they sent him on that date. "His campaign chose not respond."

This comes as Rogers, a former congressman and the favorite to get the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race, has endured a number of other controversies.

For instance, he has faced repeated accusations that he secretly lives in Florida, rather than Michigan, and is running his campaign from his mansion in Cape Coral. He has also come under fire for backing President Donald Trump's threats to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario in Canada, which suspiciously came just as a billionaire who controls the only other bridge in the area met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

On the Democratic side, the primary has become a fiercely contested three-way race between Congresswoman Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed.