斯特林高地，密歇根州 — — 在密歇根州备受关注的参议院竞选首场辩论前夕，迈克·罗杰斯发布了一则广告，称“我们需要现在就结束这场关税战”。两天后，他参观了一家制造设施，宣传该设施因唐纳德·特朗普总统的关税政策所获得的益处。当晚，他在高地的一个谷仓派对上被问及对加拿大的关税是对密歇根州的净收益还是净损失。“我认为总体上是积极的，”他回答道。
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — On the eve of the first debate in Michigan’s marquee Senate race, Mike Rogers released an ad saying “we need to end this tariff war now.”Two days later, he toured a manufacturing facility to tout the benefits it had seen from President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. That night, at a barn party in Highland, he was asked whether the tariffs on Canada had been a net positive or a net negative for Michigan. “I think overall positive,” he responded.
这些矛盾的信息凸显了罗杰斯 — — 密歇根州空缺参议院席位的共和党提名人 — — 在特朗普问题上所走的钢丝绳。在这个摇摆州，特朗普是一个复杂的人物，他的一些政策已被证明不受欢迎。
The mixed messages capture the tightrope that Rogers, the Republican nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, has walked when it comes to Trump. In this battleground state, the president is a complicated figure, and some of his policies have proved unpopular.
罗杰斯方面则认为，他对特朗普的态度是具体问题具体分析的。“如果这对密歇根州有利，我就会为之奋斗。如果这对密歇根州不利，我就会与总统以及我在参议院的朋友们合作，说我们必须改变无论那是什么，”他在谷仓派对外对记者这样说道。
Rogers, for his part, has argued that his approach to Trump is determined on a case-by-case basis. “If it’s good for Michigan, I’ll be fighting for it. If it’s bad for Michigan, I’ll be working with the president and my friends in the Senate to say we’ve got to change whatever that might be,” he told reporters outside the barn party.
这种做法源于密歇根州的摇摆政治。2024年，特朗普以1.4个百分点的优势赢得了该州。同年，罗杰斯在参议院竞选中以0.34个百分点之差败给了当时的众议员埃莉萨·斯洛特金。
It’s an approach shaped by Michigan’s purple politics. In 2024, Trump carried the state by 1.4 percentage points. That same year, Rogers lost his Senate race to then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin by 0.34 percentage points.
自那以后，特朗普在该州的支持率一直处于低位。根据米切尔研究与传播公司为当地电视台进行的一项民意调查，特朗普在可能的密歇根州选民中的批准率约为42%。这使得特朗普可能的访问对罗杰斯来说变得棘手。
Trump’s standing in the state has been underwater since then. The president’s approval rating among likely Michigan voters is about 42%, according to a poll conducted by Mitchell Research & Communications for local television stations. That’s what makes a possible Trump visit so tricky for Rogers.
上周，特朗普对记者说，“我将在大约一周半后前往密歇根州。”几天后来，被问及总统访问时，密歇根州共和党众议员丽莎·麦克莱恩表示，“可能要保持第25天空闲。”目前尚未正式宣布任何访问安排。特朗普可能会到访。罗杰斯可能不会。
Last week, Trump told reporters, “I’m going to Michigan in about a week and a half.”Days later, asked about a presidential visit, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., said to “possibly keep the 25th open.”No visit has been formally announced. Trump may show up. Rogers may not.
在上周末的辩论后，MS NOW 询问罗杰斯是否希望特朗普在密歇根州竞选，以及是否会与他同台。他只回答了第一个问题。
In the spin room after last week’s debate, MS NOW asked Rogers whether he wanted Trump to campaign in Michigan and whether he would appear with him. He answered only the first question.
“会的，他会受到欢迎——我很想让他跟那些人交谈并让他们振奋人心，”罗杰斯说，随后他将帮助樱桃种植者和汽车制造商的增长归功于关税，并赞扬特朗普的“无所得税”政策。
“Yes, he’d be welcome — I’d love to have him talk to those people and get them fired up,” Rogers said, after crediting tariffs with helping cherry farmers and automakers and praising Trump’s no-tax-on-tips policy.
当被追问是否会与特朗普同台时，罗杰斯转移到下一个问题。他曾在七月参加过总统的集会。即便是罗杰斯的支持者也对特朗普是否应该出席意见不一。
When he was pressed on whether he would appear alongside Trump, Rogers moved on to the next question. He attended a rally with the president in July. Even Rogers’ supporters are split on whether Trump should come.
来自农场的老板鲍勃·霍夫曼主持了谷仓派对，他说特朗普的到访不会有帮助。
Bob Hoffman, the farmer who hosted the barn party on his property, said a Trump visit wouldn’t help.
“[特朗普的] 批准率太低，我认为迈克·罗杰斯必须强调他首先代表密歇根州，其次才是共和党，”霍夫曼说。他希望罗杰斯在关税、燃油成本和移民问题上与总统保持距离。
“[Trump’s] approval rating is so low, Mike Rogers has to, I believe, emphasize that he represents the state of Michigan first, and maybe the Republican Party second,” Hoffman said. He wants Rogers to separate himself from the president on tariffs, fuel costs and immigration.
来自Commerce Township 的66岁居民林达·布兰迪斯则持不同看法。她形容罗杰斯在与总统的关系中“谨慎”，并称其为“自己人”。但关于两人是否应同台竞选时，她说“总是有帮助”。
Linda Brandis, a 66-year-old resident of Commerce Township, sees it differently. She described Rogers as “cautious” in his relationship with the president and “his own man.”But on whether the two should campaign together, she said “it always helps.”
“特朗普集会无可匹敌，纯粹充满爱，”布兰迪斯说。“所以对，我觉得这不会有坏处。”罗杰斯的民主党对手阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德认为特朗普应该来，但他只认为这对自己有利，而非对罗杰斯有利。
“There is nothing like a Trump rally. It is just pure love,” Brandis said. “So yeah, I think it can’t hurt.”Abdul El-Sayed, Rogers’ Democratic opponent, agrees that Trump should come. He just thinks it will help him, not Rogers.
埃尔-赛义德的“这不该这么难”的巴士之旅让他来到了埃斯卡巴达，在保守的上半岛地区，他在市政厅上嘲弄总统。
El-Sayed’s “it shouldn’t be this hard” bus tour took him to Escanaba, in the conservative Upper Peninsula where he taunted the president at a town hall.
“特朗普正考虑来密歇根州，”他对人群说。“特朗普将会来，提醒大家特朗普在选票上。特朗普，来吧。告诉密歇根州的所有人，你在选票上。你的——关税战在选票上。你愚蠢的对伊朗战争在选票上。你的医疗补助削减在选票上。”与此同时，罗杰斯已经挑选了与特朗普决裂的时机。在辩论中，罗杰斯表示，明尼苏达州今年移民和海关执法局的行动“可能不合适”。
“Donald is thinking about coming to Michigan,” he told the crowd. “Donald is going to come and remind everybody that Donald is on the ballot. Donald, come. Tell everybody in Michigan that you are on the ballot. Your s––– tariff war is on the ballot. Your dumbass war with Iran is on the ballot. Your Medicaid cuts are on the ballot.”Rogers, meanwhile, has picked his spots to break with Trump. At the debate, Rogers said that efforts from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota this year were “probably not appropriate.”
在此次行动中，联邦特工杀死了两名平民。辩论次日，在谷仓派对上，罗杰斯表示他不同意特朗普从俄罗斯获取柴油的协议。但每当罗杰斯远离特朗普一步，他又会朝特朗普靠近一步。
During that crackdown, federal agents killed two civilians. A day after the debate, at the barn party, Rogers said he disagreed with Trump’s deal to obtain diesel from Russia. But for every step away from Trump, Rogers has taken another back toward him.
辩论次日，特朗普在Truth Social上攻击埃尔-赛义德，称其为“穆罕默德”（其中国名），并称其为“憎恨我们国家的圣战狂人”。民主党人指责总统对埃尔-赛义德使用伊斯兰恐惧症语言——如果当选，埃尔-赛义德将成为参议院首位穆斯林成员。
The day after the debate, Trump slammed El-Sayed on Truth Social referring to him by his middle name, Mohamed, and labeling him “a Jihadist lunatic who hates our Country.”Democrats accused the president of using Islamophobic language against El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim member of the Senate if elected.
MS NOW询问罗杰斯这种言论是否已经过火时，罗杰斯回避了直接批评。
Asked by MS NOW if the rhetoric had gone too far, Rogers stopped short of criticizing it.
“我不能挑选这个人的中间名——那是他的合法中间名，”他说。“我的观点是，也许他的中间名，我们应该改成‘那个大政府社会主义者’。”再被追问时，他说，“我不代表总统发言”，随后转而谈起他争取穆斯林选民的努力。这并不是罗杰斯第一次对特朗普持宽容态度。
“I can’t pick the guy’s middle name — that’s his legal middle name,” he said. “My argument is maybe his middle name, we should change it to ‘that big-government socialist.’”Pressed further, he said, “I won’t speak for the president,” then pivoted to his efforts to court Muslim voters. It wasn’t the first time Rogers had given Trump the benefit of the doubt.
今年夏天，特朗普发表关于选举诚信的演讲后，罗杰斯写道，他“对特朗普总统对透明度的承诺表示感激”。这是罗杰斯的一项显著表态。他是众议院情报委员会前主席，并在2020年大选后强烈反驳了特朗普关于选举舞弊的虚假说法。
This summer, after Trump gave a speech on election integrity, Rogers wrote on that he was “thankful for President Trump’s commitment to transparency.”That was a notable statement from Rogers. He is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and he strongly pushed back on Trump’s false claims of election fraud after the 2020 election.
调子的变化反映了罗杰斯面临的基本现实。当他在2015年离开国会时，特朗普尚未发起他的第一次总统竞选。如今，特朗普已成为共和党的面孔。
The change of tune reflects a basic reality for Rogers. When he left Congress in 2015, Trump had not yet launched his first presidential campaign. Now, Trump is the face of the Republican Party.
在谷仓派对之外，MS NOW询问罗杰斯自上次在华盛顿以来，什么变化最大。他没有提到特朗普。相反，他提到了他所获得的网络安全经验以及华盛顿日益加剧的党派斗争。
Outside the barn party, Rogers was asked by MS NOW what had changed most since he was last in Washington. He didn’t mention Trump. Instead, he cited the cybersecurity experience he had gained and the increased partisanship in Washington.
当被追问特朗普时，他通过将自己与密歇根州的两位民主党参议员进行对比，重新回到了钢丝上。
When he was pressed on Trump, he got back on the tightrope by contrasting himself with Michigan’s two Democratic senators.
“我认为我们可以回去，就密歇根州需要什么与总统进行对话——如今，我们没有这种情况，”罗杰斯说。“我们有两个人，每天早上起床就去捅他们的眼睛，而且迫不及待要这么做。”
“I think we can go back and have a conversation with the president about what Michigan needs — right now, we don’t have that,” Rogers said. “We have two people that get up every morning and stab them in the eye, and can’t wait to do it.”
“我的论点是，为什么我们不派一个人回去说，‘嘿，总统先生，这对我们不好，这对我们真的很好，你能做到吗？’”他补充道。“我们现在没有这一点。超过二十五年来我们一直没有这一点。所以我的论点是，这就是机会。”随后，他完全把特朗普抛在脑后。
“My argument is, why don’t we send one person back to say, ‘hey, Mr. President, this is bad for us, this is really good for us, can you do this?” he added. “We don’t have that now. We haven’t had it in over a quarter century. So my argument is, this is the chance.”Then he looked past Trump altogether.
“我们只——他将在那里待两年，然后他就走了，”罗杰斯说。“这是一个六年任期。”《“他将在那里待两年，然后他就走了”：迈克·罗杰斯在特朗普问题上的钢丝之舞 MS NOW》
“We only — he’s going to be there two years, and then he’s gone,” Rogers said. “This is a six-year term.”The post‘He’s going to be there 2 years, and then he’s gone’: Mike Rogers’ Trump tightrope MS NOW