Fox News Caught Passing Off Rogers Campaign Backers as 'Bipartisan' Voter Panel Four of Lara Trump's five Fox voter panelists appeared at Mike Rogers campaign events. One also serves as treasurer of a multimillion-dollar pro-Rogers super PAC. Brett Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Oct 31 Just days before the midterms, Lara Trump presented Fox News viewers with what the network billed as a bipartisan panel of Michigan voters. So the president’s daughter-in-law gathered five people at a waterfront restaurant in Detroit for a discussion about the race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. They talked about socialism, immigration, the economy and why some traditional Democratic voters were turning away from their party. Fox News identified each participant with a simple description: “MICHIGAN VOTER.” During the segment, the network even displayed a chyron declaring: “BIPARTISAN VOTER PANEL SHARES UNIFYING MESSAGE.” There was just one rather glaring omission. Four of the five panelists had appeared at official Mike Rogers campaign events, where they publicly endorsed the Republican and urged voters to support him. Their endorsements were published on Rogers’ own campaign website. A fifth had previously expressed support for Rogers on national television. And one of the supposed ordinary voters had an even more significant connection: She was the treasurer of a super PAC that had raised more than $5.7 million and spent millions supporting Rogers and opposing El-Sayed. Fox did not disclose that four panelists had already appeared at Rogers campaign events, nor did it identify Whitsett's leadership role in a multimillion-dollar pro-Rogers super PAC. The findings by MeidasTouch reveal a significant gap between how Fox presented the panel and the participants’ documented political activities. The panel’s political connections were first flagged by MeidasTouch senior digital editor Acyn Torabi, who noticed that Fox had identified outgoing Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett simply as a “Michigan Voter.” His findings prompted a closer examination of the other panelists, revealing that four of the five had been featured in Rogers’ own campaign materials. The group was not simply composed of Michigan residents who happened to hold opinions about the candidates. Four of the five had already appeared at official Rogers campaign events and were featured in his campaign’s promotional materials. One also held a formal leadership position in a multimillion-dollar political spending operation supporting his election. Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, President Donald Trump’s son, and served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee during the 2024 presidential campaign, began her program by warning viewers that Democrats were willing to resort to new tactics to confuse the electorate. Then came the voter panel. Four ‘Voters.’ Two Rogers Campaign Events. The connections begin with an August 20 press conference outside a Detroit home. Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee, had arrived to announce a new political initiative called “Democrats for Mike Rogers,” an effort designed to attract voters dissatisfied with El-Sayed’s nomination. Standing alongside him were outgoing Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett, Rabbi Asher Lopatin and West Bloomfield resident Chelsea Rebeck. All three delivered public endorsements of Rogers. Source: Rogers for Senate Website The event took place at the home of Whitsett’s mother-in-law, just a few doors down from where the lawmaker lived. Whitsett praised Rogers for engaging with Detroit residents and criticized El-Sayed’s healthcare policies. Lopatin, who described himself as a frequent Democratic voter, attacked El-Sayed’s positions concerning Israel and urged others to support Rogers. Rebeck described herself as a lifelong Democrat who had voted for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Elissa Slotkin, but was now supporting the Republican. The endorsements were not delivered behind closed doors. They were made at an organized campaign event, photographed and covered by local news outlets. Rogers’ own campaign published the participants’ remarks in a press release celebrating the new coalition. And they weren’t the only members of Fox’s voter panel who had appeared alongside Rogers on the campaign trail. Another participant, Mark Gjokaj, spoke at a separate Rogers campaign event in September, where he explicitly urged Michigan residents to vote for the Republican. His endorsement was also published on Rogers’ official campaign website. By October 31, all four had appeared together on Lara Trump's Fox News program, this time identified simply as Michigan voters. Whitsett’s on-screen identification read: “KAREN WHITSETT | MICHIGAN VOTER.” Lopatin was labeled: “RABBI ASHER LOPATIN | MICHIGAN VOTER.” Rebeck received the same treatment: “CHELSEA REBECK | MICHIGAN VOTER.” No mention of the campaign event. No mention of the endorsements. And no explanation that these three participants had already appeared together as part of an organized political effort supporting one of the candidates they were discussing. Instead, viewers were presented with what Fox called a bipartisan voter panel. The participants were indeed Michigan voters. But they were also publicly documented Rogers supporters, a distinction that gave their television appearances a different context than the one supplied by Fox. The $5.7 Million Detail Fox Left Out Whitsett’s involvement is especially consequential. The outgoing Michigan lawmaker was not merely someone who had endorsed Rogers at a campaign event. According to Federal Election Commission filings, Whitsett serves as treasurer of TFM, an independent-expenditure-only political committee, commonly known as a super PAC, supporting Rogers’ election. The organization was originally registered under the name “Democrats for Mike Rogers.” It later changed its name to “Together for Michigan,” before shortening it to TFM. Federal regulators had raised questions about the committee’s use of a candidate’s name, prompting correspondence regarding its designation. As of its latest financial reporting period, ending October 14, the organization had reported approximately $5.72 million in total receipts and $4.66 million in independent expenditures. The filings show that $4.875 million of its receipts came from other political committees, while approximately $684,000 came from individual contributors. The organization’s spending was directed at influencing the same Michigan Senate election being discussed on Lara Trump’s program. As treasurer, Whitsett is the official responsible for the committee’s financial reporting to federal regulators. That is a substantially different role from simply being a member of the public who supports Rogers. Federal law requires super PACs to operate independently from candidates’ campaigns, and the available evidence does not establish any unlawful coordination between TFM and Rogers. But Whitsett’s position was directly relevant to viewers assessing her comments about the race. She was simultaneously a public endorser of Rogers and a named officer of a multimillion-dollar political organization working to help elect him. Fox News disclosed neither affiliation. The financial operation had already attracted outside scrutiny. Previous reporting examined the Republican-aligned funding behind the group and how its Democratic branding was being used to promote crossover support for Rogers. Yet on Lara Trump’s show, the woman who served as the organization’s treasurer was introduced simply as a Michigan voter. Whitsett’s appearance also drew criticism from Michigan Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie, who identified her as the state lawmaker he held primarily responsible for the failure to pass the Michigan Voting Rights Act during the 2024 lame-duck legislative session. The ‘Lifelong Democrat’ Already Featured on Rogers’ Website Chelsea Rebeck offered another example of how the panel’s presentation obscured relevant background. During the broadcast, Rebeck described herself as a lifelong Democrat who had become alienated from her party’s nominee. She criticized El-Sayed’s politics and discussed why she could not support him. Her explanation closely tracked the message she had delivered at the August Rogers campaign event. At that gathering, Rebeck explained her previous support for Democratic candidates before announcing that she was voting for Rogers. The campaign subsequently published her remarks on its website. There was no mystery about her preferred candidate. On Fox, however, Rebeck’s campaign appearance was never identified. Later in the discussion, she said virtually everyone in her immediate community was supporting Rogers, while acknowledging that her social circle might not reflect Michigan as a whole. Her comments were offered as part of a broader conversation about voter sentiment. What audiences were not told was that Rebeck had already been featured in organized campaign messaging designed to demonstrate that Democrats were abandoning their nominee. Rabbi Lopatin’s appearance raised similar questions. He had also publicly endorsed Rogers at the August event, criticizing El-Sayed and encouraging others to vote Republican. During the Fox discussion, Lopatin expressed reservations about El-Sayed’s approach to Israel and the Jewish community. He also criticized some Republican positions, including aspects of immigration enforcement, and argued that Rogers should demonstrate independence from President Trump. Those remarks demonstrate that the panelists were not necessarily uniform in their political views. But Lopatin’s publicly documented endorsement remained relevant context. Fox did not disclose it. And the network itself had previously reported on the Democrats for Rogers coalition, making the omission particularly notable. The Conservative YouTuber Who Was Already Backing Rogers Another panelist, Anton Daniels, was hardly new to political commentary. The Detroit-area YouTube personality has developed an online following through discussions about politics, business and culture, frequently criticizing Democrats and defending conservative positions. His social media history includes a February 2025 Instagram post attacking Democratic lawmakers and questioning why voters remained loyal to the party. He had also appeared on Fox News in previous political discussions. Days before Saturday’s broadcast, Daniels appeared on NewsNation’s Cuomo and expressed his support for Rogers. On Lara Trump’s program, he criticized the assumption that Black voters should automatically support Democrats, arguing that voters should make independent decisions based on their interests. He also spoke favorably about Rogers. Fox’s chyron identified him as “ANTON DANIELS | MICHIGAN VOTER.” There is no evidence that Daniels held a formal position with the Rogers campaign or participated in its August coalition event. But his history as a conservative commentator, previous television appearances and publicly expressed preference for Rogers provided relevant political context that was absent from his on-screen identification. Another Rogers Campaign Speaker Disguised by a Generic Voter Label The fifth panelist, Mark Gjokaj, provided yet another direct connection to the Rogers campaign. Fox News introduced Gjokaj as a Michigan voter, with an additional graphic describing him as an Albanian American concerned about socialism in the United States. What the network didn’t mention was that Gjokaj had appeared alongside Rogers at a September 23 campaign press conference in Detroit, where he urged Michigan residents to vote for the Republican. Rogers’ campaign published Gjokaj’s remarks on its official website, including his account of his family’s experience fleeing communism in Albania. His message ended with an unmistakable endorsement: “And we have to vote for Mike Rogers.” During the Fox discussion, Gjokaj again addressed the dangers of socialism. When Lara Trump asked about voter turnout, he also described himself as an “elect delegate” and discussed efforts involving phone banking and door knocking. His precise delegate affiliation remains unverified. The candidate’s own website establishes that Gjokaj had participated in an official campaign event and publicly urged voters to support him. That brings the number of Fox panelists who appeared at Rogers campaign events to four out of five. And all four were introduced to viewers simply as Michigan voters. The ‘Bipartisan’ Branding The panel’s presentation was not limited to the generic labels beneath individual participants’ names. During the segment, Fox displayed a chyron reading: “BIPARTISAN VOTER PANEL SHARES UNIFYING MESSAGE.” The language suggested a conversation among people with differing political backgrounds who had come together to discuss shared concerns. Several of the participants did have histories of voting Democratic. Others described a gradual move toward conservative politics. The shared connection among four of them was considerably more specific: They had already participated in official campaign events supporting Rogers and were featured in his campaign’s own promotional materials. One of those participants was also the treasurer of a super PAC spending millions on the race. But the broadcast did not provide viewers with those connections, despite their public documentation. Lara Trump Warned About Misleading Voters There was another notable element to Saturday’s program. In her opening monologue, Lara Trump accused Democrats of being willing to resort to increasingly questionable tactics to confuse voters. Later in the broadcast, she discussed a New York Times investigation into alleged efforts to recruit another candidate named Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race. She criticized what she characterized as efforts to mislead the electorate. The allegations in Alaska are distinct from the questions surrounding Fox’s panel and involve different conduct. Still, the juxtaposition was striking. The president’s daughter-in-law used her television platform to warn about political deception while the same program presented several publicly documented campaign supporters without telling viewers about their prior endorsements or organizational roles. Not the First Questions About Rogers Supporters on Fox The incident also follows earlier reporting about the pro-Rogers super PAC and its connections to television appearances. The Bulwark previously reported that TFM paid former Pontiac City Council member Melanie Rutherford $30,000 for grassroots consulting services before she appeared on Fox News discussing the Senate election. Per that report, viewers were not informed of the payments. There is no evidence that Whitsett, Lopatin, Rebeck, Daniels or Gjokaj received compensation for participating in Saturday’s program. Still, the earlier reporting raises related questions about whether Fox audiences have been given adequate information about the financial and political affiliations of people appearing in its Michigan election coverage. Political supporters, campaign surrogates, and paid consultants can all offer valuable perspectives on an election. The issue is whether viewers know who they are listening to. The Questions Fox Has Yet to Answer The October 31 broadcast leaves several basic questions unresolved. Who selected the five panelists? Did the producers know that four of their five panelists had appeared at official Rogers campaign events, publicly endorsed him and been featured on his campaign website? Were they aware of Whitsett’s position as treasurer of a super PAC spending millions on the election? Did the campaign or its allies recommend participants for the discussion? And why did Fox repeatedly describe the group as Michigan voters without disclosing the political roles that several of them had already publicly assumed? In the closing days of a Senate contest, Fox assembled a five-person voter panel in which four participants had already appeared at official campaign events endorsing the Republican nominee. The fifth had separately expressed support for Rogers, and one of the four was the treasurer of a multimillion-dollar super PAC working to elect him. The participants were Michigan voters. But that was only part of the story. The rest was sitting in plain sight on Mike Rogers’ campaign website and in the Federal Election Commission’s records. Fox viewers were not told about it. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.