MAGA Candidate's Wife Ripped After Handing Out $10 Gas Cards In Desperate Bid To Court Michigan Voters

Kristi Rogers showed up at a Detroit gas station ready to throw down some serious money to help struggling drivers.

And by serious money, I mean $10. Not $100. Not even $20. Ten American dollars, delivered with the confidence of someone handing out free PS5s.

The wife of Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers was distributing gas cards at a Detroit Freedom Fuel station on October 14 when she approached a driver who had already filled up.

Kristi offered the driver some unfortunate timing advice:

"You should have gotten me before you filled up."

At Michigan's $4.59-a-gallon average, that card would've bought roughly 2.2 gallons. Enough to reach McDonald's, where the savings might cover five French fries and a packet of salt.

And yes, there's video of Rogers making the rounds:

Forget "Let them eat cake." The latest MAGA proclamation is apparently "Let them pump gas."

And delivering this historic act of generosity in a devil-red pantsuit? Kristi is a corporate executive with experience in national security and government affairs, now tackling the delicate assignment of helping her husband win over Michigan voters.

Detroit is no accidental stop. The city's Black electorate plays a powerful role in statewide elections, and Republicans are seeking to chip away at Democratic support as Rogers faces Abdul El-Sayed in November.

Not everyone at the station objected. Detroit resident Dennis Ester, who already intended to vote for Rogers, appreciated seeing the campaign in his neighborhood.

Ester offered a perspective that contrasted with the online ridicule:

"It takes a lot of courage to come out here to the hood and do this."

But handing out free gas cards while your husband is running for the U.S. Senate raises questions beyond whether the tank is half-full. Michigan law prohibits offering anything of value to induce someone to register or vote. That doesn't automatically make the giveaway illegal, but campaign stickers appearing alongside the cards drew scrutiny.

Michigan election lawyer and former Democratic Party chairman Mark Brewer weighed in:

"This seems really odd, though. Why is she just wandering around gas stations giving away cards? A sign of desperation from the Rogers campaign? Seems like weird behavior."

There's precedent. During Georgia's 2022 Senate race, a pro-Herschel Walker group distributed $25 gas vouchers, prompting a vote-buying complaint that state election officials later dismissed. But Walker still lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock.

So, with Kristi’s latest stunt, Lincoln Project adviser Jeff Timmer joined the online backlash:

"Legalities aside, this is so ham-handed and cringy it cannot be the brainchild of any political professional."

Meanwhile, Mike Rogers has proposed temporarily suspending state and federal gas taxes and restricting diesel exports to address rising fuel costs.

The longtime foreign policy hawk also recently broke with President Donald Trump over easing Russian oil sanctions, a move intended to increase fuel supplies on global markets and help lower prices.

Watch Rogers discuss Trump's decision in the CBS News interview:

- YouTubeCBS News

Whether Rogers can actually deliver cheaper gas remains to be seen. Campaign promises are easy. Getting Congress to cooperate is a whole different gas station.

Meanwhile, his wife's $10 giveaway has already accomplished something.

It's gone viral, and the internet has thoughts:

His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, is also proposing a federal gas-tax holiday, measures against price gouging, and an end to the war with Iran.

The urgency is obvious. Michigan's average gas price has climbed from $2.88 to $4.59 a gallon in a year—a $1.71 increase—while Trump's warnings about the war have added to concerns about fuel costs.

El-Sayed has taken his message to TikTok, discussing his proposals without requiring anyone to pull into a service station first.

Watch El-Sayed address rising gas prices:

With El-Sayed polling at 47.8% and Mike Rogers at 43.8%, the November 3 Senate race remains competitive. With just 18 days until the midterms, the election won't be decided by a TikTok or a $10 gas card. But if the goal was to get people talking, the giveaway certainly worked.