Senior Democrats slammed Rep. Haley Stevens Sunday after the defeated Michigan primary candidate broke with her party to endorse Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers on the eve of the midterms.
Stevens announced her endorsement in a video over the weekend, withdrawing her support for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee and her former rival, after a falling-out over Israel.
“As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he's right,” Stevens said. “And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate today.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted with fury, writing on X: “This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens. Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed, because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.”
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was also angry, posting on the same platform: “Haley Stevens has chosen to dangerously betray Michigan families’ healthcare, freedoms and future with her horrific endorsement of Mike Rogers. Abdul El-Sayed must win – because Michigan and our country deserve better.”
President Donald Trump, however, was delighted and took to Truth Social to celebrate the endorsement.
“Wow, this is BIG,” the Republican wrote. “Stevens, a Highly Respected Democrat, who narrowly lost in the Primary to Abdul Mohamed El-Sayed, and who has been breathlessly wined and dined by the Dumocrats to help in their Michigan Campaign for the United States Senate against Mike Rogers, has just ENDORSED Mike Rogers for Senate!”
“Haley said what few people are willing to say,” he continued. “She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did. It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!”
Trump has endorsed Rogers and repeatedly attacked El-Sayed, the Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants, as a “violent jihadist,” urging voters to “send him back to where he came from.”
El-Sayed, who is locked in a tight race with Rogers, brushed off his former opponent’s endorsement while speaking to reporters at a Detroit church Sunday. “None of this matters,” he said, turning instead to the cost-of-living struggles facing Michigan residents.
Stevens, a centrist, lost by just one percentage point to progressive El-Sayed in August’s Democratic Senate primary.
Last month, she told CNN she would vote for El-Sayed, who has campaigned on removing money from politics and passing Medicare for All.
“I’m the weirdest loser in this country, OK? That Senate [primary] race was months ago. I hugged it out. Of course I’m voting for our Democratic nominee for Senate,” Stevens told the network.
However, tensions between the former rivals had simmered for months, particularly over Israel. El-Sayed has called for the U.S. to stop funding Israel’s military and described its actions in Gaza as genocide. Stevens has rejected that characterization and voted against an amendment that sought to block funding for Israel.
Stevens had also publicly urged El-Sayed to distance himself from streamer Hasan Piker, whose controversial comments include saying Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel and that “America deserved 9/11.”
The dispute escalated Friday when Stevens released a statement demanding that El-Sayed apologize for his comments about Israel and condemn an ad from an outside group that she described as antisemitic.
Politico later reported that his campaign had asked her to stay away from all future campaign events. She should steer clear “as not to distract from the central issues of the campaign,” one source familiar with the matter said.
The two had been scheduled to appear together Sunday but, instead, Stevens appeared alongside Rogers at a church before releasing her video statement formally breaking with El-Sayed.
Having lost the August primary, Stevens is now set to leave Congress in 2027.
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