U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) defended her decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers over Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed during a combative Sunday interview on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” repeatedly declining to directly answer host Anderson Cooper’s questions about what prompted the switch.
Stevens, who narrowly lost the August Democratic primary to El-Sayed, announced her endorsement of Rogers on Sunday. Cooper pressed her on reports that she told fellow Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell as late as midnight the night before that she would not endorse Rogers.
“Well, look, this is just a weight off my shoulders, OK?” Stevens said. “Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier. I was trying to help, and I’d endorsed him. That ad was very painful.”
When Cooper asked repeatedly what specifically changed between the midnight conversation and her morning announcement, Stevens did not give a direct answer, instead describing a quiet night of reflection.
“I wasn’t on the phone. I think that late. … I was writing things out, and look, this level of anger and the things that we are seeing, look, we all want Democrats to win,” Stevens said.
Stevens cited an ad, paid for by an outside group, that tied U.S. aid to Israel to domestic affordability problems and that critics have called antisemitic. El-Sayed said Saturday he disagreed with the ad’s contents, a statement Stevens had earlier called “glad” news. Cooper noted that Stevens and El-Sayed appeared to agree on that point before her reversal, and asked whether the real turning point was instead being disinvited from a church service event with El-Sayed.
“Anderson, this is a broader point about what’s going on in our party,” Stevens replied.
Cooper also read back a social media post Stevens made in August, in which she wrote that “Mike Rogers will be another rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda. We can’t afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November.” He asked why it was now acceptable to risk a Republican Senate pickup.
“Well, why is it OK to have the Democratic Party and a top nominee, you know, ejecting, you know, this type of or injecting rather this type of anger and lack of kindness? That’s all. I’m one Democrat,” Stevens said.
Stevens said she takes issue with El-Sayed’s associations, naming commentator Hasan Piker and saying El-Sayed’s uncle had made remarks she found offensive, including comments she said suggested America deserved the Sept. 11 attacks and that Black Americans should “wrap themselves in the Israeli flag.” Pressed on whether she believes El-Sayed himself is hateful or antisemitic, Stevens said “some of the actions have certainly been antisemitic” but said her objection is to “who he stands with.”
Cooper also asked about reports that more than half of Stevens’ congressional staff had resigned, with her chief of staff reportedly releasing a statement saying the team was “shocked and heartbroken” by the endorsement. Stevens did not dispute the resignations directly, saying her office is winding down during the lame-duck period and that staffers “are free to share their views.”
Asked whether she wanted Democrats to win control of the Senate, Stevens said she did, while maintaining she was only “casting my vote this one way.” Cooper noted she was doing so publicly, through a press conference and a national television interview, not merely at the ballot box.
When Cooper asked directly whether she had told Dingell the night before that she would not endorse Rogers, Stevens declined to confirm or deny the conversation, calling it Cooper’s “editorializing” and describing instead attending a Sunday church service.
Stevens said she remains a “proud Democrat” and expects Democrats to perform well nationally, adding, “I think this is a Michigan moment.”
