Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) defended her decision to endorse former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race on Sunday, telling CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that her former primary opponent — Abdul El-Sayed — has been getting “angrier and angrier” recently.
“Your fellow Michigan congresswoman, Debbie Dingell, said that she talked to you at midnight last night, and that you told her you were not going to endorse Mike Rogers. If that is true, what changed between then and this morning?” Cooper’s tone was immediately accusatory.
“Well, look, this is just a weight off my shoulders, okay? Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier,” Stevens replied. “I was trying to help, and I endorsed him. That ad was very painful. There are so many Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic nominee, and they’re just being told, ‘hey, this is a party you don’t belong in,’ or ‘this is a campaign you don’t belong in.'”
Stevens said earlier on Sunday that she’d been told in no uncertain terms that she was not welcome on the campaign trail for El-Sayed — and that some of his comments had only reinforced her own feeling that she did not belong with his campaign.
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“I’ve never cast a present vote in the Congress. I’m making a decision here. And, you know, that’s just where I landed on this,” Stevens continued. “I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh, and, you know, focused on what was in my heart. And that’s that, you know, and there’s a lot of incredible things going on around Michigan. And frankly, this country, with these elections here.”
Cooper continued to press, his tone still accusatory, trying to get at when exactly Stevens had changed her mind and what had pushed her over the edge.
“My question, though, is what changed from the phone conversation you had with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, and waking up refreshed in the morning? Did you talk to anybody? Did you have a long night of the soul? Were you up all night? What — did you have a dream? What happened?” Cooper asked.
“No, look, I would just say that, you know, I had some time to, you know, think,” Stevens replied, noting that she had spoken with Dingell but wasn’t sure how late they’d been on the phone.
“I was there, and just, you know, alone with my thoughts. I was writing things out, and look, this level of anger and the things that we are seeing, we all want Democrats to win. I’m a really proud Democrat. And by the way, Abdul’s got every other Democrat with him. He just doesn’t have me and a few other people who — who love this party,” Stevens said.
“I’m just wondering what changed,” Cooper said again.
“Look, look, this is about Abdul getting angrier and angrier and saying, ‘I don’t want these people in my campaign,'” Stevens said.
“But he didn’t get angrier from midnight —” Cooper protested. “He didn’t get angrier from midnight to this morning, so I’m — I mean, something changed your mind. I’m just curious.”
After more back and forth, Stevens concluded, “The deal is, Anderson, is that, you know what? This is a weight off my shoulders. I’m being straight with everybody. You know, I’m trying to help the Democratic Party. I felt the same way with [Graham] Platner and his Nazi tattoo, and then the cases of abuse. And I’m just one person here. All right? That’s it. And I’m voting for Democrats up and down my ballot.”
Stevens sent waves of panic through the Democrat Party on Sunday when she first attended a church service alongside Rogers and then went public with her endorsement. Most accused her of betraying the party and her own supporters, and a number suggested that she’d allowed her fiancé — who had previously said he was voting for Rogers — to influence her position.
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