Haley Stevens Requests U.S. Marshal Protection As Death Threats Ramp Up

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) has requested protection from the U.S. Marshals Service after receiving death threats over her surprise endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, according to Axios.

Two senior, unnamed Trump administration officials told the outlet about the request, which Axios reported Tuesday. Stevens endorsed Rogers on Sunday over Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in the Democratic primary.

“She has received death threats and reached out to the Marshals Service. There’s a process to go through but she’s a member of Congress and we expect her request will be fulfilled,” one told Axios.

Stevens has faced a wave of public backlash over her endorsement, mainly from within her own party. Some have accused her of betraying the Democrat Party — despite her continued backing of other Democrats in the state of Michigan and around the nation — and others have said that she betrayed those who had supported her in the Democrat primary — which she ultimately lost to El-Sayed in a close race.

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Some critics have also accused Stevens of acting out of jealousy or “sour grapes” because she lost the primary or have suggested that her fiancé influenced her decision to back Rogers over El-Sayed.

Stevens defended her decision, however, saying that she’d been uncomfortable with El-Sayed’s stance on Israel for some time — and that an ad from the outside group Rebellion PAC blaming American affordability issues on U.S. aid to Israel had increased her concerns.

El-Sayed rejected the ad’s contents Saturday, before Stevens endorsed Rogers.

The last straw, she said, was being told she was no longer welcome on the campaign trail with El-Sayed, despite having initially endorsed him.

“Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier,” Stevens told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “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.’”