Would-be senator responds after fellow Democrat’s election eve ‘betrayal’
Updated . First published at
Democrat senate candidate Abdul Al-Sayed has attempted to wave away the news that his stablemate Haley Stevens withdrew her endorsement of him to back Republican Michigan senate candidate Mike Rogers on the eve of the US midterm elections.
“At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” El-Sayed told reporters in Detroit after the news prompted a wave of furious backlash from the Democratic Party.
Michigan Democratic senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said today he was unbothered by Haley Stevens’ defection. Julia Demaree Nikhinson
“I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not (Stevens and Rogers), because you know what? I’m just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.”
He also said the endorsement and the furore it prompted were irrelevant to the needs of the people he sought to represent.
“None of this matters. You know what matters? ... There are families who are preparing to send their kids to schools tomorrow that look like they did 50 years ago,” he said.
“They’re worried about what they’re going to feed their kids for lunch. They’re worried that if one of their kids gets sick, they’re not going to be able to pay the bills. Those are the things that matter.”
El-Sayed, who if elected would become the first Muslim US senator, defeated Stevens, whose representative term in Congress ends in January, in a high-profile primary earlier this year.
His electoral success, with a number of polls showing him with a narrow lead over Rogers, has attracted Republican ire and escalating racist attacks from US President Donald Trump on down.
Stevens had previously endorsed El-Sayed and remained a staunch critic of Rogers, saying he would not “lift a finger for social security and Medicare” in one recent appearance.
But in a video posted on X this morning, Stevens declared she was endorsing the man she would have campaigned against had she become the Democratic nominee.
She spoke in the video about having been unwanted by the El-Sayed campaign and “not invited” to participated in it.
“I’m still a very proud Democrat, I still believe in everything I voted for,” she said.
Haley Stevens, right, has endorsed Republican senate candidate Mike Rogers (left) in Michigan. Jose Juarez
She later appeared with Rogers at a late campaign event.
“I don’t know everything that’s going to happen. You know, and, and all I can do is lead with love and integrity. This was a personal and private decision,” she said.
“I woke up this morning and I decided to go to church, and I’m here with the person who I am voting for for United States Senate, and that is Mike Rogers.”
Some bystanders heckled Stevens as a “traitor” during her appearance.
Stevens had previously called on El-Sayed to denounce an advertisement linking US aid to Israel to higher domestic grocery prices.
El-Sayed has said he had no part in creating the advertisement and he did not agree with its content.
Stevens’ decision apparently came as a shock to her own team, with her congressional chief of staff Justin German, who has served with her for eight years, saying he and others had quit Stevens’ camp.
He said Stevens congressional team was “shocked and heartbroken”and that they were supporting El-Sayed’s campaign.
Democratic nominee for the Senate Abdul El-Sayed greets supporters during a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan. AP
Democratic National Committee head Ken Martin called Stevens’ decision a political stunt and a “betrayal” of party values.
“We will not allow last-minute political stunts to derail our momentum and we will triple down on our efforts to elect Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday,” he said.
While El-Sayed took the high road in his public appearance, Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel, also speaking in Detroit, was blunter, and accused Stevens of lying throughout repeated reassurances that she would back her one-time rival.
He also said she betrayed the people she represented.
“You don’t abandon all your, all your values because this is not high school. This is not like, this is not some kind of a drama club or a glee club,” he said.
“‘Not invited’? Why would that matter in any way, shape, or form about how she treats the constituents and the people she said that she was going to be there for?”
Trump, on Truth Social, called Steven’s backflip “huge”.
“Haley said what few people are willing to say. She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did,” Trump wrote.
President Donald Trump praised Stevens’ decision. AP
“It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens.”
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Iowa for his final midterms campaign appearance, Trump again praised Stevens and said he would “love” to have her join the Republican Party.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, travelling with Trump, said he had reached out to Stevens after her announcement.
“I sent her a note, spoke to Haley. And told her how courageous she was, how much we appreciate that she’s standing for truth,” he said.
The Michigan Senate race is one that could help determine the course of the rest of Trump’s presidency.
El-Sayed has not yet responded to Stevens’ decision, with the mid-term polls set to open in just hours.
Tens of millions of people across the US have already cast early votes in what is widely expected to result in at least a qualified success for the Democrat party.
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