Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens is being slammed by her own party after endorsing the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan in a shocking rebuke of Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. What’s more, Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary election against El-Sayed earlier this year, is facing rebuke from Black leaders who accused her of using Black voters as a political prop.
“Let’s be clear: she used Black people as a prop in order to pursue an agenda of sore loserness,” said voting rights advocate and former Georgia state House minority leader Stacey Abrams. The two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Georgia told MS Now, “Having been someone who has not won everything I sought, it is deeply inappropriate to use anyone else to justify your behavior and to justify your dismay.”
Stevens announced on Sunday her endorsement of U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers, who is locked in a competitive Senate race against El-Sayed, her former Democratic opponent, in Tuesday’s midterm election. The congresswoman joined Rogers at a Black church before later saying in a statement that she would be backing the Republican whom she previously criticized as “another rubber stamp” for President Donald Trump‘s agenda.
Rep. Stevens suggested that El-Sayed, a progressive epidemiologist who led Detroit’s health department, stood for “hate” and griped that he asked her not to be a part of her campaign after an ideological divide over the U.S. funding in Israel and its role in deadly wars in the Middle East.
Stevens’ decision to attend a Sunday service at a Black church in Detroit with Rogers and endorse the Republican Senate candidate was also slammed by Virgie Rollins, chair of the Black Caucus at the Democratic National Committee.
“We are dismayed that Congresswoman Haley Stevens has revealed herself to be a sellout who used Black Michiganders as a political stunt,” Rollins said in a statement. “[She] has lost her way, and Michiganders know that Mike Rogers is a shill for Trump and has failed Michigan.”
The DNC official added, “We are ready to elect Abdul on Tuesday.”
U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who revealed that she had spoken to Stevens just a day before the shock endorsement, said in a video response, “You’ve chosen a white supremacist order, and then have the audacity to use black people as a prop and as a shield for your ignorance.”
The progressive lawmaker continued, “You do not speak for Black people. You are not Black, and I won’t insult the intelligence of Michiganders, especially Black Michiganders. Y’all understand the assignment. You know who will take on anti-Blackness, white supremacy, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and who will fight like hell for every Michigander, vote Abdul Al Sayed.”
In addition, members of Stevens’ staff, including her chief of staff, resigned in reaction to the controversial move.
Stevens was reportedly scheduled to attend a different Black church with Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Congressman James Clyburn on Sunday, but Stevens claimed that the El-Sayed campaign asked her not to serve as a surrogate for the Democratic nominee.
Stevens failed to fully back El-Sayed after losing to him in an upset primary contest. The two Democrats recently clashed over a left-wing, pro-El-Sayed election ad that linked pro-Israel U.S. funding to rising food prices. Steven, a staunch Israel supporter who received more than $35 million from the pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), accused the ad of being antisemitic and demanded that El-Sayed disavow it and apologize for past criticisms of Israel. El-Sayed refused.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, called Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers a “despicable betrayal” and slammed the “racist, Islamophobic, and over-the-top false attacks on Abdul by Republicans.”
“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,” said Schumer.
While Stevens’ shocking endorsement was universally castigated by Democrats, Trump lauded the decision, telling reporters, “That was a big move…I thought that was fantastic.” The president said Stevens “did the right thing” and that “I’d love to have her” when asked whether she should join the Republican Party.
Abdul El-Sayed dismissed Stevens’ endorsement. When a reporter asked whether he thought the congresswoman had betrayed the Democratic Party, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee said, “I don’t think about Haley Stevens.”
