Concern mounts for Democrat Haley Stevens after ‘trainwreck’ CNN interview over Republican endorsement

Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost Michigan's Democratic Senate primary in August to Abdul El-Sayed, has set off a party uproar by endorsing Republican nominee Mike Rogers. She had first backed El-Sayed, but after she criticized an attack ad aimed at Rogers, his campaign asked her to stay away from its events. She announced her support for Rogers on Sunday, according to The Independent.

A subsequent CNN appearance with Anderson Cooper went badly, The Independent reports. Stevens would not say what had shifted overnight, pointing to El-Sayed's alleged lack of kindness and his past ties to commentator Hasan Piker. She also did not explain an earlier tweet that cast Rogers as a stooge for President Donald Trump. Cooper noted that her chief of staff and roughly half her staff had quit over her conduct. Representative Debbie Dingell, who said Stevens had assured her on Saturday that no switch was coming, called the exchange one of the most painful interviews she had watched.

Chuck Schumer called the move a despicable betrayal, Nancy Pelosi urged an El-Sayed victory, and State Sen. Mallory McMorrow suggested Stevens' fiance, a public Rogers supporter, may have influenced her. Trump praised her bravery and said he hopes she joins the GOP.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →