Haley Stevens gave her first interview Sunday since endorsing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she felt like “a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”
During the 15-minute interview, Cooper repeatedly asked Stevens why she changed her mind after Stevens reportedly told fellow Rep. Debbie Dingell she would not support Rogers during a Saturday night phone conversation.
Stevens confirmed the conversation took place but never directly answered Cooper about what changed her mind. She told him, “This is what I was thinking. I woke up this morning clear-eyed and refreshed, you know, focused on what was going on inside me, that’s it.”
Asked again what changed her mind, Stevens responded: “I was just there, you know, alone with my thoughts. I was writing about some of the things that, look, this level of outrage and the things that we were seeing — look, we all want the Democrats to win. I’m a very proud Democrat. And by the way, Abdul is with all the other Democrats. He just doesn’t have me and a few other people who have this idea.”
“I haven’t changed anything, Anderson,” said Stevens, who previously supported El-Sayed.
She cited El-Said’s alliance with left-wing streamers and political commentators Hassan Pike A controversial ad from Rebellion PAC links the war in Gaza to rising domestic costs. In the video, a couple buys food for their children at a grocery store, and the woman instructs her husband to put the eggs back, saying, “We have to set aside those $7 to kill Palestinians.” El-Sayed said his campaign had nothing to do with the ad.
“That ad was very painful,” Stevens said. “There are a lot of Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic candidates, but they’re just told, ‘Hey, this is a party you don’t belong to, or this is a campaign you don’t belong to.'”
Stevens told Cooper she “absolutely” wants Democrats to control the Senate after Election Day and that Democrats must retain Michigan seats to control the Senate.
Cooper noted that in August, Stevens posted on social media that Rogers would be “another rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda. We cannot give MAGA another Senate seat in November.” He asked Stevens: “Why now…why do you have the ability to give MAGA another Senate seat in November?”
Stevens responded: “Well, why is it acceptable for Democrats and top candidates to inject… this kind of anger and lack of goodwill?”
Cooper asked if she was referring to being disinvited from a planned joint appearance with El-Sayed on Sunday.
“Anderson, I just want to help this campaign and stand up for people who are feeling hurt,” Stevens responded.
Cooper interviewed Dingle immediately after Stevens, and Dingle described Stevens’ appearance as “one of the most painful interviews I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m very concerned that this has all become a distraction,” Dingell said.