President Donald Trump has invited Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) to join the Republican Party after she endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) in his bid to defeat her fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for the open Senate seat.
Speaking to a rally crowd in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday, Trump praised the former Senate candidate’s courage to say “things that few would say” and called El-Sayed a “jihadist.”
“I’m delighted with what she did. It was very brave of her to do it. So, I don’t know Haley – I’ve never met Haley – but Haley said something that very few people are willing to say,” the president told a crowd of supporters. “I would actually like her to join the Republican Party. I think that could happen.”
He went on to say that Stevens “demonstrated tremendous, almost unprecedented loyalty to the great people of Michigan,” before suggesting that El-Sayed was a terrorist.
“This is another important election for us. We don’t want jihadists […] Can you imagine, we had to put him through the metal detector? […] We’re going to have 100 senators, and most of them can just go — we have to have a special metal detector for Abdul,” Trump mused. “A political party that hates America cannot be allowed to lead the people who built America,” he added.
Trump extends invitation after positive statement about Stevens release Truth Social profiled her earlier in the day, calling her a “well-respected Democrat” with support from across Michigan, “especially our African-Americans and our Jews.”
“This is called bravery, and few have it like Congresswoman Haley Stevens!” Trump wrote.
On Sunday morning, Stevens shocked Democrats and Republicans alike by withdrawing his support for El-Sayed in August and telling Michigan voters that she was not part of his campaign:
Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he was right. That’s why I’m endorsing Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate today. I’m not part of Abdul’s campaign. I do not support Hassan Pike, who was trafficked on our college campus. Earlier today a good friend of mine said that education is being discussed and she was absolutely right. What our students see, what our children see, and who we are as Michiganders is not hate. That’s not what we’re getting from Democratic candidates right now.
Tensions between Stevens and El-Sayed heightened after the close primary, and so did El-Sayed’s campaign. It is said After Stevens issued a statement, she called on him to “denounce anti-Semitic hatred” and told him to stay away from the rest of his campaign. advertise Criticized for sending taxes to Israel.
Stevens’ fiancé, who is Jewish, also recently announced he would vote for Rogers.
Olivia Rondeau is Breitbart News’ political correspondent in Washington, D.C. find her X/Twitter and Instagram.