Haley Stevens Could Be Paving Way for Rogers Endorsement: Ex-Obama Adviser - Newsweek

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod suggested that Democratic Representative Haley Stevens could be paving the way for an endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, as she and Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed clashed days before a planned joint campaign appearance in Michigan.

“It feels like she's almost setting up an endorsement of Rogers,” Axelrod said Friday night during an appearance on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

Stevens had announced plans to appear alongside El-Sayed and South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn at a Detroit church Sunday, marking the first time in months the two Democrats were expected to appear together. However, it remains unclear whether the event will go ahead following their latest exchange.

In a statement Friday, Stevens called on El-Sayed to formally condemn a Rebellion PAC ad that linked U.S. support for Israel to rising grocery prices. She also called on him to apologize for his own comments linking Israel to the state's affordability challenges and urged him to take down his campaign ad featuring Tucker Carlson.

“Abdul promises to get money out of politics. He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford,” Stevens said in a lengthy statement shared on X.

The Rebellion PAC ad suggested that U.S. support for Israel was contributing to rising costs for American families. Stevens characterized the ad as antisemitic and said El-Sayed needed to publicly reject it.

Rogers praised Stevens late Friday, calling her a “courageous leader” who deserved “the respect of every Michigan voter.”

“She was absolutely right to call on Abdul El-Sayed to denounce the Rebellion PAC ad and she was right to call on him to apologize for espousing the same hateful ideology behind it,” Rogers posted on X.

El-Sayed pushed back, accusing Stevens of seeming “intent on relitigating a primary" that ended three months ago.

“Our campaign is and has always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing: Skyrocketing gas prices, unaffordable groceries, and the inability to see a doctor,” he said.

El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner previously told Newsweek that the ad was “not affiliated in any way” with the Abdul for Senate campaign.

Newsweek reached out to El-Sayed and Stevens for comment late Friday night.

Axelrod pointed to Stevens' comments over the past few days, saying they seemed “aimed at trying to undermine” El-Sayed's campaign.

“Maybe she's never gotten over the fact that she lost the primary,” Axelrod said. He called the ad offensive, saying El-Sayed should have rejected it but did not need to respond to Stevens' latest comments.

The former rivals have largely kept their distance since Stevens narrowly lost the August primary to El-Sayed. But Stevens said Wednesday that she planned to vote for him, despite her fiancé's public endorsement of Rogers.

Weeks of efforts to rally Democrats behind El-Sayed followed his narrow victory over Stevens, who drew significant support from Jewish and Black voters, fueling concerns over turnout among those blocs in the general election.

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings said during an interview on CNN that he expected a record number of Michigan voters to back Republicans, arguing that El-Sayed's refusal to denounce the ad could hurt Democrats.

“Haley Stevens is trying to drag her party away from the vile anti-Semitism that has defined the El Sayed campaign. And he’s sent a clear message—no thanks,” Jennings posted on X.

CNN political commentator Van Jones said something was going “horribly wrong” in Michigan’s Senate race, criticizing Republicans for “anti-Muslim fear-mongering” and two Democratic-aligned ads for trafficking in “hate and intolerance” and alarming Black and Jewish voters.

“That ad — and Abdul’s refusal to forthrightly denounce it — is scaring some Jewish Democrats in Michigan, who now are more reluctant to vote for him,” Jones wrote on X.

President Donald Trump also weighed in on the contested race Friday night during a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, saying El-Sayed did not like Jewish or Black people.

“[El-Sayed] doesn't like Jewish people and he doesn't like Black people,” Trump said.

However, while on the campaign trail, El-Sayed has visited several Black congregations. Along the way, he held a town hall at the Shrine of the Black Madonna to acknowledge the "tensions" between Black and Arab Americans, the Religion News Service reported. While there, he borrowed from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, saying, “I also ask that I am judged by the content of my character, not the color of my skin,” he said at the September 14 event, drawing applause.

RealClearPolitics rates the Michigan U.S. Senate race as a toss-up, with its polling average showing El-Sayed leading Rogers 49.1 percent to 45.6 percent, a 3.5-point advantage, as of Thursday.

More than 1.85 million Michigan voters had cast their ballots as of Friday, according to the Michigan Secretary of State.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gray R. Thomas