Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) on Sunday struggled to explain why she made a shock endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race.
Stevens was pressed on the question during a CNN interview after reporting revealed how abrupt the decision seemed. According to The Washington Post, a longtime friend of Stevens said the lawmaker had texted about attending a church service with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday as recently as Saturday evening.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked Stevens what had changed between Saturday night and her endorsement announcement on Sunday. Stevens, however, refrained from offering a clear reason, while broadly alluding to issues of “anger” and disagreements over El-Sayed’s association with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.
“Look, this is just a weight off my shoulders, okay. Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier. I was trying to help, and I endorsed him. That ad was very painful,” she said. “There are so many Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic nominee. And they’re just being told, hey, this is a party you don’t belong in, or this is a campaign you don’t belong in.”
Cooper went on to press Stevens further, though she avoided offering specifics.
“He didn’t get angrier from midnight last night to this morning. I mean, something changed your mind. I’m just curious, like, was there a specific aspect of–” Cooper asked. He also asked if El-Sayed’s statement telling Stevens not to attend a church service with Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) was a factor.
Stevens did not respond directly to that query, but did call out El-Sayed’s ties to Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and statements by Piker’s uncle Cenk Uygur.
Stevens also spent much of the interview seemingly downplaying her decision, despite the fact that she was one of the top two contenders for the Democratic Senate nomination in the state and has notable influence as a result.
“I’m just one person here. All right, that’s it,” Stevens said at one point.
Stevens’ endorsement has been widely criticized by Democrats, who’ve condemned the move as a betrayal given the positions that Rogers has taken and his ties to Trump. Stevens maintained Sunday that she still loved “my party a whole lot” and that she wanted Democrats to win control of the Senate. The Michigan Senate race is widely expected to be central to that goal.