CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) on Wednesday about her fiance declaring he won’t support Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — who beat Stevens for the nomination in August — and will vote for his Republican opponent instead.
Stevens appeared on “The Source” after her fiance, Jason Turkish, told the Detroit News that he has “never seen a candidate for U.S. Senate act so recklessly toward the safety of Jews” and will thus vote for GOP “patriot” Mike Rogers.
“Like a lot of households across America, we’re a household divided,” Stevens explained to Collins.
She continued, “I still very much want our Democratic nominee ... to win this race. There’s so much on the line. But I will be honest: There are a lot of voters in Michigan … and they are still undecided, and they are hurt and they are confused.”
El-Sayed has recently been pressured to condemn two campaign ads supporting his candidacy. One of the ads features a clip of controversial ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson stating, “I wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.” Another depicts a cash-strapped couple putting grocery items back after learning how much U.S. taxpayer money goes to Israel “for killing Palestinians.”
El-Sayed has been fiercely critical of Israel over its war on Gaza, which U.N. experts say amounts to a genocide. However, his campaign told The New York Times on Monday that he is “not affiliated in any way” with the Rebellion PAC that created the grocery store ad.
Responding to complaints that the ad is antisemitic, progressive pundit and Rebellion founder Cenk Uygur told the Times the ad doesn’t mention Jews — and is “about the foreign government of Israel.”
Stevens nonetheless argued Wednesday that El-Sayed is in “a very strong position” to denounce the “hateful ads” airing on his behalf. She described Carlson as a “racist, anti-Black, white supremacist apologist” and said that the Rebellion ad is “blaming Jews for the cost of groceries.”
Collins asked Stevens if she believes El-Sayed hasn’t “done enough” to distance himself from the ads and whether she wanted him to “go further” than he already has.
“Yes, let’s see it disavowed,” Stevens replied. “It’s hate, and that’s not the Democratic Party.”
The lawmaker acknowledged that she hasn’t spoken privately to El-Sayed about her concerns over the ads and emphasized that she would “of course” still be voting for him.
El-Sayed, meanwhile, appeared steadfast Wednesday after learning about Stevens’ partner endorsing Rogers.
“I’m building a movement to take on the challenges that Donald Trump is facing,” El-Sayed told reporters. “If folks have issues that are more important to them than that, that’s fine. That’s their choice. But to me, this election is about control of the United States Senate.”