US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would welcome Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens into the Republican Party after she endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary.
Speaking to reporters outside Air Force One alongside senior Republican leaders, Trump praised Stevens for breaking with her party's nominee and supporting Rogers in Tuesday's election.
Asked whether he had contacted Stevens following her endorsement, Trump replied, “Not much to reach out, just [to] call her and thank her. She did the right thing."
When asked whether Stevens should switch parties, the President responded, “I’d love to have her."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who accompanied Trump along with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, said he had personally contacted Stevens to commend her decision.
Johnson said he “sent her a note … and told her how courageous she was, how much we appreciate that."
“She’s standing for truth," Johnson continued. “Haley’s a good person. She’s always been very thoughtful. She loves her state. She’s served it as best as she could and she’s speaking the truth. This is a contrast election between common sense and crazy, and there is no crazier choice on the ballot than El-Sayed and what he stands for."
The Speaker also expressed concern for Stevens' safety following her endorsement.
“Look, I don’t know. We’re in a heightened threat environment," Johnson said when asked whether she was in danger. “Everybody in politics is, and there are dangerous people out there. Of course, her and her fiancé have been getting a lot of threats."
Trump then described El-Sayed as a “jihadist" and “a Muslim Brotherhood guy," adding that “I’d say she’s in danger."
“And I think she was very brave doing it," Trump said of Stevens. “She did it for the people of Michigan. And I have great - I don’t know her, I’ve never met her. But I have great respect for her, I will tell you. She put up a great race."
Stevens announced her endorsement of Rogers in a video posted to social media Sunday and also appeared alongside the Republican candidate at a church service in Detroit.
Her decision represented a significant break with the Democratic nominee just two days before the election, following weeks of disputes over El-Sayed's positions on Israel and his response to allegations of antisemitism.
Stevens narrowly lost the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed in August and initially endorsed him afterward. She had reiterated only days earlier that she intended to vote for him despite their political differences.
However, tensions escalated when Stevens was excluded from a planned joint campaign appearance with El-Sayed and Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. The event, intended to demonstrate party unity, was canceled amid a dispute over an advertisement produced by an outside political organization.
The advertisement linked rising grocery prices to American support for Israel, prompting Stevens to demand that El-Sayed explicitly condemn its message. She argued that the advertisement unfairly singled out Israel and contributed to antisemitic rhetoric.
El-Sayed said his campaign had not produced the advertisement and that he disagreed with its contents. Nevertheless, he accused Stevens of attempting to reopen disagreements from a primary election that had concluded three months earlier.
Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish who is Jewish, had already announced his support for Rogers, citing El-Sayed's repeated accusations against Israel and his handling of concerns about antisemitism.
Throughout the campaign, El-Sayed faced criticism over his opposition to American military assistance to Israel and his reluctance to directly answer questions about Israel's right to exist.
During the Democratic primary, he described Israeli military operations as "bloodthirsty" and accused the Israeli government of genocide.
In another interview, he acknowledged that Hamas had committed war crimes but continued to attack Israel’s leadership. In yet another interview, El-Sayed claimed Israel’s leadership is "as evil as Hamas."
More recently, El-Sayed argued during an ABC News interview that Israel should no longer be considered an American ally.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Democratic candidate over his positions on Israel and the Jewish community.
Last week, the President questioned how Jewish voters could support El-Sayed.
“Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves," Trump said. “You should never speak to them again."
“I cannot understand how anybody who’s Jewish can even think about voting for this guy," he added, before acknowledging, "And he’ll get some."
Following El-Sayed's primary victory in August, Trump had also attacked the candidate personally.
“When I watch Abdul, he’s full of s--t," Trump said at the time, calling him a “man of hate" and accusing him of hostility toward Jews.