The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has praised the "bravery" of Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost in the primaries to Abdul el Sayed, after she announced her official backing of Republican Mike Rogers ahead of next Tuesday's midterm elections.
"Wow. This is big! (...). With what she has done she has shown great loyalty, almost unprecedented, to the great people of Michigan. It is called bravery and few people have it like Congresswoman Haley Stevens!", Trump has stated in a message posted on social media.
The president has stressed that Stevens is "a very respected Democrat" and has recalled that she "lost by a narrow margin in the primaries" against El Sayed. "She has many followers and is respected by the people of Michigan, especially by our African American and Jewish population", he has indicated.
Stevens has made public her support for El Sayed's rival in a video released on social media. "Our Democratic candidate for the Senate, Abdul, has said that I am no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should step aside. And he is right. And that is why today I support Mike Rogers for the United States Senate", she has explained.
The congresswoman criticizes El Sayed for his closeness to the left-wing commentator and political activist Hasan Piker and suggests that his campaign is based on "hate". "My campaign said that it was a love letter to Michigan and I am here to proclaim what we are as people of Michigan", she has stated.
"I remain a proud Democrat. I still believe in everything I have voted for and said and for which I have worked so hard and I will continue doing so (...). Go with God and I love you all very much!", she has concluded.
Before this announcement, a member of Rogers's team, Abby Ronson, shared on social media a photograph of Rogers and Stevens together in a church, accompanied by the message "It is happening right now: Congresswoman Halley Stevens joins Mike Rogers in a Detroit church this morning". "We have a state to save, Michigan", the message concludes.
The image has been spread after the latest frictions between Stevens and El Sayed as a result of statements by the latter about Israel. In addition, it left her 'de facto' out of a recent campaign event, according to several US media outlets.
"While Congresswoman Stevens seems to want to reopen the result of a primary from three months ago, we are focused on what is important: defeating Mike Rogers, making (Donald) Trump accountable and taking money out of politics," El Sayed has posted on social media.
Stevens reproached El Sayed for his reaction to an advertisement that links Israel with the rise in prices of basic goods in the United States. El Sayed has expressed his support for cutting U.S. aid to Israel and directing those funds to domestic policies, which channeled millions in funding toward Stevens, although it did not prevent her defeat in the primary.
After the internal contest, Stevens had expressed her formal support for El Sayed, but her fiancé, who is Jewish, has recently stated that he will vote for Rogers.