Dingell says Stevens defending Rogers endorsement was ‘painful’

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Sunday called Rep. Haley Stevens’s (D-Mich.) interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, where she defended her endorsement of former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in Michigan’s Senate race , “one of the most painful interviews I’ve ever watched.”

Cooper, after a tense exchange with Stevens about why she changed her mind to endorse Rogers over Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D), quickly apologized to Dingell for having her on right after Stevens without Dingell knowing.

“First of all, I’m going to say I’m not sure I would have done this if I had known she was going to be on immediately before me,” Dingell began. “That was one of the most painful interviews I’ve ever watched. I have been worried about her all last week. She’s a human being. I’ve had multiple conversations with her. I’m far from being the only one that has.”

Dingell said she worried this would be a “distraction” from electing Democrats who will address growing concerns over the cost of living, and that the focus on Stevens’s endorsement of Rogers left Dingell “sad.”

“And I think that this is backfiring,” she later said. “Abdul has raised more money today, more than a million dollars, talking to different people that have been at different polls. … By the end of the day, I thought Abdul was going to win, but I felt a shift just being out, as I always am, this afternoon. So I think this race is going to be close.”

Cooper asked if El-Sayed should have done anything different, as sources close to the matter said the candidate asked Stevens not to attend a campaign event at a church with him Sunday morning.

“I’m actually the one that called her and said, ‘This has become a distraction,'” Dingell said. “I don’t know what I wish. This has been a very difficult week to watch, and I know that Michigan is tired of the drama, that they’re really worried about everyday issues.”

Cooper later asked Dingell if Stevens said she would not endorse Rogers during their call Saturday night, a question the CNN anchor asked Stevens several times in their interview.

“Yes, she did,” Dingell said. “Multiple times.”

The endorsement stirred controversy, with members of Stevens’s staff resigning and Michigan Democrats fuming at the lawmaker. Other Democrats called the move a “betrayal,” with Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) calling it “insane.”

“There’s a fascist dictator in the White House,” she wrote on the social platform X . “Mike Rogers is a racist who supports a nationwide abortion ban AND the fascist dictator. With this move, Haley Stevens is no longer a Democrat.”

National Republicans, including President Trump, celebrated Stevens’s endorsement . The president said he would “ love to have ” her join the GOP.