Trump says he would ‘love to have’ Haley Stevens join Republican Party

President Trump on Sunday said he would “love to have” Rep. Haley Stevens join the Republican Party after she endorsed Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R) over the nominee, her former Senate Democratic primary opponent Abdul El-Sayed (D).

Reporters spoke with the president outside Air Force One, flanked by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), asking the president if he reached out to Stevens.

“Not much to reach out, just [to] call her and thank her. She did the right thing,” he said. Trump was then asked if she should join the GOP, to which he added, “I’d love to have her.”

Johnson said he “sent her a note … and told her how courageous she was, how much we appreciate that.”

“She’s standing for truth,” he 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.”

Johnson added that he told her to stay safe, prompting one reporter to ask if she was not safe.

“Look, I don’t know. We’re in a heightened threat environment,” he answered. “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 stepped in and called El-Sayed 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,” he continued. “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.”

Earlier, Trump commended Stevens for endorsing Rogers, calling it “BIG” and saying the House member “said what few people are willing to say” for showing “great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did.”

The Republican National Committee (RNC) also praised Stevens’s endorsement of Rogers and said that Michiganders “should take notice” as Rogers builds “a winning coalition of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans to save Michigan from El-Sayed’s radical, terrorist-sympathizing agenda.”

Stevens endorsed Rogers on Sunday, having lost her race to El-Sayed following a tense primary battle. The endorsement comes after days of feuding between herself and El-Sayed and comes only two days before the midterm elections. She also appeared at a Detroit church alongside Rogers on Sunday.

Stevens was due to attend a campaign event with El-Sayed, but he dropped her from the event, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Michigan and national Democrats slammed Stevens , with some calling it a betrayal. Rep Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said that her state’s residents worry about the cost of living and being able to afford groceries and housing.

“They want leaders focused on making their lives more affordable. That’s what they’re talking about, not Congresswoman Stevens’s continued efforts to get attention,” she said in a statement before urging voters to back El-Sayed.