Trump praises Haley Stevens while rallying in Iowa before Election Day
Former Democratic Senate candidate Haley Stevens drew praise from Donald Trump after endorsing the Republican nominee in Michigan, as the president rallied in Iowa in the final days before the midterms.
Donald Trump praised Haley Stevens on Truth Social for her decision to back the Republican candidate in Michigan's Senate race, writing that she had shown « great and almost unprecedented loyalty » to the Great People of Michigan. The remarks came as the president campaigned in Iowa in the final push before Election Day, and in the same appearances he lobbed anti-Muslim insults at Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, calling him a « jihadist ».
Stevens, who had been competing with El-Sayed for the Democratic nomination, shocked party officials on Sunday by appearing alongside Republican Mike Rogers at a church service in Detroit. Her appearance and her endorsement of Rogers marked a sharp break with the Democratic ticket. Trump seized on the move as evidence of cross-party support for his side, presenting it as a rare act of loyalty to the state's voters rather than to her party.
The episode unfolded in a closely watched midterm contest in Michigan, where the Senate seat has drawn heavy national attention. El-Sayed, a Muslim of Egyptian and Yemeni descent, became the target of religiously charged language from the president, a line of attack that drew criticism for turning a campaign contest into a question of faith. The primary fight between Stevens and El-Sayed had already exposed deep divisions inside the Democratic Party, and her crossover appearance with the Republican nominee widened them further in the closing days of the race.
Trump's schedule also took him to Kansas, reflecting a Republican effort to mobilise voters across several states in the last stretch of the campaign. The sharp contrast between the president's praise for a former Democratic rival and his attacks on her successor framed his closing argument: that the Michigan race was being decided by loyalty and by who stood with whom. Election Day is expected to test whether that message, along with the party's arguments on the economy and immigration, can translate into votes in the states where control of the Senate and House is at stake.
Coverage of the rally also noted the wider backdrop of Black mayoral politics in US cities, a reminder that the midterm campaign is being fought across many local contests as well as federal ones. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, one of the last remaining Black mayors of the largest American cities after the historic alignment of 2022, faces a strong challenge from Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. The socialist group has considered rescinding its endorsement of Raman over her refusal to explicitly embrace the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, a dispute that shows how foreign policy questions are reshaping Democratic coalitions in local races as well as national ones.
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