Debbie Dingell: GOP support for Haley Stevens ‘galvanizes’ voters behind Abdul El-Sayed

Washington — Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan said Rep. Haley Stevens great endorsement The choice of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has the opposite effect than she intended.

“You’re seeing a backlash,” Dingell said Monday in an interview on “The Takeout with Major Garrett.” “It galvanizes a lot of communities.”

El-Sayed’s campaign says it raised more than $2.4 million on Sunday, the same day Stevens — his former Democratic primary rival — came out in support of Rogers.

“Black pastors have talked to me and said, ‘Who said she represents us?’ There’s a lot of anger in the way she did what she did yesterday,” Dingell said.

Approval came after days of hostility between El-Sayed and Stevenswho were scheduled to appear together on Sunday before tensions exploded.

El-Sayed and the more moderate Stevens offered very different visions of the party’s future during the primary, and although Stevens supported El-Sayed after he won the nomination, the two essentially did not campaign side by side.

The attempt at Democratic unity failed after Stevens demanded Friday that El-Sayed — a vocal critic of U.S. aid to Israel — apologize for her past remarks about Israel and condemn an ​​ad from an outside PAC that she called anti-Semitic. (El-Sayed’s campaign said last week that it was “in no way” affiliated with the ad.)

After Stevens’ criticism Friday, El-Sayed said in her own statement that she “appears to intend to restart a primary that ended three months ago.” He later asked Stevens not to attend Sunday campaign event.

Dingell, a senior member of Michigan’s congressional delegation, suggested that she also encouraged Stevens not to attend the unity event, telling NPR that she told Stevens “it has become a distraction.”

On Sunday morning, Stevens appeared at church alongside Rogers before offering her support, sparking outrage from Democrats. She told reporters that at first she “stood with my party” but was “booed off stage.”

Dingell told CBS News she was “tired of the drama” and was “worried” about Stevens.

“As this day goes on, I probably get angrier and angrier,” she said. “I can’t believe we’re here. But I’m not going to let this emotion get the better of me.”

But when asked if there would be any repercussions against Stevens within the House Democratic caucus, Dingell said she told everyone to “please don’t make more drama, give it more attention.”

“We need to focus on winning tomorrow, and that’s where we need to focus,” she said.