Anderson Cooper's Uncomfortable Interview With Haley Stevens Is An Absolute Cringefest

Michigan Representative Haley Stevens had people cringing at her responses to CNN's Anderson Cooper, who pressed her about her decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers for Senate over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Stevens had sought to make her participation in a joint appearance on Sunday with El-Sayed and South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn contingent on El-Sayed disavowing an advertisement by one of his allies that criticized Israel. In response, El-Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to stay away from his events.

With just a couple of days before the election and facing criticism for appearing with Rogers at a Detroit church, Stevens published a video on social media in which she endorsed the man she once hoped to defeat for a Senate seat. She claimed that "who we are as Michiganders is not hate, it is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now."

Stevens was in the middle of a response in which she mentioned how there are "all these great Democrats across the country come to check Trump" when Cooper asked her if she wants Democrats "to win control of the Senate." She paused before responding, "I absolutely do."

She added:

"I'm just casting my vote this one way."

Cooper then asked:

"But with all due respect, you're casting your vote that way and you're on television right now talking about it and you had a press conference earlier, so you're not just casting your vote, you are very publicly casting your vote."

"Which is fine, but that's what you're doing, right?"

Things got awkward when Stevens paused and replied:

"Look, Anderson. I am happy to be speaking with you. I love my state, you know, I have a lot of deep respect for my constituents, and many, many people who have worked on Democratic campaigns who want Democrats to win who also feel heartbroken. And you're totally right, I'm just one person."

You can hear what she said in the video below.

At another point, she offered further justifications for Cooper:

"I think the Republicans have kind of shown they are, you know, really focused on just letting Trump be the dictator. And that's not what the Democratic Party is. We've got Democrats when they go into the chamber, sometimes they don't always vote with the party."

"I wasn't for the Biden switcharound—"

But Cooper cut her off, asking her to confirm whether she believes El-Sayed "is hateful or an antisemite." Stevens accused El-Sayed of having engaged in antisemitic "actions" and said she is "sick of who he stands with," naming activist and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, a regular target for Republicans.

You can watch what happened in the video below.

Stevens' remarks were badly received, with observers agreeing she'd only worsened the controversy and rung her own death knell within the Democratic Party.

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After that performance, we can see why Stevens lost the primary to El-Sayed.