Haley Stevens backs MAGA Republican, then struggles to explain her reversal to Anderson Cooper

Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens appeared alongside anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers at a Black church Sunday and announced her endorsement of him over her own party’s nominee, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. The announcement left Democrats outraged two days before an election that will determine control of Congress.The appearance gave Rogers a public show of support from the Democrat he once competed to face. Stevens sat beside him at the service, and his campaign circulated a photograph of the two standing together. Instead of the Democratic unity appearance that had been planned for Sunday at another Detroit church, Stevens delivered Republicans an endorsement, and a photo opportunity, in the campaign’s final stretch.By Sunday evening, she was on CNN, struggling through nearly 15 minutes of questions from Anderson Cooper about why a Republican she had warned would advance President Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda now deserved her support.Democratic leaders responded with anger. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who backed Stevens in the primary she lost to El-Sayed, called her endorsement a “despicable betrayal.” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said she had abandoned her professed principles. Her longtime chief of staff resigned.Related: Meet Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the handsome politician breaking a sweat on the campaign trailFor LGBTQ+ voters, the reversal meant Stevens was supporting a former congressman whose record includes opposition to marriage equality, workplace protections and open military service for gay and lesbian people.“Mike Rogers voted for a constitutional ban on marriage equality — more than once. He opposed repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And he’s gone after trans kids,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson told The Advocate through a spokesperson. “There’s only one pro-equality Senate candidate on the ballot in Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed. And he has HRC’s unequiv