Congresswoman Haley Stevens appeared on CNN on Sunday night for a roughly 15-minute interview with Anderson Cooper, attempting to explain her late endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers over fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Tuesday's election for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat.
According to the account of the segment, Cooper focused on an allegation from Stevens' fellow Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell that Stevens had assured her a cross-party endorsement was not forthcoming only hours before Stevens appeared alongside Rogers at a Detroit church. Cooper repeatedly asked what had changed between that phone call and the following morning, and what the deciding factor was in her reversal. Stevens, the account said, was unable to answer the questions directly.
Dingell, described as the elder stateswoman of the Michigan delegation, called the segment "one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched" minutes later on the same program.
The column described Stevens' demeanor as the opposite of assured, noting that she reflexively began answers with "Look..." before failing to make a coherent point, and that she blinked, scowled and furrowed her brow through a series of evasive non-answers. One of her favored talking points was a non-specific complaint about El-Sayed's supposed anger.
Stevens also raised Graham Platner, a former Maine senatorial candidate, and the Nazi tattoo and sexual assault allegations connected to him. Cooper, per the account, did not ask what alleged actions of El-Sayed's rose anywhere near that level, instead bearing down on a narrower question: why her issues with El-Sayed — including his campaigning with Hasan Piker, and an ad linking Israel to high prices produced by an outside group unaffiliated with the campaign — were surmountable at one moment yet worth a public defection at a critical moment for a high-stakes midterm the next.
Stevens sought to downplay the significance of her decision, saying, "I'm an independent woman" — a posture the column called odd for someone seizing on the attention the decision had won her with a national television appearance.
The column noted that many of Stevens' staff have quit, which it said was evident in her lack of preparation for Cooper's queries, and that she herself acknowledged to Cooper that she is a lame duck who will not be serving in the House in a few months. It also noted that by aligning with Rogers she has earned the public praise of Donald Trump. Stevens had outspent El-Sayed by a landslide in the primary but lost to him anyway.
The column concluded that the stammering, evasive person on CNN clearly was not ready for primetime, and that Michigan Democrats showed eminent wisdom in refusing to make her their party's chosen standard-bearer.
Sources: Variety.