Abdul El-Sayed isn’t sweating his ex-rival’s bombshell endorsement — and he’s not hiding it.

The Democratic nominee for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat shrugged off Rep. Haley Stevens’ stunning Sunday defection to Republican Mike Rogers, telling reporters the whole thing is a non-issue.

“None of this matters,” El-Sayed said. “I would hope that y’all would want to ask questions that are relevant to that [everyday] family. They’re the ones who matter. The rest of this is just a distraction.”

That distraction has detonated through both parties’ final sprint before Tuesday’s election.

Stevens — who lost the August Democratic primary to El-Sayed by a single percentage point — appeared with Rogers at a Detroit church service Sunday morning, then dropped her endorsement video on X: “And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.”

Stevens said El-Sayed’s campaign told her she was no longer welcome after she demanded he denounce a controversial outside ad blaming Israel for high grocery prices — an ad she and other critics called antisemitic. She was disinvited from a Sunday unity event with El-Sayed; instead she showed up at Perfecting Church in Detroit with Rogers.

Rogers — who narrowly lost Michigan’s 2024 Senate race — welcomed the support: “I am really proud to have her vote. There are lots of Democrats that are joining us.”

President Donald Trump praised Stevens on Truth Social as a “highly respected Democrat,” calling her decision “bravery.”

Democrats hit back hard. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “a despicable betrayal,” and Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said the party “stands united and fully behind Abdul El-Sayed.”

The fallout is already rattling Stevens’ own operation: her longtime chief of staff resigned Sunday, and her communications director’s email auto-reply says he’s no longer with the office.

With El-Sayed holding a roughly 4-point polling lead per RealClearPolitics, the final 48 hours of the race that could decide Senate control are pure chaos.

Earlier today we reported Stevens’ original endorsement announcement.

Sources: New York Post, USA Today

Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign meet-and-greet. Photo: Conlan Houston / Wikimedia Commons