Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Rep. Haley Stevens' endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers will "certainly" help him in Michigan's midterm race, calling Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed a "crazy person" and Rogers a "patriot."
Vance made the remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews after two rallies for Republican candidates in New York and Ohio. He was responding to a question from Fox News Digital about how Stevens' endorsement would affect the race. "I certainly think it helps," Vance said. "I do think it drives home the message, maybe gives certain voters who, you know, wouldn't normally vote for a Republican permission, knowing that the Democratic Congresswoman of Michigan is going to support Mike Rogers."
Stevens, a Democrat from Michigan, endorsed Rogers on Sunday and took a swipe at El-Sayed in the process. "Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away," Stevens said. "And he's right, and that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don't belong in Abdul's campaign."
Vance said Rogers is a "good guy" and argued that Michigan voters see El-Sayed as a candidate who would not be good for the state. The endorsement drew sharp reactions from the left. Fox News Digital reported that left-wing allies of El-Sayed criticized Stevens, and that figures including Zohran Mamdani and streamer Hasan Piker were among those voicing anger over her switch.
The candidates have also traded pointed charges in opinion pieces published by Fox News Digital on Monday, ahead of Election Day. El-Sayed wrote that he is running "because no Michigander deserves to be left behind," citing more than 700 events in over 120 cities and arguing that Michiganders are "hungry for change" from what he called the Rogers-Trump agenda.
Rogers, a former Army officer and FBI street agent, used his piece to criticize El-Sayed's ties to Piker, a far-left streamer and activist. Rogers wrote that El-Sayed had invited Piker to the state, and that Piker has proclaimed that "America deserved 9/11." Rogers also said El-Sayed had accepted donations from individuals linked to terrorist organizations. Stevens has likewise criticized El-Sayed's connection to Piker and has said Piker "should be condemned" for his extremist views.
Piker, in a May livestream, pointed to Neville Roy Singham as a likely target of subpoenas issued by the Treasury Department, citing Singham's support for the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition. A Fox News Digital investigation reported that Singham had funneled $285 million into six organizations, including $22.44 million to the People's Forum in New York City. The Party for Socialism and Liberation and ANSWER Coalition share office space and leadership with the People's Forum.
On Monday, after Vance returned to Washington, El-Sayed and Rogers each held rallies in Michigan as a final appeal to voters. Vance's own final blitz took him to Ohio and New York, where he backed Jon Husted, Vivek Ramaswamy and Andrew Constantino, joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Donald Trump Jr. Crowds of a couple hundred supporters gathered at the airport hangars where he spoke, urging Republicans to turn out for Tuesday's midterm elections.