United States President Donald Trump has applauded a Democratic congresswoman in Michigan who broke ranks with her party to endorse the Republican candidate in her state's key US Senate race.
In a startling display of party infighting just two days before the 3 November midterm election , Democrat Haley Stevens — who lost a bruising primary to left-wing progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in August despite backing from the Democratic establishment — said she was endorsing Republican Mike Rogers.
"This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign," she told reporters when announcing her endorsement.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, described Stevens as a "Highly Respected Democrat", writing: "Wow, this is BIG!"
"Haley said what few people are willing to say," he said. "She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did. It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!"
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If elected, El-Sayed, a former Michigan public health official, would be the first Muslim member of the US Senate.
Trump has often singled him out on the campaign trail, calling him a "jihadist" and claiming he wants to impose Islamic law on the US.
Trump has endorsed Rogers, an ex-congressman, in the race to succeed a retiring Democrat. Keeping Michigan in Democratic hands is vital to the party’s effort to win a majority for the final two years of Trump’s second term.
Democrats are seeking to wrest control of both chambers of Congress from Republicans in this week's midterms, with the Michigan race a key battleground that could help them flip control of the Senate.
Monday's statement from Stevens illustrated internal divisions within the party, with left-wing candidates often clashing with the Democratic Party's establishment core on key issues.
El-Sayed, a candidate with a rising national profile, has been a vocal critic of the US alliance with Israel, calling for a halt to arms sales to that country.
On Monday, El-Sayed said he was unbothered by the Stevens announcement.
"At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens. I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not those two," he said, referring to Stevens and Rogers.
"Because, you know what, I am just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all."
Democratic backlash against Stevens was fast and furious.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called her move a "despicable betrayal" while the chair of the Michigan Democrats' black caucus said Stevens "revealed herself to be a sellout" who has lost her way.
Most polls put El-Sayed narrowly ahead of Rogers going into election day.
