Politicians who look too good to be true usually are.
That seems to be the case with Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, one of several Democrats reportedly eyeing a run for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2026.
The legacy media are already describing Stevens as a “strong contender” in the race, given that she flipped a GOP-held battleground district back in 2018 and then held onto it after facing a tough primary challenge from fellow Democrat Rep. Andy Levin four years later.
Now serving her fourth congressional term, Stevens remains pretty popular throughout Oakland County and is advertising herself as a leading voice for the “New Dems” coalition in Congress, which apparently is supposed to provide a more “moderate” alternative to the Looney Tunes policies coming from the rest of her colleagues.
But a closer look at Stevens’ record suggests this so-called centrist actually is more of a political chameleon who’s gotten quite good at playing both sides.
Stevens’ support for Israel is a great example. Though Stevens has been praised as one of the more outspoken pro-Israel Democrats in Congress, especially in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack against the Jewish state, she’s spent quite a bit of time recently cozying up to foreign interests that have taken the opposite stance.
Earlier this month, for instance, she met with the Pakistan-American Public Affairs Committee, which has contributed thousands of dollars to her campaigns in the past. Pakistan’s government has been explicitly hostile toward Israel, refusing to recognize its sovereignty and denouncing Israel’s alleged “massacre” of Gazans and “incessant crimes against humanity.”
Of course, Stevens is free to meet with whomever she’d like, and meeting with the Pakistani group certainly doesn’t mean she endorses the Pakistani government’s worldview.
But it’s worth noting Stevens’ interest in Pakistan extends beyond just a few sit-downs. During their meeting, she asked a Pak-American representative if there was an opportunity for her to travel to the country with the organization, ostensibly in order to advocate for the freedom of Imran Khan, the former Pakistani prime minister who was imprisoned in 2023.
“But even beyond that, we want to connect with the beauty of the Pakistani community in… our district,” Stevens told the PAC representative, according to a video recording of the conversation reviewed by Michigan Enjoyer. “The Pakistani American community [is] so strong, so tied into what makes our country an incredible place to live, and we know that here in Michigan. So, you know, is it an opportunity to be able to go to Pakistan? I have not ever been able to do that. Is that something I could do with the PAC?”
House ethics rules explicitly prohibit members from soliciting gifts, which include travel expenses.
Stevens’ support for Khan, the convicted former Pakistani prime minister, raises its own set of contradictions. To start, while Stevens has positioned herself as an advocate for women’s rights, she has made no comment on Khan’s egregious comments blaming women for the rise in rape cases across Pakistan.
“If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact, it will have an impact on the men, unless they’re robots,” Khan said in 2021. “I mean it’s common sense.”
In a separate interview, Khan reiterated this stance, saying, “This entire concept of [modesty] is to avoid temptation, not everyone has the willpower to avoid it.”
I imagine if President Donald Trump made similar remarks, Stevens would be all over it. She might even vote to impeach him again.
Khan also reportedly has referred to terrorist Osama bin Laden as a “martyr,” which raises a bit of a dilemma for Stevens, given that she just came out against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s decision to travel to the United Arab Emirates with Osama Siblani, a Lebanese-American who reportedly has praised Hezbollah terrorists as “martyrs.”
In fact, Stevens made it clear that she would never take a trip abroad with Siblani “or anyone with those types of beliefs as part of a government mission.” Anyone except for Khan, apparently.
In all likelihood, Stevens’ interest in Khan’s release, and in Pakistan in general—which, quite frankly, is just bizarre—is just another political calculation. The Pakistan-American PAC endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, emphasizing Democrats’ growing weakness among key minority blocs in Michigan and elsewhere. Stevens knows she has to win these groups back if she’s going to secure a larger role in Michigan politics.
But her strategy thus far appears confused at best. Indeed, she’s already violated her own advice on how Democrats can regain ground in the Trump era.
“We’ve got to be very clear about who we are and stop making everyone happy at the expense of making no one happy,” she said recently.
Sounds like someone should send her a mirror.
Kaylee McGhee White is editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, a Steamboat Institute media fellow, and a columnist for Michigan Enjoyer. Follow her on X @KayleeDMcGhee.
