The Saga of Haley Stevens’ Fiancé Keeps Getting Weirder

Relationships Elizabeth and Billy have nothing on Haley on Jason. By Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. Sign in or create an account to better manage your email preferences. Unsubscribe from email alerts Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from email alerts for Heather Schwedel? Nov 02, 20267:20 PM Haley Stevens in August. Finn Gomez/Getty Images Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The question of “what the hell Haley Stevens is doing” remains an active topic of discussion in Michigan and around the country, but at least one theory is gaining traction: Whatever it is, it seems to have something to do with her fiancé, Jason Turkish. Over the weekend, Stevens, who had previously endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Senate after losing to him in August’s Democratic primary, pulled a heel turn and endorsed his opponent, Republican Mike Rogers—this after Stevens spent months likening Rogers to Donald Trump and calling his agenda “extreme” and “corrupt.” It also was only a few days after Turkish, who is also a Democrat, announced that he was voting for Rogers, primarily because of El-Sayed’s criticisms of Israel. Stevens had been publicly critical of a pro-El-Sayed ad, but as of Friday, she was telling everyone she spoke to, including the New York Times, that she still planned to vote for him. That same day, Turkish went on TMZ, where he declared, “I don’t think she’s going to be supporting Abdul El-Sayed very much longer.” He was right, it turns out. Cue that disastrous Anderson Cooper interview. Turkish is a 39-year-old lawyer who specializes in disability rights. He is also Jewish and active in pro-Israel advocacy. Stevens is not Jewish, but has said she is considering converting before her and Turkish’s wedding next summer. The two announced their engagement in August. As Stevens’ shocking switch-up played out over the weekend, speculation about Turkish’s role in it and influence over Stevens grew. A former Michigan governor who had dinner with the couple on Friday evening told Gongwer News Service that Turkish scolded Stevens right in front of him. “He was working her over. The way he was saying it was, ‘Everyone is disappointed in you,’ ” Jim Blanchard said. Elsewhere, people who claimed to know Stevens reported disturbing behavior on Turkish’s part. One self-described friend, Jordan Acker, posted to X that he could not reach out to Stevens because Turkish took her phone away. (Turkish denied this, claiming Haley chose to turn her phone off. He has since made his posts private.) A former staffer also went to X to accuse Turkish of “vaporizing Haley’s future so that he can be a main character in this moment,” adding that he was an “extraordinarily toxic presence, was verbally abusive to staff and had some of the worst political instincts I’ve ever witnessed.” Publications like Mother Jones have pointed out that Turkish seems “dedicated to ruining [Stevens’] career.” More than observer has compared Stevens and Turkish to another couple, Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans, whose depiction in the documentary You Can See Everything has made them the subject of a lot of chatter in recent weeks. Some of the same people who came out of the movie asking, “Has she been unfairly villainized when she’s really the victim of a toxic man in her life?” may now have the same question about Stevens and Turkish. As tempting as it is to wonder if actress Amanda Seyfried might be available to parachute into Michigan to crack some skulls, as with Holmes and Evans, discovering that the male half of a couple is noxious does not actually exonerate the female half. If she doesn’t like how he’s treating her, by all means, she should dump him, but unfortunately, she may be with him because he’s like this. It’s fully possible that Stevens and Turkish (and Holmes and Evans) are both sinister, and are in fact in sinister cahoots together. From a certain angle, it’s even a little romantic. At least they’ve got each other. And the wedding, by the way, appears to be fully on. On Monday, a campaign reporter shared that on Monday Stevens sent out save-the-dates in the form of iCloud calendar invitations for her wedding. Nothing like a little wedding planning to distract yourself from a professional crisis. Dating and Relationships Marriage Senate Scandals Michigan