“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder congratulated Abdul El-Sayed on his win in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race with a short impression of Rep. Haley Stevens. Stevens is the Democrat who lost the primary to El-Sayed and then endorsed Republican Mike Rogers a couple of days before the election.
The video, filmed in a bar, shows Einbinder making exaggerated gestures and speaking with a Midwestern accent in a performance of Stevens, saying things like “a little bit of energy, a little bit of pow… that’s the Michigan way.” She wrote in the caption, “As promised.”
Einbinder had teased the skit on her Instagram Stories Tuesday night, saying she would share her “perfect” impression of Stevens if her candidate won. The star posted the video Wednesday after El-Sayed’s victory was called.
“We’re going to give them a little bit of energy, a little bit of power, a little bit of stick it to them, because they have some Michigan way,” Einbinder says in the Instagram story video.
The line comes from Stevens herself during the primary night in August, when she told supporters Democrats would show Rogers “what a little stick it to him looks like.”
Later, Einbinder congratulated El-Sayed in a post: “Mazel tov, Abdul.”
Social media users quickly reacted to Einbinder’s impression of Stevens.
“Meanest impression of a politician I’ve seen in a long time. If SNL had this level of vitriol, people would like the political sketches,” one user wrote.
One man asked, “Can you win an Emmy for an Instagram story?”
Another wrote, “This is so accurate it’s practically malicious; it also makes you realize Haley sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon.”
Einbinder, the daughter of original Saturday Night Live cast member Laraine Newman, won an Emmy in 2025 for her portrayal of Ava Daniels on “Hacks.”
Stevens, a moderate in her fourth term in Congress, narrowly lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, a progressive and former Detroit health director, in August. She endorsed him when she conceded.
On Sunday, two days before the election, she changed her mind and backed Rogers after appearing with him at a church service in Detroit. In the video posted to X, Stevens said that she no longer belonged in El-Sayed’s campaign and accused it of promoting hate. She cited an ad from a liberal political action committee and political commentator Hasan Piker, who campaigned with El-Sayed. El-Sayed’s campaign said the ad had nothing to do with the matter.
The flip-flop led to a quick backlash. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said that Stevens had rejected the values she had talked about, and her longtime chief of staff said that he and other staff members quit. President Donald Trump praised Stevens’ decision and said that he would welcome her to the Republican Party.
El-Sayed defeated Rogers, a former congressman and FBI agent, in Tuesday’s election. Vote Beat called the race at 2:27 a.m. Wednesday. El-Sayed will replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. His victory helped Democrats take control of both houses of Congress.
“Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed told his supporters in Detroit.
