Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign is facing ridicule after resurfaced remarks showed the progressive Michigan candidate saying he “hated” Mackinac Island, one of the state’s most cherished vacation destinations.
El-Sayed has quickly become a rising favorite among liberals after defeating moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary and bringing in more than $2.3 million in donations in the two days that followed.
But the Bernie Sanders-backed candidate is now contending with a political headache after a 2018 video reemerged in which he disparaged the popular island getaway, located nearly 300 miles north of Detroit near the Canadian border.
The clip was recorded while El-Sayed was campaigning for governor and visiting Mackinac Island, where Michigan’s governor has access to a summer residence. In the video, he appeared unimpressed by the prospect of spending time there part-time.
“It’s funny cause, like, if we win, this is gonna be, like, the summer home. I’m just gonna be like every time I’ve ever come here. I’ve hated it. Why am I here?” he said.
His Republican rival, Mike Rogers, wasted little time seizing on the old comment, sharing several photos of himself and his wife enjoying Mackinac Island.
“There’s no place like Mackinac,” Rogers wrote alongside one photo showing the couple eating ice cream during a visit to the island.
El-Sayed, whom Donald Trump has already labeled a “communist loser,” appeared to lean into the controversy in a social media response to an account that called Mackinac “the most American place in Michigan.”
Leftist Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s (pictured) campaign is being roasted for saying he ‘hates’ beloved Michigan vacation spot Mackinac Island
El-Sayed was touring the place as he ran for governor at the time and bemoaning having to live there part-time, as the state’s chief executive gets a summer home on the island
‘Not sure about “End Wokeness,” but I don’t think the most “American place in MI” can be a place that…bans cars,’ he said in an apparent reference to Michigan’s history as an auto production powerhouse.
Cars have been banned from the island since the 1890s, with the only option for travel by foot, bicycle or horse-drawn carriage.
El-Sayed lost Mackinac County in the primary to Stevens by four points, though only around 1,400 people voted.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the El-Sayed campaign for comment.
Conservative strategists have long wanted El-Sayed as the opponent for Rogers, who ran unopposed after an early Trump endorsement cleared the GOP field.
El-Sayed is wasting no time, challenging Rogers to five debates.
‘We took on a machine,’ he told supporters in Detroit. ‘The power of our many is greater than the power of their money.’
Stevens telephoned him on Wednesday morning to concede and pledged her support.
Cars have been banned from the island since the 1890s, with the only option for travel by foot, bicycle or horse-drawn carriage
El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has pounced on the resurfaced gaffe, posting multiple photos of himself and his wife enjoying time on the island
Vice President JD Vance also jabbed at El-Sayed while giving remarks at the White House on Wednesday, saying that you never know what a future administration could look like, adding: ‘God forbid you’re gonna have President El-Sayed in three years.’
Michigan’s Senate seat, open because two-term Democrat Gary Peters is retiring, could decide control of the Senate. Republicans have not won a Michigan Senate race since 1994, though Rogers came within a whisker of beating Elissa Slotkin in 2024.
Jessica Anderson, president of the Sentinel Action Fund, which is backing Rogers, said the result ‘should make the choice easy in November,’ pitting ‘a far-Left socialist’ against ‘an America First leader.’
‘This election is no longer just Democrat versus Republican. It is socialism versus solutions,’ she added. Sentinel and its sister group Right Vote have committed a combined $15million to Michigan.
What polling forecasted to be a double-digit thumping turned out to be a squeaker of a result that left nail-biting Democrats anxious and angry. The New York Times estimated El-Sayed would ultimately win by 1.5 percentage points, based on more than 90 percent of the vote that’s been counted.
Even before the primary night call, Republicans signaled they were savoring a fight with El-Sayed, a 41-year-old doctor, born and raised in Michigan.
Rogers was caught on tape saying he would be ‘in good shape’ in a general election against El-Sayed.
And even Democrats impressed with El-Sayed’s raw talent are raising concerns he can pull together a broad enough coalition to win in November.
Conservative strategists have long wanted El-Sayed as the opponent for Rogers, who ran unopposed after an early Trump endorsement cleared the GOP field
El-Sayed has become the toast of liberal politics after beating moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens in Tuesday’s primary, raising over $2.3million in the two days since his victory
‘He enters the general election trailing his Republican opponent in the gold standard MI poll, in a state Biden won in 2020 while other Democrats are posting leads over Republicans in states Trump won by double digits,’ wrote Adam Jentleson, a Democratic strategist, forecasting what soon awaits El-Sayed.
‘I believe Abdul can win because he is so talented. But it is also not irrational to worry,’ he added.
El-Sayed’s lead had shriveled through the night as votes crawled in from Wayne County, home to Detroit and the state’s biggest prize.
Rogers is not a novelty opponent. He came within 19,000 votes of Elissa Slotkin in 2024, losing 48.6 to 48.3 – just three-tenths of a point – in the same cycle Trump carried Michigan.
