Turns Out Abdul El-Sayed Has Something In Common With Mike Pence

A carless island known for its fudge, horse-drawn carriages and pre-modern charm seems an unlikely spot for a political war to breakout during a campaign for a United States Senate seat in the year 2026.

But that is what happened when footage from a 2020 documentary went viral Friday of presumptive Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed seemingly ripping Michigan’s Mackinac Island. To those not from the Great Lakes State, that may seem like a silly issue to lose ones marbles over.

To a Michigander, that is the equivalent of a Massachusetts Senate candidate calling Fenway Park trash, or an Egyptian candidate calling the Great Pyramids an abomination. Generations of Michiganders went on family and school trips to the island that is situated near the state’s upper and lower peninsulas in the Straits of Mackinac.

“I hate Mackinac so much. Every time I’ve ever come here, I’ve hated it. Why am I here?” El-Sayed said whileattending the influential annual Mackinac Policy Conference.The comments were recorded in a 2020 documentary, “How to Fix a Primary,” that chronicled El-Sayed’s failed 2018 Michigan gubernatorial campaign.

Lest you think Mackinac Island has become only a conservative-driven issue, don’t forget that during the first Trump administration then-Vice President Mike Pence was denounced by a bipartisan swath of Michiganders for riding in a motorcade on the island where cars are outlawed.

Supporters of El-Sayed claimed the clip was taken out of context, and that the Democratic candidate was referring to the Mackinac Policy Conference, not the island itself.

Predictably opponents such as former Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who will be El-Sayed’s rival for the Senate seat in November, seized on the clip knowing it struck a chord with Michiganders.