By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2026-08-08 18:15:52 | Updated at 2026-08-08 18:59:48
5 hours ago
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing backlash after trashing a beloved Michigan vacation spot in a resurfaced video — and doubled down when confronted.
“I don’t think the most American place in Michigan is a place that…bans cars,” he said.
Mackinac Island banned motor vehicles in the 1890s, leaving the island to horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, and foot traffic. It’s a rule generations of Michigan families have treated as part of the island’s charm. But El-Sayed sees it differently.
“I hate Mackinac so much,” in a resurfaced documentary from his failed 2018 gubernatorial campaign. “Every time I’ve ever come here I’ve hated it. Why am I here?”
The island has also hosted the governor’s official summer residence since 1945 — a fact El-Sayed jokes about in the clip, noting that a win would have made Mackinac his own summer home.
El-Sayed will face off against Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative, who has already taken two digs at El-Sayed.
“There’s no place like Mackinac,” Rogers said, sharing personal photos of him enjoying his time on the island. The other swipe occurred when Rogers put out a campaign video where he looked directly into the camera and said, “If you are among the majority of Democratic voters who woke up on Wednesday feeling well, hopeless, because the person who won does not represent your values then just know there is still hope.”
My message to Democratic voters in Michigan: pic.twitter.com/Jluml1RepW
— Mike Rogers (@MikeRogersForMI) August 7, 2026
El-Sayed has embraced the party’s far-Left flank, campaigning alongside communist influencer Hasan Piker — who declared in a 2019 stream that “America deserved 9/11,” a remark he later characterized as a criticism of U.S. foreign policy. On Friday, another clip circulated of Piker circulated telling viewers, “We want more immigrants to come into your countries and then they’re going to f*ck your sisters and then your daughters,” before adding, “We’re here to destroy the white race.”
Asked on CNN Tuesday night whether we was comfortable with El-Sayed’s association with piker given the 9/11 remark, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) admitted he was not — “I think that’s a dumb statement” — but quickly pivoted to defending the streamer. “He has a whole lot of followers and there’s a lot of things that he’s saying that make sense to a lot of people,” Sanders said. “I think we have to get above cancel culture. You know, when you’re doing radio, whatever they do — podcasts three hours a day — you say dumb things.” Sanders has not been asked publicly about the clip that resurfaced Friday.
Piker’s involvement with the campaign has been no obstacle to party leaders, who have rallied behind El-Sayed since Tuesday. The streamer, who traveled to Havana in March with a delegation organized in part by the Democratic Socialists of America — a trip now under Treasury Department scrutiny for possible sanctions violations — has appeared alongside El-Sayed at a series of campaign events. Former Vice President Kamala Harris nonetheless endorsed El-Sayed on Friday.
“Abdul knows that we need bold solutions to the crises facing America’s working families, and he is ready to take on this fight,” Harris said. “I proudly stand with him to ensure we win a Democratic Senate majority in November.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer endorsed El-Sayed on Wednesday in a joint statement with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — this despite El-Sayed campaigning opening on replacing Schumer as Democratic leader.
“If I have anything to do about it, the next Senate majority leader — Chris Van Hollen,” El-Sayed said at a rally introducing the Maryland senator. Schumer, for his part, waved off the challenge. “Democrats are united by a common purpose: putting a check on Donald Trump by defeating his Republican enablers and taking back the Senate,” he and Gillibrand said.
