Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers brought attention to Abdul el Sayed’s disdain for the state’s beloved Mackinac Island with a trolling post.
The left-wing Senate hopeful’s hot-mic comment regarding his dislike of the island, captured in a 2020 documentary around his failed 2018 gubernatorial run, resurfaced online shortly after el Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Michigan’s Senate seat. Rogers quickly seized on the gaffe, signaling his love for Mackinac in a post on X.
“There’s no place like Mackinac,” he said with a heart emoji, along with a picture of him and his wife eating ice cream on the island, and another picture of him sitting by the water.
There’s no place like Mackinac
pic.twitter.com/ALT1tILcUu
— Mike Rogers (@MikeRogersForMI) August 7, 2026
The sentiment was the opposite of el Sayed’s 2018 comments while visiting the island during his campaign, a visit he wasn’t happy with.
“I hate Mackinac so much,” he was recorded saying, bemoaning that his summer home would be there if he won the race. “Every time I’ve ever come here I’ve hated it. Why am I here?”
His dislike of the beloved historic vacation spot was likely unpopular with many Michiganders. As el Sayed pointed out, the island is important enough in the state to be the location of the governor’s summer residence since 1945.
Sayed stood firm in his dislike of the island after the clip went viral, quoting the account “End Wokeness,” which described the island as “the most American place” in Michigan, in disagreement.
“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.
Rogers’s trolling of Sayed is part of his campaign to shift his messaging against the Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate, following his victory in the primary earlier this week. Earlier on Friday, Rogers appealed to Democratic voters who went against Sayed in the primary, pitching himself as the unity candidate.
ROGERS APPEALS TO DEMOCRATS TURNED OFF BY EL SAYED: ‘YOU HAVE A HOME WITH US’
“If you’re among the majority of Democratic voters that woke up on Wednesday feeling hopeless because the person who won does not represent your values, just know there is still hope,” Rogers said in a campaign video. “Michigan deserves a senator who is ready to sit with you, hear from you, and represent you.”
He then appealed to broad parts of the Democratic coalition, saying they don’t support “a campaign filled with anger, divisiveness, calls for violence, and views that are out of touch with your values.”
