The footage later appeared in the 2020 documentary How To Fix A Primary, which followed El-Sayed during his Democratic gubernatorial campaign.
As horse-drawn carriages traveled nearby and El-Sayed made his way toward the historic Grand Hotel, the candidate offered an unfiltered opinion of the island.
“I hate Mackinac so much,” El-Sayed says while heading toward the Grand Hotel.
It was not simply an offhand complaint about the weather, crowds or a bad experience.
El-Sayed continued by imagining what would happen if he actually became governor of Michigan.
Winning the governor’s mansion would have given him access to the official Michigan governor’s summer residence on Mackinac Island — meaning he could have found himself spending considerably more time at the very place he had just disparaged.
“It’s funny cause, like, if we win, this is gonna be, like, the summer home,” El-Sayed said.
Then came another candid remark.
“I’m just gonna be like every time I’ve ever come here, I’ve hated it. Why am I here,” he added with a derisive laugh.
The years-old comments are getting another look now that El-Sayed is campaigning for statewide office once again.
That could prove awkward for a candidate asking Michigan voters to send him to Washington.
Mackinac Island is hardly an obscure corner of the state.
The car-free island in northern Michigan is internationally recognizable for its horse-drawn transportation, historic architecture and picturesque waterfront. Tourism is central to its identity and economy, and generations of Michigan families have made trips there a summer tradition.
Its popularity has also received national recognition.
In 2025, USA Today readers selected Mackinac Island as the Best Summer Travel Destination, reinforcing its reputation as one of Michigan’s premier attractions.
That makes El-Sayed’s old remarks particularly striking.
Politicians routinely spend campaigns praising their states’ landmarks, businesses, communities and traditions. El-Sayed apparently felt differently when he believed he was speaking candidly during his 2018 run.
The clip, recently highlighted by The Midwesterner, also provides an interesting contrast with El-Sayed’s more recent appearance on Mackinac Island.
In May, El-Sayed attended the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, where Michigan’s political, business and civic power players gather each year.
There was little indication from his public appearance there that he remained eager to tell attendees how much he once said he hated their famous host destination.
The resurfaced footage comes from How To Fix A Primary, a documentary examining El-Sayed’s 2018 Democratic primary campaign against Gretchen Whitmer, who ultimately won the nomination and became governor.
The documentary portrays El-Sayed as an insurgent progressive challenging Michigan’s Democratic establishment.
A description published by the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival emphasizes his background as a Detroit native, Rhodes scholar, former Detroit health director and Ivy League professor.
It also notes that El-Sayed rejected PAC contributions, promoted a statewide “Medicare for All” proposal and received support from progressive Democratic figures including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The documentary’s framing is notably sympathetic toward El-Sayed.
Its festival description attributes his defeat to factors including “Islamophobia,” “attempts to discredit El-Sayed’s eligibility, an incumbent entrenched in corporate money, and a self-funded candidate who threw millions of dollars at advertising for name recognition.”
“It’s a campaign story, but it’s not blue versus red—it’s grass roots versus the establishment,” the listing says.
El-Sayed ultimately lost the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary to Whitmer, but his political ambitions did not disappear.
Now he is pursuing one of Michigan’s most powerful elected offices, putting his past statements — including remarks made when cameras captured a more relaxed version of the candidate — back under the microscope.
Candidates routinely discover that comments from years earlier can take on an entirely different significance once they return to the statewide political stage.
That appears to be precisely what is happening here.
For El-Sayed, the political problem is not merely that he disliked a vacation destination.
It is the image created by a politician seeking to represent all of Michigan casually laughing about how much he hated one of the state’s signature attractions — only to return years later for one of Michigan politics’ most important annual gatherings.
Michigan voters can decide for themselves how much weight the remarks deserve.
But one thing is certain: El-Sayed probably wishes the cameras had not been rolling when he gave Mackinac Island his brutally candid review.
