A man who booed Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and demanded he disavow the Muslim Brotherhood at a Michigan town hall is a former aide to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, according to congressional staff records. At Saturday’s event, an attendee who only identified himself as “Tommy” shouted into the crowd, asking if El-Sayed would repudiate the movement. El-Sayed responded: “Of course, yes, absolutely,” then turned the question around and asked if the man assumed he wouldn’t do it. Tommy said he had simply not heard El-Sayed reject the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the oldest and most influential Islamist movements in the Arab world. Under Trump, the United States has taken steps to designate certain chapters of the group as foreign terrorist organizations. For nearly five minutes at the town hall, El-Sayed pointed out how the question shouted by Tommy carried an implication of “dual loyalty,” comparing it to the doubts once raised about John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism, and told those present that he was running for the Senate and “it happens.”[s] be Muslim.” He then asked Tommy if he would repudiate any attempt to read religious doctrine into American law. Tommy said no. El-Sayed responded that it was Tommy who needed to understand the constitution, prompting applause and the man left the room. The questioner has since been identified as Thomas Teepell, whose personnel records show he joined Hawley’s office as an intern in 2023 and rose to chief operating officer before leaving in February. He later became political director. of Philip Sarnecki’s Kansas. Sarnecki lost the Republican primary on August 4. Teepell is the son of Republican strategist Timmy Teepell, an adviser to Hawley, and former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who first reported the identification. Beacon resurfaced on social media posts by his half-sister, University of Chicago professor Eman Abdelhadi, describing his mother’s activism in the group in the 1970s. There is no evidence that El-Sayed was personally involved; he was born in the 1980s and was not raised by his biological mother. Press said Rogers had raised the issue because he “really wanted to repeat the word Muslim.” as “not serious.” Trump went further, equally without evidence, saying at a White House lunch that El-Sayed was “100%” Muslim Brotherhood and calling him a “fraud,” and describing him on another occasion as a “member” of the group. Before the weekend, Trump hissed at him about his Islamophobia, saying. that he was right. He’s a jihadist.” The attacks come in a tight race. El-Sayed has a narrow lead in the RealClearPolitics average, 48.1% to 45.5% for Rogers. The most recent poll, from InsiderAdvantage conducted Oct. 9-10, had him ahead 48% to 46%. Most leads fall within or near the margin of error. El-Sayed will campaign with Barack Obama in Detroit on Saturday, Oct. 24, the first day of in-person early voting, at a rally that will also feature Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson. Election Day is Nov. 3.
