Abdul El-Sayed confronts alleged GOP plant at town hall

A five-minute video shared by Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has drawn more than 12 million views as of Monday morning, according to Newsweek. The clip records an Oct. 17 town hall in Caro, Michigan, where a man who gave his name as Tommy shouted from the crowd asking El-Sayed to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed answered, “Sure, yeah, absolutely,” according to video from the event cited by USA TODAY. He then pressed the questioner. CBS Detroit reported that Tommy called the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group and said he had not heard El-Sayed reject it. El-Sayed said the query implied dual loyalty and a higher allegiance than to the Constitution. Tommy said that was what he meant.

“You assume … that because I am Muslim, that somehow I would have some allegiance to something that is not our Constitution,” El-Sayed said, per CBS Detroit. He compared the scrutiny to questions once raised about John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism. “I’m not running to be a Muslim senator. I’m running for U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim.” He asked Tommy about his own faith. Tommy said he is a Christian who tries to live by Christian doctrine. El-Sayed asked whether he would disavow any attempt to read religious doctrine into the country’s laws. Tommy answered, “I do not.” El-Sayed replied, “I think it’s you who needs to understand the Constitution, not me.” The crowd cheered and chanted “Bye, Tommy,” CBS Detroit reported.

The Handbasket identified the man as Thomas Teepell of Detroit. Legistorm records show he served as operations director for Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri until February, the outlet reported. He later worked as political director for Philip Sarnecki’s Kansas gubernatorial campaign. Teepell is the son of GOP strategist Timmy Teepell, who worked for Bobby Jindal from 2004 to 2011 and on Jindal’s 2015 presidential bid. The Guardian has also reported the Teepell identity, citing congressional records.

El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 Michigan Senate race, running against Republican Mike Rogers. Election Day is Nov. 3. A Mitchell Research & Communications poll conducted Oct. 1 had El-Sayed leading Rogers 45.6 percent to 41.4 percent among likely voters, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. The two held their first debate Oct. 8 in Grand Rapids. Speaking to CNN about the town hall, El-Sayed said, “They send people like this guy, who apparently was a former staffer for Josh Hawley from Missouri to town halls in the middle of the state of Michigan.” He added, “When you have no new ideas, and your only approach is to backstop a president who called you and asked you to run in the first place, you’re going to try and find anything you can to distract from the issues.”