The man who interrupted a Michigan town hall to demand that Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed disavow the Muslim Brotherhood is Thomas Teepell, a former aide to Senator Josh Hawley, The Guardian reports. The identification of Teepell follows a heated exchange at the event held on Saturday, where he shouted from the crowd to question El-Sayed about the movement. Teepell worked as an intern in the office of Hawley in 2023 and later served as his operations director until February. He moved on to become the political director for the Kansas gubernatorial campaign of Philip Sarnecki, which ended when Sarnecki lost the Republican primary on August 4. Teepell is the son of Timmy Teepell, a Republican strategist who has served as a longtime adviser to Hawley and the former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. During the town hall, the man identified as Teepell asked El-Sayed if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed replied, “Sure, yeah, absolutely,” and then asked if the man assumed he would not. Teepell stated that he had not heard El-Sayed reject the movement, which is one of the oldest and most influential Islamist groups in the Arab world. Under President Donald Trump, the United States has moved to designate certain chapters of the group as foreign terrorist organizations. The interaction lasted nearly five minutes as El-Sayed addressed the crowd El-Sayed suggested that the question carried an implication of dual loyalty and compared it to the doubts once raised about the Catholicism of John F. Kennedy. El-Sayed told the room that he was running for the Senate and “happen[s] to be Muslim”. He then asked Teepell if he would disavow any attempt to read religious doctrine into American law. Teepell said he would not, and El-Sayed told the room that it was Teepell who needed to understand the Constitution. The man then left the room. Man who heckled Abdul El-Sayed is former Josh Hawley aide, records show #TheGuardian https://t.co/oQw7uxtFcD— #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) October 19, 2026 This line of questioning mirrors attacks that Republicans have used against El-Sayed for weeks. During a debate, Rogers raised claims regarding alleged ties to the Brotherhood. El-Sayed told NBC’s Meet the Press that neither he nor his family had any such ties. Following those comments, the Washington Free Beacon highlighted social media posts by his half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, about their mother’s activism in the group during the 1970s. El-Sayed was born in the 1980s and was not raised by his birth mother. He has called the idea that anyone in his family took part “an insane thing to assume”. On Meet the Press, El-Sayed stated that Rogers raised the issue because he “really wanted to repeat the word Muslim”. In a separate interview with NBC, he described the questions as “not serious”. President Trump has also targeted El-Sayed with similar claims. At a White House lunch, Trump said El-Sayed was “100%” Muslim Brotherhood and called him a “fraud”. On another occasion, Trump described him as a “member” of the group. Ahead of the weekend, Trump said of El-Sayed: “Adulbabababababa Mohammed El-Sayed.” He added: “So I was right. He’s a jihadist.” The race remains tight as the election approaches. El-Sayed holds a narrow lead in the RealClearPolitics average, with 48.1% to 45.5% for Rogers. A survey from InsiderAdvantage conducted on October 9 and October 10 showed him ahead 48% to 46%. Most leads are within or near the margin of error. El-Sayed is scheduled to campaign with Barack Obama in Detroit on October 24, which is the first day of in-person early voting. The rally will also feature the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Jocelyn Benson. Election day is November 3.