A young man asked Abdul-El Sayed if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. The Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan replied that he would, and then said that questions like that promote bigoted ideas about Muslim Americans.
The tense exchange at a Saturday event for El-Sayed has turned into a highlight for the candidate that he is now posting on social media.
The young man, who identified himself as Tommy, is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Sen. Josh Hawley (R.,
A young man asked Abdul-El Sayed if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. The Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan replied that he would, and then said that questions like that promote bigoted ideas about Muslim Americans.
The tense exchange at a Saturday event for El-Sayed has turned into a highlight for the candidate that he is now posting on social media.
The young man, who identified himself as Tommy, is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and for a failed Republican candidate for governor in Kansas.
The incident was the latest example of questions being raised about El-Sayed’s religious background and upbringing that he has described as bigoted. But his opponent, Mike Rogers, and President Trump have argued that such questions are fair amid concerns over religious extremism.
Here’s how the exchange happened.
The Question
At a town hall in Michigan, Teepell asked El-Sayed: “I have one simple question. Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?” El-Sayed was in Caro, Mich., a town northeast of Flint.
He responded, “sure, yeah, absolutely,” before pushing back. “Why are you asking the question?” Teepell replied, “because they’re a terrorist group.”
The Muslim Brotherhood refers to a network of organizations involved in regional Islamist movements, with distinct groups in several Middle Eastern countries. The Trump administration has designated some branches of the organization as terrorist groups.
The Response
El-Sayed used the question to denounce attacks on his Muslim faith, saying that President John F. Kennedy faced similar accusations of divided loyalties because he was Catholic.
“You’re asking the question because implicitly, you assume that I’ll have dual loyalties, right?” El-Sayed said. “I’m not running to be a Muslim senator, I’m running for U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim.” Teepell appeared to walk away after El-Sayed’s response.
The Climate
Republicans have capitalized on El-Sayed’s religion and his views on Israel as potential vulnerabilities for the candidate. Rogers, El-Sayed’s opponent, accused him of funding his campaign with money from terrorist groups in a speech about Islamist terrorism in the U.S.
El-Sayed won the Democratic primary in Michigan on a platform that opposed aid to Israel, beating Rep. Haley Stevens (D, Mich.), who supports Israel. Rogers has also attacked El-Sayed over his stance on Israel.
El-Sayed has faced criticism for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a left-wing political streamer. Republicans have described Piker as anti-American and pointed to his 2019 remark that “America deserved 9/11.” El-Sayed has said he doesn’t agree with those statements.
The Reaction
Rogers on CNN this week said that the Democrat didn’t adequately disavow the Muslim Brotherhood in the exchange with Teepell.
“He didn’t disavow it,” Rogers said. “He goes on this word salad trying to get around the fact that he can’t do it.” The host, Dana Bash, pushed back.
Clips from the exchange have gone viral, and El-Sayed’s campaign has promoted them, too. “This is Tommy,” El-Sayed posted on X this weekend with the clip. “Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.”
By Monday, his post had garnered 13 million views.
Write to Neil Mehta at neil.mehta@wsj.com
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