The attendee who pressed Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood at a tense town hall this weekend was exposed as a former GOP staffer with “Christian nationalist ties,” journalist Marisa Kabas reported.
As first reported by Kabas on her Substack The Handbasket, Tommy was actually Thomas Teepell, who previously served as operations director for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) until February of this year.
Teepell’s father is Timmy Teepell, a GOP strategist who worked for former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal through his climb from congressman to governor. Jindal is the founder of America Next, a conservative PAC that, according to The Michigan Daily, offered Republican college students $200 to travel to an El-Sayed event to “heckle” the Democratic candidate and ask provocative questions.
Abdul: So I’m going to ask you, do you disavow any attempt to read any religious doctrine into the laws of our country?
Tommy: I do not.
Abdul: You don’t disavow that. So, I think it’s you who needs to understand the Constitution, not me.
El-Sayed played him like a fiddle. Rock on.
I hate Republicans like I’m so past the point of tolerating them but damn if I didn’t self-cringe listening to that ass whooping poor little Tommy just got
Must’ve been such a deer in the headlights moment for him. He didn’t even do what Republicans do best and lie
So this Tommy chud is one of those paid actors Republicans are always shrieking about, huh?
Something something accusations and projections…
They’re always harping on about paid actors because they’re doing it themselves and they just assume that everyone else is as well.
It’s the poor empathy thing again. They can’t really imagine someone else as different than themselves.
This guy almost certainly came in from out of state, too: worked for Josh Hawley of Missouri, works for a PAC belonging to ex-governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, hard to believe he actually lives in Michigan, much less in Caro, which appears to be a rural mid-state town.
One remembers all those accusations from the right-wing that people showing up at protests are bused in, not local, etc.
Yet here’s this Missouri/Louisiana linked chud showing up out of nowhere at a Caro, Michigan town hall, run by a candidate for Senate that is not even of his own party. Hmmm.
Tommy too. No offense to “Tommy” name havers; but holy shit, you drop it to Tom around the same age you stop wearing baseball caps backwards. This guy isn’t even following basic white cis-het male rules.
It’s a specific tactic that politicians use. “Tommy” sounds more approachable than “Tom” or “Thomas.”
This is why we know Charles Schumer as “Chuck” and Addison McConnell III as “Mitch.” The folksy name feels friendlier and therefore gets more votes.
Makes sense. I’m sure the Republicans will run Adolphy next election.
His ilk usually don’t age past the baseball cap age mentally.
If you trace all the money going into America Next PAC, I bet there’s a good chance we’d find Russian money. So odds are this guy was a Russian paid actor.
Found the 4 minute exchange shown in the article on El-Sayed’s BlueSky instead of xitter: https://bsky.app/profile/abdulelsayed.bsky.social/post/3my4gocauzs2x (Another person posted a Mastodon re-up if you prefer that)
It’s worth a watch, it’s so good that you’d think El-Sayed’s campaign tried to set this moment up yet in fact it’s the right-wing provocateur that came in thinking they could get soundbites insinuating Abdul is a terrorist, but went away with their clock cleaned instead.
This so much… I would have easily believed that they paid this creep to show up and blow the dog-whistle.
The response was so perfect that it feels like a campaign stunt.
Now it’s blowing up everywhere and people get to see both how incredibly poised Dr. El-Sayed was as he explained his position (especially with the stark comparison to how the GOP typically handles people who ask them unfavorable questions at events) AND that it’s really the GOP pulling pathetic stunts like this with paid actors.
This guy and candidates like him give me a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe we can find some real leadership out there and start getting this disaster of the past decade turned around. Small hope mind you, but it’s definitely there.
I agree the response is so good that it feels scripted, but the truth is probably that he has it kind of scripted in his head. He’s probably dealt with similar questions or attacks many many times so by now it’s not surprising that he has this type of immaculate answer to it ready to deliver.
I only saw the first 2.5 minutes previously, but the finish is baller. El-Sayed has some swagger
I hope enough Michiganders agree with me Nov 3
Jesus could turn water into wine, but a Christian Nationalist can turn alcohol into domestic violence.
This unfortunately, too real
Everybody knows the answer to it, answer the question
This was so great. I got goosebumps. El-Sayed has impressed me with everything I have seen.
The scene was embarrassing enough for the prick already. The fact that it was organized and planned, and he still had no plan whatsoever for what to do if El-Sayed simply said “Yes, I do condemn the Muslim Brotherhood” really goes to show how fucking weird and disconnected from reality these people are.
The GOP operative wasn’t willing to disavow militant Christians, so he didn’t think El-Sayed would disavow militant Muslims.
What a dumbass.
The way Tommyboy just left with his tail between his legs 🤌
Bye bitch
I wanna know who that other guy who left with him is. The one he walked out with.
Not that you or anyone here would know, it’s just that no one participates in a walk of shame unless they have to, and it’s pretty clear they were there together.
Of course it’s a far right wing extremist
Well obviously. He revealed his cards when he admitted before walking out that he won’t respect Abdul’s right to freedom of religion, despite the fact that Abdul respects his.
First of all, it was a grown man who introduced himself as Tommy, whose father goes by Timmy, who worked for a politician named Bobby. What’s with these weirdos who never transitioned from their elementary school names?
Secondly, what’s the deal with these White Christian Nationalists dogging anyone else over their religion? These delusional Christian psychos are literally no different from the Muslim extremist psychos they condemn. They are two sides of the same coin.
Abdul should have asked Tommy if he disavows White Christian Nationalism.
… he did, didn’t he?
Not by name, no.
The video is in the linked article. Abdul asked Tommy around the 30 second mark if Tommy disavows the Muslim Brotherhood as a reflexive response to Tommy’s own question, and at 4:20 he asked Tommy if, as a Christian, Tommy disavows “any attempt to read Christian doctrine into the laws of our country?” and of course Tommy declines.
But Abdul never asks Tommy if he disavows White Christian Nationalism.
He did and Tommy said no.
a grown man who introduced himself as Tommy, whose father goes by Timmy, who worked for a politician named Bobby.
It’s the South, what do you expect
It is definitely a thing in the South, and didn’t realize it until I moved out.
Religon is on a pathway to kill humanity.
Religion is just the tool, it’s the antisocial and murderous reactionary ideologies pushed through major religions that allows it. Christianity in particular does have a lot of ways of condoning imperialism etc but I believe it can be for good, there have been numerous Christian groups that broke away from the mainstream and said that to follow the scriptures required a form of socialism. I was raised with a Buddhist leaning upbringing, and it instilled in me ideals like a respect for all life and different cultures, to persue a harmony between humanity and nature, but also allows a scientific and materialist view rather than pure idealism.
Idealism is a fraud
Thomas Teepell was basically projecting? They have dual loyalties, one to a secular government, and a second to Christianity.
I wouldn’t say they’re doing well at either of those projects tbh.
I mean who did Nat-C that coming?
I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
Right-wing extremist theocratic nationalist tries to accuse progressive/cosmopolitan candidate of ties to right-wing extremism and theocratic nationalism.
Typical republican projection seen in action. I’m glad El-Sayed called it out for what it is. He seems very dextrous when it comes to being put on the spot by right-wing reactionary pundits/agitator-provocateurs.
Also, I recognize Josh Hawley’s name from 2021; pretty sure he was one of the first few congresspeople to excuse trump’s incitement of the insurrection.
Also, I recognize Josh Hawley’s name from 2021; pretty sure he was one of the first few congresspeople to excuse trump’s incitement of the insurrection.
It was more than that; he was there inciting the crowd:
Holy masterclass batman. I’m not sure Tommy realized just how much he got schooled in that moment.
Dude got wrecked publicly, so he did us all a solid.
