Abdul El-Sayed heckler identified as son of strategist whose firm was paid for influencer marketing against El-Sayed
The man who asked Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed about the Muslim Brotherhood was identified as Thomas "Tommy" Teepell, son of strategist Timmy Teepell, whose firm Breakthrough LLC received $250,000 for canvassing and influencer marketing against El-Sayed.
Folding chairs in rows facing a small empty stage in a dim community hall after a public campaign event has ended.
The Abdul El-Sayed heckler whose five-minute confrontation became a viral moment has been identified as the son of a Republican strategist whose firm was paid to run opposition work in the Michigan Senate race, according to the Handbasket and the Guardian.
The exchange and its reach
A man – first identified by the Handbasket as Thomas "Tommy" Teepell – asked El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate, if he would "disavow" the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed said he would, but then pressed the man on the point of the question: "What are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn't?"
Over the course of the five-minute exchange, El-Sayed queried the man about the guarantees of religious freedom in the constitution. The encounter has drawn over 50 million views across several social media platforms.
The payment behind the opposition
The Guardian learned that the heckler's father, Timmy Teepell, runs Breakthrough LLC, a firm that was paid $250,000 on 29 September by America Next, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The filing states the money would fund the canvassing and influencer marketing in opposition to El-Sayed. Further details from the filing and related records:
- America Next is a 501(c)(4) non-profit that shares a Baton Rouge office suite with Breakthrough LLC.
- The $250,000 expenditure is the only independent expenditure America Next has reported since 2015, when it paid OnMessage Inc for TV ads backing Bobby Jindal's presidential campaign.
- The Baton Rouge suite is also the registered address of a Christian non-profit for which Teepell is registered agent; two other Teepell family members are among its four directors.
- America Next was launched by Jindal as a policy non-profit in 2013, still publishes his columns on its website and does not disclose donors.
Offered cash to boo at Flint town hall
The paid opposition effort extended beyond the exchange. On 1 October, a member of the University of Michigan College Republicans, reportedly acting for America Next, offered students $200 to boo and question El-Sayed at a town hall in Flint.
Who is Timmy Teepell
Timmy Teepell is a longtime strategist for Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley as well as former Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.
- He reportedly became Jindal's chief of staff when Jindal took office as Louisiana governor in January 2008, and left in 2011 to become a partner at OnMessage.
- He managed Jindal's 2016 presidential campaign, the Guardian reported in 2015.
- OnMessage's archived 2019 bio says Teepell served as lead consultant for Hawley's upset victory over incumbent Democratic senator Claire McCaskill in 2018. Hawley's campaign paid OnMessage $7,489,181 during that election cycle, per FEC records.
- Hawley's campaign committee has also paid Breakthrough.
His son Thomas worked in Hawley's Senate office after a stint at OnMessage, according to his LinkedIn and the reporting:
- Thomas Teepell was a part-time associate at OnMessage Inc from May 2020 to May 2023.
- He joined Hawley's Senate office as an intern in 2023, rose to operations director, and left in February.
Nothing in the filings shows that Thomas Teepell was paid by Breakthrough or America Next. The $250,000 expenditure remains the only independent expenditure America Next has reported since 2015.
