Gordon S. Miller

CONFIRMED: "Tommy"—the heckler who tried to gotcha El-Sayed at his Michigan town hall—is not some random guy. He is Thomas Teepell, Operations Director for Republican Senator Josh Hawley until February of this year. This explains why his "gotcha" targeted the Muslim candidate. The Handbasket first identified him via his X and Facebook profiles (Detroit) and LegiStorm, which confirms he ran Hawley’s Senate operations until February. Crooks and Liars, Newsy Today, and Lawyers Guns & Money have since confirmed it. Tommy’s father is Timmy Teepell, a Republican strategist who worked for Bobby Jindal (2004–2011), ran his 2015 presidential campaign, and helped Josh Hawley win as Missouri Attorney General in 2016 and U.S. Senator in 2018. Christian nationalist ties run deep. Timmy is described as the “most powerful ally” of Sean Feucht, who preaches Christian supremacy. Video shows Feucht praying over father and son. Tommy interviewed on-stage with Feucht at his D.C. headquarters in April 2024. On October 2, the University of Michigan student paper revealed that America Next—a PAC founded by Bobby Jindal—offered College Republicans $200 to attend El-Sayed’s Flint town hall, boo him, and ask inflammatory questions for viral moments. Nothing happened in Flint; then Tommy appeared in Caro. El-Sayed disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood on the spot, spent four minutes dismantling the question, and Tommy walked out. The “gotcha” was on him.