Abdul El-Sayed politely bodied an Islamophobic audience member so thoroughly that he slinked away in shame, and it’s 4 minutes well worth your time

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has time and again proved himself to be a sharp, funny campaigner who can think on his feet and isn’t afraid to fight back.

With two weeks left before the crucial US midterm elections, El-Sayed seems determined to not let opponents have the final word on him – whether that’s right wing reporters or the US vice-president.

At a town hall event in Caro, Michigan, on Saturday, a young man named Tommy stood up and asked El-Sayed: “Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?”

This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his. https://t.co/p09eMtsh0x

— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) October 18, 2026

Over the course of four minutes, El-Sayed engages with Tommy and calmly takes apart the question, evoking freedom of religion and JFK’s election as the first Catholic president. The subtext of the whole exchange is clearly about El-Sayed being Muslim.

Here’s the transcript:

Tommy: It’s a simple question.

Abdul: You give me your name, I’ll answer the question.

Tommy: Okay. Tommy.

Abdul: Hi, Tommy. How are you?

Tommy: I’m great.

Abdul: Are you? Do you know what the Constitution of the United States is?

Tommy: I have a simple question. Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?

Abdul: Yes, absolutely. But I want to ask the question that you’re asking. Why are you asking the question?

Tommy: Well, because they’re a terrorist group.

Abdul: Okay. No, no, but what are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?

Tommy: Yes.

Abdul: Why not?

Tommy: Because I have not heard you disavow them yet.

Abdul: Have you disavowed them? I haven’t heard you disavow them yet.

Tommy: I disavow them.

Abdul: Do you? Great. But here’s the thing about it. You’re asking the question because implicitly, you assume that I’ll have dual loyalties, right? You assume that I wouldn’t disavow, or that I’ll have some higher order allegiance than to the Constitution, correct? Tommy, is that what you imply?

Tommy: Yes.

Abdul: Why would you think that about me?

Tommy: Because I have not heard you disavow…

Abdul: No no no no. Why would you actually think that about me?

Tommy: Because I have not heard you disavow…

Abdul: But I just did. But why would you actually think that? Why would you… have you asked everybody in your life if they disavow them?

Tommy: I have not.

Abdul: So why are you asking me?

Tommy: Because I have not heard you disavow…

Abdul: No no no no. Answer the question, Tommy. Everybody knows the answer to it. Answer the question, Tommy.
All right, so let me just tell you. Let me just tell you. I’m going to swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States. And that Constitution guarantees us all the right to practice whatever faith we want or no faith at all. And now you assume, you assume, Tommy, that because I am Muslim, that somehow, I would have allegiance to something that is not our Constitution. That’s your assumption. That’s implicit in the question. And what’s interesting to me is that this is not the first time people have asked those kind of questions. Because you know who John F. Kennedy is? Do you know who that is, Tommy?

Tommy: I do.

Abdul: All right. Do you know what he was asked as the first possible Catholic President of the United States? What did they ask him? You don’t remember? You should read history, Tommy. When he ran for President, he was asked whether or not he was going to have allegiance to the Pope at the Vatican, because of course, he’s Catholic.
And his answer, famously, was that he was not running to be a Catholic President. He was running to be President that happened to be Catholic. I’m not running to be a Muslim Senator. I’m running for US Senate, and happen to be Muslim. And so, you know, it’s important, I think, that because you would ask this question in a way that suggests that somehow our Constitution shouldn’t be the thing that all of us bear allegiance to.
And I’m just telling you, that for me, that Constitution is the guiding light. It guarantees me the right to pray as I choose to pray or not pray at all. It guarantees you the right to pray as you choose to pray, or not pray at all. Now, Tommy, I’m going to ask you about your faith. Are you a man of faith?

Tommy: I am.

Abdul: And what faith do you practice?

Tommy: I’m a Christian.

Abdul: You’re a Christian. Do you…no, no, no, no, it’s a good question. Do you live by Christian doctrine?

Tommy: I would say so, yes.

Abdul: And you try as hard as you can to live by Christian doctrine, right?

Tommy: Yes.

Abdul: Do you think I have to live by Christian doctrine? Do you?

Tommy: Up to you.

Abdul: It’s up to me, right? Why? Why is it up to me?

Tommy: Because we have free will.

Abdul: Right. Free will, and also in this country, what else do we have? What else do we have, Tommy? No, I mean, you’re asking me about my allegiance to the Constitution. It’s the Constitution, my guy. We have a Constitution. And that Constitution guarantees you the right to live by your faith and guarantees me the right to do the same. And the reality is this. I’m never going to tell you what faith you can or can’t practice. I want to protect your right to practice your faith as you choose as a Christian man. The only question, though, is that you don’t want to protect my right to practice as I choose to. 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.

And at that moment, Tommy leaves.

The clip is going viral across social media and people are praising El-Sayed for keeping his calm while also demolishing the questioner.