Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has been praised for his complete dismantling of a bigoted heckler.
El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee in the crucial Senate election in Michigan, where he is running against Republican Mike Rogers. Should he win the vote, El-Sayed will become the first Muslim senator in US history.
Over the weekend, El-Sayed spoke at a rally in the Republican stronghold city of Caro, where he was interrupted by a heckler in the crowd who asked the politician if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Instead of trying to ignore the heckler, who identified himself as Tommy, El-Sayed decided to take on and dismantle his bigoted views over the course of four and a half glorious minutes.
El-Sayed gives masterclass in dealing with bigoted questions
After saying he obviously does disavow the Islamist movement which includes extremist groups like Hamas and al-Qaeda, El-Sayed asked Tommy why he was asking the question.
“Because they’re a terrorist group,” Tommy replied.
“But what are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?” asked El-Sayed.
“Yes, because I haven’t heard you disavow them yet,” Tommy said.
El-Sayed drilled down into why Tommy would assume he had dual loyalties to the US and Islam, highlighting the clear Islamophobic implication behind the man’s question.
He continued: “I’m going to swear to the Constitution of the United States and that Constitution guarantees us all the right to practice whatever faith we want to or no faith at all.”
As those in attendance cheered El-Sayed, he pointed to the example of President John F. Kennedy, who faced questions about his faith as the first Catholic president of the US.
At the time, Kennedy said he was “not running to be a Catholic president but was running to be president and happened to be Catholic.”
“I’m not running to be a Muslim senator,” El-Sayed declared. “I’m running for the U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim.”
El-Sayed went on to say the US Constitution is his “guiding light” which gives every American the right to practice the faith of their choosing or have no faith at all.
“The reality is this: I’m never going to tell you what faith you can or cannot practice. I want to protect your right to practice your faith as you choose as a Christian man,” El-Sayed said. “The only question though is that it seems like you don’t want to protect my right to practice as I choose.”
“I think it’s you who needs to understand the Constitution, not me,” he told Tommy, who walks away with his bigoted tail firmly between his legs.
The clip has been viewed millions of times on social media, with El-Sayed being praised for his response.