Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican out of Oklahoma who challenged a Teamster official to a fight during a Senate hearing Tuesday, claimed he looked up the rules on settling scores in the chamber.
Mullin, on a day that saw a breakout of near-physical altercations between several officials in the nation’s capital, demanded International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien stand up and fight on the spot.
He was angered by a series of posts made by O’Brien on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which called him a “clown” and a “fraud.”
“You want to do it now?” Mullin asked. “Stand your butt up then.”
The fracas had to be interrupted by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who restored order before the two could get anywhere near each other.
RELATED: ‘Stand Your Butt Up Then’: Republican Senator Threatens to Fight Teamster Official In Senate Hearing
Mullin Looked Up Rules On Fighting In The Senate
Senator Mullin discussed the incident with Newsmax anchor Carl Higbie during an interview later in the evening.
Higbie began by noting that the Teamster official may have been a keyboard warrior with his social media insults: “Mike Tyson said it best: social media has given us this anonymity and people forgot what it’s like to get punched in the face.”
Higbie then inquired if any Senate rules would have actually allowed the two to settle the score physically.
“Well, we looked into the rules, and you know, you used to be able to cane,” Mullin lamented. “You gotta remember, President Andrew Jackson challenged nine guys to a duel and won nine times.”
Question: Are there any actual senate rules— could you guys go bare knuckle?
Mullin: We looked into the rules. You used to be able to cane. Andrew Jackson challenged 9 guys to a duel.. And so at the end of the day, there is presence for it pic.twitter.com/zznZbVYtHH
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 14, 2023
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He Has MMA Experience
Mullin’s reference to caning in the chamber harkens back to the assault of Senator Charles Sumner, a Republican who was beaten nearly to death with a walking cane by pro-slavery Democrat Representative Preston Brooks.
The Senate has also seen a fistfight in the chamber before, but the likelihood of duels returning as a form of settling disputes doesn’t seem very high.
It also seems that the comments were mostly in jest.
In other instances of something being in the Capitol water yesterday, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had to be chased down by his colleague Tim Burchett (R-TN) after hitting him with a “clean” elbow “shot to the kidneys.”
James Comer (R-KY), chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, got into a heated exchange with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) at a hearing the very same day.
“You look like a Smurf, here, just going around and all this stuff,” Comer said.
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) sparred during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday, where Comer told Moskowitz he looks “like a Smurf.” pic.twitter.com/prYh8dcypG
— The Hill (@thehill) November 14, 2023
Not to worry though, Markwayne Mullin isn’t always itching for a fight. In fact, after witnessing Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt being shot and killed during the January 6 Capitol riot, the GOP Senator gave the officer involved a “hug.”
“He (the Capitol police officer) was the last person in the world whoever wanted to use force like that and he wasn’t prone to do that,” Mullin alleged in an appearance on a C-Span show called January 6 Views From the House.
“I know for a fact because after it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught,” explained Mullin. “I actually gave him a hug and said, ‘Sir, you did what you had to do.’”
Mullin’s two opponents in MMA were a guy he fought twice with a career 1-11 record and a man whose nickname ironically was “Huggie Bear.”
