Hoo boy, it was a spicy day on CSPAN Tuesday, after a sitting senator challenged the president of the Teamsters to fisticuffs during a hearing on labor unions.
Senator Bernie “the mittens” Sanders served as the unlikely voice of reason after Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin confronted Teamsters President Sean O’Brien in the middle of a hearing held by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. O’Brien was serving as a witness, called by Sen. Bernie Sanders, to testify as the leaders of one of the largest unions in the country. Teamsters represent workers from airline, freight and railroad workers.
The fight is truly hilarious in the way that our absolutely bonkers world just keeps getting more and more inexplicable. Here’s the transcript from CBS News:
The exchange began when Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Okla., read a tweet that Teamsters President Sean O’Brien had posted in June.
“You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin said to O’Brien, who was testifying at a hearing on labor unions in America.
“OK, that’s fine, perfect,” O’Brien replied. “I’d love to do it right now.”
“Then stand your butt up then,” Mullin shot back.
“You stand your butt up,” O’Brien said.
Mullin, dressed in a white shirt and no jacket, then stood up and began to move toward O’Brien.
“No, no, sit down! Sit down! You’re a United States senator!” shouted Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Mullin and O’Brien continued to trash talk each other in the hearing room.
Has anyone really been ready to throw down while still using the word “butt?” I mean, come on. If you’re so blinded by rage that you’re taking off your jewelry to punch a guy during with a head like the Blarney Stone during a Senate hearing then you’re gonna take the extra step to swear.
Of course, the offending tweet O’Brien sent earlier this summer was not exactly gentlemanly either. But that’s why he’s president of the Teamsters, a group well known for their working-class lifestyle, and a Senator. And oh yeah, the tweet was from June. Good job not letting him live rent free in your head Sen. Mullin.
The two actually exchanged heated words all the way back in March, so we’re closing in on a year of two adult men, supposed leaders in their communities, acting like, well, this.
This is a breaking story and we will update more when more information becomes available.