Senator, Teamsters president physically threaten each other in hearing: ‘You want to do it now?’
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien were involved in a heated argument that threatened to turn into a physical confrontation during a Senate hearing as Sen. Bernie Sanders tried to calm things down.
A Senate committee hearing appeared to be on the brink of a physical altercation on Tuesday as a Republican senator stood up and threatened to fight a labor leader as the committee's chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, tried to play peacemaker.
"Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults and we can finish it here," GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told Teamsters President Sean O'Brien during a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing after reading a tweet in which O'Brien said he could take the senator "any time" or "any place."
"OK, that's fine, perfect," O'Brien responded.
"You want to do it now?" Mullin asked.
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Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, left, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Fox News)
"I would love to do it right now," O'Brien said, prompting Mullin to say, "Well, stand your butt up then."
"You stand your butt up, big guy," O'Brien said.
Mullin, a former MMA fighter, stood up from his chair and seemed set on making his way over to where the Teamsters president was sitting.
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Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin rises from his seat during Tuesday's Senate Health Committee hearing with the president of the Teamsters.
"Stop it, hold it, no, no, sit down," said Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the committee, in an attempt to calm the pair down. "You're a United States senator. Sit down."
Both Mullin and O'Brien asked permission from Sanders to respond to each other after Mullin sat down, but Sanders denied their requests.
The two continued to go back and forth for several minutes.
"You challenged me to a cage match, acting like a 12-year-old," O'Brien said after Mullin accused him of being "quiet" in the face of a challenge.
"Excuse me, hold it," Sanders said, shouting over the Oklahoma senator. "Sen. Mullin, I have the mic."
"We're not here to talk about physical abuse," Sanders said.
Mullin then pointed a finger at O'Brien and called him a "thug," which caused O'Brien to call Mullin "disrespectful."
The two then told each other that they both don't respect one another, causing Sanders to interject again.
"Hold it," Sanders said while banging his gavel. "This is a hearing to discuss economic issues … we're not here to talk about fights or anything else."
The two continued to bicker, despite the pleas from Sanders, until the hearing eventually moved on to the next line of questioning from other members of the panel.
O'Brien and Mullin have a contentious history dating back to March when the two sparred in a heated Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing over O'Brien's salary compared to that of his union members.
Sanders was forced to intervene in that argument as well.
The two ignored Sanders and continued talking over each other, appearing to grow increasingly frustrated, before Mullin said, "Sir, you need to shut your mouth because you don't know what you're talking about."
"You're going to tell me to shut my mouth?" O'Brien responded before mocking Mullin's opening statement in which he said he wasn't "afraid" of a physical altercation.
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Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / File)
Sanders eventually quieted the two and made Mullin provide O'Brien time to speak.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Mullin and Sanders as well as the Teamsters but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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