Senator Markwayne Mullin is doubling down on his challenge against International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, saying he'd be ready to bite the union head if the two were to settle their differences in a physical fight.
"By the way, I'm not afraid of biting. I will bite," Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, told podcast host Kyle Thompson on Wednesday's episode of Undaunted.Life. "I'll bite 100 percent. In a fight, I'm gonna bite. I'll do anything. I'm not above it, and I don't care where I bite, by the way, it's just...gonna be a biting."
Newsweek reached out to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters via email for comment.
An angry confrontation broke out during a Tuesday Senate hearing after Mullin challenged O'Brien, who was appearing as a witness before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, to a fistfight after reading tweets that the union leader had written about the Oklahoma Republican in the past.
"You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here," Mullin told O'Brien before asking him, "You want to do it now?"
When Mullin called on the Teamsters president to "stand your butt up," O'Brien shot back, "You stand your butt up," prompting the senator to jump out of his seat. Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders quickly cut in, telling Mullin to sit down and reminding him he was an elected official.
"If you have questions on any economic issues, anything that was said, go for it. We're not here to talk about physical abuse," the Vermont senator said.
Mullin, a frequent critic of union leadership, has publicly sparred with O'Brien in the past. In September, the senator called him an "attention-seeking union Teamster boss" and challenged him to a charity MMA fight in his home state.
Mullin has made several comments doubling down on his Tuesday remarks, responding to a podcast invitation on X, formerly Twitter, with a picture of him holding a gun and writing, "Let's do it. Anyplace, anytime." He also appeared on Fox News' Sean Hannity's show, calling O'Brien a "thug" and a "mob boss" and clarifying that he wasn't joking when he threatened the union head at the hearing.
"In Oklahoma, if you run your mouth, you get called out. Period," Mullin said in another X post.
During the Wednesday podcast, Mullin said he understood that senators had "other things to do" than fight his critics but asked, "What else was my response to be? Ignore it?"
"I'm not a very good Christian. I try to be a good Christian, and I know people say you're supposed to turn the other cheek...I won't start it, but I'll sure do everything I can to finish it," the senator said.
In response to Mullin's comments, former Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, wrote on X: "This doubling down trend is.... Uhhh.... Weird."
"An ordinary American would lose their job if they threatened to beat or bite someone at work. Different set of rules for MAGA elites," former George W. Bush administration official Christian Vanderbrouk said.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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