Sen. Markwayne Mullin Discusses Senate Altercation

Senator Markwayne Mullin joined the News 9 team to discuss the heated exchange that happened between him and a union leader in a senate meeting yesterday.

United States Sen. Markwayne Mullin is facing national discussion after standing up during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. 

The confrontation was between him and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and took place during a hearing to address unions in the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

When asked if he would have done anything differently, Mullin said he stood by his actions and wanted to defend himself after he said O’Brien had been calling him out online for months. 

“I'm not a keyboard warrior like he is. I'm a guy from Oklahoma,” Mullin said. “In Oklahoma, you don't just simply run your mouth and call somebody out and don't think that somebody's going to answer that call; that's what I did here.”

Mullin said he disagrees with people who say his behavior is not incumbent of a Senator. He defended his actions by saying public officials like seventh President Andrew Jackson used to duel in the Senate to defend themselves. 

“Andrew Jackson, as president, had nine duels; he also knocked a guy out at the White House for being critical of him in front of his family,” Mullin said. “In Senate, there was a consequence for running your mouth like what he did.”

He also said as a public official, people would have called him out if he didn’t defend himself. 

“If I didn't call him out, what would people think of me too? Because you can't just simply say that kind of stuff,” Mullin said. 

By responding to O’Brien, Mullin said he hopes that people learn that they are responsible for what they say. 

“He needed to be responsible for his actions; every now and then, you might need your butt kicked for behaving that way,” Mullins said. 

Mullin said O’Brien behaved badly and, therefore, deserved what he got. 

During the altercation, Sen. Bernie Sanders intervened, causing Mullin to settle down. 

When asked what would have happened had Sen. Sanders not said anything, Mullin said he was prepared to settle their differences right there on the Senate floor. 

“We would have solved our differences like we used to when we were kids,” Mullin said. 

Mullin said that he believes having a disagreement with someone is natural, and while he doesn’t think it should be first instinct, sometimes it is good to get violence out of one’s system. 

“Today, it's all about political correctness. It's all about people saying that you, you know, we shouldn't resort to violence, and I agree you shouldn't,” Mullin said. “But at the same time, you need to be responsible for what you said you need to be held accountable.”

He said that people say critical things to him on social media and otherwise all of the time and that his normal reaction is not violence, but this time, it was different. 

“I was giving him that opportunity to either apologize or solve it,” Mullin said. 

He said O’Brien was the one to suggest a fight right then and there and that he was only responding to that. 

“I was just making sure that he was confident behind his words,” Mullin said. “He sure wasn't that confident because when I stood up, his face looked pretty fearful.”

Mullin said he has been seeing feedback online after the incident. He said some people have thanked him for standing up for himself, and others have said he could have handled it differently. 

He said in the future, he may look back on this as a learning experience, but as of right now he stands by his actions.

“There is zero chance I was gonna let this guy say that and not call him out on it. That's just not how I was raised. That's not how I raised my kids,” Mullin said. 

He says that he feels he is representing Oklahoma in an accurate way. 

“In Oklahoma, you don't flip somebody off unless you want your finger broken,” Mullin said. “We also respect people, and I can respect him and respect our differences.”

Mullin said that he is not angry about the altercation and does not take it personally. He said he would have been happy to settle their differences and call it done. 

“I would have enjoyed it and had a laugh a little bit about it like we did on the schoolyards,” Mullin said.