Jake Tapper, a popular anchor for CNN, gave Teamster president Sean O’Brien a dose of reality he was probably not expecting to receive from a news network that usually kisses the backsides of anyone who proclaims to adhere to left-wing ideology. O’Brien thought he could hop on the program and continue to lob insults at Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, but boy did he get a rude awakening.
That very same day, Mullin was ready to throw down in an honest-to-goodness fist fight right in the middle of a Senate hearing, a challenge O’Brien was ready to accept, as the result of a feud that had been going on for months that all started when O’Brien launched personal attacks against Mullin on social media. I’m tell you, social media is both blessing and curse. It connects us all together which enables us to share information and forge important relationships, but also because it brings us all together, we are brought across the paths of people we would not normally socialize with that leads to drama like this.
According to TheBlaze, Vermont Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders got involved and prevented the fight from taking place.
“On CNN, Tapper asked O’Brien for his reaction to that heated moment after reminding him that Mullin is a former professional MMA fighter with an undefeated record,“ the report said. Yikes. O’Brien is truly an idiot for trying to pick a fight with someone like Mullin. Whatever this dude was smoking to make him think he would be able to handle Mullin must have been some good stuff.
“What went through my mind was you’re one of 100 of the most powerful people in the country and you’re acting like a 12-year-old in a schoolyard because you didn’t get your way,” O’Brien replied. “I mean, look, he actually has the ability — these 100 elite — to actually effectuate change in this country, and he’s focused on being a bully? You know, we’re not going to stand for it, and we’re definitely brought up differently.”
Tapper, however, was not having any of O’Brien’s nonsense.
“But, can I say, you’re tweeting like a 12-year-old,” Tapper shot back at the Teamster leader.
He then went on to explain to O’Brien that he started the whole mess by making fun of Mullin’s height before offering the suggestion that he’s not being a good representative of his union members by using up the time to attack a senator.
O’Brien came back with an embarrassing, “He started the whole thing,” a common refrain heard by parents of young children all over the world from all different time periods. Good grief, man. That’s the best thing you could say in response to defend your actions? Really?
Via TheBlaze:
Toward the end of the interview — after O’Brien took more personal shots at Mullin — the union boss claimed Mullin “chose to not act like a U.S. senator, and he’s going to have to pay the consequences for that.” He did not specify what those “consequences” will be and whether he will be the one to dish those out, as he perhaps implied in the social media post that started the feud.
For his part, Mullin defended his actions.
“He called me out,” Mullin said Tuesday afternoon. “He said ‘anytime, anyplace.’ You don’t call me out and say ‘anytime, anyplace’ and then not back it up what you said. … I’m still a guy. He called me. He said it. I just answered the bell. That was all.”
I totally understand where Mullin is coming from. As members of the male gender — which is one of only two that actually exist — when someone challenges your masculinity, you have to answer in some capacity. Perhaps not necessarily with fisticuffs, but you still have to let the other person know you won’t stand for being disrespected. However, issuing a challenge in the middle of a Senate hearing is a bit on the dramatic side. Both these guys are supposed to be adults, one representing Americans in the legislative branch. They could have done better.