DRAMA ERUPTS: Rand Paul attacks fellow Republican Markwayne Mullin during confirmation hearing

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As the confirmation hearing for DHS Secretary nominee Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) got underway Wednesday morning, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) proved why Mullin once referred to him as a “freaking snake.”

In November 2017, Paul had been tackled from behind by a neighbor with whom he had a longstanding dispute over lawn care. Paul suffered multiple broken ribs and lung injuries as a result of the attack. The neighbor was reportedly fed-up with the leaves and wood debris that Paul was stacking near their property line.

During an event in February of this year, Sen. Mullin reportedly referred to Paul and said at the event,  “I respect Bernie Sanders because he’s an open socialist, and you know that he’s a communist so you know what you’re getting. Rand Paul’s a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did.”

At Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. Paul, who serves as the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, opened up the hearing by launching into a tirade against Mullin. He went into details about the injuries he suffered from the neighbor’s attack, and raged against Mullin for appearing to support violence against him.

“Tell it to my face if that’s what you believe. Tell it to me today. Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken and a damaged lung. Tell me to my face why you think I deserved it,” Paul dramatically demanded.

“And while you’re at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues. To set the proper example for Ice and Border Patrol agents. Explain to the American public how a man who has no regrets about brawling in a Senate committee can set a proper example for over 250,000 men and women who work at the Department of Homeland Security,” Paul added.

Mullin respectfully addressed the verbal attack from Paul in his opening statement:

“I have to address the remarks the chairman made, calling me a liar. Sir, I think everybody in this room knows that I’m very blunt and direct to the point, and if I have something to say, I’ll say it directly to your face. If you recall back in my house days we actually did have this conversation….I simply addressed that. I said I could understand, because of the behavior you were having, that I can understand why your neighbor did what he did. As far as my terms ‘snake in the grass,’ sir, I work around this room to try to fix problems. I’ve worked with many people in this room. Seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us.”

“And as far as me saying that I invoke violence – I don’t think anybody should be hit by surprise. I don’t like that. But if I do have something to say, everybody in this room knows. I’ll come straight to you, I’ll say it publicly and I’ll say it privately, but I’ll never say it behind your back. So for you to say I’m a liar, sir, that’s not accurate.”

“The truth is, I have a job to do, and I don’t like to fail at anything at all, so I can set it aside. If you’re willing to set it aside, let me earn your respect.”

But Paul refused to bury the hatchet. He fired back by calling Mullin “unrepentant,” and declared, “You offer no apology today and no regrets. Haven’t, I don’t hear the word apologize. Haven’t heard the word regret. Haven’t heard I misspoke.”

Referring to the neighbor’s attack on Paul, Mullin said, “I did not say I supported it. I said I understood it. There’s a difference.”

Paul proceeded to double down, as he played the video footage of a 2023 incident, in which Mullin and Teamsters Union president Sean O’Brien got into a heated exchange and nearly came to blows.

The two are now good friends, and O’Brien was seen sitting directly behind Mullin during the hearing, with a small smile on his face as the footage played.

Mullin said, “As you can notice over my shoulder is my good friend Sean O’Brien. Both of us have had conversations. Both of us have shaken hands. Both agree with could’ve done things different. Sean has become a close friends. We talk all the time. I’ve been on his podcast, and we’ve talked through this. That’s how you handle your differences. Not like this, chairman.”

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet commented, “Sen. Markwayne Mullin is the kind of guy who can exchange words with a Union Boss, only to bury the hatchet and have that very same Union Boss sitting right behind him as a character witness at his confirmation hearing. Sen. Paul needs to let whatever grudge he’s harboring go, just like MWM and Sean O’Brien did.”

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