OK Sen. Markwayne Mullin defends Senate fight, tells Sean Hannity it’s ‘Oklahoma values’

U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, said he believed Oklahomans “would be pretty upset” at him if he hadn’t threatened a union leader to a fight during a senate hearing,

Mullin, 45, and Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien had a heated exchange during a senate hearing on labor unions, at the end of which Mullin asked O’Brien if he wanted to fight. Mullin even stood from his chair, but was stopped by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who was chairing the hearing.

The incident was ignited by a June tweet from O’Brien in which he said to Mullin, “You know where to find me. Anyplace, anytime, cowboy.” Mullin responded at the time with a challenge to a charity MMA fight.

In an interview with Sean Hannity later Tuesday, Mullin defended his actions as adhering to the values he was raised with.

More: Oklahoma senator tries to fight union leader at Senate hearing, Bernie Sanders steps in

Mullin tells Hannity challenge to fight was representing ‘Oklahoma values’

In the Fox News interview, Hannity told Mullin he didn’t expect the incident would have a negative impact on Mullin’s approval rating in Oklahoma.

“He called you out,” Hannity said. “You called him out for calling you out. And that’s kind of old school, the way it used to be.”

Mullin said he had been asked afterward if his conduct was in line with a United States Senator, but he responded that he’s “a guy from Oklahoma first.” He also said that the issue is “political correctness,” and that “the left can say whatever they want.”

“In Oklahoma, you don’t do this,” Mullin said of O’Brien’s social media posts. “Maybe you run your mouth in New Jersey, I don’t know … I’m sure not going to sit back and let somebody do that and not call them out on it.”

Mullin said he believes O’Brien never expected Mullin to “answer the call,” and that people need to be “called out on what they say.”

“What did people want me to do? If I didn’t do that, people in Oklahoma would be pretty upset at me,” Mullin said. “That’s how we were raised, I’m supposed to represent Oklahoma values.”

Markwayne Mullin’s history in MMA

Mullin, 45, previously served 10 years in the House before winning the Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Mullin owns a plumbing business and has been an MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter in the past.

Mullin’s Senate biography says he had an undefeated 5-0 record in The Octagon, the eight-sided MMA ring, and is a member of the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame. MMA sites Tapology and Sherdog each list him with a 3-0 record in matches in 2006 and 2007. The reasons for the discrepancy weren’t immediately clear.