Fisticuffs On Mackinac Island! Marco Rubio's Man Allegedly Punches Rand Paul's During GOP Event
By Christy Strawser
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) In a slow-paced place not exactly known for wild revelry, two Republican operators allegedly got into a physical altercation during a GOP event on Mackinac Island.
It was mano a mano between Marco Rubio's representative and Rand Paul's man John Yob, who claimed on Facebook that Rubio's deputy campaign manager Rich Beeson punched him in the face at an Island bar.
They were there for the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, an a annual event that drew six GOP contenders this year.
This is how John Yob, a Grand Rapids political consultant and national political director for the Rand Paul campaign described it.
The Rubio campaign has not responded to the allegation, but Yob immediately called for Beeson to be fired.
A blogger from "West Michigan Politics" said he witnessed the incident. Brandon Hall described it this way on his blog: "I witnessed Beeson suddenly, out of nowhere, approach one of Rand Paul's advisers, John Yob-unprovoked-and try to hit him.
"Beeson missed a full on shot but still struck Yob in the face with a powerful blow near the jaw."
This happened in a Michigan resort community where the clip-clop of horses is much more common than the slap of angry fists. It's the kind of place one would assume solves problems with a well-placed, "I said good day, sir."
And this comes on the heels of the second GOP debate, where Rand Paul tangled with front-runner Donald Trump, but had no notable interaction with Marco Rubio. Rubio complained later that CNN treated the event like a 'pay-per-view boxing match.'
Allegedly, those words were truer about his campaign than he knew.
