Rubio, Paul staffers brawl in Michigan

A top official for Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio allegedly threw a punch at a Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul consultant in a Michigan bar Thursday.

According to John Yob, the national political director and chief Michigan strategist for the Paul campaign, Rich Beeson, who is deputy campaign manager for Rubio, punched him Thursday inside Horn’s Bar on Mackinac Island. The island is currently holding the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, which has drawn six GOP presidential candidates already this year.

“I ran into a guy named Rich Beeson, who frankly I didn’t even know who it was at first because he isn’t relevant in our political world,” Yob wrote, according to the Detroit Free-Press. “He literally physically assaulted me by punching me in the face. The state police are looking for him. I have it on video, from multiple angles. This will play out in the national media in the next few hours.”

Yob also tweeted for Rubio “to fire Rich Beeson immediately.”

A Mackinac Island Police Department officer would neither confirm nor deny that the incident took place. He also said there would be no comment until the police chief arrives at the police station Friday morning.

While Paul is expected to be on the island to speak at the conference, which runs until Sunday morning, Rubio is not.