Ohio GOP Senate candidates Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons got in each other’s faces during a candidate forum Friday evening, according to the Washington Examiner.
The incident took place during a GOP candidate forum organized by FreedomWorks.
According to the Examiner, it all started when Mandel accused Gibbons of making “billions of dollars” shipping Ohio businesses to China. Gibbons fired back telling Mandel that he “never worked in the private sector.”
The comment irked Mandel and he got up from his seat and yelled about his time in Iraq while standing inches away from Gibbons’ face.
“Don’t tell me I haven’t worked,” Mandel said.
“You don’t know squat,” Gibbons shot back.
The two men told each other to back off before the moderator intervened and urged them to sit down.
Recent polling have shown Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker gaining on Mandel, a former state treasurer and presumptive frontrunner in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
Author J.D. Vance, an early leader in the race who has since lost momentum was also at the event on Friday and mocked the exchange between the two men. He told Mandel that his military service is “not a political football for you to toss around.”
