Political reporter explains how the Ohio GOP Senate primary is soaring to such 'stupid' heights

With midterm elections right around the corner, Republican candidates in Ohio appear to be getting antsier as they continue their fight for former President Donald Trump's endorsement. In fact, two Senate Republican candidates have gotten so anxious about the upcoming election that they almost ended up in a physical altercation.

According to The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, an inside source has shared details about a recent altercation between top Ohio Republican candidates Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons. The disturbing scuffle, which took place on Friday, March 18, was reportedly so bizarre even Trump was "baffled."

However, Suebsaeng noted that the former president "absolutely loved the four-way fight for his favor, relishing the lengths to which Mandel, Gibbons, J.D. Vance, and Jane Timken have gone to impress him."

The Beast reports: "Two others familiar with his reaction to the near-brawl said Trump privately bashed the 2022 Ohio GOP frontrunners Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons for—in Trump’s characterization—'acting like idiots,' following their public confrontation."

The candidates' exchange took a turn for the worse when Gibbons claimed Mandel "didn’t know 'squat' about working in the private sector.

According to Suebsaeng, the candidates' actions, as well as the overall intraparty fighting, have raised concerns for many leaders in TrumpWorld.

"The scene of two grown men on the debate stage yelling in the other’s face attracted the cringes and bad reviews of an array of Trumpworld and conservative luminaries, including Steve Bannon, a former top Trump adviser who is no stranger to fits of trash-talk," Suebsaeng wrote. "Three longtime GOP operatives working on this Ohio race each independently described the debate footage as a “shitshow,” when asked by The Daily Beast."

Addressing the incident that occurred on Friday, Timken said, "I would like to address the embarrassment of Friday evening. Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons acted like children and if I had been their mother, I’d have grounded them.”