Senators Markwayne Mullin and Rand Paul got into a brief tiff on Wednesday, about the legality of dueling, and on Wednesday night, Seth Meyers couldn’t decide which part of the moment was “weirder.”
It happened during a hearing to confirm Mullin as the new Secretary of Homeland Security — after President Trump fired Kristi Noem earlier this month — when Mullin claimed that dueling is still legal “with two consenting adults.” Rand immediately pushed back on that, telling Mullin that dueling has “been illegal for 170 years.”
“I don’t know which part of that is weirder, that Markwayne thought dueling was still legal, or that Rand immediately knew it hasn’t been legal for 170 years. OK, nerd!” Meyers joked.
“If you challenge Rand to a duel and said ‘name the time and the place,’ he’d say, ‘I’m not sure about the place, but let’s make the time the year 1856, so we don’t get arrested,’” he continued.
The late night host was also pretty amused by Mullin adding the caveat of “two consenting adults” to his claim.
“Very funny to describe a duel as being between two consenting adults. You know, because if only one person consents, that’s murder,” Meyers said, stifling a laugh. “It’s not OK if one guy is just pacing.”
More seriously, Mullin’s claim was a pretty good summation of “the philosophy of MAGA” for Meyers: that “violence and brute force rule the world.”
You can watch Seth Meyers’ full “A Closer Look” segment in the video above.
