Top Rand Paul aide accuses top Marco Rubio aide of punching him in the face

A top aide to presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) levied allegations across multiple social media platforms on Friday that a top aide to rival Sen. Marco Rubio's (R-Florida) campaign threw a punch during a scuffle the night before.

John Yob, Paul's national political director, said on his Facebook page and Twitter account that Rich Beeson, Rubio's deputy campaign manager, "punched me in the face" Thursday night inside a bar on Michigan's Mackinac Island.

The incident allegedly took place as Republicans gathered on the island ahead of the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. Several GOP candidates are scheduled to speak at the conference - including Paul, but not Rubio.

"Last night I went to a bar on Mackinac Island for the GOP Mackinac Conference," Yob wrote in a Facebook post. "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. ... 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 subsequently called on Rubio to fire Beeson.

Yob later sent reporters video of the alleged punch, which drew some mockery and derision on social media:

"We're aware of the initial reports and trying to find out what really happened," a Rubio campaign spokesman told Business Insider.

When asked if it had any additional comment, Paul campaign spokesman Sergio Gor said: "Not at this time."

Brandon Hall, a conservative blogger from Michigan, posted on his blog an account of the alleged incident, which he said came after Beeson was trying to "whip votes" in support of Rubio for the conference's straw poll. Hall said Beeson struck Yob "in the face with a powerful blow near the jaw."

"Police were summoned by Horn's workers after the fight dispersed," Hall wrote.

The Mackinack Island Police Department declined to comment to The Detroit News.