Rep. Rich McCormick, a first-term GOP lawmaker known for doing pullups on railings suspended hundreds of feet above ground in the U.S. Capitol dome during a tour, once fought off rivals known as “Turbo,” “Hawk,” “Laser” and “Nitro” when he was a contestant on the TV competition show “American Gladiators.”
Mr. McCormick, Georgia Republican, was a 26-year Marine Corp. captain in 1988 when he appeared on three episodes in Season 7 of the popular game show and made it to the grand championship finals.
Although he did not win the finals, he walked away with one distinction: He defeated one of the biggest American Gladiators in the “pugil stick” competition.
The padded pole, used by military personnel in combat training since the 1940s, simulates battling with a rifle and bayonet. The contestant and the gladiator, standing on their respective platforms, wield their pugil sticks to try to knock each other off within a timed period.
“I’m the only guy who ever beat ‘Laser,’” Mr. McCormick, 55, said in an interview. “No one’s ever beat him before. In fact, during the show right before that, he gets in front of the camera and says, ‘Watch this. I’ve never lost. I’m never gonna lose. Watch this.’ And he goes out and loses.”
The lawmaker added, “Now, in all fairness, this guy’s a big, strong dude who could swing that pugil stick, but he swung so hard, I ducked at the right moment. And that little tap behind him took him off the platform, because he was over aggressive, and I have real good footwork.”
Mr. McCormick made headlines recently for doing pullups on metal superstructure inside the Capitol dome while he was with staff during a tour. He was reported to the Sergeant of Arms for “unsafe actions” by the Capitol Visitors Center, Politico reported, although the lawmaker insisted his actions were safe and that the story was overblown.
He says he still finds people’s daunted reactions to his pullups in the Capitol dome “laughable.”
“You go to a dome tour, which I’ve been asking for over a year, and there’s some metal superstructure, and do some pullups, and that’s a story. It’s laughable to me,” he said. “I didn’t take it seriously because I didn’t feel like it was dangerous at all. The story is fun, but I’m not poo-pooing anybody who gets uptight about that thing.”
The Georgia lawmaker’s look and impressive sword skills earned him a spot in the renowned TV campaign ad he posted on his Facebook page when he first ran for Congress. Following his 2022 election, Mr. McCormick began serving on the Armed Services Committee; the Science, Space and Technology panel and Foreign Affairs Committee.
He also works as an emergency room physician, having earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at Morehouse School of Medicine in 2010. He has been outspoken recently in his belief that President Biden’s mental faculties are deteriorating, saying on Newsmax that there’s “no possible way that he’ll last another four years.”
In his free time, Mr. McCormick has enjoyed rock climbing, surfing and playing rugby.
“You got to do something that lets loose that steam that causes stress. Otherwise, you’ll become a very uptight individual,” he said. “And one of the things that I think Marines pride themselves at is ‘work hard, play hard.’ I’m not a person who goes out carousing, but I like to have fun. I still play rugby. I still play basketball. And I do pullups — feats of strength.”
He is regularly seen by reporters and lawmakers skateboarding around the Capitol, and if he is not getting himself into trouble doing pullups in the Capitol dome, he will do them in his office. A free-standing pull-up bar was installed above his desk chair.
Mr. McCormick acknowledges that while his Marine background helped him with the Gladiators contest, size did matter, and his opponent outweighed him by 70 pounds in muscle. He has remained friends with Jim Starr, the gladiator known as Laser, to this day.
“That’s why there are weight classes for Mixed Martial Arts, boxing and wrestling, because size matters. So, I was very fortunate,” he said. “That guy is a good dude. I really like him a lot. He lives in Montana. And we’re still keeping in good contact.”
Most lawmakers, staffers outside his office and reporters are not aware of Mr. McCormick’s “American Gladiators” past, although a few, he says, come up to him occasionally to ask him about it.
A mounted crystal trophy emblazoned with the American Gladiators logo sits on a shelf at the front of his office with other sports memorabilia, and he mentioned his time on the show during his first campaign for office in 2019.
“I was an American Gladiator on TV and a Gladiator on the battlefield. I have been to battle and fought. I will not stop fighting for you if you elect me as your next US Congressman,” he posted on X.
Mr. McCormick‘s experience on American Gladiators was not the only time prior his congressional career he was on television. He also was featured in one of the Marine Corp.’s famous “The Few…The Proud…The Marines” TV ads.
“I was in the basic school and they went to the company rosters, a couple of different companies, which is hundreds of Marines. They chose 20 or so of us to audition for it,” he said. “We did the sword manual, and they filmed us.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.