I've never met Rayla Campbell and I took her at her word when she posted on Facebook about the events of her altercation with two young women after a pro-Trump rally in New Bedford on Monday.

She painted a picture of being assaulted solely for her political beliefs, but as it turns out, she has an anger problem.

All I really knew about Campbell before Monday was she attempted but failed to get on the ballot as a Republican to run against Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley for a seat in Congress. When given the opportunity to write in Campbell during the primary, the unenrolled voters and registered Republicans in that Boston-based congressional district took a pass. That was two strikes against her.

Her street brawl was strike three.

While she calls herself a "GOP candidate for Congress," she is taking tremendous liberties with reality. Anybody can claim they are running for office, but if you aren't on the ballot are you really a candidate?

There are all kinds of stories out there now since Campbell got into a fistfight in New Bedford with some hecklers on Columbus Day. The video doesn't line up with the story she told the world in the hours after her street fight. I'm told there are other recordings out there too, and soon they will all be public. There are other police reports out there, too.

But what candidate for Congress gets into a fistfight? And what was she doing fistfighting 40 miles south of the district she claims to be running in with just about 20 days left before Election Day?

The Massachusetts GOP has a hard enough time winning elections without this kind of an embarrassing mess. The Republicans in her Congressional district obviously knew something most of us didn't know when they voted in the GOP primary on September 1.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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