Overview
- Jimmy Kimmel joked on his late-night show that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber and quipped that the U.S. now has a plumber protecting it from terrorism.
- GOP lawmakers and MAGA-aligned influencers called the joke elitist, with Sen. Ted Cruz saying he prefers plumbers to unfunny comedians and Sen. Cynthia Lummis calling the remark shameful.
- A DHS spokesperson declined to engage with the flap and said the department is too busy arresting violent criminals and other illegal entrants to spend time on the dispute.
- Mullin is serving as the ninth DHS secretary after a 54-45 Senate vote that included two Democrats, and he previously ran his family’s plumbing company, which he grew into one of Oklahoma’s largest by 2011.
- Right-leaning outlets castigated Kimmel’s line as an attack on working people, while other coverage treated it as routine late-night satire, highlighting a familiar culture clash over blue-collar identity and Hollywood humor.