Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel took a swipe at newly minted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during his Tuesday night monologue. His so-called “joke” was just another smug reminder of how little elites think of working-class Americans.
Don’t worry, Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Chuck Mike Bruce Dave Melon Mullin. … Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now….But honestly, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about [rapper] Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? [Viewers are shown a photo of Lil Wayne with President Trump] At least we could get a free concert out of it.
With one joke, Kimmel laid bare his contempt for the working class and middle America. To him, Mullin is “unqualified” because he worked as a plumber and dared to spend his life in Oklahoma, of all places.
That remark was bad enough — but it also ignored the scale of Mullin’s accomplishments before he entered politics. According to his DHS biography, Mullin was just 20-years-old when his father fell ill. He left college to take over the family’s plumbing business — and transformed a six-man shop into “the largest service company in the region, and along the way founded numerous other successful companies.”
With Kimmel’s claim that Tyler Robinson, the suspect accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, was linked to MAGA still fresh in mind, conservatives wasted no time targeting him on social media.
Some reminded Kimmel of his own early career:
Others highlighted the importance and the dignity of tradesmen:
And some, like the commenter below, got right to the heart of the issue. He wrote: “How long will it take for the elitist snobs on the left to understand credentialism is dying? It’s not going to be about where you went, or what degree you got. What can you DO? What have you DONE? What RESULTS have you produced? Jimmy produces lame ‘comedy.'”
Kimmel thought he was mocking Mullin, but all he really did was expose himself. To people like Kimmel, building a business, creating jobs, and living outside the coastal bubble isn’t admirable — it’s something to sneer at. But that arrogance is exactly why so many Americans have stopped taking cues from late-night hosts and started trusting people who’ve actually done something real.
If having worked as a plumber is considered “disqualifying,” then maybe it’s not Mullin who’s out of touch. It’s the people laughing at him.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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