Jimmy Kimmel used his Tuesday evening monologue to take shots at newly confirmed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, calling the former Oklahoma senator a "low-level MMA fighter and a plumber." The joke landed flat with Republican lawmakers, the DHS itself, and a wide swath of Americans who don't find blue-collar work particularly funny. As the Daily Mail reported, politicians from both chambers fired back, and DHS issued a pointed statement dismissing the late-night host's remarks entirely.
The Senate had confirmed Mullin by a 54-45 vote Monday night. Two Democrats, Pennsylvania's John Fetterman and New Mexico's Martin Heinrich, crossed party lines to approve the nomination. On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi swore Mullin in at the Oval Office, making him the nation's ninth DHS secretary.
Hours later, Kimmel went to work.
Kimmel opened his remarks by mocking Mullin's name before pivoting to his résumé. "He's the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber," Kimmel said. He followed with a punchline: "That's right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?"
Kimmel then called Mullin "unqualified" and suggested the administration should "have more fun with it" by nominating "Lil Wayne for Homeland Security" instead. "At least we can get a concert out of it, right?" he added.
The bit treated plumbing as a disqualifier for public office. That framing drew immediate and fierce pushback.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz kept it short on X: "I prefer plumbers to woke & unfunny comedians." Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis went further.
"The disdain for which the Democrats and Hollywood elites have for working-class Americans, and folks who step up to do important jobs for their country, is shameful. These people need help."
Rep. Mike Collins delivered the most detailed rebuttal, writing that Kimmel was attempting to "demean" men by calling Mullin a plumber. Collins said calling Mullin a plumber "doesn't do him justice," then laid out a broader case.
"Plumbers, truckers, builders, tradesmen, etc built this country and continue to be a vital part of our economy's backbone. It's not just jobs. It's a spirit of actually using the sweat of your brow, determination and yes, intellect, to add in a productive way to America, a land of pioneers."
Collins closed with a line that cut sharper than any of Kimmel's material: "Western civilization can't survive without the men and women who provide blue collar services. Late night political commentary masquerading as comedy would never be missed."
The Department of Homeland Security itself responded to Fox News Digital with a statement that made clear the agency had no interest in playing along.
"DHS is too busy arresting gang members, terrorists, pedophiles, rapists, murderers, and other criminal illegal aliens to engage in this kind of silliness."
The timing of that statement was not incidental. Mullin stepped into the DHS job during a period of real operational pressure. Travelers were facing long lines due to unpaid TSA staff, and ICE agents had been deployed to multiple airports on Monday to help manage the crisis. Senators remained deadlocked on a DHS funding deal requiring bipartisan support.
In other words, Mullin inherited a department with actual problems to solve, the kind that don't get fixed from a late-night studio in Hollywood.
Kimmel's bit relied on the audience knowing nothing about the man beyond a job title and a fight record. The actual biography tells a different story.
Mullin is a member of the Cherokee Nation. He and his college bride took over Mullin Plumbing after he delayed his studies to care for his ailing father. Over the past 25 years, they grew that family business into the region's largest service company. That is not a punchline. That is the kind of résumé most Americans would respect on sight.
Mullin retired from mixed martial arts in 2012 with an undefeated 5-0 record, "low-level" only if you consider going unbeaten in a combat sport beneath mention. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2023, he made national headlines when he challenged the Teamsters president to a brawl during a Senate hearing, a moment that, whatever one thinks of its decorum, suggested a man not easily intimidated.
During his swearing-in ceremony, President Trump noted Mullin's distinction as the only Native American serving in the Senate. "I can tell you, he's the only Native American in the Senate. How many have been there before you, do you know?" Trump asked. Mullin replied, "I think three." Trump added, "I didn't know all these things. I would have picked him faster. If I had known, I would have made a quicker decision."
Mullin himself has spoken plainly about his heritage. In a 2025 press release, he said: "I'm Cherokee, and I never knew I was special for being Cherokee until I came to DC, because where I'm from, everybody is Indian or wants to be."
After being sworn in, Mullin pledged to work with both Republican and Democratic states to "protect everybody the same." That is the posture of a man focused on the job, not the jokes.
Kimmel's crack about Mullin did not arrive in a vacuum. The late-night host has built a second career as a political combatant, one who regularly uses his platform to criticize the administration and has joined anti-ICE protests with his family. He has also headlined a $25,000-a-plate DCCC fundraiser alongside Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries. This is not a comedian who stumbles into political controversy. He seeks it out, and profits from it.
The Mullin episode is part of a broader pattern that has generated escalating consequences. Mullin himself told CNN's "State of the Union" that ABC had the right to indefinitely suspend Kimmel, calling the network a private, for-profit business that can act to protect its brand. Mullin described separate Kimmel remarks about the killing of Charlie Kirk as "extremely insensitive and a flat-out lie about the president of the United States."
The fallout has reached Congress. Democratic senators confronted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during a Senate hearing over comments seen as pressuring broadcasters to act against Kimmel. Carr refused to back down, saying, "The FCC is not an independent agency." He had previously warned that networks could deal with Kimmel "the easy way or the hard way" or face "additional work for the FCC ahead."
There is something revealing about a multimillionaire television host, performing from a studio in one of the wealthiest zip codes in America, using "plumber" as an insult against a man who built a company with his hands, served in the United States Senate, and was just confirmed to run a 240,000-person federal department.
Kimmel called Mullin unqualified. Mullin built a business, won elections, went undefeated in a fighting ring, and earned bipartisan Senate confirmation, including votes from two Democrats. The late-night host headlined fundraisers. The plumber got sworn in at the Oval Office.
The contempt for working people that Kimmel's monologue revealed is not new. But it keeps finding fresh ways to announce itself. And every time it does, the people on the receiving end remember, even if Hollywood never learns.
