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Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel defended his jabs at newly-sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, saying that his intent had not been to insult plumbers, only to say that he didn\u2019t believe Mullin was qualified to hold his current post.<\/p>\n
Kimmel began by blaming President Donald Trump for the backlash he\u2019d received, noting that Trump had complained about him while \u201cThe Five\u201d on Fox News earlier that day.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The president\u2019s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light of the fact that his new head of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, before he was a senator, was a plumber,\u201d Kimmel said, and then he doubled down. \u201cAnd now he\u2019s the head of Homeland Security. Which is not necessarily the kind of resume you might hope for, for the person in charge of protecting us from terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel tried to clean up his comments about Markwayne Mullin being a former plumber, but he tried to have it both ways. First he doubled down ignoring Mullin\u2019s management experience with his plumbing company \u201c[Trump\u2019s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/3zqd1AG6r9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cListen, let me make this very clear: I\u2019m not upset that the head of homeland security used to be a plumber,\u201d Kimmel said on Thursday\u2019s broadcast. \u201cI\u2019m upset that he isn\u2019t still a plumber.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course [conservatives] decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not,\u201d Kimmel continued, saying that he had meant to draw attention to Mullin\u2019s qualifications. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t put a plumber in charge of homeland security for the same reason I wouldn\u2019t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet \u2026 We all have our areas of expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimmel went even further, suggesting that what he was doing was no different from those who were critical of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez \u2014 who previously worked as a bartender \u2014 and suggested that she was more qualified to serve drinks than to serve in Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, on behalf of bartenders everywhere, we anxiously await your apology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n What Kimmel left out \u2014 both in his initial comments about Mullin<\/a> and the follow up \u2014 was that Mullin went to work at his family\u2019s plumbing business at just 20 years old, leaving college to take over due to his father\u2019s illness. He proceeded to take the small family business and expand it to a multi-million dollar enterprise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n