On Thursday, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel tried and largely failed to clean up his Tuesday remarks, where he declared Markwayne Mullin is not qualified to be secretary of Homeland Security because he used to be a plumber. Kimmel’s damage control effort would fail because he tried to have it both ways as he tried to double down on the original comments while also implying his criticism of Mullin is just about ideas.
Kimmel began by observing how “the president and his pals in the MAGA media are not happy with me right now. Trump even called in to Fox to complain about me tonight. His 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. And now he’s 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.”
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’s management experience with his plumbing company “[Trump’s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light… pic.twitter.com/3zqd1AG6r9
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 27, 2026
Once again, Kimmel omitted the management experience Mullin gained in that as he turned the family plumbing business into the largest in Oklahoma. Nevertheless, Kimmel continued, “Of course, they decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not. I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet, okay? It has—we all have our areas of expertise. They went nuts about this. They went nuts on every channel. But I think that my favorite part—bit of performative outrage came from a person named Rob Finnerty of Newsmax.”
Speaking of a lack of expertise, there hasn’t been a general nominated for a fifth star since 1950. As for Finnerty, Kimmel played a clip of him reacting to the Tuesday clip, “Do you know how many people in America that offends? Including myself. Do you know how many people that offends? Jimmy Kimmel, by the way, who’s not funny or handsome or anything, okay? He’s just a guy who makes a lot of money.”
Kimmel omitted the part of Finnerty’s rebuttal where he highlighted how Mullin also ran the plumbing business. As it was, he retorted by teeing up a second Finnerty clip, “I like how important ‘handsome’ is on his list. ‘Not funny or handsome. I can barely even get a boner watching this guy.’ I’m so sorry you are offended, Rob. I didn’t know you were such a sensitive snowflake. And by the way, you’re a handsome guy. Had I known you were so delicate, I never would have suggested such a terrible thing.”
Finnerty was then shown adding, “You see, what people like Jimmy Kimmel never seem to understand is people like Markwayne Mullin are exactly why 15 million illegals came into this country under Joe Biden. They want the American dream, and Markwayne Mullin is living it. And so are you, Jimmy. So cut him some slack.”
Now, Kimmel suggested that it was not that a plumber has become the head of DHS, but what that plumber believes, “Okay, I will. Listen. Let me make this very clear. I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber, okay?”
Then why even mention the plumber thing to begin with? Kimmel’s efforts to deflect criticism onto others would continue as he played a montage of conservative commentators criticizing far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a bartender, but that, once again, requires Kimmel to overlook Mullin’s management experience. Even if it was a fair comparison, it wouldn’t make Kimmel’s comments appear any better.
Here is a transcript for the March 26 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
3/26/2026
11:38 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: The president and his pals in the MAGA media are not happy with me right now. Trump even called in to Fox to complain about me tonight. His 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. And now he’s 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.
Of course, they decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not. I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet, okay? It has—we all have our areas of expertise. They went nuts about this. They went nuts on every channel. But I think that my favorite part—bit of performative outrage came from a person named Rob Finnerty of Newsmax.
ROB FINNERTY: It did not take long for Jimmy Kimmel to mock our new Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, because Mullin was a plumber before he ran for Congress.
JIMMY KIMMEL [3/24/2026]: 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.
FINNERTY: He is—this guy is such a dick. Such a dick. [Jump cut] Do you know how many people in America that offends? Including myself. Do you know how many people that offends? Jimmy Kimmel, by the way, who’s not funny or handsome or anything, okay? He’s just a guy who makes a lot of money.
KIMMEL: I like how important “handsome” is on his list. “Not funny or handsome. I can barely even get a boner watching this guy.” I’m so sorry you are offended, Rob. I didn’t know you were such a sensitive snowflake. And by the way, you’re a handsome guy. Had I known you were so delicate, I never would have suggested such a terrible thing.
FINNERTY: You see, what people like Jimmy Kimmel never seem to understand is people like Markwayne Mullin are exactly why 15 million illegals came into this country under Joe Biden. They want the American dream, and Markwayne Mullin is living it. And so are you, Jimmy. So cut him some slack.
Jimmy: Okay, I will. Listen. Let me make this very clear. I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber, okay?
