<p>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&#8217;t believe Mullin was qualified to hold his current post.</p>
<p>Kimmel began by blaming President Donald Trump for the backlash he&#8217;d received, noting that Trump had complained about him while &#8220;The Five&#8221; on Fox News earlier that day.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The president&#8217;s] 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,&#8221; Kimmel said, and then he doubled down. &#8220;And now he&#8217;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.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">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&#8217;s management experience with his plumbing company &#8220;[Trump&#8217;s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light… <a href="https://t.co/3zqd1AG6r9">pic.twitter.com/3zqd1AG6r9</a></p>
<p>— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexchristy17/status/2037514802621305124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;Listen, let me make this very clear: I&#8217;m not upset that the head of homeland security used to be a plumber,&#8221; Kimmel said on Thursday&#8217;s broadcast. &#8220;I&#8217;m upset that he isn&#8217;t still a plumber.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Of course [conservatives] decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not,&#8221; Kimmel continued, saying that he had meant to draw attention to Mullin&#8217;s qualifications. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t put a plumber in charge of homeland security for the same reason I wouldn&#8217;t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet &#8230; We all have our areas of expertise.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kimmel went even further, suggesting that what he was doing was no different from those who were critical of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — who previously worked as a bartender — and suggested that she was more qualified to serve drinks than to serve in Congress.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, on behalf of bartenders everywhere, we anxiously await your apology,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>What Kimmel left out — both in his initial comments about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-mocks-markwayne-mullins-blue-collar-roots">Mullin</a> and the follow up — was that Mullin went to work at his family&#8217;s plumbing business at just 20 years old, leaving college to take over due to his father&#8217;s illness. He proceeded to take the small family business and expand it to a multi-million dollar enterprise.</p>

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Kimmel Responds To Backlash Over Mullin Plumber Dig

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Kimmel Responds To Backlash Over Mullin Plumber Dig