Mike Rowe presents Jimmy Kimmel’s latest takedown of ‘tone-deaf’ targeting Americans every day
Everyman host Mike Rowe called out late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his “tone deaf” comments mocking new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber, admitting he was “hurt” by digging.
The “Dirty Jobs” veteran blasted Kimmel for his comments, which some called elitist.
Rowe said he was offended by the “suggestion that skilled labor should not evolve into something new,” asking whether Mullin’s career progression from pipeline business owner to Congress and then chief Cabinet officer “isn’t the American dream?”
“Being offended is always a choice, and I don’t choose to be offended by a joke, even one that comes because of the talented workers my foundation is trying to promote,” Rowe wrote in X. “But I am a little saddened by the suggestion that skilled workers should never be transformed into something new, and that skill is somehow limited to one profession.”
He continued, “Obviously, expertise and skill are important,” adding, “If I needed a new kidney, I would choose a doctor to operate on me, not a late-night talk show host.” But if the doctor in question used to host a talk show, why would I oppose him?”
Kimmel, a regular critic of the Trump administration, lashed out last week by using Mullin’s past experience as a pipeline business owner as evidence that he is unfit to lead DHS.
“Trump has a new generation of organized intellectuals, including his newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon – Mullin. Maybe melon is better,” Kimmel said. “He’s an Oklahoma senator now. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a carpenter. That’s right. We have a woodworker protecting us from terrorism now. He worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”
He continued, “But to be honest — I mean, if Trump’s going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why aren’t you really happy about it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne from Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?”
Kimmel later doubled down, saying, “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security has been a pipeline sponsor.
The late-night host added, “I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of the Department of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to flush a rat out of my toilet… We all have our areas of expertise.”
Kimmel’s comments were echoed by many commentators on X, who accused the comedian of making fun of working-class jobs. Among those offended by the joke is Rowe, who runs a non-profit business skills development organization called mikeroweWORKS.
He emphasized that “the lack of skilled workers is now the leading news and the shutdown is nothing less than a matter of national security.”
“The only sensible thing to do after a while is this deafening reminder to America that the skills gap is wide and widening,” Rowe wrote. “What we really need in this country are more welders who can talk intelligently about Aristotle, and philosophers who can make equal beads.
“This is what Mullin did,” he continued.
“He was a private citizen who knew an important skill and turned that skill into a multi-million dollar company that employed many people and served many clients. That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including public service work, which led him to Congress, where he spent the last 11 years doing whatever congressmen do. Now, he has a major position in the administration cabinet.”
“Isn’t that what the American Dream is all about?” he asked.
“I get that Jimmy Kimmel might have a problem with Mullin’s politics, but what objection would he have about his career background, or his desire to do more than one thing with his life?”
Rowe concluded, “I’d like to talk but I have to flush the rat out of my toilet.”
