Jimmy Kimmel Insults the Working Class While Trying to Mock Markwayne Mullin
The article defends Mullin against a joke about his former work as a plumber.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYLegal Insurrection is an opinion-oriented publisher, and this piece is clearly commentary rather than independently sourced reporting. The author is identified, but the article largely relies on its own argument, a cited biography and selected social-media reactions.
- Source type — Opinion publisher; this article makes an explicit argument about Kimmel and working-class Americans.
- Source diversity — The article cites Mullin’s biography and selected social-media posts, with no independent reporting or response from Kimmel.
- Author attribution — The article names its author.
The article identifies the joke it criticizes and provides biographical context attributed to Mullin’s DHS biography. However, it is a strongly argued column that relies heavily on selected social-media reactions and does not include a response from Kimmel or broader reporting.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The column presents a sustained defense of Mullin and condemnation of Kimmel, while offering no response from Kimmel or substantial alternative perspective.
- Counterarguments presented — Kimmel’s joke is quoted, but his perspective is not developed beyond the excerpt being criticized.
- Source diversity — Social-media examples are selected from critics of Kimmel; no opposing reaction is included.
- Loaded language — The author uses emphatic judgments about Kimmel, elites and the left.
The article uses strongly critical language about Kimmel and frames his joke as evidence of contempt by coastal elites and the left. Its selection of social-media responses reinforces a conservative, pro-Mullin argument.
- Language tone — Uses terms such as “smug,” “elitist snobs” and “arrogance” to condemn Kimmel and his outlook.
- Framing — Presents the joke as an insult to working-class Americans and a sign of elite contempt.
- Source selection — Highlights supportive conservative social-media reactions without including countervailing responses.
Elizabeth Stauffer argues that Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Markwayne Mullin’s plumbing background demeaned working-class people. She cites Mullin’s family business history to counter Kimmel’s suggestion that his trade background makes him unqualified to lead Homeland Security.
Stauffer criticizes Kimmel for joking that a former plumber is now “protecting us from terrorism,” and for suggesting that Mullin is unqualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security. She argues that the joke showed contempt for working-class Americans.
To counter that portrayal, Stauffer cites Mullin’s DHS biography, which she says describes him leaving college at 20 to take over his family’s plumbing business and growing it into a large regional company. The article also quotes social-media users criticizing Kimmel and praising tradespeople, then concludes that Kimmel’s joke reflected poorly on its targeter rather than on Mullin.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSED
No good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Mullin in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Mullin’s record.
People in this story
SWIPE →Homeland Security Secretary and subject of Kimmel’s joke
President referenced in Kimmel’s comments about Mullin’s appointment
Part of a bigger story
8 OUTLETSOutlets agree that Jimmy Kimmel joked about Markwayne Mullin’s former plumbing work in connection with his qualifications to lead Homeland Security. Center outlets recount the joke and reactions to it, with one reporting criticism from Republican lawmakers and another describing contrasting remarks from Kimmel and Will Cain. Right-leaning outlets portray the joke as an elitist attack on working people and defend Mullin’s qualifications.
- ARTICLES
- 10
- OUTLETS
- 8
- AVG CRED
- 48
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