Mike Rowe pushed back hard after late-night barbs at Markwayne Mullin, arguing that mocking a former plumber for holding a top cabinet job says more about an elite culture than it does about competence. He called out jokes that shrug off skilled trades and warned that ridicule fuels a dangerous shortage of plumbers and electricians. The exchange between Rowe and Jimmy Kimmel has become a culture test: celebrate credentials or respect real-world experience. The debate lands squarely on who gets to define public service and what counts as worthy career paths in America.
Rowe said he had not noticed his post about Kimmel “belittling plumbers” had gone viral because he had been busy working. “I want to apologize for not responding to any of the 22 thousand comments my last post inspired,” he wrote. “I’ve been filming all week and just noticed my observations about Jimmy Kimmel and a former plumber named Markwayne Mullin have gone viral.”
His point was plain and direct: being a tradesman should not be used as shorthand for being unfit to serve. “I did not suggest – even remotely – that a plumber was inherently qualified to hold a cabinet position,” he wrote on X. “What I said was that being a plumber should not disqualify a person from holding such a position.”
That pushback came after Kimmel used Mullin’s background as a plumbing business owner to mock his qualification for Homeland Security. “Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe Melon’s better,” Kimmel said on air March 24. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. 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. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”
Kimmel kept leaning into the joke with more jabs. “But honestly — I mean, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?” He later added, “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.”
From a Republican perspective this isn’t just about one joke. It’s about a pattern where coastal late-night hosts treat everyday Americans as laugh lines. Rowe took offense at “the suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new.” He pointed out Mullin’s path from plumbing business owner to Congress and now to a Cabinet post as “the embodiment of the American Dream?”
Rowe also framed the stakes in practical terms, not just pride. “Reasonable people can disagree as to what is funny and what isn’t. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. What I do care about,” he wrote, “is the extraordinary shortage of plumbers and electricians our country is facing, and the longstanding stigmas and stereotypes that continue to discourage people from considering a lucrative career in the skilled trades.” That shortage has real consequences for families, infrastructure, and national resilience.
He didn’t stop at naming the problem. “Jimmy’s joke – and his audience’s reaction to it,” wrote Rowe, “is proof positive that those stigmas and stereotypes are alive and well.” He challenged the assumption that diplomas automatically translate to competence. “What do their credentials and diplomas have to do with their actual competency? Are we not already surrounded by a legion of perfectly qualified experts who don’t know what the hell they’re doing?”
Rowe underscored a constitutional point with a political kick: popular opinion doesn’t rewrite eligibility. “Jimmy is entitled to his opinion, along with anyone else who believes that Mullin is unqualified to lead the DHS,” he wrote on X. “The Constitution, however, says otherwise, and so does the Senate.” He urged people to consider skilled trades as viable, respectable options that can lead to unexpected leadership roles.
He signed off with a recruiting line for the next generation of workers and leaders. Rowe, who runs a nonprofit promoting skilled labor careers called the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, encouraged people to explore the trades and keep an open view of public service. “Who knows? Could be the first step on your road to President.”
Graduate Student, wife, engaged political and legal writer.