Jimmy Kimmel Blasted by Mike Rowe After ‘Plumber’ Comments

Martin HolmesTue, March 31, 2026 at 11:33 AM UTC

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Jimmy Kimmel and Mike Rowe - Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe is not happy with Jimmy Kimmel after the comedian made a joke about new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and his background as a plumber.

In a lengthy X post, Rowe wrote, “Being offended is always a choice, and I don’t choose to be offended by a joke, even one that comes at the expense of the skilled tradespeople my foundation tries to elevate. But I am a tad butt hurt by the suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new, and that competence is somehow limited to one vocation.”

Rowe, who runs the nonprofit organization mikeroweWORKS, which promotes skilled labor, said, “Obviously, expertise and skill are important. If I need a new kidney, I’d prefer a doctor do the surgery, not a late-night talk show host. But if the doctor in question used to host a talk show, why would I hold that against him?”

The Discovery Channel narrator called Kimmel’s quips “tone deaf” and said it should serve as a reminder that “the skills gap is wide and getting wider” in America.

He went on to praise Mullin, saying, “He was a private citizen who mastered an essential skill and then turned that skill into a multimillion-dollar company… That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including a career in public service, which got him into Congress… Now he has a very consequential position in the Cabinet of the current administration.”

“Is that not the embodiment of the American Dream?” Rowe asked.

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He went on to note that he understands Kimmel “might have a problem with Mullin’s politics,” but he didn’t get why he would object to the “trajectory of his career, or his desire to do more than one thing with his life?”

“I’d love to chat but I’ve gotta pull a rat out of my toilet,” Rowe concluded.

Kimmel faced backlash last week after mocking Mullin’s background on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! “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?” the late-night host quipped.

He continued, “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? Next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?”

After criticism over his comments, Kimmel addressed the issue in the next episode. “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber,” he said. “I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber… 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… We all have our areas of expertise.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, ABC

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”