Mike Rowe had some choice words for late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel recently tore down new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Rowe didn't take issue with Kimmel's politics but Kimmel tearing down Mulin's former profession as suggesting he was unfit for the job. Rowe disagreed with the "suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new."
"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," Rowe wrote on X. "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."
He continued, "Obviously, expertise and skill are important." He also added, "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?"
Kimmel garnered controversy after saying this about Mullin's prior employment in the world of plumbing.
"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. "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?"
Mike Rowe Talks Politics
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? 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?"
Rowe saw Kimmel's remarks as elitist and making fun of working-class professions. Rowe has built his career about trying out and defending many blue collar jobs around the country.
"The only sensible thing to do in the wake of a moment this tone deaf is remind America that the skills gap is wide and getting wider," Rowe wrote. "What we really need in this country are more welders who can talk intelligently about Aristotle. And more philosophers who can run an even bead. More generals, in other words, who can fix their own toilets. And more plumbers who can hold a powerful government job."
"This is what Mullin did," he continued.
He also added, "He was a private citizen who mastered an essential skill and then turned that skill into a multimillion-dollar company that employed a lot of people and served a lot of customers. That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including a career in public service, which got him into Congress, where he's spent the last 11 years doing whatever congressmen do. Now, he has a very consequential position in the Cabinet of the current administration."
"Is that not the embodiment of the American Dream?" he asked.
