Scott Jennings Blasts Jimmy Kimmel Over ‘Insult’ To ‘Working-Class Americans’

CNN commentator Scott Jennings ripped “elitist” Jimmy Kimmel for the late night host’s joke about new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin being a plumber, with Jennings making it clear he’d much rather have guys like Mullin serving the country than the ABC comic.

Jennings took a moment to call out Kimmel during his show on Thursday — which he titled “Jimmy Kimmel Insults Working Class Americans” — two days after the comedian quipped about Mullin running DHS.

“The now former senator of Oklahoma before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber,” Kimmel said on Tuesday. “That’s right, we have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now!”

Jennings played that clip before telling his audience:

Ask yourself this question. If you had to be governed by 100 plumbers or 100 sneering, elitist, broken-brained, know-nothing, hack liberal comedians in Hollywood, what would you choose?

I know what I would choose. I’d take the plumbers, the working class, every single time.

He then moved on to a different topic. His shot comes after many other ring-wingers criticized Kimmel for mocking blue collar Americans, with President Donald Trump calling Kimmel a “loser” during an appearance on Fox News. Trump also made fun of Kimmel’s ratings — one of his favorite digs at his longtime foe.

Kimmel doubled down on his comments on his Thursday night show, saying his critics had framed his joke uncharitably.

“The president and his pals in the MAGA media are not happy with me right now. Trump even called in to Fox to complain about me tonight,” Kimmel said.

He continued: “His apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light of the fact that his new head of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, before he was a senator, was a plumber,” he said. “And now he’s the head of Homeland Security, which is not necessarily the kind of resume you might hope for, for the person in charge of protecting us from terrorism.”

Kimmel added: “Of course, they decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not.”

“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, OK?” he said. “We all have our areas of expertise.”

He then scoffed at the “performative outrage” of conservative network host like Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty, who he joked was a “sensitive snowflake.”

“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,” Kimmel said.

Watch Jennings above via Rumble. And you can watch The Scott Jennings Show on YouTube as well by clicking here.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!