{"id":547177,"date":"2026-03-19T17:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/547177\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:17:08","slug":"stephen-colbert-on-dhs-pick-markwayne-mullin-has-a-history-of-being-real-dumb-and-real-angry-about-it-late-night-tv-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/547177\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert on DHS pick Markwayne Mullin: \u2018Has a history of being real dumb and real angry about it\u2019 | Late-night TV roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Late-night hosts recapped Markwayne Mullin<\/a>\u2019s risible confirmation hearing<\/a> for homeland security secretary and Maga\u2019s struggles to sell the war in Iran<\/a> to sticker-shocked Americans.<\/p>\n

Stephen Colbert<\/p>\n

On Wednesday\u2019s Late Show, Stephen Colbert<\/a> looked into the resignation<\/a> this week of Joe Kent, Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s director of the national counterterrorism center, in protest of the administration\u2019s war in Iran and the fact that \u201cIran posed no imminent threat to our nation\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the US is going to war in the Middle East without an imminent threat to our nation \u2026 AGAIN?\u201d Colbert joked, sitcom-style.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, before anybody sends this guy an Edible Arrangement in the shape of the word \u2018hero\u2019, keep in mind: he sucks,\u201d he continued, before reminding viewers that during his failed 2022 congressional bid, Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the Proud Boys<\/a>, for consulting work, and worked closely with Joey Gibson<\/a>, founder of the rightwing group Patriot Prayer. Kent has also blamed Israel for the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s an antisemite \u2026 because a lot of people beat me to it,\u201d said Colbert. He quoted Representative Don Bacon, who said: \u201cGood riddance. Antisemitism is an evil I detest, and we surely don\u2019t want it in our government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert added: \u201cBacon is standing up for the Jewish people, and he\u2019s not even kosher!\u201d<\/p>\n

The host also touched on Mullin, Trump\u2019s pick to replace ousted homeland security chief Kristi Noem, who himself said at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday: \u201cI\u2019m not going to be the smartest guy in any room I walk into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullin, Colbert noted, \u201chas a history of being real dumb and real angry about it\u201d. At the hearing, he was pressed by Rand Paul<\/a>, the Kentucky senator who a few years ago was assaulted and hospitalized by a disgruntled neighbor. At the time, Mullin said he \u201cunderstood\u201d why Paul was attacked. Paul asked Mullin to explain why Americans \u201cshould trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for ICE and border patrol agents\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, while that is a valid question \u2013 and it is a valid question \u2013 Senator Paul knows that \u2018anger issues\u2019 are the top requirement for ICE and border patrol agents,\u201d Colbert responded. \u201cRight above not being the smartest person in any room you walk into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seth Meyers<\/p>\n

On Late Night, Seth Meyers<\/a> also recapped Mullin\u2019s confirmation hearing, during which he claimed, in response to Paul, that he was \u201csimply pointing out \u2026 some of the rules that still apply to this body, for instance dueling with two consenting adults is still there\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paul responded tersely: \u201cIt\u2019s been illegal for 170 years. There\u2019s no precedent for legal dueling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know which part of that is weirder, that Markwayne thought dueling was still legal, or that Rand immediately knew it hasn\u2019t been legal for 170 years,\u201d Meyers said. \u201cIf you challenge Rand to a duel and said, \u2018Name the time and the place,\u2019 he\u2019d say: \u2018Uh, I\u2019m not sure about the place, but let\u2019s make the time the year 1856.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso very funny to describe a duel as being between two consenting adults,\u201d he added. \u201cYou know, because if only one person consents, that\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s the philosophy of Maga: violence and brute force rule the world. They can do whatever they want,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhich is why even the voices within the administration who were the loudest against war with Iran are now changing their tune,\u201d such as Tulsi Gabbard, Trump\u2019s national intelligence director.<\/p>\n

When she was running for president as a Democrat in 2019, Gabbard criticized Trump and his \u201cchickenhawk\u201d cabinet for bringing the US \u201cto the brink of war with Iran\u201d, which would be \u201cfar more devastating, far more costly than anything that we saw in Iraq\u201d. Yet at her own congressional hearing on Wednesday, Gabbard defended<\/a> Trump\u2019s attacks on Iran as a \u201cstrategic success\u201d.<\/p>\n

The about-face represented \u201cthe new Maga\u201d, said Meyers. \u201cThey lied about ending foreign wars, all they care about is power, they can invade any country they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jimmy Kimmel<\/p>\n

In Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> ridiculed Trump for \u201cstrong-arming the Senate right now to try to save himself from getting his ass handed to him in the midterm elections\u201d with his proposed Save America Act<\/a> that would require passports for voting, among other onerous restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is now in full bully mode,\u201d Kimmel noted. \u201cHe\u2019s forcing Republican senators to debate this bill he dreamed up to fight back against these completely fabricated claims of voter fraud. It\u2019s like if he made them build another wall at the Mexican border, to keep the chupacabra out. That\u2019s how crucial this bill is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill currently does not have the 60 votes required to pass thanks to a few Republican holdouts, \u201cwhich is encouraging\u201d, said Kimmel. Trump has said that he will not endorse any Republican who refuses to support the bill and will do what he can to ruin them. \u201cHe\u2019s either going to ruin them, or the country, it\u2019s their choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut make no mistake: imaginary voter fraud aside, our president is laser-focused on the issues that matter most to us, like windmills,\u201d said Kimmel, as the Trump administration is now reportedly exploring the idea of paying<\/a> $1bn to stop a French energy company from building wind farm projects off the coasts of New York and North Carolina. \u201cA billion dollars of our money to cancel projects that harness an endless resource, wind,\u201d he lamented. \u201cAnd that, ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of math that bankrupts casinos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Daily Show<\/p>\n

And on The Daily Show, Jordan Klepper examined a tough bind for Trump\u2019s supporters, as his war in Iran sends gas prices soaring. \u201cHigh gas prices have Maga world in a tricky position now, because there\u2019s no way to spin it as a good thing to the American people,\u201d he explained. \u201cUnless, you know what? Unless, what if we\u2019re the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klepper then played a series of Maga-rationalizing clips. \u201cPeople are talking like this is the end of the world. No, it\u2019s not,\u201d said Larry Kudlow on Fox News. Said a Newsmax host: \u201cI can handle the gas prices, people can handle the gas prices. We\u2019re hardly ever called on to sacrifice anything any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of how much worse it was in world war two than what we\u2019re facing now,\u201d said another Fox News commentator.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that the bar now?\u201d Klepper exclaimed. \u201cIt\u2019s not as bad as the worst war in human history, so stop bitching? I mean, you can dismiss any concerns that way. \u2018Oh, you\u2019re upset because home ownership is out of reach? You know who else doesn\u2019t have a home? Saving Private Ryan.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you heard them: this is just temporary pain that will all be worth it in the long term,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m sure every day Americans will understand and will take this in stride \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Klepper then played a clip of a three-time Trump voter in Pennsylvania who, when asked by a reporter if she had a message for the president, was very succinct: \u201cYou are a worthless pile of shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, someone\u2019s not getting an invite to the new ballroom<\/a>,\u201d Klepper quipped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Late-night hosts recapped Markwayne Mullin\u2019s risible confirmation hearing for homeland security secretary and Maga\u2019s struggles to sell the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-547177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}