Popular and somewhat controversial “Late Night Show” host Jimmy Kimmel is back in the news for the first time in a while, where he isn’t mocking President Donald Trump but slamming Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The MAGA Barbie abruptly left a congressional hearing in a hurry.
Kimmel aired a clip of Noem telling the House Homeland Security Committee that she needed to depart early for a FEMA Review Council meeting, and that’s when Rep. Bennie Thompson jumped in to note that the meeting had already been canceled. “Now, hold on,” Kimmel joked. “To be fair, she was late for her blowout. She went straight to Drybar.”
He added, “And she and Corey Lewandowski had a couples massage he had to get to.” For context, Drybar is a popular place that provides extensive hair styling services. They are known for their blowouts. In addition, Jimmy Kimmel also mocked her long-standing rumors of an affair with Corey Lewandowski, both married, which have circulated in the tabloids for years.
Jimmy Kimmel tore into Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for apparently fleeing a congressional hearing.https://t.co/9LfqwH6Csj
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 12, 2025
Though the former South Dakota governor and Donald Trump’s ex-campaign manager have consistently denied any romantic involvement, the rumor just does not seem to die down. Furthermore, Kimmel suggested Kristi Noem left the hearing because the grilling was getting uncomfortably real.
According to The Daily Beast, he played footage of Rep. Seth Magaziner confronting her alongside a Purple Heart veteran who had self-deported to South Korea after ICE told him he had no other option.“I mean, is anyone OK with this?” Kimmel asked. “All jokes aside — we deported a veteran who earned a Purple Heart?
“What kind of person does that? What kind of administration?”He added, “I’ll tell you what kind: the kind who shoots a puppy and brags about it in her autobiography. ”
The puppy mentioned here is from 2024, when the secretary opened up about shooting her dog, Cricket, in the book”No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” As per ABC 7 News, she wrote that he was an aggressive mammal and made life difficult for her.
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, describing Cricket as “untrainable,” she wrote. Kristi Noem says the breaking point with her dog, Cricket, came after a pheasant hunt when the young pointer allegedly attacked a neighbor’s chickens “like a trained assassin.” Noem claims she finally managed to grab the dog by the collar, at which point Cricket “whipped around to bite me.”
As someone who grew up on her family farm and managed the ranch after her father’s death, in rural Hamlin County, near Hazel, South Dakota, Noem wrote that she also killed a family goat that she describes as “nasty and mean.” She claims the goat had been a problem for a year.
Kristi Noem KILLED
Her dog. She’s selfish and steal s money from the US citizens.
Lock her up https://t.co/hN7Wotnj4L
— Delia M (@delincita46) November 30, 2025
Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else,” she added. Even though her honest confessions received a series of mixed reactions, they highlighted her conservative and tough upbringing, which fit neatly into her hardline Republican persona
Newscreek reports, Kristi Noem abruptly walked out of a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, saying she needed to attend a FEMA reform council meeting. Lawmakers found her move disrespectful in front of the media, and clearly, Kimmel got the opportunity to mock her as well.
During her brief presence, Democrats questioned Noem on the ruthless mass deportation operations, DHS policy shifts, and delays tied to her revised disaster-response framework. Several accused her of avoiding accountability, with some calling for her resignation. As she departed, protesters in the hallway shouted “Shame on you!” and demanded an end to the brutal ICE raids.
