Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has been mocked for following in the footsteps of his predecessor after appearing in a video cosplaying as a racing driver.
The former plumber and mixed martial artist took to social media to cheer on Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix, leaning hard into the occasion.
In a video posted online, Mullin was dressed in a full IndyCar racing outfit, delivering a breathless thank you to everyone involved in the event, while standing in what appears to be a park near the track.
But the performance quickly drew comparisons to his predecessor Kristi Noem, the former DHS secretary whose penchant for dressing up for photo ops earned her the nickname “ICE Barbie.”
Before being sacked from cabinet, Noem’s greatest hits included posing in Coast Guard gear aboard a ship; donning a cowboy hat and chaps while horse riding for a $220 million ad; and sporting an ICE cap and bulletproof vest during immigration enforcement operations.
“Adorable!” quipped one observer in response to Mullin’s post. “The plumber’s son cosplaying as a race car driver.”
“Oh now your (sic) role playing ??!!” asked another. “This is cringe content, same vanity trap as your predecessor,” said another.
One woman noted that, “ugh I can’t afford healthcare, but the Cabinet is out enjoying rides in fast cars,” and another person simply asked: “I just want to know how driving a race car protects people in the United States of America?”
The Freedom 250 race was the latest installment of Trump’s expensive birthday party to mark America’s 250th birthday.
Downtown DC was turned into a 1.7-mile-long racetrack, with drivers doing 147 laps—exactly 250 miles—past landmarks such as the Capitol, the National Archives, and the Washington Monument.
Trump, First Lady Melania, presidential aide Natalie Harp and several members of the Cabinet also attended, and Trump even took a ride around the track in his presidential limousine before waving the green flag from his VIP suite.
Mullin also took a ride in an IndyCar at some point, but bizarrely kept his racing outfit on over his white business shirt to film his video in the park, in which he thanked his department and Trump for their efforts in making the race a reality.
The president and members of the administration are now considering making the race an annual event.
Speaker Mike Johnson also said he would push for the event to return to D.C., while Mayor Muriel Bowser, whose term is almost over, said that the district’s “first ever” Grand Prix could be “followed by second and third.”
But not everyone was a fan, with some local residents leaving town for the weekend to avoid the noise, road closures and chaos.
“What a s--t-show,” one man told the Daily Beast while trying to navigate the pedestrian detours along Pennsylvania Avenue last week.
A DHS spokesperson declined to answer when asked if the secretary also wanted to see the event return next year. In relation to the public’s criticism, the spokesperson accused Daily Beast reporters of cosplaying as journalists.
