Markwayne Mullen, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, was recently sworn in as the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem, who was fired this month after a series of controversies.
However, the new DHS leader appears to arrive with his own sinister story followed by a series of viral and widely shared social media posts alluding to his physically abusive past.
“I can hit them…”: Discipline or abuse?
The most significant outcry stems from a video of Mullen speaking at a “City Elders” event hosted by the church that took place on October 6, 2023. In his speech, he spoke about discipling children, adding that he was raised “a fear of the belt.” “The discipline was fair, it was not an overreaction. So I learned respect from discipline,” he said. He continued to share how he disciplined his twin daughters by hitting them, which only deepened the controversy. He added, “I can slap them and still be upset and two minutes later they will come and crawl on my lap and hug me. I have to learn how to forgive more.” Then he continued imitating his daughter Lara, saying: “She says: ‘No, Daddy. No, Daddy, no, Daddy, no. I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m sorry, Daddy.’” …She couldn’t bring herself to bend over so I could break her ass.” He then mentioned his son Andrew and how hard it was for him to hit him because he was “so hard on himself” and had a “huge crocodile tear running down his eyes.”Many netizens criticized Mullen for using spanking to discipline his children while others were angered by his vocabulary to explain the situation. “Is it just me or does his description of this sound sexual (“bust her ass”),” one user wrote on X. He asked, “Does Trump intentionally choose people who are not qualified to run him?” asked another. Even Democrats jumped on the trolling train, writing: “He bragged about hitting his daughter. And this is him running ICE for Trump now.”
“I liked to fight…”: A history of physical confrontation
Not just one, in another clip from an event he attended with his ex-wife, Christy Mullen
Mixed martial arts fighter
He told the audience how his wife’s friends physically threatened him at school.Mullen said he didn’t date because he was focused on getting a scholarship but he knew he was going to marry Christie since the eighth grade. So, when she had friends over, he would go out with the couple and threaten to leave. “I never drank alcohol but I loved fighting,” he said, adding, “I simply told them that if they didn’t drink, I would put them in the car myself.”This is not the first time Mullen’s penchant for physical combat and angry personality has been on public display. In the same year, he challenged Sean O’Brien, president
International Brotherhood of Truck Drivers
into a physical fight during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing. “If you want to talk, we can be consenting adults, we can end it here,” he told O’Brien. When asked in an interview if he would follow through, Mullen said “I would have jumped off the stage at that point.”
“I prefer David’s way…”
During November 2023 on Kyle Thompson’s “Undaunted.Life: A Man’s Podcast”, Mullen was asked about whether Republican senators should engage in such bickering and defended his actions by noting that there was a time in history when men used to duel and that was the way to settle their differences. He said that if people expected him to ignore O’Brien’s comments, he was not a good Christian. “I’m trying to be a good Christian, and I know people say you’re supposed to turn the other cheek and I prefer David’s way. I won’t start it but I will certainly do everything I can to finish it,” he said. “Maybe I’ll lose who knows, but I guarantee you’ll know you’ve been in a fight.”As recently as March 18, 2026, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Rand Paul He confronted Mullen during his nomination hearing. Mullen was questioned about his statements about his injury in the November 2017 attack when he was assaulted by neighbors and suffered six broken ribs. Paul played clips of Mullen’s previous statements, asking whether a man with such a “temperament” was suitable to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Mullen stood by his point and said he “understood” the attack but did not “support” it. Paul also asked him if he believed that political conflicts could also be resolved with violence. Mullen maintained his position, adding that as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, he would bring “peace of mind and security” to America. Mullen, the owner of his family’s plumbing company and rancher, ran for and won Oklahoma’s second congressional district in 2011. He had a short stint as a professional mixed martial arts fighter, winning three professional bouts between 2006 and 2007. While “Ice Barbie,” as Noem controversially called her, may have come with her campaign baggage, it appears Trump is still busy with a new secretary willing to trade the jacket for a pair of gloves. It remains to be seen whether this will help Trump’s propaganda or hinder its success.
