Megyn Kelly speaking at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland (Image: Gage Skidmore /Creative Commons) Kristi Noem speaking at an event in National Harbor, Maryland (Image: Gage Skidmore / Creative Commons)
Editor's note: This article's featured image has been updated.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem recently donned a vest and a badge as part of a public appearance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly was not a fan.
The Hill reported Thursday that Kelly spent part of her most recent episode criticizing the DHS secretary for her ICE photo-op (in which she was seen pointing an assault rifle with a chambered round at the head of a nearby agent). Kelly — who was previously on Fox News and NBC News before joining SiriusXM — emphasized she thought Noem was doing a "great job," but said her "photo ops" were unnecessary.
“Why does she have to keep doing this? She’s doing a great job, her actual performance as DHS secretary, in my view, anyway, has been amazing,” Kelly said. “Just stop trying to glamorize the mission and put yourself in the middle of it as you cosplay ICE agent, which you’re not. I can’t stand these photo-ops.”
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“She is an administrative policy person appointed by Trump because she was very loyal to him," Kelly continued. "Fine, but stop with the glam. She looks like I look right now, but she’s out in the field with her gun, being like, ‘We’re gonna go kick some a‑‑.’ No one wants you there."
Noem appeared unbothered by Kelly's critique in an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters, saying: "Every day I wake up and there’s new criticisms. It’s something different every single day, so I try not to pay attention to the noise ... I will tell you that I oversee 26 different components of the Department of Homeland Security, and they are so proud of the fact that I’m willing to wear an ICE hat."
Noem's fashion choices were also criticized when she went to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador where President Donald Trump sent three planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants without trial under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. While standing in front of a cell containing dozens of shirtless men, Noem wore a tight white top and an 18-karat gold Rolex watch priced at $50,000.
“This is an administration that is trying to be populist, anti-elite, appeal to the common man,” said Adam Isacson — who is with the human rights group the Washington Office on Latin America — in an interview with the Washington Post. "You’re in front of all these people in a very poor country, who are in the bottom 10 or 20 percent of their country … and it looks like you’re just flaunting your wealth while you flaunt your freedom."
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Click here to read the Hill's full report.