Jessica Tarlov pushed back on her Fox News colleagues who claimed that Alex Padilla’s confrontation Thursday with Kristi Noem was an obvious photo op orchestrated by the California senator by reminding her co-hosts that the Homeland Security Secretary is “in a costume all the time.”
On The Five, Tarlov alluded to Noem’s frequent dress-up excursions in the field—as a firefighter, a pilot, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, a Coast Guard boat operator, and a headscarf-wearing camel rider—after Greg Gutfeld described Padilla’s video evidence of being wrestled to the ground and cuffed as the “ultimate photo op.”
“Coming from the administration and a particular secretary who loves the performance art—she’s in a costume all the time, she’s doing a reality TV show of arresting migrants and showing up at CECOT,” Tarlov said as Gutfeld interrupted.
“You can’t make us believe this is real anymore, Jessica,” he told her. “The ‘boy who cried wolf’ story—I hate to bring it up, but we don’t buy this B.S.”
Since taking office, Noem has become known as “ICE Barbie” due to her predilection for getting all dolled up in mission-appropriate outfits while tagging along with ICE officers. In the span of just four days in March, she also pretended to be a firefighter, a pilot, a member of the Maritime Security Response Team, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
During another one of her trips to the southern border, Noem drew widespread mockery for appearing to point a rifle at an immigration officer’s head. The former South Dakota governor was also criticized for filming a video in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison—while wearing what appeared to be a $60,000 gold Rolex.
Optics seem to be quite important to Noem. Last month, The Daily Mail reported that her department was even in the process of pitching a reality television show in which immigrants would compete in challenges, with the winner obtaining citizenship.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Beast then that Noem hadn’t reviewed the pitch, which was “in the very beginning stages.” Noem, unnamed sources told The Daily Mail, supported the endeavor.
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