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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Robert Mackey

Trump’s DHS pick, Markwayne Mullin, never served in military but talks as if he did

Man points in front of name plate
Markwayne Mullin, a Republican senator of Oklahoma, speaks during a Senate armed services committee hearing on 14 January 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.   Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma senator chosen by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security who will be considered by the Senate on Wednesday, has never served in the US military, but he routinely speaks as if he did in interviews.

Two days after the US attacked Iran, for instance, Mullin told Fox News: “War is ugly. It smells bad. And if anybody has ever been there and been able to smell the war that’s happening around you and taste it, and feel it in your nostrils, and hear it, it’s something you’ll never forget. And it’s ugly.”

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