Much of the Elitist Media’s claim to credibility is premised on the access to knowledge and expertise, combined with reporting backstopped by rigorous editing and fact-checking. But it is often the case that this claim is exposed as hollow and outright false. Consider a recent exchange on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Watch as host Kristen Welker unironically asserts, despite widely available evidence on the public record, that there is currently “no head of DHS:”
NBC's Kristen Welker: "there is no head of @DHS." @SecMullinDHS was confirmed and sworn in TWO WEEKS AGO pic.twitter.com/x5TqgojQDU
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026
KRISTEN WELKER: Secretary Johnson, weigh in on that point and the fact that there is no head of DHS right now at a time when DHS is shut down. Does that do real damage?
JEH JOHNSON: Yes. I am concerned that these perpetual shutdowns do long-term to aviation security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity. Last Sunday, Senator Lankford told you he was sponsoring the Prevent Government Shutdown Act. I support that. It's a bill that would, if you run out of time, if they go past October 1- automatically you revert to a continuing resolution at last year's funding levels. The detractors say “well, that takes away our leverage and it promotes complacency.” Well, on the other hand, a piece of legislation like that also says we're limiting your congressional travel. In other words, you can't go home until you finish your job. I think -- I think in concept that's a good idea because we're getting into these shutdown modes year after year, more often than once a year. We have to decouple policy disagreements in Congress with funding. The most basic function of Congress is keep the lights on and fund the government.
Welker brought Obama-era DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson into a discussion on the recent firings of Cabinet officials such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Johnson did not correct Welker on her glaring error, instead going into a mild rebuke of Congress attempting to settle policy disputes via government shutdown that avoids directly confronting both the authors of the still-ongoing DHS shutdown and its underlying rationale.
The record is clear. Markwayne Mullin, former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, was confirmed as DHS Secretary on March 23rd, 2026. Welker reported his nomination on March 5th:
Here's Welker, one month ago today, reporting on the nomination of Mullin to lead the agency: pic.twitter.com/XYqTQMy2yJ
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 5, 2026
KRISTEN WELKER: We begin with breaking news and that major shakeup in the Trump Administration, the president announcing on his social media feed this afternoon that he's firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and naming Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin as his pick to replace her.
How do we go from this to Welker confidently saying that the DHS has no head a month later? It appears that standards and rigorous fact-checking give way to whatever Trump-deranged talking point is currently en vogue. Something to consider as the “media reporter” clerisy continues to try to smear conservative media as spreaders of disinformation, despite so-called “legacy” outlets’ demonstrated inability to master even the most basic of facts.
