On Thursday’s Deadline: White House, MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace accused former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of presiding over what she called a “ghoulish and intentionally cruel” deportation program that “seemed to revel” in cruelty.
But Wallace opened her show by reveling in what she portrayed as Donald Trump’s supposed political woes.
Wallace began with a mocking riff on why Noem might have been fired:
“So there are two theories for what's happening today. Either DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is so bad at her job that even Donald Trump—Donald Trump 2.0—said, you're fired.”
She then launched into a deliberately tangled theory that Trump was engaged in layers of political distraction:
“Or her firing could be a distraction from the increasingly unpopular and controversial war in Iran.
Which, come to think of it, could have been an effort to distract from the disastrous and bungled cover-up of the Epstein files.
Their partial release might have actually been a distraction from the cruel and deeply unpopular conduct of federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis carrying out Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign and killing two U.S. citizens in the process.
Now whether Trump’s distracting from a distraction that was a distraction of an unpopular distraction, we’ll let you decide.”
Later in the segment, Wallace appeared particularly amused by the possibility that Noem didn’t yet know she had been fired while addressing a gathering of law enforcement officers.
MS NOW’s @NicolleDWallace: Kristi Noem “reveled” in “ghoulish” cruelty.
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) March 5, 2026
Moments later, Wallace snarks “Awkward!” about Noem’s firing. pic.twitter.com/7PlBRYacY6
After airing video of Noem speaking, Wallace remarked:
“There she is. She was speaking to law enforcement, and it wasn't clear at all if she knew she'd been fired, as while she was talking, she talked about meetings she was going to have in the coming days as DHS secretary. Awkward!”
Wallace’s “awkward” was worthy of a feline middle-school girl delighting in the downfall of a rival.
Later, Wallace delivered a sweeping denunciation of Noem’s tenure:
“Her tenure at DHS will be remembered until the end of time. It was defined by the mass deportation program that was built to be ghoulish and intentionally cruel, and to market those aspects of it. It led to the deaths of at least two Americans, ripped apart countless families, and seemed to revel in doing so.”
So Wallace accused Noem of reveling in “ghoulish” cruelty—after opening her show reveling in Trump’s supposed woes—and later savoring Noem’s humiliation.
PS: Wallace then turned it over to frequent MS NOW contributor Miles Taylor for Noem-shooting-the-dog wisecracks:
Miles Taylor is apparently commenting from the woods: "Nicole, what Senator Tillis should have said was that Noem will be remembered for treating Americans like she treats her dogs." She's become "the warden of the police state." pic.twitter.com/tM6SfQwyi3
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) March 5, 2026
Here's the transcript.
MS NOW's Deadline White House
3/5/26
4:00 pm ETNICOLLE WALLACE: Hi, everybody. 4 o'clock in New York. So, there are two theories for what's happening today. Either DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is so bad at her job, that even Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2.0, said, you're fired.
Or, or, her firing could be a distraction from the increasingly unpopular and controversial war in Iran.
Which, come to think of it, could have been an effort to distract from the disastrous and bungled cover-up of the Epstein files.
Their partial release might have actually been a distraction from the cruel and deeply unpopular conduct of federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis, carrying out Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign and killing two U.S. citizens in the process.
Now, whether Trump's distracting from a distraction that was a distraction of an unpopular distraction, we'll let you decide.
But here's the news. Kristi Noem has been fired from her position as the country's Secretary of Homeland Security. In tried and true Trumpian fashion, Donald Trump announced her firing on Truth Social, adding that she's been appointed special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a position no one had heard of until a couple hours ago. Corey Lewandowski is also out at DHS.
As news of her firing was breaking, Kristi Noem was speaking. [Brief clip of Noem] There she is. She was speaking to law enforcement, and it wasn't clear at all if she knew she'd been fired, as while she was talking, she talked about meetings she was going to have in the coming days as DHS secretary. Awkward!
Now, regardless, her tenure at DHS will be remembered until the end of time. It was defined by the mass deportation program that was built to be ghoulish and intentionally cruel, and to market those aspects of it. It led to the deaths of at least two Americans, ripped apart countless families, and seemed to revel in doing so.
