In early August 2025, internet users shared a rumored quote attributed to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, who reportedly stated that "only the liberals and the extremists" make fun of women's looks, allegedly in response to an episode of a television show that satirized her job and physical appearance.
Users shared the alleged quote across social media platforms including X (archived), Instagram (archived) and Reddit (archived). Some posters (archived) stated their lack of sympathy for Noem, writing, "Spare us the crocodile tears. You are inflicting untold pain and misery on millions of families across the country."
Noem allegedly stated, "It's so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. It's only the liberals and the extremists who do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can't."
The quote in question was correctly attributed to Noem. She made the statement during an Aug. 7, 2025, appearance on conservative commentator Glenn Beck's podcast. The episode is available to listen to on podcast platforms as well as YouTube. The quote in question can be heard at the 14:47 mark in the YouTube clip.
Noem made the statement in response to Beck steering the conversation toward a satirical portrayal of Noem on the Aug. 6, 2025, episode of Comedy Central's "South Park."
Snopes reached out to DHS for further comment on Noem's appearance in "South Park" and will update this article if we receive a response.
The episode in question, "Got a Nut," featured the animated show's satirization of Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of the department Noem oversees. The episode included a scene in which Noem was depicted with her face sliding off due to heavy makeup and Botox injections.
The relevant part of Noem's conversation with Beck began when Beck referred to a 2009 episode of "South Park," titled "Dances with Smurfs," that poked fun at him by having character Eric Cartman mock Beck's commentary style while reading the morning announcements at school. "I ended up, years later, watching it with my son and we both laughed over it," Beck said, adding, "Welcome to the club."
In response, Noem said:
Well, I guess so. I didn't get to see it. I was going over budget numbers and stuff, but you know, it never ends. It's so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. It's only the liberals and the extremists who do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can't. They just pick something petty like that.
"South Park" took aim at the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, drawing public ire from the president himself, during the show's 27th season, which debuted in July 2025.
In "Got a Nut," the show's fictionalized Noem made multiple references to shooting dogs, a nod to Noem's memoir in which she admitted to shooting her own "untrainable" dog. In another scene, Noem directed ICE to "only detain the brown ones" during an ICE raid in Heaven.
Further, the South Park Studios YouTube channel changed the page's avatar to the show's rendition of Noem with a melting face.
This was not the first claim related to Noem we've investigated. For further reading, see our collection of eight rumors about her we've looked into.