Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will launch a new show about his family's road trip across America to encourage people to pack up their cars and hit the road.
The former Wisconsin congressman's show hasn't yet aired but it already hit a few potholes. Democrats painted the series as a free extended vacation for the Duffys and pointed out rising gas prices tied to the war in Iran.
Duffy said the show was part of President Donald Trump's celebration of America鈥檚 250th anniversary this summer. He drew inspiration from his own childhood, when his family would drive from Wisconsin to Florida through the night to save money.
鈥淥ver the course of seven months, we just kind of found these moments where I might be able to do some work, I could take the kids with me, do a road trip,鈥 Duffy said about the new show in a Friday episode of "Fox & Friends." 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much to see in this beautiful country.鈥
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy talks with family members of NASA's Space X Crew-11 on July 31 at Kennedy Space Center.
A trailer of the upcoming show, posted on the official Department of Transportation YouTube page, shows Duffy with his wife, Fox News personality Rachel Campos-Duffy, and their nine children sightseeing across America. Footage shows them visiting the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, learning about the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and riding snowmobiles in Montana.
Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary under the Biden administration, blasted Duffy's show.
"I love a good road trip, but this is brutally out of touch," he wrote on social media. "A Trump Cabinet member making a documentary about himself while regular families can鈥檛 afford road trips anymore, because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof."
Since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran in late February, the daily average price per gallon for regular gasoline increased by 52%.
Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents Madison and the surrounding area, said the country faces a shortage of air traffic controllers and experienced several recent high-profile plane crashes, among other transportation-related concerns.
"But apparently a guy who's known for doing reality TV would rather spend his time doing reality TV than dealing with the transportation needs of our country," he said in a phone interview.
Campos-Duffy came to her husband's defense, saying all production costs were paid for by The Great American Road Trip Inc., a nonprofit. The organization's sponsors include many companies regulated by the department Duffy leads, including Boeing, United Airlines, Toyota and Royal Caribbean Group.
"No one in my family 鈥 including my husband 鈥 were paid to do this," Campos-Duffy wrote on social media. "We did it for FREE to celebrate America 250 & encourage other Americans to get off couches & screens and spend time together seeing our country."
The Trump administration still has other avenues to implement the import taxes that are a cornerstone of the president's economic policy.
A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the show was filmed in one- or two-days stops over the course of seven months, and Duffy took no vacation days for filming.
That's because Duffy said he carved out time on weekends and over his children's spring breaks. Neither he nor his family received production royalties, he said.
The five-part series will be free to watch on YouTube.
Duffy characterized his Democratic critics as miserable and unpatriotic.
"Don鈥檛 let the haters stop you from visiting our spectacular national parks, monuments and sights in honor of America鈥檚 250th birthday!" he wrote on social media.
Duffy appeared on one season of MTV's "The Real World" in 1997. He represented the 7th District from 2011 until his early retirement in 2019.
His son-in-law Michael Alfonso, is running for the same seat, which covers much of central and northern Wisconsin. Trump endorsed Alfonso this year.
