Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s new reality present, filmed along with his household during the last seven months, has sparked criticism amid excessive gasoline costs, as well as to elevating ethics questions.
Duffy stated that prices for the five-part collection titled “The Great American Road Trip,” which is able to air free of charge on YouTube forward of America’s 250th birthday, have been paid for by a nonprofit, the Great American Road Trip Inc., and that “zero taxpayer dollars were spent on my family.” He stated his household didn’t obtain a wage or manufacturing royalties.
The venture’s sponsors, in accordance to its web site, embody Boeing, Shell, Toyota, United Airlines and Royal Caribbean — all firms that intersect with the Department of Transportation.
“As everyday Americans struggle with the price of gas and raise concerns about airline safety, the Secretary announces that he spent work time going on a road trip that appears to have been funded by the very industries his agency oversees,” Donald Ok. Sherman, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, stated in a press release.
This present brings Duffy and his spouse, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, again to their leisure roots. The pair, who’ve 9 youngsters collectively, met whereas filming the MTV reality present “Road Rules: All Stars.”
“To love America is to see America,” Duffy says within the trailer that launched Friday.
“It’s one of the most powerful ways to understand the vast, beautiful, complicated place we call home,” he says over video of locations spanning from sweeping fields to bustling cities.
The Duffy household stated they filmed the present one to two days at a time over the course of seven months. Trip actions included operating up the Rocky Steps on the Philadelphia Museum of Art, snowmobiling in Montana, and a cease at “The Real World: Boston” home the place Duffy first gained reality tv fame.
Duffy and his household launched into the journey with a kickoff from President Donald Trump within the Oval Office.
“Taking a little trip? A little trip all over?” Trump says to the Duffys within the trailer.
Campos-Duffy, a co-host on “Fox and Friends Weekend,” says within the trailer that “‘The Great American Road Trip’ will inspire families to step away from the noise, hit the open road and reconnect with what matters most.”
The trailer’s launch has sparked criticism, nonetheless, coming at a time when it’s much less possible for a lot of Americans to embark on street journeys or different journey.
The US-Iran war has raised the value of gasoline, which hit $4.55 a gallon Friday, worsening affordability points. More than two months into the warfare, consumer sentiment has declined, and some Americans have reduce on necessities and spending for journeys, as NCS has reported.
Meanwhile, Trump’s approval score for dealing with the economic system lately fell to a profession low of 31%, in accordance to a NCS poll performed by SSRS final month, reflecting pessimism amongst Americans over the difficulty they constantly describe as an important.
“Secretary Duffy has already taken action to make cars” inexpensive and to help the president’s “energy dominance agenda,” a Department of Transportation spokesperson stated in a press release.
Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary below President Joe Biden, called Duffy’s new collection “brutally out of touch,” including that “regular families can’t afford road trips anymore, because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof.”
Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten Glezman Buttigieg, called the new show “unserious” and stated the Duffy household is “bragging about their multi-month, taxpayer-funded family road trip while gas and grocery prices soar for American families because of Trump’s war of choice.”
Campos-Duffy responded to his criticism, saying, “all production costs were paid for by the non-profit, The Great American Road Trip, Inc. No one in my family – including my husband – were paid to do this.”
The Great American Road Trip is an unbiased nonprofit 501(c)(4) group, in accordance to its web site.
“Proudly partnering with the U.S, Department of Transportation, The Great American Road Trip fully funds its own efforts to celebrate and share America’s story,” the web site reads, alongside an inventory of company sponsors together with commerce teams, gasoline firms and tourism companies.
“Government rules make clear that even if a gift isn’t technically a ‘conduit’ gift, government employees should decline acceptance if it would cause a reasonable person to question their impartiality, which this certainly does,” stated Sherman, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Duffy posted a lengthy message Saturday on X defending the venture, writing, “Career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation reviewed and approved both my participation and individual travel in accordance with federal rules.”
Asked by NCS whether or not taxpayer {dollars} have been used for Duffy’s particular person journey, the Department of Transportation spokesperson stated that celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, together with via “The Great American Road Trip,” is a part of Duffy’s official duties.
“On these brief stops, the Secretary also often conducted additional visits like touring air traffic control towers and assessing port infrastructure. Like with any other official engagements, the Department covered the flight,” they stated. The spokesperson emphasised that no taxpayer {dollars} have been spent on Duffy’s household and that prices coated by the present’s sponsors included gasoline, automobile leases, lodging and actions.
Sherman, in the meantime, stated that “Despite the secretary’s vigorous defense, there are still numerous questions that warrant investigation: was this an appropriate use of government time? What role did industry play in funding it?”