Sean Duffy comes under fire for new family reality show deemed directionless and detached

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has revealed that he spent approximately seven months filming a family reality television show, The Great American Road Trip, during his tenure in office — a disclosure that has drawn immediate condemnation as “tone-deaf” and “out of touch” given the multiple crises currently hammering the country’s transportation sector.

The Great American Road Trip

Duffy announced the project during an appearance on Fox News on Friday, after a preview of the programme aired. The show, which the secretary described as a way to “lean into America’s 250th birthday”, follows Duffy, his wife Rachel Campos-Duffy, and their nine children on a cross-country journey. Filming took place over “parts of seven months”, according to Duffy, with his wife clarifying that it involved “small one and two day stops over the course of seven months”.

The idea for the show, Campos-Duffy indicated, originated from a prompt by Donald Trump, who encouraged Cabinet members to find ways to celebrate the nation’s anniversary. The White House was the family’s first stop, with footage showing them alongside Trump in the Oval Office.

While initial reports suggested the production was taxpayer-funded, Campos-Duffy countered on social media that costs were covered by a non-profit organisation, The Great American Road Trip Inc. However, it has since emerged that companies regulated by the Department of Transportation — including United Airlines and Boeing — paid for the show’s production, alongside sponsors such as Toyota, Shell, and Google. Duffy himself is not receiving payment for his participation. The show is set to premiere in June on YouTube, with stops including Montana for snowmobiling, a Mississippi River cruise, the Liberty Bell, and a Nashville visit to Kid Rock’s home. Its motto, Duffy said, is “to love America is to see America”.

The Duffys are no strangers to reality television. The couple met while filming MTV’s Road Rules: All Stars in 1998; Sean Duffy also appeared on The Real World: Boston.

Fierce Criticism Amid National Crises

The announcement has been met with a wave of backlash, with critics pointing to a series of severe disruptions across the transportation sector that unfolded during the period Duffy was filming.

Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, took to X to lambast Duffy. “The same Duffys who threw endless fits on national television when Pete was working from our son’s ICU bedside are now 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,” he wrote. “How much more unfocused, unserious, and out of touch can you be?”

The context of those soaring prices is stark. Between February and April, a partial government shutdown — stemming from a protracted debate about funding for the Department of Homeland Security — led TSA agents to quit en masse over the lack of pay. Over 450 agents had resigned by late March, with more than 300 leaving since the shutdown began. The resulting staffing shortages caused prolonged airport security wait times and raised fears of potential airport closures.

In April, at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck, killing both pilots. The National Transportation Safety Board reported that a key runway safety system failed to activate and that the fire truck lacked a transponder, which meant the airport’s ground surveillance system did not generate an alert. Communication failures and issues with runway safety systems remain under federal investigation.

Meanwhile, gas and jet fuel prices have surged, driven in part by the US-Israel war with Iran. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a critical oil shipping channel — and the subsequent US blockade have created what the International Energy Agency called “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”. OPEC production has fallen to a 36-year low as a result. That spike in fuel costs contributed heavily to the collapse of low-budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which ceased operations on 2 May after failing to secure a federal bailout. The Association of Value Airlines had requested a $2.5 billion federal fuel-relief package. Duffy himself reportedly tried to find buyers for Spirit Airlines without success, and the Trump administration’s proposed $500 million bailout fell through due to creditor objections.

Critics have also seized on Duffy’s comment that road trips “fit any budget”, given that average gas prices have exceeded $4.50 per gallon across the nation, making such travel unaffordable for many families.

Chasten Buttigieg has previously criticised Fox News for what he sees as double standards in its coverage of family travel by political figures, contrasting its positive framing of Duffy’s trip with its criticism of Pete Buttigieg’s travel.

Duffy’s Justification and Family’s Defence

Duffy has defended the project as a celebration of the nation. “Over the course of seven months, we just kind of found these moments where I might do some work. I could take the kids with me … Our motto was ‘to love America is to see America’,” he told Fox News. He urged the public to embark on similar road trips, suggesting them as an alternative for children who spend their time scrolling through social media.

Rachel Campos-Duffy issued a social media rebuttal emphasising that the filming was conducted in short bursts. “It was filmed in small one and two day stops over the course of seven months,” she wrote, adding that production costs were covered by the non-profit organisation.

Despite these explanations, the ethics of the show have come under scrutiny. Among the sponsors is Boeing, an aerospace company that has faced multiple investigations into the safety of its aircraft, and United Airlines, both of which are overseen by the Department of Transportation.

Sean Duffy was confirmed as the 20th US Secretary of Transportation in January 2025 and also served as acting administrator of NASA from July to December of the same year. Before his Cabinet role, he represented Wisconsin’s seventh congressional district as a US representative from 2011 to 2019 and served as the district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin.