Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy released the first episode of his reality-TV-themed road trip series “The Great American Road Trip” on Wednesday, months after Duffy said it would premiere.
Duffy framed the series as his family’s way of celebrating America’s 250th birthday, but the production has sparked a number of ethical questions in recent months.
A disclaimer at the beginning of the episode says the program “is a result of an agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Great American Road Trip, Inc. Production costs — including filming, crew, food, fuel, lodging and activities — were paid for by the Great American Road Trip, Inc and accepted as a gift by the Department.”
“No taxpayer dollars were spent for the participation of Secretary Duffy’s family,” the disclaimer added.
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Duffy and his wife, “Fox & Friends Weekend” host Rachel Campos-Duffy, took their kids to visit Philadelphia for the inaugural episode of the series. The family kicked off their trip after visiting President Donald Trump at the White House.
“Our capital is Washington, D.C., but it all began in Philadelphia,” Campos-Duffy said.
Michael Alfonso, the 26-year-old son-in-law of the secretary, also joined the family during the episode. Alfonso won the Republican nomination last week for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District.
The family met up with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for their first stop at Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell.
“You’re going to be stopping at a bunch of Department of the Interior sites across the country,” Burgum said to the Duffy family.
After the Liberty Bell, the family visited Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center and the Philadelphia Museum of Art — running up the same steps Sylvester Stallone traversed in the iconic “Rocky” scene. The Duffy family also spoke with an actor impersonating founding father Ben Franklin and another playing Betsy Ross, who is credited for designing the first American flag.
The disclaimer at the end of the episode states the “production was made possible by the generous support of our GART, Inc sponsors.” GART stands for Great American Road Trip.
Controversy has swirled around the series since it was announced earlier this year. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington urged the Transportation Department’s inspector general to launch a probe into Duffy’s participation in the series. Some of GART’s sponsors include some companies that the department is tasked with regulating, like aerospace company Boeing and auto manufacturer Toyota.
Five Democratic senators in June also requested for the DOT inspector general to investigate Duffy’s ties to the show.
“We are concerned with this potential mix between personal and professional activities. If the road trip was personal, then it appears a Cabinet official spent several days over multiple months taking and filming a road trip that should have been paid for by the Secretary, but instead the Secretary accepted gas, lodging, and other travel expenses from a non-profit funded by the very companies the Secretary regulates,” the senators wrote in a press release at the time.
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