“The View” co-host Ana Navarro was called out on Wednesday for claiming Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was on a seven-month road trip during his term.
“The tone deafness. The secretary of transportation was on a seven-month road trip with his nine children for a TV show,” she said during CNN’s “Newsnight.”
Duffy announced that he and his family filmed a show called “The Great American Road Trip,” to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The trip has received pushback from the left, including from former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband, amid high gas prices.
“You know that he was not on a road trip for seven months. You know that that is factually inaccurate. Come on,” Jason Rantz, a conservative radio host, said.
Navarro countered, “He has been on a road trip during those seven months.”
“A couple of days at a time. He was not on for seven months. That’s just not fair and not accurate,” Rantz said.
CNN host Abby Phillip said he was filming a reality TV series.
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Rantz noted that Duffy filmed over the course of a couple of days throughout the seven months, which Phillip argued didn’t make it better.
Duffy has pushed back on criticism of the trip, posting in a statement to X, “The radical, miserable left has noticed our awesome Great American Road Trip trailer… and they hate it. It’s too wholesome. It’s too patriotic. It’s too joyful. They’re upset because they don’t want you to celebrate America! And they definitely don’t want you to teach your kids civics & patriotism. So they tell lies to undermine the mission.”
He said in the statement that zero taxpayer dollars have been spent on him or his family.
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“The series was filmed in short, one to two day production windows — such as weekends and the kids’ spring break,” his statement continued.
Duffy also said the series was reviewed by career ethics and budget officials at the DOT.
“Our message is really simple: to love America is to see America. So put the phone down, hit the open road, and rediscover what makes America great,” the transportation secretary said.
Duffy also addressed the criticism during an interview with CNN’s Scott Jennings.
“I said seven months but it was over the course of, on average it was about two days a month on a road trip. Go to a destination, quickly film it. In April, I took the kids on spring break and hit multiple locations,” he said. “We have been one of the most productive DOTs in the history of DOT. And so again, your Democrat colleagues on CNN, they know that, but it’s just a cheap shot to say that I’ve taken time off.”
