Chasten Buttigieg slams Sean Duffy's family road trip and return to reality TV

Chasten Buttigieg slammed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for filming a reality show with his family despite holding an important job in the Trump administration. That came after years of Buttigieg’s husband, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, getting pilloried in conservative media for taking any time off.

“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,” Chasten Buttigieg posted on X. “How much more unfocused, unserious, and out of touch can you be?”

Pete Buttigieg, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, also weighed in on the matter himself.

“I love a good road trip, but this is brutally out of touch: a Trump Cabinet member making a documentary about himself while regular families can’t afford road trips anymore, because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof,” he posted.

That post followed news that Duffy and wife Rachel Campos-Duffy, both former Real World cast members-turned-Fox News hosts, had spent seven months filming a new reality show, “The Great American Road Trip.” The couple appeared on Fox News to promote the show, and the conservative outlet covered it uncritically as a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

The network delivered far more critical round-the-clock coverage, however, when Pete Buttigieg took time off from the same job, including taking a four-week paternity leave following the 2021 birth of their twins, including the extended hospitalization of their son with RSV.

Rachel Campos-Duffy pushed back on Chasten Buttigieg’s complaint, stressing the production of the show was not covered by taxpayer dollars.

“Stand down, Chas. 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. We did it for FREE to celebrate America 250 and encourage other Americans to get off couches and screens and spend time together seeing our country. It was filmed in small one and two day stops over the course of seven months,” she posted.

“You and I both know that my husband has done more in one year to transform the DOT (Department of Transportation) and ATC (air traffic control) than your husband did in over four years on the job.”

But while production costs were covered by the nonprofit, the Transportation Department provided a statement to CNN making clear Duffy was on the clock when he traveled to film the show.

“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,” the spokesperson said.

Travel costs were not covered for Campos-Duffy or the couple’s children, the agency stressed.

Duffy, in a Facebook post, blamed the controversy on “the radical, miserable left,” saying the matter was cleared by ethics and budget officials within the Trump administration. He said critics must hate the project because “It’s too wholesome. It’s too patriotic. It’s too joyful.”

“They’re upset because they don’t want you to celebrate America!” he posted.