At Long Last, Sean Duffy’s Road Trip Video Series Is Released On Youtube

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s reality-TV-themed family road trip video series has arrived on YouTube — weeks after it was initially expected to be released.

The show, which has been mired in controversy due to ethics questions surrounding Duffy’s participation, is now available online. Duffy had previously said the series would launch in June.

“I hope my family’s road trip inspires other families to take one of their own,” he said in a social media post Wednesday morning.

The head of the nonprofit that covered production costs for the series, Tori Barnes, said in a statement: “There is no better way to celebrate America than to see America.”

She added that exploring the country “is the best way to fall in love with everything that makes America special,” especially during the country's 250th anniversary.

Sponsors of Barnes’ organization, Great American Road Trip Inc., include companies that DOT regulates, such as Boeing and Toyota, sparking ethics concerns. Duffy in a NewsNation appearance Aug. 10 said the show needed “a little extra editing.” He added, “Gotta make sure I come into compliance with all of the ethics rules that we have in government.”

DOT has said the series was filmed with Duffy’s family during brief stops over several months, including during last fall’s government shutdown.

No taxpayer dollars were spent on his family for the series, DOT has said, adding that celebrating the semiquincentennial is part of Duffy’s “official duties” — and the road trip is “one aspect in support of those responsibilities.”

The department has said that DOT ethics attorneys cleared his participation.

“Our motto was ‘to love America is to see America,’” Duffy said during a Fox & Friends interview on May 8 with his wife, TV personality Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is a weekend co-host on the network.

A batch of Senate Democrats, including Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.), has called on DOT’s acting inspector general to probe Duffy’s involvement in the show.

“We are concerned with this potential mix between personal and professional activities,” the six lawmakers wrote in June. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning government watchdog group, has also called for an investigation.

Chris Marquette contributed to this report.