Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s six-episode “Great American Road Trip” has racked up fewer than 3,000 views per segment in the first 24 hours - and some had under 700.
After weeks of delays and ethics questions over Duffy’s participation, the series debuted on YouTube Wednesday, featuring the secretary, his wife, “Fox & Friends” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, and several of their nine children touring parts of the U.S. to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.
But the show, which Duffy has teased for a while, seemed to be struggling to resonate with the American public.
The first episode, which captured a trip to Philadelphia and a stop at the Oval Office to see President Donald Trump in Washington, surpassed 2,000 views roughly 21 hours after being posted. From there, the view count dropped.
The second episode, about the family’s trip to Boston - where the Duffys stopped by Harvard University and discouraged their daughter from attending - still only had 1,000 views Thursday morning. Meanwhile, episodes three through six each had less than 700 views.
The series, filmed for days at a time over seven months, is an initiative to encourage Americans to see more of America in honor of the 250th anniversary.
But critics have raised questions about the show that also doubles as a pseudo-reality TV show.
Duffy and his wife are no strangers to reality TV. Duffy previously starred in MTV’s “The Real World.” He and his wife also met on the show “Road Rules: All Stars.”
In between visits to national parks and major cities, “The Great American Road Trip” doesn’t shy away from sharing the family’s values.
While discussing potential colleges with his daughter Paloma, in episode two, Duffy tells her he’s concerned about sending her to Harvard because “they can take good, young girls like you and, I think, corrupt their minds.” The Transportation Secretary and his wife stressed the importance of Catholic values in their family, something they’re worried would change for their daughter at the Ivy League school.
In episode four, a trip to Charleston, the Duffys go to church to pray about their daughter’s decision to go to college. During episode six’s trip to Arizona, the Duffys renew their vows at a Catholic church in front of their children.
In episode three, a winter trip to Wyoming, Duffy’s eldest daughter holds a gender reveal for her child with her husband, Michael Alfonso, who is running for office. In that same episode, Duffy’s youngest child, Patrick, goes to the hospital after having stomach pain, but turns out to be fine.
Neither the Transportation Secretary nor his family were paid for their participation with taxpayer dollars. However, Duffy still collected his government paycheck while filming the series.
Production costs, such as filming, food, fuel, lodging and activities, were paid for by the Great American Road Trip Inc., a nonprofit established to sponsor the series.
However, the nonprofit itself has several major corporate sponsorships, including Toyota, United Airlines, Boeing, Shell, Chase Travel, NBCUniversal, Google and more.
The nonprofit has a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Transportation, which stated the nonprofit would not receive any favorable consideration for future federal contracts or assistance. But that did not explicitly extend to corporate donors, according to the New York Times.
Duffy has been defensive of the project, saying the “radical miserable left” has been critical because it’s “too wholesome,” “too patriotic,” and “too joyful.”
Earlier this year, Senator Patty Murray of Washington criticized the show for being “incredibly out of touch with where Americans are.” She was referring to skyrocketing gas prices, due to Trump’s war with Iran, that had made it more difficult for average Americans to hit the road.
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