Transportation Secretary defends sponsored road trip reality show

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleTransportation Secretary Sean Duffy defended his sponsored cross-country road trip reality show, The Great American Road Trip, saying its purpose is to unite the country and encourage tourism. The YouTube series, filmed with his family, is intended to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Senate Democrats raised ethical concerns regarding the trip's funding, which reportedly reached up to $1 million from corporate sponsors like Boeing, United Airlines, Royal Caribbean, Toyota, Enterprise, and Shell, many of whom have business before federal transportation regulators. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Patty Murray criticized the project, arguing that it was inappropriate for companies overseen by Duffy's department to fund it, and that promoting a road trip was "out of touch" given high gas prices. Duffy denied ethical concerns, citing a "memo of understanding" that prevents sponsors from receiving benefits, and controversially compared current gas prices to those under a previous administration, saying he didn't know how much gas his family used. In fullTrump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claims his sponsored road trip reality show was meant to unite the countryThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Raccontata dahuffpost.comforbes.combenzinga.comnytimes.comindependent.co.uk