Donald Trump has now named his choice for transportation secretary – former reality TV star turned Fox presenter Sean Duffy.
The president-elect announced his pick in a post on Truth Social on Monday, saying that Duffy, a 53-year-old former Wisconsin congressman, is a “tremendous and well-liked public servant” who is “admired across the aisle” for his work with Democrats on expanding US infrastructure.
“He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness, and Beauty when rebuilding America's highways, tunnels, bridges, and airports,” said Trump.
“He will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers... and fulfil our Mission of ushering in The Golden Age of Travel.”
Like Trump, Duffy actually got his start on TV, appearing on MTV's The Real World and Road Rules series in the late nineties before winning office as a prosecutor in Ashland County, Wisconsin, in 2002.
He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, as part of a red wave driven by the Tea Party movement and conservative backlash against the Obama presidency, before resigning in 2019 to care for a newborn daughter with a heart problem.
While in Congress during Trump’s first term, he filed a bill that would have increased the powers of the president to impose tariffs on foreign imports. Though it did not pass, it endeared him to the Trump administration.
Now, he is one of several current or former Fox News hosts appointed to Trump's new cabinet, in what is beginning to look like a revolving door between the influential conservative broadcaster and the second Trump administration.
Former Fox commentator Pete Hegseth, who was flagged as a possible “insider threat” during his time in the Army National Guard due to having a motto often used by white supremacists tattooed on his arm, was nominated last week as Trump's secretary of defense.
Trump’s prospective US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee was also once a Fox host.
