Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has revived the Trump administration's conflict with Harvard University in an unlikely venue: a family road-trip reality show. In the second episode of Great American Road Trip, released Wednesday on the department's YouTube channel, Duffy tells his teenage daughter Paloma that the Ivy League school has "professionalized figuring out how they can take good, young girls like you, and I think, corrupt their minds."
The six-episode series, funded in part by private companies that Duffy regulates, follows his family through Arizona, Texas, Montana, and other states. The Boston episode centers on Paloma's interest in attending Harvard, prompting a candid conversation about ideology and education.
Duffy, a former reality TV star and conservative congressman, pressed his daughter on whether Harvard would provide a balanced perspective. "You don't have to believe what I believe," he told her. "You don't have to have the political viewpoints that I have, but I do think it's important that you make those choices for yourself and you have a fair representation of what they are, and I don't think the Harvards of the world give you that kind of well-rounded picture."
Paloma countered that her upbringing in an "extremely conservative family" and attendance at a conservative high school meant a liberal college environment would actually broaden her education. "That's just being kinda one-sided anyways," she argued. Duffy pushed back, asserting that the school is "so good at" turning students away from conservative beliefs, adding that "young people go to a conservative school with a conservative family and they get perverted and contorted."
The exchange echoes broader Republican critiques of higher education, with President Trump and his allies accusing universities of promoting "woke" ideology. That tension has spilled into the courts: a federal judge dismissed the DOJ's antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard on Thursday, a setback for the administration's legal campaign against elite schools.
During the family's campus tour, they met with Father Nathaniel Sanders, Harvard's undergraduate chaplain, who assured them of a "strong, flourishing Catholic culture on campus." By the end of the episode, Duffy appeared to soften, telling his daughter at Fenway Park that he was "surprised" by the Christian community and concluding, "I think a smart, good girl can completely navigate what is a really good school."
The show's funding has drawn scrutiny, as some of the private backers are companies Duffy oversees in his role as Transportation secretary. Critics have questioned the ethics of accepting such support for a government-produced series, though the department has defended the project as a promotional effort for American travel.
Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly came to Duffy's defense on X, writing, "This Sean Duffy guy sounds like a guy who loves his daughter more than being able to tell his friends, 'My daughter goes to Harvard.'" The episode highlights the personal stakes for administration officials navigating the intersection of family, faith, and public policy.
