Sean Duffy dismissed the notion of young people attaining fulfillment by finding “fame on social media,” even though one of his daughters posts often to her hundreds of thousands of online followers.
Duffy, speaking at the opening of the America 250 celebrations in Washington, preached about faith and family. The 54-year-old transportation secretary also emphasized the importance of road trips to reconnect with family members, after having done so earlier this year.
Young people, he said, “have been lied to.”
“They have been told that they would be fulfilled with hookup culture, or some get-rich-quick scheme, or they could find fame on social media, and that would fulfill them,” Duffy said. “But I’ll tell you, they found that that’s a false promise. That’s a lie, and they’ve sought truth. And in seeking truth, they have gone to church. They’ve found the Holy Gospel, they’ve prayed, and they have found God in historic numbers.”
Evita Duffy-Alfonso, 26, is the eldest of Duffy’s nine children with Rachel Campos-Duffy, the Fox News host.
Duffy-Alonso, whose husband is running for Congress in the same Wisconsin district her father represented, boasts over 132,000 followers on X, over 55,000 on Instagram, and 14,000 on Facebook. She is verified on all three platforms.
At least Duffy-Alonso is adhering to her father’s spiel about religion and family. A church-attending Catholic, she announced last month that she had had a girl. She was later welcomed on Fox News by her mother to describe her life since.
Duffy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Duffy-Alonso could not be reached for comment.
In his speech, Duffy also downplayed the importance of education, despite having a law degree himself.
“Modern culture has told our young people that they shouldn’t look for love, they shouldn’t have a family, they shouldn’t have kids, [and] instead, focus on their education, focus on their careers, focus on their bank accounts—have a free Saturday morning and go get a venti latte with your friends at Starbucks. That will give them joy, is what culture has told them,“ Duffy said.
“This is the dumbest advice that they could ever get,” he continued. “What fills the human heart? What gives us purpose? We should look for love, get married, and have lots of kids, right? A lot of fun!”
Minutes earlier, Duffy used the word “libtard” to describe musicians who declined to perform at the America 250 event.
