The consequential confirmation hearing of former Representative Sean Duffy of Wisconsin for secretary of transportation has largely flown under the radar, but his elevation is yet another signifier that reality TV and politics are now one and the same.
Duffy and his wife, his fellow Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, got their start in public life on the MTV mainstay “The Real World.” As a not especially political teenager in the 1990s, I remember finding both of them to be charming and relatable. Campos-Duffy started appearing on “The View,” and Duffy, as Andy Greene pointed out in Rolling Stone, “became the Ashland County district attorney the same year he won ‘Battle of the Seasons,’” referring to a reality competition show on which Duffy appeared.
I used to assume that being on reality TV meant that someone would never be taken seriously. But in this age of reality TV presidents and online influencers, name recognition can only be a boost to a professional life of commentating and public service. So, too, can a penchant for attention-grabbing conflicts that catapult your name to wider public attention.
On this week’s episode of the decline and fall of America, there was a telling showdown between Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, and Representative Jasmine Crockett, Democrat of Texas. During a House Oversight Committee meeting, Crockett said about Mace: “I can see that somebody’s campaign coffers really are struggling right now. So she is going to keep saying ‘trans, trans, trans, trans’ so that people will feel threatened, and child, listen ——” Mace was offended by Crockett’s description of her as “child” and ultimately asked Crockett whether she wanted to “take it outside.”
It once might have seemed beneath the dignity of the office for politicians to go at each other, but in today’s mercenary attention economy, some aggressive table flipping is essential. Most voters who don’t pay close attention to politics will see only viral moments from the most charismatic public servants. Many people see anger and aggression as signs of authenticity and a willingness to tell it like it is.
Duffy and characters like him are sure bets for a president who relies on capturing attention to maintain authority and eminence. Though he struck a conciliatory pose in his hearing, that’s not how Duffy got Donald Trump’s attention in the first place. He’s been a reliably rabble-rousing, pro-Trump voice as a political commentator on CNN and Fox News in the past several years. Announcing his selection of Duffy, Trump mentioned that he’s “the husband of a wonderful woman, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a star on Fox News.”
Everybody now needs to play the game. When The Times spoke to 12 men who voted for Trump in the 2024 election, more than one of them said they liked him because he’s a “fighter.” Duffy, Crockett and Mace are fighters, too. They know that to win, you have to give the people what they want..