Networks Manufacture a Mini-Scandal Over a 'Road Trip'

Tim Graham on May 13, 2026

One of the games in scandal politics is about "optics" -- when a public official does something that just looks bad. Barack Obama fans pretend that his only scandal was wearing a tan suit to a press conference in the summer of 2014.

The latest example is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy filming a video series for YouTube with his family over seven months called "The Great American Road Trip," all to celebrate the 250th birthday of America this summer.

NBC's Julie Tsirkin provided the Democrat talking points: "This road trip is facing backlash ... at a time when many Americans are struggling with high prices at the pump ... and amid a number of crises during Duffy's tenure, including record TSA lines and the recent Spirit Airlines shutdown."

ABC morning host Michael Strahan seconded the emotion: "As gas prices soar ... backlash this morning over Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's series being called 'The Great American Road Trip.'" Reporter Jay O'Brien underlined the series was privately sponsored, including by Boeing and United Airlines, which Duffy is in charge of regulating.

On the "PBS News Hour," anchor Geoff Bennett brought the "backlash" talk to his Monday night pundit panel: "Sean Duffy is facing backlash for this new, I guess we can call it reality series. It's launched on YouTube and it's basically -- as he says, it's a way to get out on the highway for America's 250th birthday. But this is coming at a time when Americans, as we say, are frustrated by prices. He's also facing criticism from Pete Buttigieg, who says -- in a social media post, he called the series 'brutally out of touch.'"

Both NPR's Tamara Keith and political analyst Amy Walter agreed the optics weren't good.

So speaking of "brutally out of touch," how did PBS handle the optics problems of Buttigieg under Biden? Their interviews were shoeshines, in July 2021, December 2022 and February 2023. They were facilitators, not investigators.

In the summer of 2021, Buttigieg went out on "paternity leave" for several months when he adopted black twins. Optics were out of the question. ABC News shamed conservative critics: "Criticisms of paternity leave, like those Buttigieg faced, show the stigma that still remains in the United States around men taking time off work to care for their children." Instead, CBS "Sunday Morning" in 2024 did a seven-minute Father's Day puff piece on the two Buttigieg dads. Optics were optimal.

Then consider the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023. PBS aired a promotional interview with Buttigieg the night before the hazmat-spilling accident. But outside the liberal bubble, it became an optics issue when Buttigieg took 20 days to show up at the scene.

When he finally showed up, PBS aired a clip of him denouncing the railroad company: "Norfolk Southern and the other freight rail companies need to stop fighting us every time we try to do a regulation." Then Bennett briefly noted: "He also acknowledged he may have waited too long to travel there, saying he wanted to let the EPA and NTSB deal with the emergency first. The federal response has become a partisan flashpoint."

Another optics issue came in January 2024, when it was exposed that Biden's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had vanished without notifying anyone of his absence when he underwent prostate removal at Walter Reed Hospital. PBS yawned and offered two brief and bland anchor statements over two nights, no pundits required.

Optics scandals are an easy way to measure how these networks are partisan. They tout "backlash" and "brutally out of touch" actions for Republicans, and paper over the "partisan flashpoints" Republicans push.

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Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.