Duffy and Conspiracy Theories

 

October 2019: Duffy Pushed A Debunked Conspiracy Theory That Ukraine, Not Russia, Was Behind A Of The DNC’s Email Server. According to The Daily Beast, “In less than 24 hours as a CNN paid contributor, former congressman Sean Duffy, the network’s newest pro-Trump talking-head, immediately used his new platform to spread a debunked conspiracy theory. Over the course of the past week, the Republican ex-lawmaker has pushed a conspiracy theory that attempts to at once undermine the overwhelming evidence that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election and that President Donald Trump withheld military aid for Ukraine over partisan considerations. Duffy has said that Trump is legitimate in suggesting that Ukraine was actually behind the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee’s email server, and that Ukraine-owned company CrowdStrike took those hacked servers to Ukraine. The theory, which has been pushed by top White House figures, has been shot down and discredited by numerous national security experts, and has been debunked by the network’s own reporters. And yet on Sunday, during his debut appearance as a paid CNN employee, Duffy almost immediately floated the conspiracy theory, which was quickly criticized by other panelists. ‘Democrats and the media were all about what happened in the 2016 election,’ Duffy said. ‘What Mick Mulvaney said was Donald Trump said let’s look and say let’s get this server, this is the DNC server.’ […] When the congressman began to discuss the CrowdStrike conspiracy theory Monday morning on New Day, anchor Alisyn Camerota immediately cut him off. ‘What Mick Mulvaney was talking about was actually trying to find the server that was the DNC server which was at the heart of the Russia investigation,’ Duffy claimed.” [Daily Beast, 10/21/19]

Duffy and Marriage Equality

 

Duffy Opposed Gay Marriage And Voted For The Wisconsin Constitutional Amendment That Would Have Defined Marriage To Be Between Only A Man And A Woman. According to Duffy for Congress, “I believe in the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. I voted for the 2006 Wisconsin amendment defining marriage between a man and woman and I do not favor any government-sanctioned union/arrangement that looks like traditional marriage. However, I am not opposed to people entering into contracts for the purposes of inheritance, medical decisions, etc. All Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, have a right to make legal contracts and arrangements with each other and deserve the respect and dignity afforded to all citizens.” [Duffy for Congress, Viewed 11/20/24 via archive.org]

Duffy and the Environment

 

2024: Duffy Suggested The Left Cared About Climate Change Because It Fit Their “Agenda Of Control” And Expressed Confusion Regarding The Science Behind Climate Change. According to Media Matters, “After guest Alex Epstein, pro-fossil fuel advocate, suggested that humans ‘can thrive at many different levels of CO2 in the atmosphere,’ Duffy went on to ask, ‘If you say the climate’s changing, is it coming from CO2 or is it coming from the sun? Where is — why is the climate changing?’ ‘And you would then say, well, let’s have a rigorous debate about what’s causing it or what are all the factors that bring us to climate change,’ Duffy continued. ‘And when you have the left that says we’re going to shut down alternative science or science that challenges our narrative, it — I think it makes people go, well, maybe there’s a different set of priorities here as opposed to climate change. Maybe it actually is an agenda of control.’” [Media Matters, 11/13/24]

2011: Duffy Voted To Bar The EPA From Regulating Emissions Linked to Climate Change. On April 7, 2011, Duffy voted in favor of barring the EPA from regulating emissions linked to climate change. According to the New York Times, “The House voted 255 to 172 on Thursday to halt the Obama administration’s program to regulate industrial air emissions linked to climate change, delivering a rebuke to a central tenet of the president’s energy and environmental policy. Nineteen Democrats joined in approving a bill that, were it to become law, would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from acting to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that the agency has declared a threat to human health and the environment. The measure would also nullify a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that gave the agency the authority to issue regulations to curb those emissions.” [Roll Call 249, H 910, 04/07/2011; New York Times, 04/7/11]

2011: Duffy Voted to Gut Water Quality Standards. Duffy voted in favor of the “Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act,” a bill to “preserve the authority of each State to make determinations relating to the State’s water quality standards.” A New York Times editorial, titled “Another Dirty Water Act,” blasted the legislation saying it “would strip the [EPA] of its authority to oversee state water quality standards and to take action when the states fail to measure up…Absent federal oversight, states are likely to engage in a race to the bottom, weakening environmental rules to attract business.” [Roll Call 573, H 2018, 07/13/2011; New York Times, 7/14/11]

2023: Duffy Disparaged Electric Vehicles. According to Politico, “He has also disparaged electric vehicles on Fox News, potentially putting him at odds with Elon Musk, who has had Trump’s ear in recent weeks. In a segment last year, Duffy criticized EV trucks as not suitable for rural driving, quoting an unnamed Ford EV truck owner who called the vehicles ‘the biggest scam of modern times.’” [Politico, 11/18/24]

Duffy Being Out Of Touch

 

2011: Duffy Told His Constituents That He Was Struggling More Than Them With His $174,000 Salary. According to Talking Points Memo, “At a town hall meeting in Polk County, Wisconsin earlier this year, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) was asked whether he’d vote to cut his $174,000 annual salary. Duffy sort of hedged, and went on to talk about how $174,000 really isn’t that much for his family of seven to live on. Then he went on to say he supports cutting compensation for all public employees, along the lines of what Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has proposed for the Badger State. […] ‘I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I’m living high on the hog, I’ve got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe, but at this point I’m not living high on the hog.’” [Talking Points Memo, 3/29/11]

• Duffy Reported Assets Worth Between $110,011 and $400,000 in June 2011. In June 2011, Duffy reported eleven family assets on his financial disclosure with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Duffy’s largest assets were from an IRA worth between $100,001 and $250,000. Duffy reported no income on any of these investments. [Annual Personal Financial Disclosure, “Schedule III,” Office of the Clerk of The United States House of Representatives, Sean Duffy, 2010, filed 6/15/2011]

Duffy and Reproductive Health

 

Duffy: “I Will Vigorously Defend The Right To Life.” According to Duffy’s campaign website, “Pro-life: I believe in the value and the potential of every human life. I will vigorously defend the right to life of the unborn and our elderly, and I will actively support policies that offer women non-violent choices and opportunities when faced with a crisis pregnancy. As the father of six, I understand first hand the responsibilities and joys of parenthood and the gift that every child is to our world.” [Duffy For Congress Website, Viewed 11/20/24 via archive.org] 

2017: Duffy Voted For The American Health Care Act That Would Have Defunded Planned Parenthood. In May 2017, Duffy voted for the American Health Care Act which would have significantly repealed portions of the Affordable Care Act by cutting Medicaid, cutting taxes on the rich, removing safeguard for pre-existing conditions and defunding Planned Parenthood. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation would have “prohibit[ed] federal funding to any entity, such as Planned Parenthood, that performs abortions and receives more than $350 million a year in Medicaid funds.” The overall legislation would have in part, also according to Congressional Quarterly, “ma[d]e extensive changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law, by effectively repealing the individual and employer mandates as well as most of the taxes that finance the current system. It would [have], in 2020, convert[ed] Medicaid into a capped entitlement that would provide[d] fixed federal payments to states and end[ed] additional federal funding for the 2010 law’s joint federal-state Medicaid expansion. […] It would [have] allow[ed] states to receive waivers to exempt insurers from having to provide certain minimum benefits.” The vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a vote of 217 to 213. [House Vote 256, 5/4/17; Congressional Quarterly, 5/4/17; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1628]

2016: Duffy Voted For A Bill That Defunded Planned Parenthood. In January 2016, Duffy voted for a bill that according to Congressional Quarterly, would have “scrap[ed] in 2018 the law’s Medicaid expansion, as well as subsidies to help individuals buy coverage through the insurance exchanges.” Additionally, according to Congressional Quarterly the bill would have “repeal[ed] portions of the 2010 health care law and block[ed] federal funding for Planned Parenthood for one year. As amended, the bill would zero-out the law’s penalties for noncompliance with the law’s requirements for most individuals to obtain health coverage and employers to offer health insurance.” The vote was on a motion to concur with the Senate amendment, which indicated final passage. The House approved the bill by a vote of 240 to 181. The Senate had already passed the measure. President Obama vetoed the legislation, which the House failed to override. [House Vote 6, 1/8/16; Congressional Quarterly, 12/3/15; Real Clear Politics, 12/4/15; NBC News, 1/8/15; Congressional Actions, H.R. 3762]

Duffy and Reality TV

 

Duffy Starred In Two MTV Reality Television Shows And Met His Wife On “The Challenge.” According to the Washington Post, “Duffy is a former reality television star who appeared on MTV’s ‘The Real World: Boston’ in 1997. The popular series brought together strangers from various backgrounds to live under one roof over several months. He and six others were featured in the sixth season. In an archived MTV biography of the show’s cast, Duffy was described as a ‘typical Midwestern boy’ and a lumberjack sports champion from Hayward, Wisconsin. […] He then appeared on ‘Road Rules: All Stars’ — later renamed ‘The Challenge’ — featuring other reality television alumni, where he met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy. She had appeared on ‘The Real World: San Francisco.’” [Washington Post, 11/19/24]