John Oliver Takes a Close Look at Sean Duffy’s “God-Awful” New Reality Show: “We’ve All Been Taken for a F***ing Ride”

John Oliver took a close look at what he called a “less-covered story from this week” on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight : a reality show from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy called The Great American Road Trip.

Duffy debuted a trailer for the show in May. At the time, a press release stated that the series “asks: Who are we? Following U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his family, this five-part journey encourages Americans to step away from their screens for a vital civic experience. From small towns to iconic landmarks, the series captures the unscripted moments and shared values that prove to love America, you have to see America. The series will be released for free on YouTube, allowing every American family to follow along.” The show was timed to debut during this year, the nation’s 250th anniversary. Related Stories News Did Alex Vindman Just Get Burned by the Larry David Curse? Lifestyle Abdul El-Sayed's Watch Collection Has Drawn Scrutiny -- Is It Luxury or Simply Geek Chic?

“So the motto is to love America is to see America,” Duffy explains to President Donald Trump in the trailer. He continues in voice-over: “It’s more than a road trip. It’s a civic experience. It’s one of the most powerful ways to understand the vast, beautiful, complicated place we call home.” (Watch it below.)

Said Oliver of the trailer: “OK, lots not to like there — from the generic ‘hey ho’ folk rock to Trump giving insane grandma’s new boyfriend vibes to the very conspicuous close up of the Toyota logo to the seemingly AI-generated images of cars, which makes sense. No one’s ever thought to film a real car before.”

At the time the show was announced, Duffy’s wife, Fox News Channel host Rachel Campos Duffy, “even claimed it was a solution to what ails us as a nation,” Oliver said.

“I’m going to be really honest, we live in a Pornhub world,” Rachel said in a Fox News clip shown by Oliver. “This is really wholesome, good family stuff. This is what families need to do is just get together. That’s what our kids want from us.”

Replied Oliver: “Is it? Because I think what every kid really wants is for their mum not to say the word ‘Pornhub’ on national TV. Also, she clearly hasn’t spent a lot of time on that site, or she’d know, families getting together is very much its own category.”

However, the road-trip series drew controversy for a few reasons: the high cost of gas, the fact that Sean was out filming a reality series when he had an important government job to do, and who was paying for the show. Regarding the latter, Sean said that it wasn’t funded by taxpayer money; instead the series was funded through a nonprofit production company called Great American Road Trip Inc. However, that organization’s website lists 17 sponsors, many of which are companies that the Department of Transportation oversees and regulates.

“Yeah, that’s not great,” said Oliver. “The only worse answer to who pay for this than ‘the American taxpayer’ is ‘a bunch of companies I oversee and regulate.’ Actually, I suppose an even worse answer would be a bunch of companies I oversee and regulate, and also my close personal friend Jeffrey Epstein.”