Why you might already recognise Trump's Secretary of Transportation
It's been almost a year since Donald Trump announced Sean Duffy as America's incoming Secretary of Transportation - but only recently have some social media users realised where they've seen him before.
For those in need of a reminder of Duffy's credentials, after earning a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota, the Wisconsin 54-year-old became the District Attorney of Ashland County.
The latter propelled the conservative into public service, and over eight years, he built a reputation as a formidable prosecutor.
By 2010, he'd made the leap into politics, running as a Republican for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, all the while professing Christian family values and small-government principles.
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After winning office, Duffy served in Congress for almost nine years, honing in specifically on economic development and deregulation.
During this time, he caught the attention of right-wing frontman, Trump.
Despite taking a brief step back from the spotlight in 2019 when his ninth child was born with a number of health complications, he began contributing to political broadcasts on the likes of Fox News and CNN, ceaselessly voicing his support for the 79-year-old.
As such, when Trump controversially came out on top of last year's presidential election against Democratic lead Kamala Harris, the incoming leader quickly announced Duffy as a member of his administration. And since January, he's served as the US' Transport Secretary, as well as the acting administrator of NASA.
As we say, however, before making moves in the political realm, the father-of-nine was famed for something else entirely - his appearance on a number of reality television shows.
Duffy's first on-screen appearance was in 1997, on MTV's series The Real World: Boston.
The show saw a number of housemates lumped together in a shared living space for several weeks, whilst their interactions were filmed.
In his audition for the hit, the future politician claimed he was interested in 'cute girls', with the New York Times going on to describe his character as a 'resident playboy'.
As we say, whilst telly-nuts might have already clocked onto Duffy's showbiz history, some social media users recently claimed they had no idea.
"Who could have predicted that picking a guy from MTV’s 'The Real World' for Secretary of Transportation would go badly?" one critic hit out on X.
Another wrote: "He was one of my least favourite people on that show and we all see why now."
The same year, Duffy also appeared in the athletic competition series Road Rules: All Stars, on which he met his wife Rachel Campos, to whom he's been married since 1999.
Three years later, he was also cast in a spin-off version, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons.
I know, who knew?
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Rhianna Benson