Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, delivered a humorous and rousing address to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, reminding the audience that they were the first reality TV stars — before Donald Trump.
The two met on MTV’s The Real World and married, settling in Wisconsin, where Sean was a champion lumberjack. In 2010, Sean Duffy ran for Congress in a liberal district as a Tea Party Republican, scaring powerful Democratic veteran incumbent Dave Obey into resigning. Duffy then charted an independent course in Congress, spending as much time as possible in his home district and fighting hard to secure re-election. He and his wife became close friends of the late Andrew Breitbart.
In their speech to the crowd of delegates at the Quicken Loans Arena, they joked that they had taught their seven children several moral lessons, including no boys in teenage girls’ bedrooms, and no private email servers in the family basement.
On a more serious note, the two noted their roots in America — and their worries for the future. Campos-Duffy recalled that her family, with immigrant origins in Mexico, knew firsthand what socialism was about, and that she wanted no part of it.
Rep. Duffy exhorted the audience to draw inspiration from Wisconsin, where Republicans swept state and federal offices in 2010, and where Gov. Scott Walker defended his controversial labor reforms against a left-wing backlash.
“We turned our blue state red! We have won every election except the big one! We can’t stay home if we’re going to save our country! Let’s rally behind Donald Trump, and together, let’s make America great again!”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, will be published by Regnery on July 25 and is available for pre-order through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.