The New York Times (NYT) produced articles in late June about Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s large family and whether readers should wear camouflage, prompting backlash online.
“Sean Duffy would like you to watch his family making pancakes,” family reporter Caroline Kitchener wrote in a Monday article titled “The MTV Reality Star in Trump’s Cabinet Who Wants You to Have More Kids.”
Kitchener, who previously reported on abortion at the Washington Post (WaPo), appeared to paint Duffy’s promotion of his family as a political tool.
“Since that first race, his children have played a crucial part in his political career. He deployed them in his TV ads for Congress,” Kitchener wrote.
Duffy’s daughter, Evita Alonso-Duffy, pushed back on the article (which she called a “hit piece”) in a Monday tweet. (RELATED: ‘We Were Trying To Crack This’: NYT’s Ezra Klein Blames Sources For Media’s Failure To Cover Biden’s Decline)
“The writer, Caroline Kitchener, is an abortion reporter who now claims to be a ‘family’ journalist. But it’s clear she hates family, given how much the size of ours disturbs her,” Alonso-Duffy wrote.
“One of the deranged questions she bombarded my parents with was if they considered aborting their first child — me. The truth is simple: we’re not a prop, a brand, or some act. We’re a real, loving, faithful, joyful family — and [Caroline Kitchener] is bitter and a creep,” she stated.
The NYT just published a hit piece on my family, accusing my dad of using us as political props for his career. The writer, Caroline Kitchener, is an abortion reporter who now claims to be a “family” journalist. But it’s clear she hates family, given how much the size of ours… pic.twitter.com/AkiicQXodp
— Evita Duffy-Alfonso (@evitaduffy_1) June 23, 2025
The Daily Caller reached out to the NYT for comment about the article, and the publication pointed to its X statement.
https://t.co/FcNHAE1ne9 pic.twitter.com/tI90t6xpN7
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) June 23, 2025
Not to be outdone by Kitchener, NYT fashion columnist Vanessa Friedman also found herself on the receiving end of criticism for her take on camouflage clothing.
A reader wrote to Friedman asking her if camouflage is still acceptable to wear “given all the wars being waged around the world.”
Friedman said she previously approved fatigues for her readers when they questioned the acceptability of the garb after protesters wore camo at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“At the time I suggested to the reader that camo was OK as long as it was clearly a fashion item and didn’t look like a uniform,” she wrote.
This time, however, was different.
“And it is because, given the heated and chaotic situation on the streets of the United States, with ICE agents conducting raids, protests spreading and the military parade in Washington drawing thousands of soldiers to the Capitol in full battle dress — as well as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East — wearing camouflage as a fashion statement seems like an increasingly tone-deaf and potentially dangerous choice,” Friedman wrote.
Some commenters disagreed with her assertion. (RELATED: New York Times Contradicts Itself In Attempted RFK Hit Piece)
“This veteran declares that statement unalloyed nonsense. Wear what you want, people,” one commenter added under the article.
“We’re really in the soup if this is the sort of thing people are thinking about,” someone wrote.
“A lot of folks wear camo regularly. It is not political or militaristic, rather cultural. Just folks wearing what they like. Why is this so difficult to understand?” another person commented.
Finally, the internet mocked NYT Pentagon reporter John Ismay relentlessly for his criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth lauded the B-2 bomber pilots who flew jets which dropped “bunker busters” on Iranian nuclear sites Saturday, reportedly praising “our boys on those bombers” in a Pentagon briefing.
Ismay took issue with the gendered nature of Hegseth’s language.
“In the briefing, Hegseth referred to B-2 pilots as ‘our boys on those bombers,’ yet both men and women have trained to fly them,” Ismay wrote for the NYT Sunday.
The Twitterverse mocked Ismay’s comment Sunday.
“In the song, Lauper proclaimed ‘girls just wanna have fun,’ yet both girls and boys have historically enjoyed fun,” popular account Matt’s Idea Shop tweeted.
In the song, Lauper proclaimed “girls just wanna have fun,” yet both girls and boys have historically enjoyed fun. pic.twitter.com/NW07GWcHdL
— Matt’s Idea Shop (@MattsIdeaShop) June 22, 2025
Some were less jovial in their takedown.
“What kind of a loser ‘journalist’ writes something like this?!,” Iraq war veteran and Department of Defense (DOD) official Graham Allen wrote, calling Ismay a “beta male” and “scum” on his personal X account.
Imagine being a beta male like @johnismay
What kind of a loser “journalist” writes something like this?! @PeteHegseth not only executed the orders of @POTUS flawlessly. He also delivered an amazing briefing to the media.
Even though people like you are scum! pic.twitter.com/zKVLdoBn1N
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) June 22, 2025
