Rachel Campos-Duffy, wife of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for transportation secretary, slammed government officials Monday for providing zero answers about the swarms of drones invading New Jersey’s airspace in recent weeks.
The mysterious objects — which first appeared Nov. 18 — have alarmed residents and confounded authorities as they buzz over homes, neighborhoods and military installations in a dozen Garden State counties night after night.
Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a social media post that the drones pose “no known threat to the public at this time” — but his statement hasn’t calmed residents’ frazzled nerves, Campos-Duffy told Ainsley Earhardt on Fox & Friends.
“If you live in Morristown, Mendham, Summit, Bedminster, Far Hills — that whole area, that’s all you’re talking about,” she said, referencing a cluster of wealthy Morris County suburbs.
“I think what you’re seeing is, first of all, no answers — whatever the governor put out was a non-answer, and it didn’t make me feel any better,” continued Campos-Duffy, who is married to nominee Sean Duffy.
“And I don’t feel good — they’re flying low. They’re not up high like an airplane. They’re flying low, you can see them. And they’re large. They’re huge. These are not hobby drones.”
“People are outraged,” she added. “Three weeks, no answers.”
The feds have said they’re investigating the occurrences, and Murphy wrote in the same social media post that he’s spoken with state and federal officials, including US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
But no one in law enforcement has come up with a motive for the nightly flights — even as witness videos flood the internet.
One Morris County family who tried to follow a drone in their car claimed their vehicle’s clock changed when the drone came to a halt above them — and only changed back once they drove off, Newsweek reported.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have many answers, and we don’t want to guess or hypothesize about what’s going on,” FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson told NJ.com last week.
“We are doing all we can to figure it out.”
Several New Jersey mayors — including Washington Township Mayor Matthew Murello and Mine Hill Township Mayor Sam Morris — penned a letter to the Democratic governor beseeching him to “take immediate action” and “provide transparency” about the mystery sightings, Fox News said.
But that hasn’t led to any breakthroughs.
“The governor was very nice in calling me back yesterday and basically said the same thing we’ve known all along: There doesn’t appear to be any safety concerns, but there’s really no information as to who’s piloting these drones, what they’re doing, where they’re going or where they’re coming from,” Murello told Fox & Friends on Monday.
“And that’s really the main concern we have as mayors for our constituents.”
Morris added that Murphy’s office told him they’re “very frustrated, and frustrated with the feds.”
He advised the governor to “follow a drone home,” since their limited range and battery life means they can’t stay airborne for long.
“Somebody get a drone up there, somebody get a helicopter up there,” Morris said. “They have to come back to Earth, and then we’re going to know who’s driving them. If they don’t know, they need to know. That’s what our residents are demanding.”
There have already been real-world consequences for the mechanical joyrides — such as when one of the drones disrupted a medevac helicopter set to airlift a patient.
The scores of sightings also led the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County and the Trump National Golf Club in Somerset.
“It’s a complete mystery,” Mark Chiarolanza, spokesman for the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, told NJ.com.
Last week, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the agency had drawn up plans to deal with the sightings, which have also occurred over military sites in Virginia.
But he declined to share specifics of the classified arrangements.
“Unmanned systems, more commonly known as drones, have the potential to pose both an urgent and enduring threat to US personnel, facilities and assets overseas — and, increasingly, in the US homeland,” Ryder said.
Campos-Duffy said she thinks the US is in an era where people want more transparency from their government — and that’s fueled demand for answers about who is flying the devices, and why.
But she doesn’t have the inside scoop, despite her husband’s high-profile nomination.
“People think I know something because Sean is up for the transportation secretary,” she said.
“I don’t know anything! I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just as curious as everyone else.”
