Sean Duffy is opening up further about his decision to resign from Congress.
In a Tuesday interview on Fox & Friends, the politician and wife Rachel Campos-Duffy — who are currently expecting their ninth child — talked about their family’s future, with Duffy revealing that their daughter on the way has “a couple holes in the heart.”
“After she’s born, whether it’s two to six months after life, she’s gonna need open-heart surgery,” said Duffy, 47. “They gotta crack her open and fix the heart. They walked us through this yesterday. So I announced I was leaving Congress as I was walking in to meet with the heart doctor about what’s gonna happen with the baby.”
“I love politics, but I love my family, and I think it’s always a balance,” he continued. “The schedules are grueling. I’m out in D.C. four days a week, and then I’m back with Rachel. But when I’m back here with Rachel and the kids, I have a big district, and you gotta travel around and see people and we get beat up a little bit as members of Congress. We’re a favorite punching bag.”
“But they’re really hard on families, and I didn’t die. I kind of felt like I was at my funeral yesterday,” Duffy added. “I’ll figure out different things to do where I can have a better balance where I can support Rachel and the kids, but not with the same schedule that I have as a U.S. Congressman.”
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The former Real World stars’ eight other children — Patrick Miguel, Margarita, Maria-Victoria Margarita, Paloma Pilar, John-Paul, Lucia-Belén, Xavier Jack and Evita Pilar — range in age from 3 to 19. But their new daughter on the way is “the first [baby] we’ve had with complication,” said Duffy on Fox & Friends.
“It’s pretty easy for us in the sense that we’re lifers. We believe in life, and whatever gifts God gives us, we accept them. And this is gonna be a great gift,” he continued. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a little more stressful, but this little baby will have eight other siblings to wrap their loving arms around her, and we’re gonna do it as a family. We’ll figure out a different way to balance our lives.”
“This little baby couldn’t have a better, more loving home to come into,” he added. “And we’re excited for her to come. And it’s gonna be easier for her, too, not to have her dad flying back and forth to Washington, D.C. … [But] I might come back to politics. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. It’s just at this time, I need to take a moment and make sure Rachel and I and this baby are healthy and doing well.”
Duffy announced Monday that he would resign from his position as U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district effective Sept. 23, explaining in a Facebook post that his choice to step down came after learning the baby “will need even more love, time, and attention due to complications, including a heart condition.”
“It is not an easy decision — because I truly love being your Congressman — but it is the right decision for my family, which is my first love and responsibility,” Duffy added.
The Republican politician continued on to say he would “be forever grateful for and humbled by the faith and sacred trust you have put in me all these years,” and “especially grateful for the prayers said on behalf of our family.”
In a Tuesday interview for The Ingraham Angle, Fox News contributor Campos-Duffy, 47, said she was “really proud” of her husband for stepping down, despite his popularity in Wisconsin.
“Our bandwidth is pretty tight as it is anyway, and Congress is a pretty demanding job. He’s just going to take a pause right now, take care of family stuff,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing, it’s exciting and we’ll see what God has in store after we take care of this little girl that’s going to come into our lives in late October.”
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