Buck Brief - Bloodthirsty Leftist Arsonist Burned Down the Palisades

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Buck Brief - Bloodthirsty Leftist Arsonist Burned Down the Palisades

Date: May 6, 2026
Host: Buck Sexton
Guest: Brianna Lyman (The Federalist)

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Overview

In this "Buck Brief" episode, Buck Sexton (with guest Brianna Lyman) unpacks the recent revelation that the devastating Palisades fire in California was caused by a leftist arsonist, rather than by climate change as initially claimed by Democratic officials. The conversation explores the broader trend of left-wing rhetoric, political violence, media framing, and the implications for public safety and discourse. The episode also touches on political developments in California's elections, issues of media strategy, and the ongoing question of leadership options in the Democratic Party.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Palisades Fire: Arson, Not Climate

• Background and New Findings

  • The massive Palisades fire resulted in 12 deaths and left hundreds displaced ([03:15]).
  • Media and political leaders such as Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris immediately blamed climate change and criticized Republicans for climate inaction.
  • Recent reporting (New York Post) reveals the fire was set intentionally by a 30-year-old suspect, inspired by the far-left figure Luigi Mangione.
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "We knew from day one there was evidence this was arson. Now we know for a fact that it was arson. And you don't hear anything from these people." ([03:15])

• Leftist Rhetoric and Media Double Standards

  • Political and media figures praised alleged leftist criminals, normalizing or excusing violence for ideological reasons.
  • Example: Taylor Lorenz called Luigi Mangione "a revolutionary figure" and favorable to young women ([03:15]).

2. Political Violence: Trends, Rhetoric, and Response

• Rising Tolerance for Leftist Violence

  • Examples of recent left-wing violence include the attempted assassination of the President and the killing of prominent political and business leaders ([04:25]).
  • Buck Sexton:

    "The Democrats have a real violence problem... you have this guy Luigi being elevated as some kind of a hero... the fact that anyone in the Democrat party is publicly praising this guy should give everybody the creeps." ([04:25])

• Rhetorical “Assassination Prep”

  • The left’s language around “resistance” justifies violence by dehumanizing opponents (i.e., comparing Trump to Hitler).
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "Their word and rhetoric is implicitly justifying this resistance, which is actually just vigilante violence." ([05:18])

• Failure To Condemn From the Left

  • Double standards highlighted: e.g., no serious consequence for J. Jones fantasizing about murdering Republicans.
  • Incidents of physical violence at protests, like an older man attacking journalist Savannah Hernandez, receive silence or tacit approval from mainstream leftists ([06:51]).
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "They think violence is justified so long as the target is bad. Bad by their own standards." ([07:09])

3. Comparing Violent Incidents: Left vs. Right

• High-Profile Cases Cited

  • Assassinations or assassination attempts against Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Republican members of Congress.
  • Buck Sexton:

    "...the only thing they'll point to where they'll say, 'oh, it's similar to this is January 6th,' where no one had weapons... one side is doing this, the other is the recipient of the violence." ([07:59])

• Lack of Real Crackdown or Accountability

  • Brianna Lyman notes insufficient action against online incitement or calls for violence, calling for stronger measures to protect public figures and journalists ([09:09]).
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "There are people out there who want [Trump] dead and they are not going to stop until he's dead. So he needs to make sure he has the best defense. And I don't, I don't think he does." ([09:09])

4. California Politics: Dysfunction and Opportunity

• Los Angeles Mayor’s Race

  • Incumbent Karen Bass is criticized for absentee leadership during the Palisades fire ([11:47]).
  • Reality TV figure Spencer Pratt (of "The Hills") running as a non-politician, capitalizing on media savvy and a personal connection to local suffering.
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "Understanding media in today's political age is the most important thing... Spencer Pratt... offers an alternative to your political, lifelong politician... if you have a problem, you run for office. You do what Spencer Pratt does." ([12:19])

• Gubernatorial Battle: Weak Democratic Field?

  • Discussion of Steve Hilton running against Katie Porter, noting the baggage and alleged scandals facing both Democratic candidates ([13:44], [14:04]).
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "Both candidates are both morally reprehensible and Democrats can't find a better candidate... they want a hardcore left wing progressive." ([14:04])

• Kamala Harris vs. Gavin Newsom

  • Kamala leads as a potential nominee despite prior skepticism; Newsom’s TV performance (Bill Maher interview) cited as evidence of his lack of readiness ([15:26]).
  • Brianna Lyman:

    "A seasoned politician like Gavin Newsom should have prepared rebuttals for those basic criticisms... I don't think he's the strongest candidate. And I think Kamala Harris, for as many word salads as she whips up, people bought into that still." ([15:32])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Brianna Lyman:

  "We knew from day one there was evidence this was arson. Now we know for a fact that it was arson. And you don't hear anything from these people." ([03:15])

• Buck Sexton:

  "...the only thing that is consistent across it is left wing Democrat belief. I mean the Democrats have a real violence problem." ([04:25])

• Brianna Lyman:

  "Their word and rhetoric is implicitly justifying this resistance, which is actually just vigilante violence." ([05:18])

• Buck Sexton:

  "It really is, I think, not a case where anybody should allow them to get away with this both sides have a problem situation." ([07:59])

• Brianna Lyman:

  "If you have a problem, you run for office. You do what Spencer Pratt does. You try to become an elected official to make your community better." ([12:19])

• Brianna Lyman:

  "I think Kamala Harris, for as many word salads as she whips up, people bought into that still. So that's not a liability for her going into 2028." ([15:32])

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Important Timestamps

• 02:44 – Buck Sexton introduces the mystery of the Palisades fire and welcomes Brianna Lyman.
• 03:15 – Lyman details the new evidence pointing to arson and political/media misattribution to climate change.
• 04:25 – Discussion of leftist rhetoric, elevation of extremist figures, and the problem of political violence.
• 05:18 – The concept of “assassination prep” and the implicit justification of violence by prominent voices.
• 06:51 – Savannah Hernandez’s case as an example of unchecked protest violence.
• 07:59 – Comparing high-profile acts of political violence and distinguishing between left and right incidents.
• 09:09 – Lyman calls for stronger action against threats to Trump and other public figures.
• 11:47 – Buck introduces the topic of the Los Angeles mayoral race and Spencer Pratt’s candidacy.
• 12:19 – Lyman on the importance of media strategy and non-traditional candidates.
• 14:04 – Critiques of Steve Hilton’s Democratic opponents in the gubernatorial race.
• 15:32 – The Democratic nomination race, Kamala Harris’s resilience, and Newsom’s weaknesses.

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a pointed critique of left-wing responses to violence, media narratives around major tragedies, and the deepening polarization of American political discourse. Buck Sexton and Brianna Lyman emphasize the consequences of rhetoric that, in their view, emboldens and excuses extremism, while also examining how these themes play out in California’s tumultuous political environment. The discussion is factual but charged, underpinning the show’s blend of news analysis and culture war engagement.

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Transcript

[Brianna Lyman]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Brianna Lyman]

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[Buck Sexton]

See full [e-mail] who started that catastrophic fire in California in the Palisades and why? Brianna Lyman is with us now. She is a writer for the Federalist with the federalist.com, a great site. She's gonna walk us through this and other things. Brianna, just please jump right into it. What, what do we know so far? Well, first tell everybody a little bit of the background they probably remember, but Palisades, essentially a whole neighborhood wiped out by a massive fire. What happened?

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah, 12 people dead. You have hundreds of people displaced, still displaced this day. They're not even able to rebuild their. And the New York Post is reporting that the alleged 30 year old suspect was basically inspired by Luigi Mangione, right? The alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And there's so many points to this story, Buck. The first and foremost is that we heard after that fire that that was climate change. You were told by Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris and the D.C. apparatus that this was a result of climate change. And Republicans don't care about climate policies. Your house burned down even though we had evidence that this was arson from day one. And now we do know for a fact that it was arson. And you don't hear anything from any of these people. And the reason you don't hear anything is because they do not want it coming back to them. That is their party has condoned the Luigi Mangiones. Remember Taylor Lorenz, called him a revolutionary figure, said the young women like him because he's cute, he's handsome and he has a good heart. They condoned his alleged violence, which only inspires others, including this alleged arson arsonist.

[Buck Sexton]

It's, it's remarkable that even after, for example, this lunatic who just tried to run through the Secret Service with a shot, he shot a Secret Service guy but tried to make his way into the main ballroom or and assassinate the President or top officials. And you look at this guy's background and the only thing that is is consistent across it is left wing Democrat belief. I mean the Democrats have a real violence problem. And you have this guy Luigi being elevated as some kind of a hero and he assassinated a guy who was a dad, who was a husband, who was the CEO of a company by shooting him in the back on a crowded Manhattan street. Like the fact that anyone in the Democrat party is publicly praising this guy should give everybody the creeps. I mean, should really freak people out, I think.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah. And it's part of, you know, my boss, Shawn Davis at the Federalist, he coined this term, but it's part of their assassination prep campaign. Right. So the way that the left works with their rhetoric is they implicitly justify resistance by any means necessary by calling, for example, Donald Trump Hitler, by claiming, as Hasan Piker did recently, that Brian Thompson was engaging in social murder. And so they justify resistance by any means necessary because, for example, anybody would rightfully so fight back against actual Adolf Hitler. If someone is coming to murder you, you have a right to self defense. So their word and their rhetoric is implicitly justifying this resistance, which is actually just vigilante violence. And you don't see the condemnation that you would saw maybe 30 years ago, which would be unified, a rebuke of such kind of violence. Because Democrats are implicitly okay with political violence. And if you don't believe me, why was J. Jones elected? Why did he not lose a single endorsement when he fantasized about murdering Republicans and their children?

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. It's another very good point to add on to a whole range of data points here that show that the left does have this violence problem. And I would even offer to you, you see what happens at like anti immigration protest or anti immigration enforcement protests. You know, I had Savannah Hernandez. I don't know if you know Savannah. We had her on radio last week and in a full. She's like, she's like you. She's a petite young woman, you know, in her 20s.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

And a full grown adult male, like shoved her to the, like threw her to the concrete because he didn't like that she was filming a public protest. Like who? And the thing is, does anyone on the left or any Democrats call this out? No. Because they think, you know what, she probably got what was coming to her.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah. And again, the fact that a grown man, he looked like he was in his late 40s and 50s, so he didn't even necessarily grow up in the age of political violence that my generation is growing up in. And yet he has transformed himself into one of these so called, you know, social justice warriors that think that violence is justified so long as the target is bad. Right. Bad by their own standards. And then his daughter was involved in this as well, which means she learned this from somewhere. If I ever raised my hands to another person in front of my parents, my parents would probably beat me even at this age, because they taught us that violence is never acceptable unless someone's coming after you. And Savannah Hernandez was not. She was not a threat to anybody. She was being a reporter. And the reason they stopped her, the reason they don't like conservative journalists, is because we expose the massive problems with the left with their policies, and they don't want people waking up to that.

[Buck Sexton]

It really is, I think, not a. A case where anybody should allow them to get away with this. Both sides have a problem situation. I mean, think about this. We had the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I don't know if you knew Charlie. I knew Charlie. I mean, it's still a shock. Yeah, it's still a horrific shock to all of us who knew him. It's so awful. And you've had multiple assassination attempts against Trump, including a bullet that actually went through his ear, as we know, and was inches from killing him. And we've had people trying to. Arrested for and trying to kill justice. Brett Kavanaugh. We've had. We had the incident back in 2018 of a lunatic selling, yelling, this is for health care, shot Steve Scalise and tried to shoot Rand Paul and others. There's just nothing. I mean, the only thing they'll point to where they'll say, oh, it's similar TO this is January6, where no one had weapons. I mean, not really had, like, placards. No one had guns. No one killed anybody. And the only person who was killed, as we know, was Ashley Babbitt. I just. You just look at the record side by side. One side is doing this, the other is the recipient of the violence.

[Brianna Lyman]

Right. And eventually it makes me wonder, because President Trump himself, he has been the victim of multiple assassination attempts. At what point is he going to take this more seriously? I know he obviously takes political violence seriously, but my God, to your point, we lost Charlie Kirk in the most brutal fashion. That was a public execution. And it doesn't feel like we've had any real crackdown on any of the online chats where this leftist rhetoric is brewing. We saw thousands of people on social media celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk, others calling for more. And you don't see the kind of crackdown that is needed to put a stop to this type of political violence. And the fact, again, you know, Secret Service, no one's getting fired. I'm sorry, but the fact that that man was even allowed in the building to begin with is a fireable offense. That was the president and the entire chain of command. And your first line of defense was also your last line of defense President Trump needs to take seriously. There are people out there who want him dead and they are not going to stop until he's dead. So he needs to make sure he has the best defense. And I don't, I don't think he does.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Brianna Lyman]

I never saw the show, but I do know who him and his wife. Heidi. Heidi Mont. Montag. I know who they are.

[Buck Sexton]

Montague. Yeah. Yeah. So they're from, like, they're, they're, yeah, they're from the, The Hill. Montag. Montag. I don't know. They're from the Hill of the Hills. Right. And I, I just know they're reality TV show stars. But have you seen his ads? The ads are. Are way more compelling and interesting. The guy understands media. I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed with the campaign that he's running, given that he's running against a communist in a communist enclave of Los Angeles.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah, yeah. And understanding media in today's political age is the most important thing you probably can do for your campaign. Donald Trump understood the entertainment world and media, which is partially why he handles it so well. And Spencer Pratt had an ad come out just last week that I have seen so many people that I wasn't expect complimenting it. And I think what Spencer Pratt offers to the people of Los Angeles is an alternative to your political, you know, lifelong politician. This is not someone who probably thought he ever would run for office, but when push came to shove when his house burned down and he's living in a trailer, you have to take matters into your own hands. This is how you take matters into your own hands. That is a message to the left. Who says that you could take matters into your own hands and kill people? No, if you have a problem, you run for office. You do what Spencer Pratt does. You try to become an elected official to make your community better. And I do think. I don't think he has a legitimate chance, unfortunately, much like I don't think a governor there does. And it's not because they're not good candidates. They're great candidates, but it's because the voters are not as informed as they should be.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. I wonder if California can be saved. Have you been following some of the saved is too strong or turned around even a bit would be nice, but Gavin Newsom and Steve Hilton are running against each other, it seems. Or not. I'm sorry, not Gavin Newsom.

[Brianna Lyman]

Kamala or not Kamala. Katie Porter.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you. I was. I was like a Swalwell. No, it's not. Well, this is the whole point, though. The California governor's race has turned into a complete message, and it. It looks like there's a chance that Steve Hilton could really make a go of it.

[Brianna Lyman]

You know, Steve Hilton is, first of all, a great candidate, and I. California would be lucky to have him. Steve Hilton had a better chance of winning when Eric Swalwell was in the race. You know, Katie Porter is someone who is an alleged domestic abuser. She poured, I think, hot mashed potatoes on her husband's head. And so it's like Democrats got rid of the guy who allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted women. And. And then they replaced him with a woman. If that's what she is, who allegedly assaults her husband. Like both candidates are both morally reprehensible and Democrats can't find a better candidate. And I don't think it's that they can't find a better candidate. It's that any decent candidate is probably too in the center for them. They want a hardcore left wing progressive. And that's what they found in Katie Port and Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. No, it's remarkable you mentioned Kamala. So I got to bring you back to this for a second. Have you seen that Kamala is leading among Democrat candidates for the nomination? I, you know, you know Clay, obviously my co host on radio, he is, he is just completely spiking the football in my face. I assumed after the 2024 election I was like, kamala, that was such a disaster that, that she couldn't possibly be the nominee. He thinks she's going to be the nominee. And I'm worried because I made fun of him when he said that. And now it's looking like that's the best the Democrats have. If it's not Gavin Newsom, it's Kamala. And Gavin Newsom seems to be losing ground, not gaining it.

[Brianna Lyman]

Yeah, I hope you didn't bet money on that Kamala thing.

[Buck Sexton]

I bet a steak dinner, so it's as good as money.

[Brianna Lyman]

I'm going to get rinsed, take him to. Take him to a chain. Look, I think Gavin Newsom kind of proved himself this weekend that he is not the strongest frontrunner. I don't know if you saw his interview he did with Bill Maher, but Bill Maher lobbed very basic criticisms against Gavin Newsom. He mentioned the high speed rail trail, the exodus, and Gavin Newsom floundered. And a seasoned politician like Gavin Newsom should have prepared rebuttals for those basic criticisms because they're the most common criticisms. But he didn't. And so in my opinion, that showed that Gavin Newsom not only can't handle a friendly fire interview, he's not going to handle a Vance, a Rubio, a Desantis on stage grilling him over those things. And I think Democrats may know that. So I don't think he's the strongest candidate. And I think Kamala Harris, for as many word salads as she whips up, people bought into that still. So that's not a liability for her going into 2028.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Brianna Lyman]

You can come to me on X. I think I'm Brianna Lyman too.

[Buck Sexton]

All righty. Great Brianna. Thanks so much.

[Brianna Lyman]

Thanks Buck.

[Martha Stewart]

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[Brianna Lyman]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Brianna Lyman]

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[Buck Sexton]

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