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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
Hey Buck, one of my kids called me an unk the other day.
Clay Travis
An unk?
Buck Sexton
Yep. Slaying evidently. For not being hip, being an old dude.
Clay Travis
So how do we un unk you?
Buck Sexton
Get more people to subscribe to our YouTube channel. At least that's what my kids tell me.
Clay Travis
That's simple enough. Just search the Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton show and hit the subscribe button.
Buck Sexton
Takes less than five seconds to help un unk me.
Clay Travis
Do it for Klay. Do it for freedom and get great content while you're there. The Klay, Travis and buck Sexton Show YouTube channel. Welcome everybody. Tuesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show kicks off now. We are honored to have all of you. Thanks for hanging out. And we have the aftermath of the big White House showdown yesterday. Really more of a, more of a gathering showdown because you didn't have Zelensky and Putin staring across the table at each other. That may be in the works though. In fact, Trump spoke to that. We will let you hear from the President on that this morning. Called in Fox and Friends. Also, the big, big question after some of the discussions yesterday, does a security guarantee for Ukraine involve US Troops in any capacity? Trump has addressed that as I thought he would and I think it's something that you will all certainly want to hear and be pleased with what his take is on that. So we'll get into that. Some early crime data out of D.C. that clay is going to hit you with in the either later this hour or the next hour. But does anyone a guess just up front before, before Clay sheds light via statistics on what's happening in D.C. with crime, do you think if you put more good guys with guns, who are law enforcement, who are federal agents on the streets of a place, will there be more or less, fewer or more murders, fewer or more robberies? You know, just we'll all think this through for a second and then we'll get into the numbers, because I want us to go through that exercise. Clay. Democrats are going to start acting shocked by all this. Like, oh, my gosh. You. You mean to tell me that more cops enforcing the law and present to arrest bad people from doing bad things means there is less bad stuff that happens? This is shocking.
Buck Sexton
Yeah, I want to dive into that. Also, I will suggest that all of the coverage about more police officers may also drive down the amount of crime because the bad guys are maybe looking over their shoulder a little bit more or they're more cognizant of the dangers that can be out there for them because they're aware that this is now a priority. So I would submit it's not even just the guys on the streets arresting the bad guys. It's letting the bad guys know, hey, we're looking for you, and we got a lot more people out than normal.
Clay Travis
Yes, there's. There's the additional deterrence factor of we have more people out there, and they are being politically supported in their law enforcement efforts. You're not going to be able to pull out a camera and be like, I'm. I'm not resisting while you're resisting. And like, why are you. You know, this is. You see all these videos of people who. They refuse to comply, and they keep saying, I'm complying while they're, like, elbowing the cop in the face. So, yeah, enough of that all. Speaking of that, did you see the video of the I for, you know, different terms everywhere, but essentially the like, county prosecutor from Massachusetts, the woman I don't even know this is. Do you see this is going viral? Who's telling the cop while she's super.
Buck Sexton
Drunk, and I'm a DA and he's like, congrats for you, or whatever.
Clay Travis
Good for you. Yeah, I know this. I know this from cop friends of mine and from just seeing things out in the real world. I think there are few things that are more likely to get you arrested by a cop than breaking the law and acting like a jackass who's allowed to break the law. When the cop is like, you can't do that. Like, if I were a cop and someone tells me, oh, effectively I'm above the law, I'm a D.A. it's like, well, now you're de. People try this with speeding tickets. People try this with all kinds of things. Thank God for body cameras. Because the cops know. The cops know that their actions are correct. They know that it's being recorded. So all this bullying that you get from this female DA who is just, I think the Scottish would say Bluetooth. She is just bombed out of her mind drinking whatever it is she's drinking. And Clay, this is the truth. It's a great thing for cops because we can see what they actually do and therefore they can't be bullied by people who are like, I know your boss. Anyway. Oh, and then one other question I just want to throw out there before we get into the aftermath. Statements from Trump. Clay raised this. I've thought about this many times myself. Our friend Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense out there in a video. Ladies, sadly, he has a shirt on during it. But. But does I think RFK Jr does not have his shirt on during it. Right. Is that. Am I correct in that or.
Buck Sexton
No, no, no. He's got his shirt. At least that I got a shot in. Yeah.
Clay Travis
Okay. All right. Because. Because he does like to work out without a shirt.
Buck Sexton
Yes.
Clay Travis
Aware of that. Yes. But that's what, that's a choice. Whatever. I, we all get with it. Why does RFK Jr work out in jeans?
Buck Sexton
It's diabolical.
Clay Travis
I'm not, I'm not saying I'm some kind of expert. Clearly not. Okay, we all. We. I'm not. But jeans are not a comfortable thing.
Buck Sexton
To work out in.
Clay Travis
And a belt is.
Buck Sexton
And a full belt.
Clay Travis
And a belt. Jeans with a belt on. Like Incredible Hulk style. Except the jeans aren't all like broken.
Buck Sexton
From where I get it. If you're campaigning and you're like, hey, let me just rep out 20 push ups to show what good shape I'm in. It's not scheduled, but they had a scheduled workout and RFK rolled in in jeans and a belt to do a push up and, and pull up challenge. And I just, it. I think it's diabolical. I don't know what the thought process is. Maybe the late, the least comfortable outfit to work jeans, like starchy uncomfortable wrangler or Levi's, whatever it is, jeans and a belt. Like, I don't even like wearing belts for normal life. It's weird.
Clay Travis
So why is he doing it? I'm just throwing this out there. I know it's not important. Ok, we'll talk about important stuff now. But it's just a fun thought. Here's the important stuff. Trump on the Ukraine war. First of all, the two big takeaways. What comes next and what's the status if there is an agreement of U.S. troops to guarantee security? This is cut one. Here's what Trump said.
Donald Trump
I wouldn't say they are ever going to be best friends, but they're doing okay, and we're just going to see. So we're setting up, meeting. I sort of set it up with Putin and Zelensky and, you know, they're the ones that have to call the shots where we're 7,000 miles away. In all fairness, you know, we have. We spent, through the previous administration, $350 billion. Europe has spent a lot, also 100 billion. But it should be reversed if we should have been in for anything. But it wouldn't have happened. So that would have been much better because so many people died. This is the biggest. This is the biggest bad situation since World War II. There's been nothing even close.
Clay Travis
Clay, he's getting them to sit down. And this process is unfolding in a way where you're seeing who wants there to be, who is rooting for peace, and who cares more about a temporary setback for Trump's legacy than stopping mass death and carnage in Europe.
Buck Sexton
Yeah, look, I don't think you can criticize Trump for anything he is doing trying to stop the fighting in Ukraine. Now, as we talked about yesterday, I think you're in a tough spot where Russia is demanding territory and Ukraine is demanding that they never have to be in this situation again. And I don't see any way that Ukraine agrees to any of this without substantial security guarantees, because they've already been screwed on security guarantees before. And so I think it's going to put us into a tough spot. Now, I think Trump, and this is what I was going to mention, I didn't mention it yesterday. For all of the criticism out there about Trump, I think he desperately wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I think he does. And my only concern about that, which is a very incredibly defensible goal that's fabulous. Is could his pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize, which is the exact opposite of all of his critics who say, oh, he's going to start World War Three, he's Adolf Hitler. Could his pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize make him accept a ceasefire peace agreement that is actually not in the best interest of the larger world. That's my only concern at this point about, I think Trump wants peace so badly that he may be willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Vladimir Putin about his future aggressions after Trump is gone. Because I do think once this war is stopped, I don't think Vladimir Putin is going to do anything while Trump is still in office. But I think Putin can play the long game because he may be in power for another 20 years and Trump is going to be gone in three and a half.
Clay Travis
Another very important follow up, Clay, was on the issue of US Troops as a guarantee of security, that being either a base, a US Base there, which would be the most extreme, I think, version of the guarantee, something like what we have in South Korea, or even the promise by some binding treaty or agreement, obligation, whatever, that the US Will be the cavalry coming over the hill if Russia were to invade after a deal had been agreed to. Here is what Trump says about this play for what kind of assurances do.
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You feel like you have that going.
Clay Travis
Forward and you know, past this Trump administration, it won't be American boots on the ground defending that border?
Donald Trump
Well, you have my assurance. You know, I'm president and I'm just trying to stop people from being killed. Charlie, look, they're losing from five to 7,000 people a week.
Clay Travis
So he's, he's pretty clear, from what I understand, Clay on, it's not going to be US Boots on, on the ground in Ukraine.
Buck Sexton
Yes. But to be fair to Trump, I think Trump basically has all options on the table. And I think all those options on the table could include some variation of what is the security guarantee going to look like for the United States.
Clay Travis
I am parsing his words here a little bit. He goes, you have my assurance. Because the way the question is set up is obviously concerned about US Troops. He goes, you have my assurance and I'm president, I'm just trying to stop people from being killed. I want it that that kind of leaves some open territory on that, actually. That's right, yeah.
Buck Sexton
And also boots on the ground, what does that mean?
Clay Travis
You have my assurance in response to that question. It's not as clear. When I read through the transcript a second time, I go, hold on a second.
Buck Sexton
Well, not only that, I mean, boots on the ground doesn't mean you couldn't have airplanes taking off from a bordering country to provide some sort of aerial support. Right. I mean, what, we're not going to have boots on the ground, but what if we have 50 fighter jets in Poland that can be at the line of defense in six minutes? Right. I mean, they're not technically boots on the ground, but air support from Poland or any other country that would kind of surround there. So I think Trump, it would be.
Clay Travis
A turkey shoot of the Russian air force if the US Actually decided that they were going to really dig in. I mean, they've got some advanced planes Our stuff is way better.
Buck Sexton
But so I think the phrasing that they chose there is very interesting. What I said yesterday was I think you could have a front line of Ukrainian troops. I think you could have a supportive peacekeeping line of European troops. And then what if the United States rings even more soldiers just off the perimeter outside of the territory of Ukraine, but where we could scramble as that third line of defense instantaneously in the event that we needed to? I think you're going to see a lot of play in the joints, so to speak, about allowing Putin to potentially feel like he got a victory, allowing Ukraine to feel like they got a victory. And again, my concern is that Trump wants peace to such an extent. It's the exact opposite of all the criticism against him, that he could agree to a deal that doesn't have a lot of teeth and sets us up for five years from now to be in the same position we're in now.
Clay Travis
I would also, I would point out that Zelensky and Putin sitting down, which he has said clearly that that is in process and that's the next step. That's the next phase. You got to get them to at least agree roughly on what the territory swaps or territory lines would look like. The security guarantee could come after that. Right. I mean, this is, this is like a phased process of you need them to at least be able to say, okay, these would be the lines. The security guarantee is the enforcement mechanism for the lines. And so that, that I think is a conversation that can. Now, that doesn't mean that Putin obviously won't agree to the lines on the map if there's going to be a security guarantee that he finds too threatening or whatever. But I do think it's. It's one and then the other. I also want to point out that I checked just to be sure. RFK Jr. Is doing lunges in jeans. Clay.
Buck Sexton
Even more psycho lunges. Even more psycho.
Clay Travis
I mean, there's got to be chafing going on. Like, lunges just.
Buck Sexton
It makes me mad. Makes me actually feel uncomfortable to think about working out in jeans and a belt. Like I. Unless again, you're like on the construction crew and suddenly there's a challenge about how many burpees you can do. You know, like, again, to be. Does getting dressed to go to the gym, and that includes putting on. I think he's got boots on, too.
Clay Travis
Yes, yes. Yeah. No, he's dressed like he's on a construction site so that he can do burpees and push ups. Like it's an unusual move from from HHS Secretary. All right, look, when a natural disaster strikes, will you be able to reach your loved ones? The answer is yes if everybody has a rapid radio. These modern day walkie talkies work on a nationwide LTE network so distance is not a problem. Rapid radios are a great backup to your cell phone. We've shared our own story here about how Carrie and I were able to stay in contact with our loved ones last year after Hurricane Helene when communication was really tough but being able to stay in touch with families they navigated through. That storm gave everyone a lot of comfort with no monthly fees and pre programmed simplicity. Rapid radios keep you connected when everything else goes dark. Trusted tested legit visit rapidradios.com that's rapidradios.com.
Buck Sexton
Saving America one thought at a time. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts this Labor Day.
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Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.
Carol Markowitz
And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
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Carol Markowitz
That's why we started Normaly, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Carol Markowitz
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
So if you're into common sense, sanity and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.
Carol Markowitz
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Buck Sexton
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the Tuesday edition of the program and again continuing to follow yesterday's big events with Zelensky and all of the leaders of Europe visiting the White House. But an ongoing story that began last week, if I remember correctly, on Monday, just eight days ago, the president of the United States decided the level of violence in Washington, D.C. is unacceptable for a capital city. And given the fact that much of the decision making for Washington, D.C. is under federal control, Trump has set about a massive rehabilitation of Washington, D.C. and one of the things that he has done that has already, I think, been significant is he said, we're not going to let people just put up tents and sleep in property all over Washington, D.C. and I went up two years ago, I think it was to visit Washington, D.C. a city that I lived in for four years in college and a city that Buck lived in for multiple years as well. So we actually have decent ideas of what Washington, D.C. is like, can be like and should be like. And I was blown away by the number of homeless encampments that had been allowed to occur in parks throughout the city. And I don't mean somebody is sleeping in them. I mean somebody basically is saying, this is my Permanent home. And I know, Buck, you saw a lot of these homeless encampments, and it kind of rocked. And, and, and was ridiculous to you, too, because I'm not claiming DC Was perfect when either you or I live there, but it was a city where you couldn't just decide, hey, in the middle of this park, I'm going to put up a tent, and this is my home now, and I'm going to permanently live here. I'm not saying homeless people didn't exist, but you just didn't have these homeless encampments. So one of the first things Trump did is Supreme Court has basically given states and cities the ability to clean homeless encampments up. And in fact, the new mayor of San Francisco, I was reading the other day, has basically said, we're done with this in San Francisco. But Trump came through almost immediately and tore down all of these homeless encampments, swept everything up, and said, no longer. We're going to beautify the community. So that was one step. But Here is the D.C. police Union. They shared this yesterday. One week of increased federal attention in D.C. they have brought in National Guard troops from all over the place. They have been arresting people. Listen to these numbers. D.C. crime since the announcement of federal control versus the seven days prior. This is from the D.C. police. Robbery down 46%. Carjackings down 83%. Car theft down 21%. Violent crime down 22%. In the one week that we have seen a surge of police on the streets, overwhelmingly, the numbers have been moving in a very positive direction. Couple of other things here, Buck. Maureen Dowd, who probably is the most famous columnist at the New York Times, I think maybe Thomas Friedman. Maureen Dowd has been there a long time. She lives in Washington, D.C. she shared her sister's story about her sister's car getting stolen and how common it was in Washington, D.C. and she actually said, Democrats have to be careful because Trump can be imperfect, but he's basically a hundred percent right on this. Um, and I thought, to her credit, I mean, that was an interesting column that I read on Sunday. I also saw this in the Sunday New York Times, and I don't know if you saw this, Buck, uh, but it kind of blew my mind. Uh, this is the New York Times lead editorial. This is the newspaper talking about crime. The second lesson involves the importance of law enforcement. During the 2020 protest, many progressives embrace calls to defund the police. And some prominent Democrats, including Kamala Harris, AOC and Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles supported the defund movement. But police funding nonetheless, the protesters seemed to have an effect. Some officers, disheartened, quit their jobs. And it continues and it says, and I, I thought I was taking crazy pills. Basically. This was an unacceptable position to have that it was unacceptable for this argument to be out there. They also, they also said, hey, Covid shutdowns were a disaster. It basically sounded like Clay and Buck four years ago. But it is interesting how the Democrat conversation on this story has changed.
Clay Travis
Well, it's one of these areas where whatever the numbers may be, and there's even a lot of pushback going on right now from Trump and his team about whether the numbers are honest when it comes to crime in D.C. people know what they've experienced and people know what they're dealing with. And you've had it reminds me a little of the, remember the required genuflection during COVID from people when they would say, I've come down with COVID You know, some like 35 year old staffer at Politico would tweet out, I've come down with COVID 19. And, and I'm going to be okay. But I just want to say I'm thankful that I am vaccinated and boosted. It's like, oh, you're thankful that you got a vaccine and got sick anyway. And you know, this was the, you tell these things, you remind yourselves of these things now and it feels like it's not real. There was some of this play with DC is really safe. I've lived here for five years. I've only been mugged once, only had one car stolen, only had, you know, three incidents where people threatened to like stab me in the street. But other than that, in five years, it's really good.
Buck Sexton
Um, listen to this from the New York Times editorial. I, I felt like I was taking crazy pills on Sunday again. I read it so all of you don't have to. But listen to what they wrote. This is the newspaper. This is not one random guest editorial. This is what the newspaper said. Virtually all sides in the defund the police debate made mistakes. Among the most damaging was the growing belief among Democrat officials that enforcing the law could be counterproductive when it involved low level offenses such as public drug use, shoplifting and homeless encampments. Some Democrats believed enforcement of these laws disproportionately hurt minority groups and did not contribute much to public safety. This argument never made much sense, especially given polls showed strong support for basic law enforcement across racial and income groups. Listen to this buck. And the real world results were Miserable parts of San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and other cities came to feel lawless, with people defecating and shooting up in public and store owners locking up items to reduce theft or simply closing their shops. The defund movement is considered a failure, and many of its old backers have distanced themselves. And it just continues with. It even says with crime starting to fall, there's a risk public officials will become complacent. Democrat leaders in particular should remember the lessons. I mean, I've read all this and I thought this sounds like a radio show. I mean, to specifically be pointing out San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, where I know a lot of you out there are listening to us right now and rip the Democrats to shreds on defund the police. Now, it wasn't that long ago that even saying all these things, they would say, oh, you're racist, or oh, you don't have any idea what you're talking about. Now, suddenly, with Trump in office, Democrats, some of them, at least their allies in the New York Times, are willing to acknowledge that they blew it and that they created these awful scenarios. And again, what if what Trump is doing actually works in D.C. that's what they're terrified of. That's the real story here.
Clay Travis
I think they're terrified. Additionally, not maybe quite as much, but it will be bad. You see the headline of the Washington Post right now? Breaking news, justice department probes whether D.C. police manipulated data to make crime rates appear lower. So you have the Trump go DOJ saying show me these numbers again. Because a big part of the you can't do that Trump. And it's not even worth doing that because crime rates are down so much from the last year. Oh, really? Does anyone really think that crime rates just suddenly drop 30% in D.C. for no apparent reason? That's what we're supposed to believe. There was no special initiative. There was no crackdown. There was no change from the prosecutors. Crime rates, violent and major crimes are down a third from a year ago, and they're still too high, which isn't that interesting. Even if that were true, the crime rate is still too high. But, Clay, what happens if it's clear that the books were cooked here by D.C. you know, additionally to everything else we're talking about? Because I think there's a very real chance that that's what we find out here.
Buck Sexton
Does the stat that D.C. today is as bad as New York City in 1990 stun you? Because I think for people who live in New York City, that is a crystallizing. Holy crap Imagine in 1990 if people in New York City had said, oh, everything's perfect, everything's fine. That's basically what they're trying to say about D.C. and right now its levels, right now D.C. crime is at the levels of the worst in New York City before Giuliani even came into office, before they declined the homicide rate by 90%. That is where D.C. is on a per capita basis is where New York city was in 1990.
Clay Travis
Yeah. And you know, you look at places that had the BLM murder spike, which is what happened. Yes, nice work, blm. A lot of murders going up all over the country. That's what that movement, that Democrats and CNN pundits and, and assorted liberal millionaires were all, oh, it's Kamala Harris, big BLM supporter, big BLM fan. You know, a lot of let's have as many race riots and anti police mayhem as possible in the streets of America during a, during a pandemic, no less. But Clay, Chicago had about 800 homicides that year. 800. Chicago's a quarter the size of New York city. You'd have 3200 murders in Chicago if it were New York City's size per capita. When you start to extrapolate, when you start to expand out what these data sets are telling you, same thing. I think there was a year recently where Philadelphia had something like six or six hundred murders, which was the all time high for its. You know, again, I can't. You guys are very fastidious. What was the thing that I got wrong just a moment ago? Oh, I said the DA from Massachusetts and all the boss, all the Bostonians and all the Massachusetts listeners were like, that's Rhode Island, Buck. Rhode island, don't put that on us. So apparently that DA was from Rhode island who went crazy at the cops. But back to our numbers here, Clay, you're looking at a crime rate in D.C. today that's so bad that it would mirror the crime rate in New York City. When residents said, we're fed up, we can't take this anymore, takes whatever it takes. And that's what Giuliani stepped into and did, whatever it takes. So the fact that the liberal intelligentsia, for the most part, some of them realize this is a losing issue for them are saying, DC safe. I've only been mugged five times, had two cars stolen, been punched in the face twice, you know, in the last three years, it hasn't been that bad. They really, it's like they have Stockholm syndrome or something. It's like that the criminal class in D.C. has somehow managed to get the Politico and Washington Post writers of America to think that they deserve to get.
Buck Sexton
Beat up and robbed and also to just lie. I mean, the other thing here is most of the arrests, I think 48% of them are happening in Ward 7 and 8. I believe it is of D.C. where the violent crime rates are the most significant, which suggests some of the lessons of what they did in New York City to make it far safer, which is focus where the crime is the worst because the crime is not evenly spread across the entire city or state or everywhere else is actually making a big difference. Look, if you're trying to save money right now, Verizon AT&T and T Mobile are charging you too much. In fact, what you're mostly paying for are thousands of retail stores you never go into, sponsorships you never benefit from, and a massive premium for what you think is superior 5G service. Guess what? PureTalk uses the same 5G network on the same 5G towers. Only difference, they don't overcharge you for their cell phone service. You can get unlimited talk, text, plenty of data, 25 bucks a month. That's less than half the price of the big guys during a time when saving a buck can really matter. And with Pure Talk, you can keep your phone and your same phone number. Here's how you save a Bundle, up to $1,000 a year over the course of a year for a family that dial pound two.50 and say clay and Buck and you'll save an additional 50% off your first month. You can be switched over in about 10 minutes time. Again, that's £250. Say the keywords Clay and bit. Clay and Buck to switch to Pure Talk. Clay and Buck when you hit £250 wireless for Americans Buy Americans want to be in the know when you're on The Go the Team 47 podcast Trump highlights from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Caroline Levitt is having a White House press conference right now and we started off this hour giving you some of the Data on Washington, D.C. crime and I thought I would let you hear it from Caroline Levitt herself here. Here is cut 36 President Trump's efforts.
Caroline Levitt
To make D.C. safe again are working. There have been a total of 465 arrests since the start of this operation on Thursday, August 7th. Last night there were a total of 52 arrests, including the arrest of an illegal alien. Ms. 13, gang member with convictions for DWI and drug possession. Thanks to President Trump's leadership in the outstanding work of both federal and local law enforcement, dangerous gang members like the one picked up last night will not be allowed on the streets of our nation's capital. Other arrests last night included assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing, parole violation for robbery, murder, outstanding warrant for attempted murder, assault on federal law enforcement officer, and felony assault. Four more homeless encampments were also removed during yesterday's reporting period.
Buck Sexton
How can anyone be opposed to any of this? I mean, other than your reflexively Trump is Hitler stupidity. Right. Because Trump, as we said earlier, is trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize by ending as many different wars as possible. How can anyone with a functional and rational brain hear everything that Caroline Levitt just said? 465 arrests, you heard many of them for violent acts and.465 arrests. D.C. i believe, has a population of around 700,000. So that's not an insubstantial portion of the overall population. And remember, we've talked about it. How many hard and fast criminals do you think live in D.C. a thousand? 2500. It's a small percentage.
Clay Travis
Thousand. And you know, this is where I mean, a couple of things. One is, is, is the, the Democrats have underestimated that. The attitude about illegals in this country who commit crimes is you're getting in trouble with the law and you're not even supposed to be here. Like that is completely unacceptable. Right? Yes, this is. And any other country. Could you imagine if, what do you think would happen, you know, if you were in Japan as an illegal, not even there as a, as a visitor on a visa or something, and you committed a crime, you think they'd be like, you know what we're going to do? Let's keep this guy around. Let's, let's keep him around for a bit. Let's not send him back to his home country that's actually responsible for him and that he is and that has sovereignty over him legally. So that's one part of it. And then the other part is that you don't actually have to lock up that many people to have a huge effect on crime, because it is serious criminals who are repeat offenders who are the overwhelming problem in these major cities. It is known gang members who are out on an attempted murder beef. They're out after, you know, five years or something, and now they're back out there and now they're robbing people again. And they haven't gotten, remember, people don't get caught for every crime they commit. That's another part of this too.
Buck Sexton
Tiny percentage, actually.
Clay Travis
Yeah, yeah. Their notion that someone is, let's say, carjacking a person, and you think that's the first crime that person's committed.
Big Three Basketball Announcer
Right.
Clay Travis
You think the carjacker is like, you know what? I was going to go for a walk in the park today, but instead I'm going to use an illegal handgun, hold it up at someone's head, threaten to murder them and take their vehicle. No, they've been doing all kinds of crimes that aren't even listed in the statistics up to that point. Maybe even aren't reported up to that point. So to your point, Clay, if you take a couple thousand people in D.C. and a lot of other places, by the way, a couple thousand people, and lock them up, everybody's a lot safer.
Buck Sexton
And I also think this ties in with quality of life. You and I, when we were in New York City, I think it was a couple of years ago, I think you had to buy, like, toothpaste or something. Oh, I had not.
Clay Travis
You were shocked by it. That was in my. Not to interrupt you, that was my actual drugstore that I used to go to all the time to get, you know, toothpaste and whatever. That was where I lived.
Buck Sexton
I could not believe when I walked in there. And I was just back up in New York City when I guest hosted, what, Fox and Friends in March. I think I had to go get shaving cream because I had forgotten it. I had to ask somebody to come unlock the shaving cream for me. And why do I mention that? These are major quality of life things that make you feel like you're living under siege. When you can't walk into a grocery store and buy shaving cream or you can't buy a toothpaste without somebody having to unlock it, it's a sign that we have had society collapse. I'm sorry. It just is. And a lot of you know that feeling where you walk in and you think, where am I living? That every single product in the entire CVS or Walgreens or whatever it is is under lock and key. And let me say this. I live in, obviously, many, most of you guys know Nashville, Tennessee area, Memphis, down the road west from where I am, has one of the highest rates of violent crime anywhere in the world. It's unacceptable. If Trump is able to lower the rate of violent crime in D.C. i would be very supportive of the governor of Tennessee saying we're marshaling all resources and putting them to work in Memphis, to lower the crime rate there. And we're going to use as a, as a, as sort of a roadmap what Trump did in D.C. why would we not do this everywhere?
Clay Travis
You know, this is, there's the question why we would not do it everywhere. But Clay also showing that it can be done establishes a new baseline going forward. Because what you have in a lot of places is essentially a, a, a politics of urban despair. You know, crime happens. You know, this, this attitude is it has, has to be this way. D.C. has been, you know, crappy when it comes to crime for as long as you and I have been alive. OK, we're getting old now. DC has been a mess for going on 50 years or more. And there are other cities, you know, Detroit, other cities that come to mind too, that have just been these holes of crime. And it doesn't have to be that way. And when people really see that in a way that the media has to cover, it changes the whole conversation going forward. Because then it's not, what do we do? We don't know. It's, do you want this to go away or not? Do you want the problems to be fixed or do you want the problems to endure? And how are you voting? Who are you putting in power to deal with this? It becomes a choice instead of apathy or despair. And that's why I think it's so important in addition to what you're talking about, which is just the tactical replication which will happen in other cities.
Buck Sexton
Yeah. And look, I, and the reason why I mention, you know, D.C. as a potential roadmap, as a simple potential example, I live in a red state. We have a red governor, we have red senators, Eight of the nine congressmen are Republicans. But Memphis has blue city leadership and that leadership has failed. New York Times just told you the leadership failed in San Francisco, in Seattle, in Portland. If the New York Times is mentioning that that is true, then there is no real argument to the other side. I mean, they're the left wing bible right now. So why, I mean, I just mean this honestly. I'm not the governor of Tennessee, you know, but if I were, I would be looking at what's going on in Washington D.C. and I would be thinking, why can't we solve this mess in Memphis once and for all in the same way that Trump is going after the mess in D.C. let's assume that.
Clay Travis
Tennesseans make a very wise move and put our friend Senator Blackburn in the Governor's mansion going forward. Right.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Clay Travis
For example, there's somebody who as governor, I think would work hand in glove with federal resources from the Trump administration to make Memphis a success story. Memphis should be. Look, I haven't been there, but I actually thought at one point about investing in the city of Memphis some years ago. So I did some research on investing in property there. I didn't end up doing it. And the crime was a big crime, was a big problem because it affects property values around the city. But it should be awesome. It's, you know, it's on the river there. It's got a vibrant downtown, obviously, incredible music scene, great food. Memphis should be a great city. The fact that when the, the first thing, a lot of people, at least outside of Memphis, maybe inside, I don't know, think about when it comes to that city now nationally, is, wow, there's a lot of shootings there.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Clay Travis
Which is just, that's, that's heartbreaking because it should be a great town and it has everything there to be a great town. And, you know, 99% of the people who live there would make it a great town if it was just up to them. But there's 1% that need to be taken off the streets.
Buck Sexton
I will give you two good examples of what you just said. My son, one of my sons, had a sporting event in Memphis. I think I've said this on the air before, but it was in March. We went and stayed in a hotel because he had an all day sporting event going on in the Memphis area. The next day I forgot my cell phone charger and I was thinking, well, I don't want my phone to die. I'm going to go buy a new cell phone charger at a gas station. I went down to the front desk and you've had this happen. You talked about it in St. Louis and the front desk clerk said, be careful, said it's 8 o' clock on a Friday night and you're telling me to be careful going to a gas station to buy a charger. No one in America should have that. Now if it's 3am, 4am I still think you should be safe. But I understand it's, it's, you're out super late. 8 o' clock on a random Friday night in Memphis. Be careful going to buy a charger. Unacceptable. Now, they're part of this. When I grew up in Nashville and most states have examples of this. Two big cities, they have kind of a rivalry. You know, Dallas and Houston have a rivalry. Nashville and Memphis have a rivalry. Tampa and Miami have rivalries and Jacksonville And Orlando, like all these different cities right inside the states, there's kind of like a little bit of a rivalry. We had a real rivalry when I was a kid. Nashville or Memphis, which is the better city? I haven't heard that argument in 15 years. Even when I started in media. You could occasionally still have fun locally, you know, kind of gigging people about that rivalry, which is a good natured rivalry.
Clay Travis
It.
Buck Sexton
I haven't had that heard that argument made in almost a generation now, because Nashville made rational mayoral choices mostly. Now you can question some of the recent ones, but made rational choices and just left Memphis in the rear view. And there isn't a comparison between those two cities. In fact, many of you listening in Memphis right now have friends and family that finally got fed up with the crime and said, I can't raise my family here, it's too dangerous. This is a real issue. And it's as if we just say, oh, there's nothing that can be done. My question for everybody is, what if Trump's right? Like he was on the border, Everybody said, oh, the border can't be fixed, it's impossible now. Border is most secure it's ever been in any of our lives. What if Trump makes D.C. crime drop by 50%? Suddenly you have to start having conversations about why can't we solve some of these problems that we claim are unsolvable. I think it's just a will issue, not an ability issue. And so I think this is super, super interesting and, and I am cautiously optimistic that we are going to see a real difference there. Speaking of a real difference. God, I love these guys. Good ranchers. They have incredible meat products. Born, bred right here in the good old usa. Whether you want salmon, whether you want beef, whether you want chicken, whether you want bacon, whether you want chicken nuggets, your kids are going to be like my kids. They're going to love it. You're an adult, you're going to be like Buck Sexton. And you're absolutely going to love it, too. They just have incredible products and again, no added preservatives. They've got all the health that, that thanks to Ben and his wife Corley have put in place. And you can save 65 right now just by trying it out. You get $40 off the first shipment, another 25 off every shipment after that, 65 bucks off right now. When you just use my name, Clay, that C, L A y, go to goodranchers.com pick the meats that are right for your family. They come right to your home. They do not have the hormones and antibiotics that you worry about everywhere else. These are local American raised meat products. You're gonna love them and just try them out. Just trust me. Go to goodranchers.com My name Clay that's goodranchers.com My Name Clay. You're gonna love them as much as I do and you can save 65 bucks in the meantime just to try them out. Goodranchers.com code clay news you can count on and some laughs too. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts this Labor Day.
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The reviews and ratings are in and Ice Cube's Big three is the surprise hit of the summer. And to cap off the season, iHeart presents the Big 3 Basketball Championship and 8th Annual Big 3 All Star Game this coming Sunday, August 24th. Live from Orlando, the remaining two teams fight it out for the Big 3 Championship Dr. JK Trophy in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. Don't miss the wild conclusion of Big Three's eighth and most historic season ever. This is the game no one wants to lose and there's no crying in the Big Three. The action starts with the Big Three eighth Annual All Star Game. Don't miss All Stars Dwight Howard, Montrez Harrell, MVP Michael Beasley, Lance will make you Dan Stevenson, Jordan Crawford, Greg Monroe, Earl Clark, Nasir Corps and more show you why they are the best three on three basketball players in the world. Big three's exciting all star game, plus the crowning of a new big three champion. The no holds part action starts Sunday at 2pm Eastern, 11 Pacific only on CBS.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.
Carol Markowitz
And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
Carol Markowitz
That's why we started Normaly, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Carol Markowitz
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday.
Carol Markowitz
And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen.
Clay Travis
Clay, have you heard of the Rio Reset?
Buck Sexton
Sounds like a trendy new workout, Buck.
Clay Travis
It does, but it's actually a big summit going on in Brazil. The formal name is brics, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. But they've just added five new members.
Buck Sexton
Smart move to stick with brics. We know what happens when acronyms don't end. They confuse everyone.
Clay Travis
Well, that's an understatement. BRICS is a group of emerging economies hoping to increase their sway in the global financial order.
Buck Sexton
Now that sounds like the plotline of a movie. I'm listening.
Clay Travis
Philip Patrick is our Bruce Wayne. He's a precious metal specialist and a spokesman for the Birch Gold Group. He's on the ground in Rio getting the whole lowdown on what's going on there.
Buck Sexton
Can he give us some inside intel?
Clay Travis
Absolutely. He's been there since day one. In fact, a major theme at the summit is how bricks nations aim to reduce reliance on the US Dollar in global trade.
Buck Sexton
Yikes. That doesn't sound good. We got to get Philip on the line, stat.
Clay Travis
Already did. And he left the Clay and Buck audience this message.
Senator Eric Schmidt
The world is moving on from the dollar. Quietly but steadily, these nations are making real progress towards reshaping global trade. And the US Dollar is no longer the centerpiece. That shift doesn't happen overnight, but make no mistake, it's already begun.
Clay Travis
Thank you, Philip. Protect the value of your Savings account, your 401k, your IRA, all of them, by purchasing gold and placing it into those accounts and reducing your exposure to a declining dollar value. Text my name, Buck to 9,898. 98. You get the free information you'll need to make the right decision. You can rely on Birch Gold Group, as I do, to give you the information you need to make an informed decision. One more time, text my name, Buck to 98. 98. 98. Third hour of play and Buck kicks off. Now we're joined by Senator Eric Schmidt of the great state of Missouri. He's also got a new book out, the Last Line of Defense, how to Beat the Left in Court. It is out today. Senator Schmidt, thanks for being here with us.
Senator Eric Schmidt
It's great to be up with you guys.
Clay Travis
Let's talk a little bit, if we can, about law enforcement because you were the Attorney General in your state of Missouri. Now, St. Louis has had a crime problem for quite some time and I'm sure that was a focus of some of your efforts at the state level. If you had the writ, the support, the backing of the federal government, whatever could be brought to bear, Trump administration saying let's clean up crime in St. Louis and we'll give you whatever resources you need at the federal level to do it. Could you do it? What would change? How would it work?
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, I think one thing is you get some of the federal law enforcement officials out of Washington D.C. and get them out into the country. I think Cash Patel's talked about this and I think senior leadership of the Department of Justice just talked about this. So there's just too many, Honestly those folks are in D.C. and they're not helping, you know, take out the bad guys across the country. Sadly, they spending a lot of their time. And we talk about it in the book Last line of Defense in the censorship effort, Russiagate, all this nonsense, all the man hours been wrapped up in this political, you know, weaponization of the DOJ as opposed to fighting crime. The other thing is one of the, one of the things that we did when I was Attorney general is relatively what was unprecedented at the time. We created something called the Safer Streets Initiative where we had deputy attorney generals in our office deputized as Assistant U.S. attorneys. So we added the capacity of prosecuting federal crime. When you have, let's just say you have a prosecutor in St. Louis and she's gone. But Kim Gardner was a Soros back prosecutor. If they don't want to do their job, then we worked with the US Attorneys to go take on carjackings and things like that. So it's really successful program. When Biden came in, ironically, he scrapped the program because he just, you know, this just was not their focus. So I'm glad President Trump's in there. I'm glad, you know, he's getting his U.S. attorneys. That's gonna be kind of next up when we get back to get these US Attorneys in place across the country. And I think that'll help.
Buck Sexton
Are you stunned that Democrats seem unable to break the reflexive opposition to anything Trump says, even when he says things that are super, super popular with most normal people in the country? Keep men out of women's sports. Let's have less violent Crime in Washington, D.C. hey, I'm trying to do whatever I can to stop people from getting killed in Ukraine, in the war there. All of these things don't seem particularly political to me. Yet Democrats have so bought into Trump is Hitler, Trump is going to start World War three. Whatever negative you want to associate it with it, that they seem unable to acknowledge that he actually has a lot of good ideas.
Senator Eric Schmidt
Yeah, I think it's less political clay and it's more psychological at this point. It truly is. It truly is a psychosis. And Trump Derangement Syndrome is real and it manifests itself in just some crazy ways. I mean, you gave a couple of examples. They're already actually taking criminals off the street in Washington, D.C. carjackings have been up 500 plus percent in five years. Clearly, something needs to be done, but they don't want him to do it. You've got a president who has the confidence and the strength to actually try to broker a deal to end the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II. And they just try to undercut him at every turn. And I think the classic example, which is why I don't think they've hit rock bottom yet, is this issue of illegal immigration. I mean, they cannot help themselves. Chris Van Hollen goes to El Salvador and has margaritas with an MS.13 member because they hate Trump so much. It's bizarre. But I think they've got a couple more election cycles in them where they're going to continue to lose before they wake up. And this is just no longer the party of Harry Truman or even Bill Clinton. This has been captured by the radical left.
Clay Travis
Now, you were part of some of the battles, legal battles, that the, well, the forces of constitutionalism and the rule of law, but also Republicans and Trump supporters were involved in, in recent years. I know that's something you deal with in the book. How should we view the fact that they brought four criminal cases against a president? They held those prosecutions specifically so they would occur in an election year? I mean, on the one hand, Senator, it's Well, Trump is president and all's well that ends well. But on the other hand, that is a shocking precedent. Breach, betrayal, I would say, of the American people's trust. And they actually did it. I feel like we're still processing that that happened because it happened so recently.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Senator Eric Schmidt
And one of the reasons why I wrote Last Line of Defense, which you can get on Amazon right now, is there is a tendency, guys, I think, to, now that we're past the fever dream, the fever broke, I think, in November 2024. This kind of crazy woke nonsense and the lawfare that was brought against President Trump to throw him in jail for the rest of his life. There's a tendency to kind of gloss all that over. But you got to remember the dark days. And I was on your show talking about this was why I think your audience would really like the book. This was a time of lockdowns, compulsory Covid shots, open borders, DEI struggle sessions, ESG requirements, and a censorship enterprise so vast that the Biden administration instituted that was the biggest affront to the First Amendment in American history. This is all just in a four year period of time where they opened up the floodgates on all this and we had to push back. And so while President Trump was out of power, we were able to kind of hold the line on a lot of this. For the Calvary to arrive in November of last year, it did arrive and President Trump finished this, you know, epic, historic comeback. And we're talking about all the good things that Clay you just mentioned, they're happening, the Democrats are still opposed to. But there's a lot of important lessons learned. I mean, whether it was, you know, we took that vaccine mandate case all the way. Supreme Court, we won. We took Missouri, took the student loan debt forgiveness case all the way in court, we won. I sued 50 plus school districts in Missouri for their forced mask mandates, we won. We had the censorship case. And what that shows and what the story is so important, it's kind of behind the scenes. Look at what was it like to take the depot of Anthony Fauci? What was it like to take the deposition of Elvis Chan at the FBI who was pre bunking the Hunter Biden laptop story? We did all that. The point is you got to have courage. It's a lot easier to just go to ribbon cuttings or just kind of walk along than it is when you got to stand up and fight. And President Trump, I think, has transformed the Republican Party now, certainly from the one that I grew up in, into much more of not just A working class party, but a party that's just not going to lie down. We're going to stand up, we're going to fight back, and if we do it, we can actually win. So the book is kind of a playbook on how we did it then and how we can do it moving forward.
Buck Sexton
Okay. I love everything that's happening now. I think most people out there listening do as well. Here's my concern. And you know this better than anybody because you were involved in so many of these lawsuits, all of a sudden it's acceptable to say, hey, we believe in the marketplace of ideas. Hey, we shouldn't be rigging the algorithms. Hey, we shouldn't be artificially inserting ourselves into the public discourse and manipulating the results. Yet 2021, every social media company in America banned Donald Trump from getting on. I like the joke because it kind of brings it home. Pinterest banned Donald Trump. Pinterest. Like he couldn't share his scrapbook collages for people out there. How do we stop this from happening when Trump isn't in office and may ensure that what we are doing now is going to extend into the future no matter who the president happens to be?
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, a couple things. One is, I think there has to be accountability for some of these actions. I think the most. I have an op ed about this. I think you can draw a straight line, like, ironically, Obama has immunity because of the case that was brought against President Trump. Presidential.
Buck Sexton
That's right.
Senator Eric Schmidt
But Clapper doesn't, Brennan doesn't, Comey doesn't. And if you can prove you have a statute of limitation issues, but you don't, if there's a conspiracy, it was an ongoing conspiracy. Because if you like the fuse in a conspiracy, whatever happens a mile down the road, you're still responsible for it. And these guys knew it was fake. They knew it was bs. They laundered that stupid Steele dossier into an actual intelligence report and they tried to, not only a coup, but tried to sideline an entire first term of a president. And then, of course, that was the impetus for all of the, oh, this is Russian disinformation. This is Russian misinformation. Everything was about Russian this, Russian that, even though it was all bs. And so I don't think we should just forget about that. I think there have to be repercussions. And as far as, like, social media companies, you guys know this. It's a good thing that they're. They have what, something called Section 230 protections, meaning they're a platform Not a publisher, meaning they're not legally responsible. If somebody has, you know, an opinion that you disagree with on that platform, that's good for free speech, but you don't get to have it both ways. You don't get the multibillion dollar subsidy of being a platform where you can't be sued, but then also try to manipulate what's on your platform in an editorial like decision. So I think they got a pick and if they pick the wrong one, then you're a publisher, you don't have the protections. I also think a reform that will be important that I talk about in the book too, is these individual bureaucrats. If you're engaged in suppressing somebody's First Amendment rights, you individually ought to be able to be sued. There ought to be an individual right of an action for an American citizen to sue you for suppressing your speech about, you know, questioning masks and how they work for kids or not. That would change the kind of risk dynamic that currently works because as you guys know, the bureaucrats aren't accountable to anybody. We need to start making them accountable to real people. So there's a few things that we can do. But I, you know, what we saw guys, in that four year period in particular, if that was going on somewhere else, like, you know, the lawfare and the censorship and all this mass migration, all this stuff is being used with taxpayer dollars to fund, you know, we would be. The State Department will be warning American citizens about that place. But that was happening here. And again, the story of the last line of defense, which you can get on Amazon now, is about standing up, pushing back. If you do it, if you got the courage, you can win. And this is a playbook of how conservatives moving forward can, can fight and win in the courts, which we've always kind of resisted because we thought that was their terrain.
Buck Sexton
Okay, procedurally, you're an expert on this. Democrats have a huge advantage in D.C. because they have basically a 95% approval rating in D.C. they can get any indictment they want. How do you deal with that? If you're talking about bringing conspiracy charges, I don't need like a, you know, law review analysis style, but just for, for me and people out there who have a general sense that this is a problem, how do you rectify that?
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, once you have a conspiracy moving forward, it doesn't just exist exclusively in Washington D.C. it emanates out. So for example, which, and I'm just using this potentially as an example, but let's just say that the raid at Mar A Lago was really about getting documents back that they thought President Trump had as related to the Steele dossier. I'm just throwing out a scenario here. Hypothetically, of course, if that were the case, you've got Southern Florida is where you can issue indictments because again, remember, if Jack Smith is using a phony intelligence report that was generated by Brennan and Kobe and Clapper like they begin the conspiracy process and he's furthering the conspiracy in South Florida, again, the jurisdiction you can kind of work in gets much broader and I think that's one area that they might, they might look at.
Clay Travis
Senator, appreciate you being with us and just want to tell everybody one last time, go check out the book which is out today, the Senators new book. Very important, very good stuff. The last line of defense, how to beat the left in court. Appreciate you, sir.
Senator Eric Schmidt
All right, guys, take care. Thank you.
Clay Travis
Your support to the Tunnel to Towers foundation makes a lasting difference in real lives like the lives of the Ernst family. When U.S. navy Chief Petty Officer Michael Ernst was killed in a training accident, Talented Towers provided a mortgage free home to his loving family. His wife Megan is grateful to talented Towers and supporters like you for lifting that financial burden off her shoulders. Their home is a safe space for her and her children. Your generosity will allow for that for years to come. Since Son of the Towers was founded in the aftermath of 9 11, the Ernst family is one of many that people like you have helped. But there's so much more to do. Many are still in need. We mustn't forget America's heroes have given so much and together we can say thank you in a lasting and meaningful way. Donate $11 a month to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's tthenumber2t.org Clay Travis.
Buck Sexton
And Box Sexton mic drops that never sounded so good. Find them on the free iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcast.
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IHeart presents the Big Three playoffs this Sunday. The remaining four teams battle to make the championship in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the Big Three Monster Energy celebrity games. Then Dwight Howard and his Ellie Riot take on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J Chicago triplets. The finale will see popular Miami Emmy 305 with Stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas Power who will make it to the Big Three championship. The no holds barred action starts Sunday at 3pM Eastern, 12 Pacific only on CBS.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
This is an I Heart podcast.
Daily Review with Clay and Buck – August 19, 2025
This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focuses on major political and current events, specifically:
The conversation is rooted in the hosts’ trademark blend of humor and sharp political opinion, highlighting both dramatic policy shifts and the media’s complicated relationship with President Trump.
Segment Start: 00:56–14:44
Trump’s Diplomacy: The hosts discuss Trump’s engagement in setting up talks between Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin, discussing the historical significance and Trump's clear desire to broker peace.
"We're setting up... with Putin and Zelensky... they're the ones that have to call the shots. We're 7,000 miles away. In all fairness... We spent... $350 billion. Europe spent a lot also — 100 billion... This is the biggest bad situation since World War II."
— Donald Trump [07:14]
Security Guarantees for Ukraine: Buck and Clay dissect Trump’s comments on whether US troops would be part of a security guarantee for Ukraine.
"You have my assurance. You know, I'm president and I'm just trying to stop people from being killed... losing from five to 7,000 people a week."
— Donald Trump [10:57]
Peace or Precedent? Clay argues Trump’s “Nobel Peace Prize” aspirations, while admirable, could risk a superficial peace deal lacking long-term security for Ukraine:
“My only concern... is could [Trump's] pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize make him accept a ceasefire... not in the best interest of the larger world?”
— Clay Travis [09:32]
Segment Start: 18:58–44:35
Trump's Federal Initiative in DC: The hosts recount Trump's quick move to dismantle homeless encampments and boost law enforcement presence in Washington, D.C. following surging violent crime.
Dramatic Results:
D.C. crime rates after one week of federal intervention:
"In the one week that we have seen a surge of police on the streets, overwhelmingly, the numbers have been moving in a very positive direction."
— Clay Travis [20:22]
Media & Democrat Reactions:
The hosts highlight a shift in mainstream opinion and reporting:
"Virtually all sides in the defund the police debate made mistakes... real world results were miserable — parts of San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and other cities came to feel lawless..."
— NYT via Clay Travis [25:47]
"Now, suddenly, with Trump in office, Democrats, some of them, at least their allies in the New York Times, are willing to acknowledge that they blew it and that they created these awful scenarios."
— Buck Sexton [27:21]
Skepticism Around Crime Stats:
The DOJ is investigating whether D.C. police manipulated stats to make the drop in crime look more dramatic.
"Does anyone really think that crime rates just suddenly drop 30% in D.C. for no apparent reason?"
— Clay Travis [28:19]
Lessons for Other Cities:
Clay and Buck question why successful methods from DC aren't replicated in Memphis and other high-crime blue cities:
"If Trump is able to lower the rate of violent crime in D.C., I would be very supportive of the governor of Tennessee saying we're marshaling all resources and putting them to work in Memphis"
— Clay Travis [38:31]
Core Insight:
Both argue that a small population of repeat offenders drives most crime; targeting them meaningfully reduces overall crime.
Segment Start: 52:04–63:52
On Law Enforcement in Blue Cities:
Schmitt describes initiatives like deputizing state-level prosecutors as federal assistants to overcome Soros-backed DAs who won't prosecute crime.
"...We created something called the Safer Streets Initiative... our deputy attorney generals... as Assistant U.S. Attorneys. So we added capacity for prosecuting federal crime..."
— Senator Eric Schmitt [53:08]
On Dems’ Relentless Trump Opposition:
"It's less political... it truly is a psychosis. Trump Derangement Syndrome is real and it manifests itself in some crazy ways..."
— Senator Eric Schmitt [54:46]
On Institutional Lawfare:
Schmitt calls out the dangers of "lawfare," referencing the four criminal cases brought against Trump:
"I feel like we're still processing that that happened because it happened so recently."
— Buck Sexton [56:38] "...There is a tendency... to gloss all that over. But you got to remember the dark days..."
— Senator Eric Schmitt [56:53]
On Free Speech & Social Media Manipulation:
Schmitt advocates stripping Section 230 protections from platforms if they behave like publishers, and introducing personal accountability for bureaucrats who suppress free speech.
"...you don't get to have it both ways. You don't get the multibillion dollar subsidy of being a platform... but then also try to manipulate what's on your platform in an editorial-like decision."
— Senator Eric Schmitt [60:20]
RFK Jr.’s “Jeans and Belt Workouts”:
The hosts make recurring jokes about RFK Jr. performing lunges and push-ups in jeans and a belt.
"Why does RFK Jr work out in jeans?... Diabolical."
— Buck Sexton [05:50] "There's got to be chafing going on. Lunges just... it makes me actually feel uncomfortable..."
— Buck Sexton [14:51]
Quality of Life Anecdotes:
Buck recounts the absurdity of New Yorkers needing to unlock shaving cream and toothpaste in stores due to theft:
"When you can't walk into a grocery store and buy shaving cream or ... toothpaste without somebody having to unlock it, it's a sign that we have had society collapse."
— Buck Sexton [38:06]
Crime and Common Sense:
The hosts roast past attitudes about urban safety:
"DC is really safe. I've lived here for five years. I've only been mugged once, only had one car stolen, only had ... three incidents where people threatened to stab me in the street. But other than that, in five years, it's really good."
— Clay Travis [24:38] "It's like they have Stockholm syndrome..."
— Buck Sexton [31:59]
This episode offers a comprehensive, opinionated, and data-driven look at current American political drama, from dramatic foreign policy undertakings to the granular battles over urban crime and policing. Clay and Buck emphasize the sudden mainstream acceptance of formerly "controversial" ideas (more policing, cleaning up homelessness), question the motives behind media and Democratic reversals, and view Trump’s initiatives — whether on the world stage or in America’s cities — in the context of wider political battles.
Memorable Quote:
"[Democrats] have a couple more election cycles in them where they're going to continue to lose before they wake up. ...This is just no longer the party of Harry Truman or even Bill Clinton. This has been captured by the radical left."
— Senator Eric Schmitt [55:16]
For listeners wanting a sharp, right-leaning 360-degree take on today's political flashpoints, this episode delivers a blend of big-picture debate, pointed anecdote, and punchy, memorable banter.