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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
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Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show podcast. Welcome in Monday edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Congrats to Seattle, the Seahawks beating down Bucks beloved New England Patriots in a Super Bowl. That was, according to my 81 believe he's 8181 year old dad. The most boring super bowl top to bottom that he has watched in his life. From the game to the halftime show and beyond. It was not particularly enticing. Maybe the highlight my beloved Backstreet Boys stealing the day also I understand sources have told me that the family of Buck Sexton himself even has a remember traveling to the Backstreet Boys show. For those of you out there who remember that conversation, I was at dinner.
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And my sister with family and my sister in law was outraged at my assertion that nobody really goes to see the Backstreet Boys anymore because she is, as we speak, a holder of Backstreet Boy at the Sphere tickets and is heading to Vegas in a matter of days. I had no idea, Clay. I had no idea.
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Inside your own household. Nearly Buck Sexton finding out that the Backstreet Boys are still dominating the American cultural landscape.
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And they were all right.
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They were involved in two different ads. If I remember correctly last night the ads also were really bad. I mean to spend 8 million, $10 million on these ads and be as boring, pedestrian and lacking in basic, you know, memory as many of these were. We'll get into this because I do think culturally we have very few events where everybody in America by and large still shows up and experiences things together. Super Bowl, I would ask is that I would suggest is almost the last major cultural event that everybody shares in real time together. Debates can be that in terms of the audience, they produce big NFL events, we're told talk some about the Winter Olympics and how I think frankly disrespectful about. A lot of athletes have been. I mean maybe award shows a little bit, but there's not very many of those anymore.
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I'm out after this year. I'm out. I went to a Super bowl party. Everyone there was very nice. That was the highlight. The game was boring as hell. The super bowl halftime was. The whole thing is absurd. Don't make it political. The whole thing was political, you babies. Ok, we're not all, we're not all fools and, and the game stunk and these guys are all.
B
You're not going to watch the super bowl anymore. You are retiring from Super Bowl. I don't imagine that that is a very common perspective. But I would imagine that there are some. Some of you probably have already retired.
A
Just be clear. This would have been the only. This was the only professional football game I watched all year. I'm bringing that number down to zero. I'm bringing it down to zero.
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You did get to watch the national championship game in college football in person between Miami and Indiana. So you did get two. Yeah, that was the game itself. The cultural experience. All right, let's go in to your point on bad. The Bad Bunny. Halftime.
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The Bad Bunny. The Bad Bunny.
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Senor Bad Bunny. Senor Bad Bunny. Here is what I would say, and I don't understand how anyone could disagree with this. You can't have the signature American cultural event of the year be performed in a language other than English. I don't know sometimes what Roger Goodell is thinking. I believe, frankly, that he's an old white guy who is afraid of drawing more attention to his old whiteness. And so he defers far too often to people when it comes to brand decisions made by the NFL. And I just have to say, first of all, the vast majority of people is 120 million or so that are watching the super bowl have no idea who Bad bunny is. And 95%, probably of the people who are watching the Super Bowl, English is their language. So you can't do a performance in a foreign language, period. This would not happen. And by the way, I would say the same thing. I don't know what the biggest sporting event is of Mexico, but if the entire halftime show in Mexico were in English, I would say that's a swing and miss for Mexico, for Latin American countries, for European countries, for their signature cultural event. Now people are going to say, well, world. World Cups, for the whole world. You know, it's different. If Bad Bunny had been the half the, you know, some sort of World cup performer, I would have said, okay, foreign language. That makes sense. This. The world of soccer is not entirely speaking English.
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Yes, this was. This was football, not football. Yes.
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And so I think that a lot of times, because the NFL is so successful, it's run by cowards who are not willing to actually make any decisions that should be made for the betterment of the sport. And I think Roger Goodell is a good example of that. I think he completely whiffed the only thing positive I'll say about the halftime show in general. I've been to three Super Bowls. It's really hard to bring the entire stage out at halftime and execute it. The actual structure, which looked almost Like a Broadway play. The way he walked through, the fact that the trees were actual.
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You're saying the production value.
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The production value. Leave us, leave aside. You know, I, I didn't know anything that he was singing. I didn't know anything but the actual physical. If you ask me for a positive, the physical structure.
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Clay shaves his beard down to a mustache and all of a sudden he's reviewing Broadway.
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I, I will say the physical structure of the event, leaving aside the performance itself was, was impressive to get that out on the field, to get it done. You only have 12 or 13 minutes, whatever the heck it is. But there are a lot of people that would have made sense that, that everybody would have known that would have sung in English. And for people out there who say, well, it's such a huge part of acknowledging Latin culture. I lived in the Caribbean. I, I love San Juan. Old San Juan is one of the jewels of the Caribbean. I've spent more time in Puerto Rico than 99% of people in the United States have. I. We already had Jennifer Lopez who sang in English. We had Shakira in. It was only a couple of years ago that we had a Latin infused performance. I believe it was in Miami, which made sense. Hey, we want someone who has a Latin in, you know, infusion to perform in Miami. I thought Jennifer Lopez and Shakira at the Miami super bowl was great. We just had that a few years ago. I don't think you can say, well, the super bowl has ignored its Hispanic audience. It hasn't at all. And so I think, think, unfortunately, the game was so boring and there were so few actual major cultural signposts that occurred in the game. And the commercials were so awful that most people are probably talking about the halftime show today. Now. Congratulations, Sam Darnold. If you want a really positive story, Buck, this a guy who got his teeth kicked in, played for the Jets. Everybody said he was a bust, jumped all over five different teams, believed in himself, had a good year last year with the Vikings and then wins the super bowl for the Seattle Seahawks when nobody thought he could do it. That is a hell of a story. You want a fun story about him? His grandfather, Buck was the original Marl Marlboro man. You know those old school commercials, Cowboy and the Marlboro. I can't even say it. Marlboro commercials. That was his grandfather. Guy by the name of. This is a real name. Dick Hammer. Yeah, that's his real name. Grandfather of Sam Darnold. So that's pretty strong Americana. Back in the Day and Sam Darnold from just a good, by all intents and purposes, everybody loves him, wasn't a high level recruit, kind of came out of nowhere at Southern Cal and now becomes a Super bowl champ. He didn't play that well. He played better than Drake May. He played better than most of the people on the offensive side of the ball did for either team. And so as a result, the story is primarily Bad Bunny, which President Trump ripped. And President Trump's still unhappy, by the way, with the kickoff. But I just think it was a, it was a swing and a miss by the NFL in their biggest and most important game of the year.
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I, like I said my, my biggest and by the way, we're going to get to a lot of policy and politics today on the show, including Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will be with us in the second hour. Talk the save act in the third hour with the Daily callers, Ashley Brassfield. So we got a lot to get into. Plus, Clay, I thought the most important news of the last 24 hours, including the super bowl was this from Trump. Record stock market and national security driven by our great tariffs. I'm predicting 100,000 on the Dow by the end of my term. Remember, Trump was right about everything, all caps. I hope the United States Supreme Court is watching right now. Going to tell you this, politics is way more interesting a spectator sport than that football game. Just no question, way more interesting stuff going on than certainly the first half of that game. Clay I was at a child like a kid friendly super bowl party. So people had their 2 year olds and 4 year olds and everything there. And you know, I'll tell you, the whole thing was kind of everyone being loud and throwing toys everywhere and everything else. Kind of glad they were because the game was so boring. At least the kids were keeping us entertained. You know, at least the parents were scurrying around chasing after them. Not really much going on at all. But the stock market is kicking ass. America right now under Trump is doing really well. And I don't know, I think that the, I just don't think the super bowl was a good spectator experience. And the, the thing about the super bowl halftime show was I don't even watch the commercials. Everyone told me they're terrible. I don't really care about them. They haven't been good in a long time. So I've, I, I expect that that's not something that's going to change the super bowl halftime show. You know, this was a decision made and it is Political. And there were political undertones in the performance, obviously. Like the whole, you know, holding the flag and like marching together at the end thing. And, you know, we're very aware of what's going on here. I just don't. Don't make political decisions and then tell people who are annoyed by your dumb politic. Why are you making it political? Because they made it political. It's very straightforward. Like you, you can't say. This is like, you know, if you call someone a name and then they respond, you go, why are you starting a fight with me? No, you started it. They started it with this. This wasn't about entertaining everybody.
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I also think that the people who said, oh, it was so good, they're lying.
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So his music sucks.
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These people. I mean, his music is garbage.
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Garbage.
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The performance was garbage. The performance was no good.
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Nobody has any idea what mumbling in Spanish. Okay? He's mumbling the most grotesque stuff imaginable into the. And it's all auto tuned. And also, you know, on. I know he's lip syncing, but if you actually see what he's saying, Clay, it's disgusting. It's like that WAP song basically, but un espanol. The whole thing is grotesque. It's degeneracy. Why she didn't have to sit and be. Oh, it's so good. It's Latin culture on display. I, I live in Miami. There's plenty of beautiful Latin culture. That was not it, ok? And I don't care how many people like it. We can all speak the truth. I love. What was it? What was his name? The most annoying politician to come out of Ohio in a long time. Kasich. Was it Kasich? Oh, it's a beautiful, beautiful cultural expression or whatever. Oh, yeah, you're. You're really down with an espanol here, buddy.
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Give me a break.
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This is people that are just desperate.
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For the applause from the cool kids.
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And I don't care what the cool kids like anymore.
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That show was trash. Also, the cool kids aren't actually that cool because when you're bending over backwards to support whatever the popular thing is from the cultural ascendancy to the extent it still exists of the left, then I think you are actually just a follower, which is the most boring thing you can be out there. I will say, culturally, I do wonder. The turning point halftime show. The concept of doing a different halftime show. Now, I think partly it's going to be a determinant on who the selection is going forward to perform as to whether this Thing continues to grow. You know, for instance, if Nashville gets a Super bowl, which it is in 2029 or 2030, I would imagine they will have a super famous ensemble of country music singers that perform at the Super bowl in 29 or 30. I don't think there's going to be suddenly a rush for Turning Point to do an alternative show to that broadcast. So I wonder how much the selection of the performer is going to impact going forward. I would say they got to end this. Letting Jay Z pick the performer. That was a bend to the knee during 2020 woke RA. Roc Nation gets paid X number of dollars to pick. They got to just go ahead and end that once and for all and just. I mean, there's lots of people who would love to play at the super bowl of a variety of different musical persuasions.
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I just. The problem that I think Turning Point runs into with this is it's a little bit like the rebuttal to the State of the Union. You're always going to be in a junior second place that you're not. It's not the Super Bowl.
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Yes. And you're requiring.
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I appreciate the effort. I'm not putting them down. I'm just saying you're inherently in a.
B
And you're.
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You're the JV team no matter what you do.
B
It's even more challenging than that, Buck, because at least in the rebuttal, you're on the same channel so people can stay.
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That's true.
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You have to get people to go to YouTube. You have to get them to go to Rumble or wherever else they have to leave their existing. I mean, we, we. I put on both, so I was like, I just want to see them side by side. And it was challenging to get them both up and running.
A
We have to. I mean, I don't really think like a response to it is necessarily the. The answer. We just people who love traditional and. And like decent and artistically beautiful. How about that word beautiful? There was nothing beautiful about that halftime perform. I mean, some of the women were very good looking, but you know, there's nothing like an artistry perspective in terms of the music. You say, oh, yeah, wow, that's really incredible. The fact that it's in Spanish means that they get away with the. The lyrics translations that are going around everywhere. It's absolutely disgusting. And there are people who speak Spanish in this country and they know what the lyrics are. And you know, everyone's supposed to think this is okay. It's not. So, you know, and they can call us Nerds all day long. But honestly, man, Hollywood, current state of music. These people. These people are degenerates. And I actually wear their disdain like a badge of honor. Like, the more. The more they want to call us nerds and the more they want to say, yeah, that's right. People that want to work on, like, being good citizens. Citizens being good people, taking care of their neighbors, being smart, being strong, reading books, listening to worthwhile music, understanding the classics, you know, being practicing Christians or practicing Jews or whatever, and actually trying to be. Yeah, that's all silly. Go to a bad bunny show. That guy's what you should really aspire to. I mean, look at all these people. Look at what they say on social media. They're all morons, by the way. They're all idiots. And most of them have, like, a sixth grade reading level at best that we, like, exalt for their musical artistry and brilliance and everything. I mean, look at. Look at the letter Kanye just put out. Look at all the people that were kissing Kanye's butt for all these years. Kanye's a lunatic. People were worshiping this lunatic, truly. He even admits he's like, yeah, I'm crazy. And people are like, oh, Kanye's a genius. Anna Winters like, oh, I'm sitting at the Met gala with Kanye. My friends, Emperor has no clothes. It's all trash. It's all trash. Just be confident in that and keep listening to this show, because this show's cool. That's what I got for you. That's my little rant for today.
B
That is. Sorry, old man. Old man. Buck, if I'm you're asking me for a positive, I gave you the Sam Darnold. And again, the staging of the show with my mustache, since I'm a savant when it comes to staging, was impressive.
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Your mustache is amazing, by the way. We need a lot of social media here of Clay's mustache today ever. Cause I honestly, I think the mustache should be here to stay. Personally. We need the grannies of the Midwest to weigh in on this one. So, Clay, tweet out that photo before and after. I think the mustache, it's very Tom Selleck. Let's give respect where it's due. It's very Tom Selleck. All right. With the rise of AI and deepfakes, your online identity is at risk more than ever before. FBI is on record letting everyone know that scammers have developed a sophisticated method for impersonating your bank. Cybercriminals can manipulate AI to populate online search results with fake Contact info. I just had somebody who got hacked to reach out to me over the weekend in dm. I almost clicked on it, but I didn't. But guess what? This happens all the time. You need Lifelock. Lifelock has your back online when it comes to identity theft protection. And if you do become a victim of identity theft, a restoration specialist at LifeLock will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Join now. Say 40% off your first year with my name Buck. When you sign up online or over the phone, Whichever is easiest, call 1-800-LIFELOCK or go online at lifelock.com use promo code BUCK for 40% off lifelock.com promo code BUCK terms apply. I guess we're not going to have any Bad Bunny music on the Rejoins here. So that's. That's. We got that going for us.
B
Here's the truth, Buck. I wouldn't even know if we did play a Bad Bunny song on the Rejoin. Like, I, I just. I. I don't even have any idea what the guy sings in addition to not being able to understand it. Like, I remember the only part of that show that I knew was I remember that. That song Gasolina or whatever it was, it was back in the day.
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Not even his song from what I correct. Some other guy's song.
B
Yeah, but that was the only part of it where I was like, oh, I remember having heard this before.
A
Again, I live in Miami, so I'm exposed to certain genres of music on a regular basis. And I would. I think that. I think that reggaeton may be the worst music in existence. Like, as a genre, I think it might be the worst. What's up?
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It's R B, as I have argued before.
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Oh, no, no, no. That's. That's. That, that is. That is a. We're just gonna. That's a Bless your heart, take clay. That's a bless your heart, at least.
B
Reggae time, rego tone, or however you pronounce it, like Reggae Tom. Whatever it is, at least it has a beat that is positive and uplifting. Whereas R and B is just like, I want to drown my soul because some relationship I had is bad, and I'm going to sing about it for 48 consecutive minutes.
A
I just. I can't believe you throw boys to men under the bus like this. I don't even know.
B
It's the end of the road.
A
What to say. What the. It's makes everyone very sad as we get into this. I think reggaeton may be the worst music in existence. I don't know. Death Metal, you know, is that really even a genre though? I think it's just really bad heavy metal. Like a heavy metal can be awesome. So that's the thing.
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I'm gonna sound like you. I if it's super loud, I just, I really don't enjoy it. I'm just like, ah, it's so loud. Like why do, why do you want to scream at me? Like I don't need like the whole death metal thing. I Doug Burgum is going to join us now and I bet he's never had the previous lead in for his for any of his interviews be death metal analysis. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum with us now.
A
We Secretary, appreciate you sir. Thank you for being here. Let's, let's die. Let's thank thank you. Thank you. Let's talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
C
Enjoying listening into the commentary.
A
Thank you. Well, we try to do a good show. Tell us this the we got a lot of questions for you. First up, U.S. oil production. Drill baby drill. The Trump energy plan bring us up to speed. ICE is getting a lot of attention. The overall economy is getting a lot of attention. Where are we on unlocking America's energy potential and bringing us into a 21st century footing for all of the above?
C
Well, we're all of the above of it includes affordable, reliable and US Secure energy. That's the common sense policy of President Trump. And drill baby drill, one of his main campaign promises, he's delivered on it through a whole of government approach, creating the National Energy Dominance Council. We've got everybody in the cabinet basically working to execute, to deliver on this. And you know, a year ago, think of it, a year ago there was a Biden ban on LNG export facilities. Now the US Number one exporter in the world, we've displaced two thirds of Russian gas in Europe, taking a whack out of their their pocketbook. We've, you know, we got real teeth behind sanctions around the world which then means that China is going to have to start paying the full price as opposed to discounted price for oil. And then back at home, we've dropped the price of gasoline at the pump. And of course we've done that dramatically in one year with the record number of drilling permits going out, working hard, make sure we get the price of electricity down, which was driven up by these crazy climate extremist policies in parts of our country. So that's one area where we've really, been really, really delivered on. But we got to keep driving. We got to keep driving forward to make sure, because we're in a. We're in an AI arms race with China, and the country with the most electricity is going to win. And we can be ahead in chips, we can be ahead in software. But if China is crushing us in terms of how fast they're bringing electricity online, we've got to get back to America being able to build great things, build them quickly. And the energy. Energy dominance is also about critical minerals. We can talk about that, too. But I mean, that's another area where we got to make up a bunch of lost ground. Not just drill, baby drill, but we got a mine, baby mine in this country. And of course, why does this matter to your listeners? If you're the car you drive, the food you eat, the clothes on your back, the home you heat, everything, everything has got an energy component in it. When we bring the price of energy down, we're bringing down the price of everything. And when we do it American with American energy that improves, that's bringing prosperity at home and peace abroad is the core to the agenda. You can't separate national security or national economy from energy policy. President Trump has got it dialed in and totally got it figured out and got a great team across the board working on it.
A
One thing Secretary Burgum, I want to ask you before I hand over to Clay is I thought this was really interesting, that there's a fund that the U.S. so the Trump administration has established to invest in critical minerals. And, you know, we talk about rare earth and we talk about these things. On the policy side, can you discuss a little bit about this? I mean, what. What is the criteria to invest here? What would these investments hopefully do and can we expect. This is like this $5 billion fund alongside Orion Resource Partners. I thought this was a really interesting story that I read recently in Bloomberg.
C
Well, yes, yes, it is, Buck. And it's again, when you've got the dealmaker in chief and a business guy running the country, then you can come up with creative solutions. This is the parallel to what most Americans would know, that we've got a US Strategic Petroleum Reserve where we had a bank of oil that was owned by the federal government to create a buffer in case of a time of crisis. We had nothing relative to US Strategic critical minerals reserve. And so we became, like most countries in the world, completely dependent on China. China, whether they're doing the mining at home or mining abroad, like in Africa or Indonesia, they were doing the refining of those minerals back in China. They control 85 to 100% of the refining. And then they can control the export of those. So last year they threatened to stop the exports of, of the things that we need to build a car, build a cell phone, all of these things. We were within weeks of shutting down car manufacturing in the US because of China's stranglehold on these minerals, in part because we've spent decades deciding that we were going to get out of the mining business in this country and we've got to get back into mining in America. So, okay, get back into mining, I open a mine, I'm going to do refining. China comes in, dumps a bunch of that particular metal on the market, crushes the price and you're out of business. This has happened over and over in America and around the world where China was just using their illegal trade tactics to try to crush new startups and new entries to maintain their grip on this. So this thing that you're describing in combination with a club of nations, where this last week hosted at the State department, we had J.D. marco, Chris Wright, Howard Lutnick, Scott Bessant, myself, everybody involved in this thing across the whole of government, over 50 nations here, wanting to join a club of nations where you could trade freely around critical minerals amongst each other with a price floor that would then allow the capital to start flowing back in this industry protected from the illegal activities of the trade side. But on the project called Project Vault, which is the critical minerals strategic reserve, that was again, President Trump, hey, can we do this without tax dollars? Yes. Can we go faster if we don't have to go through Congress? Yes. So ex im bank putting up $10 billion. You mentioned orion and others. There's other companies that are stepping in, providing equity against that. And so close to $12 billion that will then begin the foundation of, of over 60 critical minerals. We have 60 different stockpiles for all of these minerals that we need to keep our industry going, whether it's defense tech, regular tech, or whether it's, you know, the refrigerator in your home or things that you need for new construction or your power drill in your, in your shop that, your hand power drill, those have got magnets that have critical minerals. So these are everywhere. Your cell phones got 4, 42 different critical minerals in it. So this is a great, great solution to, to ensure that America has economic security and can't be, can't be controlled by, by China controlling the export of these minerals.
B
Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergam on with us now. So many people, every time we talk about the price of oil and gas, I say where I live in Tennessee, hey, the price of oil and gas is down. Significant when I go to the gas station. And then inevitably we hear from so many people who have the misfortune of living in blue states, that price of oil and gas still very high where they are. I do think this is instructive. How much of, let's say, let's pick California. How much of California and what Californians have to pay for oil and gas in their state is a function of the policy choices being made in California? And how would those policy choices differ, say with Texas or Florida or Tennessee and in terms of just what it costs to drive around in your car every day?
C
Well, the great example, Clay, with California, but it's, it's easily, on any given day, it could be 50%. I mean, it could be double. I mean, if you're paying, you know, $2.49 in some other state with common sense policies, we have someplace in the country that under two bucks now for, for, for regular gas, California regularly, five bucks. You can go to parts of California, Southern California, where it's over, you know, six or seven. And then you say, how is that happening? Well, these policies, which are driven by climate extremities, Take California right now, California is actually a national security threat. Its policies to the whole country because they have, they import 2/3. 63% of California's oil is being imported from foreign countries as opposed to be provided from places you know in America by a pipeline. So by ship. The number one country that's importing into California right now is Iraq. They're importing that oil. They used to have 40 refineries, now they've got eight. Two of the eight. Chevron and Valero announced plans to close, so they're going down to six refineries. So now I'm shipping my oil in from Iraq around the world, paying for that transportation to get it here. And then when it gets here now I can't find a refinery because they've shut. They're shutting down and choking refineries with their, with their regulations. This is the state, Clay, that has the most number of internal combustion vehicles in the country. They have more internal combustion vehicles than any other state even has vehicles. And they were trying to ban these things. And they're the number one thing. So when they say we're going to ban them, they're just driving the cost up on their consumers, which is why the two things that states, the two states like New York and California, which are poster childs for climate extremist polish, they're leading the nation in out migration. I mean, people can't afford to live there. And there's a whole wave of, of the next generation of industry is going to be driven by the price of electricity because you aren't going to build, you wouldn't build a flour mill 100 years ago in some place where wheat cost three times as much. What you need to manufacture intelligence is you need electricity. And if electricity costs three times as much, if your energy costs for transportation are double, no one's going to build manufacturing plants there where I got to load it into a truck and pay double for my fuel than I do in some other state. So not only people are out migrating now, capital is not flowing into those states. And they used to be like, oh, we're New York, you know, we're California, it'll just come here. No, it is reversing out of those two states. So these policies are going to create a tale of, like the tale of two cities. And it's going to be a tale of two approaches and you know, red states with common sense energy policies are beginning to see the benefits right now in terms of the, of growth and low energy costs and capital investment.
B
I know it's early in 2026, but you have a great background in business in addition to running much of American energy policy right now. What do you think the GDP is going to look like in 2026 as the economic policies of the Trump administration come online? What should we expect?
C
Well, I think you're going to see numbers that we've not seen before. Many people in their lifetime haven't seen numbers north of 5 and that's possible. We could have been, we could have hit there this fall already if not for the schumer shutdown in D.C. where you shut down the government for 40 plus days. You know, that's an impact. But when you lower taxes and lower regulation and then, and then speed up permitting, I mean, people don't talk about permitting. There's a trillion and a half dollars with a T that's been approved by boards of directors, by companies, by small businesses that said, I want to invest this capital in America to a project that's going to help move things forward and they can't get their permits done. So we've got this like giant logjam of capital that could also flow into the, flow into the economy in the terms of capital investment, you know, meaning new factories, new infrastructure, things that we need that benefit and raise the productivity of everybody that. So anyway, I'm expecting the numbers to be big but then when they come, it's just going to be like your gas prices. The GDP in some states, you know, could be seven, you know, six, seven, eight. And then you're going to have places like New York and California where it might be 2% because. Because of their high, their high energy costs. High energy costs slow down economic growth. So, you know, when we say the GDP of the country, it's an average of the whole country. Again, individual results may vary. Check your zip code. Move to a place where they've got common sense policies.
B
No doubt. We appreciate all the work. Look forward to talking to you again down the line. And thanks for the time today.
C
Well, and I don't want to impose, but we got one thing on sports. I'm not a Seattle Seahawks fan, nor a Patriots fan. I grew up in eastern North Dakota where we were had to suffer through the trauma of the Vikings losing four Super Bowls in quick succession. But there were two North Dakota State University recent graduates on that offensive line of Seattle opening it up for Walker to be the mvp. And you know, shout out, shout out to those Bison for the great job up front.
B
No doubt. Didn't the Bison just announced that they're joining a new conference, if I'm not mistaken for going forward. I think they're going to be stepping up play a little bit, if I'm not mistaken. Have been very successful over the years with North Dakota State.
C
Well, yes, you know, with the 1111 championships in the last 15 years in FCS, they're moving up to FBS and they're joining the Mountain West. It was announced, announced today, I think officially rumored yesterday, but you know, here we go. So it's going to be be fun traveling to Hawaii, New Mexico, Wyoming, San Jose State and many more. I think they're going to. It's going to be a great, a great step up, great conference and, and some new rivalries to be established.
B
No doubt. It's gonna be fun to watch. Appreciate the time.
C
Okay. Thank you, Clay. Thank you, Buck.
B
That is Secretary of the Interior Doug Burke. Great guy. I had a breakfast with him recently out here in Nashville. Really, really impressed. All right, let me hit you with a couple of things here. So we got a break. Cozy Earth. If you want some better product in your home that's gonna make you warmer. This is gonna be softer, that's gonna be great to sleep on. We've got everything Cozy Earth in my home, including the cuddle blanket which my sister tried and said I gotta have one of these immediately. Didn't even know that they did advertising on the program. You get 100 day money back guarantee, 10 year warranty. You get 20% off everything right now, including the cuddle blanket. If you go to cozyearth.com right now, use my name Clay. That's cozyearth.com right Now. My name C L A Y to get hooked up. Cozyearth.com My name Clay. Do it today. Couple of things that well, first of all, we're still waiting on the Nancy Guthrie outcome. Every single news station as we begin the third hour of the program as covering this as the number one story we have about talked, talked about this. It all is speculation because the amount of information that we still know is not very substantial. Deadline today at I believe 5pm Mountain, 7pm on the east coast of a $6 million ransom to be paid. So we will see what ends up happening there. We've talked some about Jeffrey Epstein. We have talked some about the Super Bowl. We have talked about a wide variety of different topics that have popped over the weekend. I did want to give you a super positive buck and one of our callers is going to build on this as well. I would say, and I think you probably would sign on. The most consequential boycott of a product that any of us have ever seen in our lives was what happened to Bud Light. In the wake of their deciding to put a trans influencer on a Bud Light can during the midst of the March madness, the Bud Light brand basically died overnight. Bud Light has since been desperate to try to get people to drink the beer again and they essentially have gone back to just trying to make funny, comedy, joke commercials again. They've been using Shane Gillis. They had Peyton Manning. They had a couple of those during the super bowl that took place. Did you see the ad for Budweiser with the. You did not see this ad? Okay. Budweiser had the most red blooded, crazy patriotic ad that I have seen in a long time. It's a little bit ridiculous, but it was a Clydesdale horse which has been a focal point of Budweiser for some time. And it had a baby bald eagle that basically was raised riding on the back of the Budweiser ad. And it was a bald eagle and it was like an America F. Yeah, crazy patriotic commercial. I think it is a direct response to the collapse of the brand that they decided, you know what, America is a good place. We should be embracing, embracing it more. And I do think it's a direct result of the cultural rejection of their woke advertising that that happened. And David and Scottsdale. I said we were gonna get to some of your calls at the top of the third hour. That is, I think, the take that you were going to share. Most of the ads were crap. They were not particularly funny or engaging or even frankly, memorable, other than the Backstreet Boys, which dominated. But David, what you got for us in Scottsdale?
C
Yeah, I was gonna say that was by far the best commercial. Who doesn't love Freebird? A Clydesdale and a Bald Eagle. It was brilliant. One of the most pro America ads I've ever seen.
B
Yeah, thank you for the call. I do think that that is reflective of the cultural swing. I also got this buck. I saw a. Danielle Jerinsky posted this on Twitter. I run a business, a sports bar, JJ's Place. Yesterday, 80% of the bar wanted the Turning Point halftime show on. Interesting. The rest wanted Bad Bunny to accommodate. I put the TVs on half and half the 20% started canceling the orders, talking, taking to social media, calling me racist, being disrespectful to my staff, and leaving one star reviews on Google and Yelp. Mind you, the 80% who wanted the Turning Point halftime show weren't happy. Bad Bunny stayed on, but they didn't leave me a bad review, take to social media, cancel their orders, or disrespect my staff. It's become impossible to run a business. I support three generations in my family on a sole income, try to accommodate everyone. The bar business is not what it used to be. Sad day. This, to me, I thought, was really representative of the world in which we live now. If you wanted the Turning Point halftime show on, you were able to track it down, but you weren't going to attack someone over having Bad Bunny on. I thought that was kind of an interesting window into the world in which we live. The left, if they don't get what they want, tries to destroy you. The right just says, by and large, hey, we should have options.
A
Yeah, of course. Well, that's because the left is the, is the. Not just the party or even the ideology. It is the, the ethos, the central ethos is that of the malcontent. It's people that are unhappy with things. They, they're, they think they're victims. They think that the, the world is out to get them. They think they're oppressed, whatever it may be. And so I wasn't surprised at all when I read that. I know it's gone a bit viral online and it's one of those things that, you know, you can expect the same way that anytime a leftist is upset about anything being right wing anywhere or being even sort of conservative or traditional Americana, they're very quick to say they want a boycott and they'll never do, you know, they'll never go to this place again or they'll never buy this product again, whatever it may be, because they have no room, there is no space on the left for anything other than whatever the hive mind demands. Which is a great opportunity to tell everybody about manufacturing delusion. Clay, my book, which comes out next week, which is all about this, about how the left uses brainwashing and doctrine indoctrination propaganda about you. Please go and get@kleinbuck.com your early copy and you will get a special for the pre orders. For the pre orders, a special video with a former CIA operations officer and myself talking about a whole range of intelligence mind control stuff including oh yes, we get into MK Ultra, we get into some of that stuff. So indeed, sorry Clay, for the shameless plug, but it is in fact the case that the leftists are always going to be like this. They're always going to be intolerant of anything that isn't what they want. There's a sort of babyishness that I think is at the heart of it as well. And, and you know, there's this idea that we have to have this like the super bowl has to be like a celebration of Puerto Rico or something. No, actually it didn't have to. Why? The super bowl should just be about entertaining the hundred million people that are watching. Like we don't actually need this to be like Puerto Rico history Month or something. Like we've had enough. We get it.
B
If the super bowl had been in Puerto Rico, that might make sense. It wasn't. And I love Puerto Rico. I've spent more time in puerto rico than 99% of the people probably out there in this audience listening right now. I lived in the Caribbean. I even Buck, back in the day took salsa dance lessons lessons with my wife Laura and went salsa down dancing in old San Juan on a weekend trip. I yes, Buck is stunned. Laura is. Laura is in the. I was just 99.999 percentile for excellent.
A
Dancers like our next, our next video or rather our next forget about stakes.
B
Our next bet.
A
There's going to have to be a dance challenge and you're going to have to salsa dance and post it on your social is what's going to have to happen here.
B
We're going to be claiming as long.
A
As I want the full thing, I want Rose in the mouth. I want the flowy sleeves, you know that. The super tight, like, gaucho pants or whatever. I want the whole thing, man. I want it all.
B
Laura wanted. Because we were in the Caribbean. We were living in the Caribbean at the time. She wanted us to take salsa dancing lessons together. So we had a Puerto Rican salsa dance instructor. I don't know. We went once a week or something. And then we went out salsa dancing in Puerto Rico state and old San Juan. I love Puerto Rico. It's beautiful country of the most beautiful places in the world. But the super bowl should be. Halftime show should be in English. Like, I. I don't even see that as being controversial, but we got some talkbacks. I always love this.
A
Can I just say something? We have. We have a lot of Asian Americans in America. In this country. We have a lot of Asian Americans, a lot of Chinese Americans. Should the super bowl next year feature a. A Chinese pop band to show, you know, to pay homage to, like, the contributions of the Chinese, so the whole thing will be in Mandarin. Is that where we want to go? I'm just wondering why not. By the way, the army probably would love it because they want TV rights in China. So, like, let's just go for it. Let's just make this the new thing. We're going to unite the country by dividing the country. That's the point.
B
I think it would probably be Korean K Pop, which is, I understand, very, very popular right now. The super bowl halftime show should not be in Korean. Like that. That is not. I don't think. I don't think that's a smart play. I. I don't think, by the way, that Korea's. Whatever the biggest sporting event in Korea is. I have no earthly idea. Like, it should. I don't think that it should be in English. Like, I would. I would think that was a bad look. If the goal is to have every Korean in South Korea, we. Who knows what the most popular thing in North Korea is? But I don't think that it should be in. In English since.
A
Since we're in, like, show and tell and sharing time here. You know, Clay, I recently tried paddle or padel, if you want to go with the more Latin I played for the first time. I'm playing again today. This is very popular in Latin America and in Spain.
B
Is this a version of. What is this a version of? Like, how would it. Is it. It's. I've seen a lot of people talking.
A
About this, like a cross between. I don't know, maybe, like, Racquetball and squash and it's something like it's somewhere. It's like if squash and tennis had a baby, maybe. I mean, it's a little bit. But it's really for people who want to have the sort of social interaction of tennis without having to learn how to play tennis is what I would say. Having done both, that's where I would say it is.
B
It's different. The thing that's so popular now that is like Padel.
A
Oh, you're talking pickleball.
B
Pickle. How does it compare to pickleball?
A
Pickleball is for senior citizens, which is cool, by the way. It's cool.
B
You.
A
You play pickleball with your cold. 1911. When you go to the range, you're good to go. Like, that's the way it's supposed to be. There's place for the walkers to collect near the pickleball court. Pickleball is just. It's for senior citizens. When I'm a senior citizen, I'll play pickleball. It's lovely.
B
So Padel is more physically engaging than pickleball.
A
Padel is pickleball for people who drive around on Vespas and drink very small coffee.
B
I don't. I don't know all. I've seen people playing all these different sports, but I will play this because if you want to reach out and you want to, by the way, you're going to get ripped for that take. And I don't even have enough knowledge of it to know. I just know pickleball community is going to come for you with their paddles and their.
A
And their, you know, definitely more scared of 1911 Colt. 1911 community. But pickleball community, yes, they. They bite and they kick.
B
Brad from Raleigh Durham says we're racist. Cut. D.
A
Lot of times when your guys.
B
Get on your rant, you sound racist, man.
A
You really do. The whole thing with Bad Bunny was about the history of Puerto Rico. I mean, come on, man. So why does it sound. I don't like the music. Why does that sound racist? I don't understand.
B
Also saying it should be in English is not racist. Like, English is the language of the country. If I went to Japan and I said, you know what? Sumo wrestling. If they have halftime shows or the baseball at Japanese baseball, they should only do it in English or they should only do the halftime shows in Chinese, I would think that would probably make the average Japanese sports fan not enjoy it as much as they otherwise could. If your goal is. Is to put on something that over 100 million people will enjoy. My suggestion would be you should do it in the language that most of the people watching are watching in. You know, like, regardless of what your background is, you should be able to understand what someone is saying. That's the foundation of communication. So I don't even understand the whole. I understand that everybody who wants to try to attack people immediately says it's racist, but I don't even understand how it's racist to say. I think that major American cultural institutions should speak English.
A
I told you before I confided in you, and then you shared it with a few million people that I work out listening to Creed. Still, that's okay. That's okay. Now we have, for example, a very robust audience of Cuban Americans down here in South Florida who listen to this show. I know because they give me the thumbs up and a wink whenever I see them in public. So whatever. And there are people, right, if they want to make fun of Creed, that's okay. If they want to say that Creed is gringo slop, I'm not going to. I'm not going to take that personally. I think they're wrong. But you see what I mean? You're allowed to not like a musical actor, musical band, you know, or even a genre. And that doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't make you a racist in any direction. And I don't like that people do this thing where they try to make it that because it's just lazy. It's just lazy thinking. It's a celebration of the history of Puerto Rico. The game was in the Bay Area. Like, why are we celebrating Puerto Rico at the Super Bowl? Also, why are we celebrating New Hampshire at the Super Bowl? I mean, who cares?
D
Absurd.
A
Why aren't we celebrating Papua New guinea at the Super Bowl? Like, what are we doing here, folks?
B
Yeah, and look, I said this earlier. The game in Miami had Shakira and Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Lopez celebrated. Puerto Rico was six years ago, but it was in Miami. It actually made sense that you would do a Latin infused celebration of South Florida culture writ large.
A
Yeah, that's a Miami crossover artist with huge global appeal. In English, Bad Bunny is not popular outside of Latin America.
B
But to your. But to your point, they went to San Francisco to do it, which makes even less sense. Also, look, the reason people say something's racist is not to actually have an argument, and it's to end an argument. Because the idea is once you say that, it's the worst thing that you can say, and then the argument turns into well, I'm not racist. Instead of it being an argument about the underlying aspects of the dispute in the first place, my argument to you would be the first person to say that's racist is actually just acknowledging that they've lost the underlying dispute because they're having to go to just ad hominem attack, by the way. But I wanted to play that because he was angry and he wanted to call us racist and, you know, try to share all perspectives. When we come back, we'll take some more of your calls. We'll continue to interact. We're going to have Ashley Brassfield on at the bottom of the hour. But when tragedy strikes the tunnel, the Towers foundation honors America's heroes and their families like United States Army Specialist Andy Kingsley. Andy served our nation with honors, part of the 82nd Airborne Division. Throughout his distinguished career, he received various awards and decorations including Purple Heart. But while Andy was deployed, he was severely injured. The incident resulted in the loss of his right leg, partial vision loss, a traumatic brain injury and more. He spent over a year at Walter Reed National Military Medical center learning how to navigate life with his injuries. Living with severe combat injuries can make even life's daily tasks challenging. That's why receiving a specially adapted mortgage free smart home from Tunnel to Towers has been life changing for Andy. It allows him to live with greater independence and dignity. This is the power of giving to Tunnel the Towers. Many more heroes like Andy need your support. Donate $11 a month to tunnel the towers@t2t.org that's t the number 2t.org.
A
We're joined by Ashley Brassfield. She is a reporter at the Daily Caller. She's got a piece out today. Senate Republicans have the power to force Democrats to filibuster voter id. So why don't they? Ashley, welcome to the program. Great to have you on.
D
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
A
So let's talk about this. We discussed the SAVE Act a little bit before. Democrats hate election security. Republicans aren't going to get this thing through, it seems. But why not force the Democrats hand and show everybody on the record that Democrats, like I said, hate election security.
D
Well, that's exactly right. And I think that the talking filibuster here, which Senator Mike Lee, who's sponsored the Save America act, he's put forth the idea that this talking filibuster that hasn't really been utilized in modern history except for back in the day in 1957 when Strom Thurmond was filibustering the Civil Rights act, that this was something that was used often and they could bring it back for the Save America act to get election integrity legislation across the board here. And what this does, I mean, it really buys Republicans time as well to get a lot more people on board to sponsor this legislation, get the votes in place they would need during that time when the Democrats of filibuster, and I think a lot of Americans know this themselves, that, you know, senators, congressmen, they tend to be lazy. This would require a lot of time, a lot of standing, a lot of talking, something they don't love to do. But this is one of those options that they could utilize, especially with Leader Thune in charge and he could lead this way.
B
Is there any significance that John Fetterman has come out as a Democrat and said voter ID makes sense. Is there any other hope for Democrats support? I think that would get us to 54, if my math is correct. But to your point, you need to get to 60 to kind of really get anything done in the Senate. Any other Democrats, maybe some of those that are in states that Trump won potentially considering this decision?
D
Yeah, I mean, I think that this will allow them more time to get on board. I mean, this could last for weeks if you did the talking. Filibuster. I think the argument here with Thune is could we be doing other things with other legislation? I know when he was speaking last week, he talked about a highway bill, a farm bill. But this is legislation that the president's been talking about since the campaign trail, election integrity. And we saw in the 2020 election, I was a Georgia resident at the time. We saw the aftermath of that. So I do think that this is a popular discussion amongst Democrats as well. I think around 80% agree with this legislation. The President said it to a reporter on at the White House the other day, Reagan, Reese, that 80% of Democrats, they support this. So it's really just really just waiting to play the game with the Democrats to see if they'll cave or not, and then, you know, kind of winning the PR war here.
A
You know, Ashley, we've been talking a fair bit today about sports. Clay loves the sports. He is a sportsball aficionado. You don't just like the sports in theory. You are a Division 1 athlete at the University of South Carolina. So you've actually been. Been to NCAA stuff and competed and buck.
B
What is the mascot of the University of South Carolina? That's a great lead in. Is there any chance that, you know.
A
Zero.
D
Make him say zero.
B
Zero. Oh, it's a fun one, Ashley. I'll let you tell everyone.
D
Well, we are the Gamecocks. But, you know, the short version is Go Cocks. That's of course what we say.
B
I thought that's the cheer at South Carolina.
D
Yes, well, yes, well, we are very proud.
B
I'm a very proud okie dokie.
A
Now, I want to ask you about these skiers. These skiers, though, Trump, very unhappy with them. I think rightly so. They're getting asked about whether they have mixed feelings about, about America competing rather on behalf of America at the Winter Olympics. I just feel like they should have mixed feelings about the fact that so few people actually want to watch skiing in the first place that maybe they shouldn't be jerks. What do you think?
D
Yeah, I think that's exactly right. I mean, this is, I think the Winter Olympics and the Olympics in general. I mean, I played beach volleyball. That's the most watched sport in the Olympics in general. So this is Winter Olympics now. But I think that the skiers, you know, getting asked the question, are they worried to compete on the behalf of the United States? The question itself in general, why are you even asking that? I mean, I think that politics and sports, obviously there's some convergence. We saw that last night with the super bowl convert performance. But they're representing their country. They've worked their entire lives to get there. Just why are you even asking that in the first place to them that you should be asking them about, you know, their wins, how they're willing to compete. Any other question than that?
B
Actually, I think that's really important and we may dive into this tomorrow because the Winter Olympics will become more the story, I think, in the wake of the season, super bowl ending, but I did through grok, which I love using. This is an example of left wing sports media turning this into a story. And for people out there who don't know, during Biden, Clinton and Obama 20 years, there were no questions about politics that were asked of American athletes. Only when Trump has been in office, Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0 have sports media decided, oh, we should ask, I don't know, a downhill skier what he or she thinks about American immigration policy. And then when they get an answer, they turn it into the narrative that this is so controversial that everybody has to talk about it. You were an athlete at the University of South Carolina. I've actually spoken to a lot of athletes in my career as a media guy to try to tell them, hey, be careful of media using you to tell the story that they want to tell not you're not even really aware of how you're being used. I'm curious, when you were at South Carolina, did they. You may not have gotten a ton of questions in volleyball, certainly basketball and football would get the majority of questions from media, but did you guys have training like that? Because I think a lot of athletes are becoming aware that it's not really what they're being saying. They're using you as a proxy. The sports media are to say what they want to say, but using your voice.
D
No, I think that's exactly right. And I we had a little media training. To answer your question. I think the two most significant things from my time at University of South Carolina that I recall is I was there from 2019 to 2021. And during that period of time, obviously Covid hit. I was forced to spit in tubes for a year and a half and I was never vaccinated. There was kind of pressure campaigns internally that, you know, were put on us, those that were not vaccinated at the time. But another thing that was taking place was Black Lives Matter. And to give you a perspective, beach volleyball, if you probably look at the Democrat demographics across the board for Division 1 beach volleyball, I guarantee majority of the girls that are involved in it are Caucasian at least. And the Black Lives Matter we all had to sit down to talk about if we're going to put a Black Lives Matter, I guess patch under our SEC patch on our jerseys and none of our team, for perspective, were black. And so just it's virtue signaling and the fact that we all had to sit down, have a meeting to talk about if we were all okay with that. Just a waste of time. Not something sports related, not academic related even. It's really those were the two most significant things that I recall. I mean, the spitting in the tubes and then of course, the Black Lives Matter patch.
B
You and Riley Gaines were both in office. Riley does a lot of work with us at Outkick and they had the same pressure they put on her. She was a swimmer at the University of Kentucky. You just mentioned that you were in College in 2020. That makes you way younger than either Buck or myself. So the super bowl halftime show, is it. What is your take?
A
And I mean, way, way younger than you. Like younger than me, but yeah, go ahead.
B
All right, so. So my take is regard, regardless of what you think, that it's not crazy to want the super bowl halftime show to be in English, since most people in America speak English. But what was your overall assessment? You can love it, you can hate it. I presume that you watched of the super bowl halftime show.
D
Yes, I definitely tuned in. There's a lot of controversy. I've had to comment about it on other news outlets, of course, as well. So I was very interested. And of course, after his Grammy is accepted speech, Bad Bunny talking about ice and then Roger Goodell coming out saying, oh, it's not going to be political. I was skeptical to see if that would be actually true. And I mean, for the most part, I think that Bad Bunny was not political in this performance. Besides saying, you know, God bless America as well as other Latin American countries at the time. I think one of the main things, like you said that the obvious was nothing was in English besides Lady Gaga's performance. But I think the main differences that I notice of Kendrick Lamar's performance last year at the super bowl and this performance is there was much more diversity, which I know that's a lefty term, but I did notice that the overall stage presence and I guess the setup of the actual performance, it was impressive in my opinion. But I do, I do think there's something to be said if you're going to try and attract a broader audience. And this is American football game. I think the NFL for a long time has tried to play the card in the marketing scheme that they are going to be FIFA. They want this worldwide presence. They have games in Germany, Mexico City and all these things. So they tried to take that on. And yes, Bad Bunny is pretty well known amongst my generation. I do think there is a lot of people that listen to him. But if you're looking at the broader NFL audience, are they actually marketing to that audience? I do not think they are here. The performance itself ended up being okay, but I do think that they have an issue with knowing their audience and what their audience wants.
A
What is the worst genre of music? Ashley?
D
I'm going to go scream out. I feel like it's screamo.
B
I don't even know what that is. What is this gender anything Take us.
A
Into this Gen Z world. What is this screamo?
D
Well, you know, I love a good classic rock. I love the Led Zeppelin. I'm a big country music fan. I'm from the Southeast. And I think screamo is the type of rock music where it's just like complete screaming, if you know what I mean.
B
Like, very dark is what old people.
D
Okay, yes.
A
No, no, no, no. Hair metal is like. Like Guns N Roses and Motley Crue.
B
That's not.
A
She's talking about more like like the, like the death metal, where they like.
B
Okay, sorry. Death metal is what I meant to say. Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry. Hair metal guy.
A
Hair metal is amazing. You're.
B
You're gonna utterly disgust. Sorry. I bet I meant death metal, not hair metal. Sorry, sorry. I don't want your. I don't want your hate mail.
D
No, I enjoy some Led Zeppelin at acdc, all the classic rock, but that's a little too far for me. You know, some rap. It all sounds the same nowadays, so we'll put that in that category as well.
A
Also, did you think the NFL game was so boring that people should just stop watching the NFL because it's usually so boring? I don't know. That's where I come down on this.
D
That. That's a good point. And I know a lot of Patriots fans that are just really disappointed today. But I mean, I was really wanting a good game here and we didn't get one. And I think they were saying that Bad Bunny got more yards in the first half than.
B
That was a line that was a very. By the way, the, the postseason NFL, the wild card round and the divisional round were about as good as football could get. Any one play could have changed the. This was a really poor game, but the postseason up till now was pretty good. What so significant, significant question here and we're talking to. To Ashley Brassfield as we go forward. What do you think? There's so much talk. I wrote a book about it about young people supporting President Trump and the fact that culturally many people have begun to reject the left. We're now into year two. What would you say the vibe of people around your age in America is today? Is that same momentum existing? Has it changed? Where is, you know, the 25 year old in America today, based on your experience?
D
Yeah, I'm going to go with its change and I know a lot of people are not going to want to hear that, but I do think it has changed. And I was on with Buck on his podcast talking about this not too long ago of the elections in November, what we were seeing with mom Donnie and I think that was the tell all sign there that what was happening with affordability then they didn't like that word so they changed it over to pricing. And now the President's going to be on the road every week this year going into the midterms to help Republicans win be due to the fact that the messaging is just really not there on that domestic issue. Another thing with my generation, we lived through the last 20, 25 years of war in The Middle east very exhausted about the foreign policy issues. I think they're sick of it. They want the focus to be on that domestic policy feeling, that affordability, the pricing back in their pockets palpably. And, you know, there's reasoning there that it's going to kick in in 2026 with the big beautiful bill. But also you. I cover a lot of Congress, and what you're seeing from Congress currently is one of the most unsuccessful Congresses in the first year of a president's term where they passed less than 40 bills. So I think that there is this essence of disappointment from Gen Z currently. They. And I do think that they feel that from the right, President Trump was able to take the cultural issues going on these podcasts. I mean, he really took the bull by the horns in 2024. And I think it's kind of slowed down on our generation since then. They're much more moderate in certain ways when it comes to cultural aspects. And I think even the president talks about the Bad Bunny performance. I don't know if it's going to resonate very well sometimes. There's been moments where I question it myself. But I. I do think there's still hope if they can get those affordability and domestic issues down. But I do think there is a lot of people generation that have kind of gone down the slope of disappointment to an extent.
A
Well, before we let you go, Taylor Swift, is she your generation's Beatles? Because this is an outrageous claim that somebody has made recently on this show.
D
Who made that? Who made that claim?
A
That would be Clay, of course.
B
A brilliant man by the name of Clay Travis. You might have heard of him before.
D
Well, I. That's the question. Would you have rather had bad Taylor Swift instead of Bad Bunny CLAY A billion percent more?
B
Taylor Swift is the Beatles of the 21st century.
A
Look at the skilled pivot from the Capitol Hill reporter over here. You notice that, by the way, she's not. She's not taking that hand grenade. She's like, well, let's just move into another version of answering the question. I like that. That was good.
D
You know, I'm not the biggest Swifty myself, but at the same time, Taylor Swift is a extremely talented performer. I may not agree with her politics in many ways, but she is very talented. I think her last tour, the number she did when it came to, you know, selling tickets worldwide, it shows that really has gained momentum with the female, you know, Gen Z demographic. I mean, she's been around since I was probably 8 years old. I went to a Taylor Swift concert. So I will say the amount of time she's put in, she's become very successful. So to an extent, I agree with you there. I think that as far as music skill, the Beatles might have something on her. But we'll see.
A
I guess we'll see, Clay. We'll see. Ashley Brassfield, Daily Caller. Great to have you, Ashley. We'll talk to you soon.
D
My pleasure. Thank you.
A
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Episode Date: February 9, 2026
Podcast: The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show
Host: iHeartPodcasts
In this Monday edition, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dive into the aftermath of the Super Bowl, critiquing the game, commercials, and especially the halftime show by Bad Bunny. With their signature mix of political commentary and pop culture analysis, they discuss broader cultural trends and political news, including an extended conversation with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on U.S. energy policy and an interview with Daily Caller reporter Ashley Brassfield about election integrity legislation. The episode is marked by sharp opinions, humor, and pointed critiques of "woke" trends in sports and entertainment.
"The game was boring as hell. The Super Bowl halftime was absurd. Don't make it political—the whole thing was political, you babies... the game stunk..."
— Buck Sexton (02:25)
"You can't have the signature American cultural event of the year be performed in a language other than English."
— Clay Travis (03:40)
"He's mumbling the most grotesque stuff imaginable... it's disgusting. It's like that WAP song basically, but en español."
— Buck Sexton (10:58)
"Budweiser had the most red-blooded, crazy patriotic ad... It was like an America 'F-Yeah'... I think it is a direct response to the collapse of the brand..."
— Clay Travis (36:30)
"The stock market is kicking ass. America right now under Trump is doing really well..."
— Buck Sexton (08:29)
"We're in an AI arms race with China, and the country with the most electricity is going to win... Not just drill, baby, drill, but we got a mine, baby, mine in this country."
— Doug Burgum (20:15)
"High energy costs slow down economic growth... Move to a place where they've got common sense policies."
— Doug Burgum (30:43)
"The left, if they don't get what they want, tries to destroy you. The right just says... 'we should have options.'"
— Clay Travis (39:23)
"The Super Bowl should just be about entertaining the hundred million people that are watching... we don't need this to be like Puerto Rico history month."
— Buck Sexton (41:50)
"Saying it should be in English is not racist. English is the language of the country."
— Clay Travis (46:42)
"80% of Democrats... support this. So it's really just waiting to play the game with the Democrats to see if they'll cave or not, and then... winning the PR war..."
— Ashley Brassfield (53:09)
"The fact that we all had to sit down, have a meeting to talk about if we were all okay with that... Just a waste of time. Not something sports related..."
— Ashley Brassfield (57:26)
| Time | Segment | Summary | |-----------|------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:04–06:00 | Super Bowl recap, game & halftime show | Hosts vent about boring game & anger over Bad Bunny’s show | | 10:44–16:00 | Political undertones in pop culture | Buck & Clay discuss politicization of halftime & entertainment | | 19:36–33:34 | Interview: Doug Burgum (Interior Secretary) | In-depth on Trump energy policy, critical minerals, GDP | | 36:30–38:01 | Bud Light/Budweiser ad & culture backlash | Patriotic commercials as culture-war counterprogramming | | 38:01–39:40 | Turning Point halftime, bar owner controversy | Social backlash against anti-Bad Bunny preferences | | 41:50–44:25 | Language, representation, & “racism” | Debating what languages belong at American cultural events | | 51:09–66:18 | Interview: Ashley Brassfield (voter ID, sports)| Election integrity, media training, & Gen Z’s political mood |
This episode of The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show serves as an in-depth culture and politics recap in the wake of Super Bowl weekend. From lambasting the NFL’s musical choices and perceived “wokeness" to touting Trump’s economic policies and needling the generational divides in music and sports, the show is an energetic tour through right-of-center grievances, humor, and strategy. Extended interviews with Doug Burgum and Ashley Brassfield tie policy debates to real-world consequences, especially on energy and electoral law, while hosts connect pop culture events to political and cultural shifts, reflecting and reinforcing the show’s central thesis: that the culture war permeates every aspect of American life—Super Bowl included.