Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Feb 20 2026

Summary

THE CLAY TRAVIS AND BUCK SEXTON SHOW
Daily Review with Clay and Buck – February 20, 2026
iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this packed Friday episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton analyze the political fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision striking down President Trump’s emergency tariffs, explore the future of executive power, and take a deep dive into challenging current topics such as gender transition medicine through a moving interview with Soren Aldaco. The episode features analysis, humor, policy debate, and candid listener calls, with special guest appearances by Indiana Governor Mike Braun and Soren Aldaco, author of a widely-circulated Wall Street Journal op-ed.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Emergency Tariff Authority

• Breaking News Discussion (03:08–09:58)

  • The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Trump’s use of emergency tariffs, invoking limits under the 1977 IEPA law, with Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett joining the majority.
  • Clay and Buck emphasize this isn’t surprising and revisit their own January predictions that the Court would curb Trump’s authority.
  • The conversation centers on executive vs Congressional power:
    • Buck: “They say you can’t tax them because that’s left to Congress. It is the fundamental… constitutional power left to the United States Congress.” (07:43)
  • Talk turns to potential implications:
    • Refunds for companies affected by the tariffs (“hundreds of billions” potentially in play).
    • Clay predicts Trump will immediately cite a different statute and try to run out the clock on his term: “I would bet almost 100% chance that’s what he’s going to do.” (09:58)

• Impact on Politics and Markets

  • Markets stable – the ruling was anticipated.
  • The hosts interpret the decision as the Court carving out space to both check Trump and potentially give him wins on more consequential cases (racial gerrymandering, birthright citizenship).

• Quote to Note

  • Clay Travis, reflecting on Supreme Court motivations:
    “If they give Trump everything… then they say, ‘Oh, it’s a rubber stamp for Trump. The Supreme Court has no legitimacy.’” (10:40)

2. Anticipating Future Supreme Court Decisions

• The hosts debate how the Court may rule on racial gerrymandering and birthright citizenship, suggesting this ruling gives the Court room to make “blockbuster” decisions in Trump’s favor without press accusations of bias.
• Buck Sexton:
  “The alternative is to really open the door to the dissolution of American sovereignty entirely.” (13:27)
• They view Roberts as politically astute, aiming to balance decisions and protect the Court’s institutional reputation.

3. Indiana Governor Mike Braun Interview

• On Trump Tariffs & Economic Policy (22:23–25:17)

  • Braun was with the President when the tariff decision broke and reports Trump was “seething” and immediately left to address the press:
    Braun: “He said, ‘Well, to be honest, I’m kind of seething over this. Think I need to go talk to the press.’” (22:58)
  • He reflects on U.S. trade policy post-Marshall Plan, arguing that tariffs were necessary to address massive trade deficits:
    “Something had to give. And I don’t think the dynamic would have changed unless you were using the leverage of tariffs.” (24:18)

• On Chicago Bears Possibly Moving to Indiana (25:17–27:31)

  • Braun details negotiations to bring the Bears from Chicago, criticizing Illinois officials for letting this “red state vs blue state” drama unfold.
  • “Blame it on Pritzker and the mayor because they basically said we’re not interested.” (26:34)

• Indiana Redistricting and GOP Dynamics (28:08–30:54)

  • Addresses frustration among conservatives regarding redistricting in Indiana, attributing roadblocks to “establishment Republicanism” in the statehouse.

• College Football in Indiana & Culture (31:38–32:50)

  • Braun compares IU’s football championship to the “Hoosiers” movie, predicting a football film one day:
    “I think someday there’ll be a football film made that will be kind of the analog [to Hoosiers]...” (32:11)

4. Soren Aldaco’s Story: The Realities of Youth Gender Transition Medicalization

• Powerful Op-ed Author Interview (38:34–54:17)

  • Soren Aldaco, now 23, recounts how as an unhappy 11-year-old she was influenced online to believe she was transgender, leading to psychiatric affirmation and ultimately rapid medical intervention (testosterone at 17, double mastectomy at 19).
  • Describes negligent medical oversight:
    “My mom… wasn’t consulted whatsoever.” (44:24)
    “I was sent home the same day without drains… they didn’t really seem to think it was a problem whatsoever.” (46:32)
  • She experienced botched follow-up care, severe complications, and a realization that she’d made a grave mistake largely instigated and reinforced by medical professionals and societal pressures.
  • Soren is involved in a lawsuit challenging the medical team’s actions, facing issues around statute of limitations:
    “They argue [the statute] started with the letter being authored. We argue it didn’t start until the surgery occurred because harm didn’t occur until the surgery…” (51:29)

• Memorable Quotes

  • “This sounds barbaric to me.” – Clay Travis on outpatient mastectomy for a healthy 19-year-old (47:11)
  • Soren’s message to her young self:
    “Get off your phone and go outside… try and be patient and get information from as many sources as possible.” (53:35)

• Call to Action

  • Clay urges legislatures nationwide to abolish statutes of limitation for medical malpractice in child gender transition cases:
    “Eliminate statutes of limitations on these medical malpractice suits… because these lawsuits need to happen.” (52:08)
  • Listeners are encouraged to read Soren’s WSJ op-ed and share her story (“bravery in telling this story is also very important”).

5. Open Phones: Listener Reactions and National Conversation

• Parents and elders recall sensible puberty guidance of past decades, expressing horror at modern trends.

• Arguments arise over responsibility: doctors vs parents, with Clay strongly defending parents under medical pressure.

• Calls highlight how insurance companies cover gender-affirming surgeries as “medically necessary,” but not cosmetic augmentations for healthy teens.

  • Clay: “We got a whole rig job going on here.” (67:48)

• Clay and Buck urge more lawsuits and legislative action:

  • “Plaintiff lawyers fire, file these lawsuits. Members of the state legislature, file bills eliminating statute of limitations…” (59:20)
  • “A lot of people weighing in… I think the story she shared is an important one.” (54:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Topic | |-----------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:08 | Clay Travis | “Sometimes we get things right that aren’t necessarily ideal for President Trump…” | | 07:43 | Buck Sexton | “You can’t tax them because that’s left to Congress. That is a constitutional power.” | | 10:40 | Clay Travis | “If they give Trump everything… then they say, ‘Oh, it’s a rubber stamp for Trump.’” | | 22:58 | Gov. Braun | “To be honest, I’m kind of seething over this. Think I need to go talk to the press.” | | 24:18 | Gov. Braun | “Something had to give. And I don’t think the dynamic would have changed unless you were using the leverage of tariffs.” | | 38:34 | Soren Aldaco | “At age 11, I was actually kind of doing all of this on my own… I got into some pretty dark corners where I was groomed.” | | 46:32 | Aldaco/Travis | “Insurance pays for this… you have this incredibly significant elective surgery with… very minimal supervision…” | | 53:35 | Soren Aldaco | “Get off your phone and go outside… try and be patient and get information from as many sources as possible.” | | 59:20 | Clay Travis | “Plaintiff lawyers, file these lawsuits. Members of the state legislature, file bills eliminating statute of limitations…” |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Supreme Court Tariffs Ruling Analysis: 03:08–15:47
• Interview: Governor Mike Braun (Tariffs, Bears Move, Redistricting): 22:23–33:16
• Tariffs, Court Decisions Recap: 35:45–38:34
• Interview: Soren Aldaco (Gender Transition Experience): 38:34–54:17
• Listener Calls and Clay’s Commentary on Medicalization: 54:49–71:51

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Tone & Language

The hosts blend conservative analysis, humor, and urgency, especially regarding cultural and legal issues. Emotional storytelling and candid testimonials add gravity to the episode, especially in Soren Aldaco’s segment. Listeners are often directly addressed and encouraged to take political and legal action.

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Episode Value

For listeners, this episode provides:

• An informed, accessible breakdown of a major Supreme Court decision and its broader implications for 2026 politics.
• Unique insight from a sitting governor on state-level maneuvering and GOP debates.
• A deeply personal, cautionary account of youth gender transition medicine, with actionable takeaways for parents, lawmakers, and cultural commentators.
• Some levity through asides (e.g., book sales banter, sports, and pop culture), maintaining the show’s trademark blend of analysis and entertainment.

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Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome in Friday Edition. Clay Travis, BUCK SEXTON SHOW Sometimes we get things right that aren't necessarily ideal for President Trump. This was one of them. In the early morning hours here, early mornings probably about two hours ago, the Supreme Court released an opinion striking down President Trump's authority to put the tariffs in place that he put in place last April. By the way, just breaking right now, Caroline Levitt says President Trump will hold a press briefing on the Supreme Court's tariff decision at 12:45. I would imagine that we will go to that. But let me give you a little bit of a medley, a montage of the media reporting about two hours ago that the, that the tariffs were being struck down by the Supreme Court. This is cut to we are in breaking news here.

[Soren Aldaco]

Has just got that Supreme Court ruling

[Clay Travis]

in the last hour, six to three, shooting down the president's use of IEPA tariffs. The Supreme Court just struck down the

[Ad Host]

bulk of President Trump's tariffs. This is huge news. This is happening as we speak.

[Clay Travis]

The president's emergency tariffs are illegal, a

[Soren Aldaco]

significant loss for President Trump, A major

[Governor Mike Braun]

slap that the president of the United States.

[Clay Travis]

This now strikes down tariffs that are imposed to 80 countries. This is the first time that the 63 conservative court has ruled against President Trump. Okay, couple of months ago, we'll play this among others. We have been telling you on this program that we thought that this would likely be a loss for Trump. In the wake of oral arguments here was January on the program. Cut one. All right. I'm nervous about this one, Buck. I think the Supreme Court is going to strike down some elements of President Trump. I think this is one where the president's going to get a pushback from the Supreme Court and they are going to have, they're going to have a really complicated situation here. My concern is that they're going to slap him back some on this. We'll see. But I think it could be a major pushback. Okay. So they did as as we had forecast on the program, stock market, for those of you who care, basically seemed to expect that this ruling was going to come down the Dow relatively unmoved the s and P500 up about 4/10 of a percentage. So Buck here is the complicated question going forward. I would wager a ton of money. We'll see when he comes at, at 1245 Eastern and has this press conference. I would wager a lot that President Trump will now cite a new statutory authority to allow him to take executive action on tariffs that will then be challenged and go all the way back to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court will be ruling on that. In the meantime, I would say the biggest outcome here is what if at all and this opinion does not focus on it will happen for people who claim tariff refunds arguing that this tariff should not have been able to be put in place and therefore the money should be returned to the companies that have been paying the tariff. That's the biggest question. Your take here as this news came down this morning before we came on

[Buck Sexton]

the air, not, not unexpected at all. And I was going through the decision this morning in some detail. You know, it's an interesting history here, right? The president looks at this 1977 IPA law and says, well, hold on a second. We have a flood of illegal drugs coming from Canada, Mexico and China. We have massive deficits which create an economic and even maybe national security risk over the long term for the United States. So he's going to take action. And it seemed that in much of the back and forth in the, in the actual decision, the question is the action was not explicit enough in that law. And even though it is explicit that the president could do far more extreme things under this law, it seems the president could say no more, no more steel from China, period. He could do that. He could say, you can't give us, you can't import any more steel from China, national security risk. But he can't say again, According to the 6:3 majority here, which included Roberts and Gorsuch and of course, Amy Coney Barrett, what you can't do is say there's a 10% tariff now for national security reasons or for emergency reasons that goes into effect. There was a lot of argument over. So you're saying he can do a de minimis thing or an extreme thing, but he can't do, meaning the little tiny Regulations around these issues, a massive shutdown of these things, of these imports, of imports coming into the country. But you can't tax them. They say you can't tax them because that's left to Congress. That is a constitutional power. It is the sort of fundamental, foundational, unfortunately, constitutional power left of the United States Congress. So there's a lot of back and forth over that. I think you're right about the logistics now getting. It's going to get interesting to see. So do companies actually get money back from the government the government's taken in? Is that what's going to happen? Do they all have to go and seek suit individually? Is there some what happens now to the large sum hundreds of billions of dollars that have been taken in as a result of this? The markets haven't been spooked at all by it so far. Which means I think the reality here was priced in that this was probably going to be the outcome. Neither you nor I surprised by it. One thing I do think is interesting is it completely changes the tariff debate. Meaning what Trump has done has shown that you can in fact impose tariffs. It will not destroy the economy. It will bring in hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue. Every other country does this. Maybe this is something we should think about. It changes the. The tariffs are, you know, lead to trade wars, trade wars lead to real wars. Changes that discussion. I think Clay, going forward, we'll see. It'd be really interesting. If you call this one, I'll be very impressed that Trump just comes out and says, okay, tariffs now under the following authority, everything stays exactly as is. And then he buys himself another. Well, it depends how fast the Supreme Court tries to move on this. But he would buy himself. He'd have to go through the courts. That have to be more process. That would be very interesting.

[Clay Travis]

I think I would bet almost 100% chance that's what he's going to do. And he will basically try to run out the clock on the remainder of his term as it pertains to tariffs. I think your point is a good one. Back in April of last year, everybody told us, oh my goodness, this is going to destroy the economy. We're going to have a recession. Instead, we're sitting at record high stock market prices. The overall, as we said yesterday, mortgage rates have come down, inflation has come down. GDP numbers were not great this morning, but they were great in the fourth quarter. And a large part of the GDP issues was the huge shutdown that we had that went on at the end of last year. I think Everything is poised as people are set for record amounts of money back refunds from the government associated with the president's big tax cut. Lots of people are going to get thousands and thousands of dollars more than they expect, and then they will go spend that money, and that will juice the economy to a large extent in the spring and the summer of this year. So to me, President Trump's going to cite different authority, almost 100%. He may even be explicit in that when he comes out in about 30 minutes, talks about it. Here's my big picture analysis and why I thought the Supreme Court would strike down President Trump on tariffs. This actually makes me wonder what they're gonna give a yes to Trump on. And some people who are lawyers get upset with me when I talk about the fact that the Supreme Court is clearly cognizant of its political standing. And if they give Trump everything, even if they think that he has a strong legal argument, if they give Trump everything, then they say, oh, it's a rubber stamp for Trump. The Supreme Court has no legitimacy. Notice how all of a sudden MSNBC loves the Supreme Court and loves how much they're willing to stand on principle and everything else. There are many complicated cases that are still before the Supreme Court right now that would be, I think, far more consequential than the tariff ruling. Let me give you a couple of them. What are they going to say about the law as it pertains to racial gerrymanders? I think they're going to strike it down, Buck. I think they're going to say, basically, in this modern era in which we live, the idea of allowing a racial gerrymander is unconstitutional. That could potentially cost Democrats around 20 seats, according to some of the analysis that I have seen of what the impact of that decision would be. Also, birthright citizenship, I would argue maybe the most foundational and transformational of the cases that the Supreme Court is facing right now and waiting to render a verdict on is birthright citizenship. Are they going to slap down Trump's interpretation of birthright citizenship, which says merely being born on the soil of the United States does not make you a citizen? If they're going to make some interesting rulings on those cases, racial gerrymandering and supreme?

[Buck Sexton]

You think they've given themselves some leeway here to give Trump some things that are going to make the left go completely insane, I don't think you're wrong. I think John Roberts clearly has that in mind as he goes forward on some of this, as probably does Amy Coney Barrett and On the birthright citizenship issue, I don't, with the exception maybe of Thomas and Alito, I don't think any of those justices want to give the decision that it is, in fact,

[Clay Travis]

not they don't want to take the heat.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't think they want to do that. But I think they recognize the alternative is to really open the door to the dissolution of American sovereignty entirely and to create a special category where the violation of law creates a permanent and fantastic benefit.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Which is, which is a really bad thing for a Supreme Court to do. A really, really bad thing. And so I think that they're, you know, on that one, I do, I do believe that the left is going to be at a, an absolute moment of apoplexia over it, both of those.

[Clay Travis]

And I'm not saying necessarily that I think he's going to win both of them, but I think they're going to end racial gerrymandering. I expect that that is going to happen. Birthright citizenship, I think, is going to be a close call. And Justice Roberts is a notoriously political chief justice. And, you know, we saw it with Obamacare. We've seen it with a lot of the decisions that he makes. He tries to give and take every single general session that they bring to bear all of these different Supreme Court cases. So I think he sees this as, hey, we're going to rebuke President Trump. We're going to establish that we are still the law of the land and we aren't rubber stamping. And remember, there's been a lot of criticism. I think they got this right on the Supreme Court with all the presidential powers questions. We told you on this program that Trump was going to get presidential powers, but Trump's going to be gone in January of 29th. These powers rulings on executive privilege and power and criminal charges and all those things are going to extend to every president for the rest of our lives and hopefully for hundreds of years. And so here I think they wanted to rebuke him. I think they wanted to slap him back. I think he's going to now cite different authority and we're going to go right back into the legislate, back into the judicial system determining whether or not the president has the authority. Also, Congress could act, it's worth mentioning, but everybody out there basically has determined that Congress can't do anything. But they could say the president has the authority to do these tariffs, they can't pass anything. And, and so I don't have a lot of faith in the legislative branch to actually Weigh in on what the Supreme Court said it is their job to be weighing in on.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes, I think that is. I think that is accurate. By the way, Manufacturing Delusion is still a bestseller on Amazon, my friends, but we lost a slot yesterday. We dropped down a spot, which is sad. There is a. There is a autobiography of a former exotic dancer who is married to a country music singer that is now the number one book on Amazon. In the. In the world, Clay. This is what the world has come to.

[Clay Travis]

I don't know what to tell you, Jelly Roll. Jelly Roll is a popular guy. I mean, it's tough to go head to head with Jelly Roll's army out there.

[Buck Sexton]

It is tough for me to go head to head with a book with a woman called Stripped down where she has part of her thong showing. That is a true story.

[Clay Travis]

You should have shown. Had a little bit more sex appeal on the COVID I mean, I should

[Buck Sexton]

have shown a little leg. I should have shown a little leg.

[Clay Travis]

Maybe a foot. Massive feet. People out there. I think it could have made a difference.

[Buck Sexton]

Massive tattoo on my shoulder. The point is, I think you should support books that actually have an important message, that have research and that have writing done by a person who cares about writing. So go get Manufacturing Delusion because it's fabulous. It's a bestseller, and it's something that I think you will really appreciate. We want to get on that bestseller list. I do not think I'll be able to defeat the. The former exotic dancer. Apparently. This book is just taken off, by the way. Meacham. I will tell you, we've smoked Meacham just so you. So thank you for that. Meacham is like, oh, no, what am I going to do? My book isn't selling. Meacham got smoked. But the Exotic Dancer has smoked me so far. I don't know what else to say. So am I bitter about it?

[Ad Host]

No.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm glad she's having a win, but it does feel a little unfair because I don't get to show Thong on the COVID of my book. Because if I did, Clay, who knows? I've been working out. Maybe it would get a little extra love. Maybe people would be like, I'm going to buy this because I feel sorry for him. Get Manufacturing Delusion wherever you can.

[Clay Travis]

It is a great book.

[Buck Sexton]

Go on Amazon now. Let's get that up to the top. Top of the bestseller list again. It's still in the. It's like number five or number six as of this morning. Let's get it up into the top three again, my friends. All right, some investments that you make take some time to pay off, but the smartest investments are the ones that take time to pay off. Gold is one of them because of course, there's a limited quantity of it and there's demand. There's demand because of central banks. There's demand because of money. Printing gold is something you should buy for yourself as part of your long term savings plan. It's easy to do, particularly with Birch Gold Group's help. I've relied on Birch Gold Group for my gold purchases and transactions. They work with people every day, making gold a part of your retirement plan. Birch Gold can help you convert an IRA or 401k into an IRA in gold, no matter how many years you've had that account established. Text my name Buck to 989898 to receive your free info kit on gold. No obligation, just useful information. A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau. Tens of thousands of happy customers let Birch Gold help you diversify with Gold so you too can have peace of mind regardless of the uncertainty. Text Buck to 989898 Text Buck to 989898 Making America Great again isn't just

[Clay Travis]

one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] disclosures these days it

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome our number two Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us on this Friday, President Trump scheduled to speak at the White House momentarily. We are monitoring. We bring in now the Governor of Indiana, Mike Braun. And Governor, I believe you were in the White House a little bit earlier today when news came down about the tariffs coming out. There's been some reporting about the President's reaction. Were you there when he noticed? Did you did the president comment on it at all? We got a bunch of stuff to get into with you, but we will start with that one. Since you were an eyewitness earlier today in the White House, at the Republic, at the Governor's Association.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Yeah, it was a late breakfast at the White House and the President had just gone through about close to an hour, maybe 45 minutes of banter back and forth with us, citing the economic kind of benefits of his policies, the difference between blue straight states and red states. And of course the blue governors were in the room and got into the first part of a Q and A, which could have gone long. I've been in several of them before and I think two questions got asked and right about in the middle of the first one, a note was brought to him and he said what it was and then did the rest of that question in one more. And then he said, well, to be honest, I'm kind of seething over this. Think I need to go talk to the press. So no real comment other than he was anxious to get out and start, you know, replying in whatever fashion he's going to.

[Buck Sexton]

Governor, it's Buck, thanks for being here. Now that we've seen what the tariffs have done up to this point and, you know, so we have evidence, we've run the experiment, as I like to say. What is your view of the president's tariffs and up to this point? Again, I'm not asking you to weigh in on the Supreme Court decision. I want to know what do you think tariffs were doing for the economy? Because going forward, I think people are going to have a different perspective on this as a tool for the economy one way or the other.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Well, it's clear I never thought my macroeconomics degree would come into play from back in college, but it really makes sense. We rebuilt Europe and the trading economy, you know, through the Marshall Plan. And we were deferential to those economies in many different ways to get them up on their feet. Along with that, we became, you know, where we did not have reciprocity. And I think that was generally going to need to be weaned off of. And Trump, I think wisely saw that it needed to be done. And I mean, we were running a trillion dollar trade deficit and 2 trillion on our fiscal account. I mean, that's draining us from being a creditor into a debt to ordination. So something had to give. And I don't think the dynamic would have changed unless you were using the leverage of tariffs. I think once you get them down or they're reciprocal and a lot of that has occurred, it'll be interesting to me to see if the deals that have been made with the countries where they've already done it, whether they'll try to, you know, claw any of that back, I'd be surprised maybe if that happens, what happens going forward in terms of the use of the tool. There are other ways that you can influence bad trade arrangements and I'd hope we'd keep doing it until it's an even playing field.

[Clay Travis]

Governor Mike Braun with US of Indiana right now. You mentioned Blue State versus red state. One illustration of blue state versus red state that has been publicly reported. I'm curious what you can tell us about it is the idea of the Chicago Bears NFL football team leaving the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois and moving to Indiana. What can you tell us about that? Do you expect it to happen and what does it represent in your mind as the chief executive of the state of Indiana?

[Governor Mike Braun]

Well, for Chicago Bears fans and Illinois especially, they need to think about the fact that the Bears have been been trying to work with Pritzker and the mayor and the state legislature just recently. But for that to actually move forward to where you get the legislature involved. Pritzker and the mayor said, we're not interested. And that started three years ago. So we started having contact with the Bears maybe five or six months ago because to be honest, they were reaching a deadline to where they needed to do something or else it would run into issues for them to transition out of Soldiers Field. So I spent 37 years in the real world running a business and part of it was real estate. So the process was very familiar. But when you look at Indiana's context of regulation and taxes, I think they got a pretty good peek at it and they like what they see and we've made it easy. So when you saw the announcement from them and the fact that our legislature did the accommodating, that was coordinated to make sure that we were both as honest brokers moving forward to kind of a threshold point, due diligence, a few I's to be dotted and T's to cross, which is typical in any real estate deal. That's about where we are and blame it on Pritzker and the mayor because they basically said we're not interested.

[Clay Travis]

So you expect we're talking to Governor Mike Braun of Indiana. You expect for the Bears to play in Indiana in the years ahead?

[Governor Mike Braun]

I don't ever want to get ahead of my own skis. I've been involved in enough real estate deals over the years where something can pop up. I would say this is the most significant point in a roughly four to five month conversation that has had a lot of due diligence done. And yes, unless there's something that would be kind of out of left field, you know, I think a month or two are left, you know, to kind of get this thing to where you'd ink it. But we've made a lot of progress now.

[Buck Sexton]

Your state has been on our radar. You know, we actually visited the great state of Indiana, not what was it Clay couple months ago. I can't keep.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, we were in Fort Wayne. Great station up there. Year anniversary of.

[Buck Sexton]

That's right.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Whoa, whoa.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, we were in Wo wo land up in Fort Wayne and it was my third trip. I will have you know, Mr. Governor to the city of Fort Wayne. So I am, I'm like getting my frequent Indiana miles in. But one thing we talked about when we were there and has gotten some national, national media attention is the Indiana redistricting plan versus what you see in some other states that are a whole that are blue as opposed to being quite red as your state is. What is your sense as to why it went down the way that it did? There are some people who are pretty frustrated with Indiana Republicans in the statehouse.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Well, I think in many places you still got kind of enclaves of establishment Republicanism that would have never been America first probably didn't vote for me or Trump as outsiders. And I think they felt a little snooty and we're gonna make a, you know, die on that hill. And I think it was out of kind of 80% of conservative Republicans, conservatives were for doing the mid decade redistricting. I mean you look at Massachusetts, they've been gerrymandered, same size state, nine congressional districts for decades. New England, same way. So there was a lot of unevenness out there. And These Republicans, about 10 of them in the Senate, there were another 10 that went with leadership because they probably feared a committee change or a chairmanship not reappointed. But it was a clique of five to 10 that dug in and made Indiana the exception. Now how this all pans out, whether we net any seats, when you look at how responsive California, Virginia, a few other places have been, but I still think the point of it, why would you stand against it when every other state has said it makes sense and they've gerrymandered so much over the years, we've been slow footed.

[Clay Travis]

We're talking to the governor of Indiana, Mike Braun. Is there any possibility that that could happen or is it dead in your mind? Irrespect. You're mentioning Virginia is potentially going to make an aggressive move. Maryland may still do it. Is it dead in Indiana? Is the timing complete or do you think if other states act, it's potentially readdressable?

[Governor Mike Braun]

Yeah, it basically is because the filing deadlines for candidacies, we've got one of the earliest primaries and, and there was a technicality on the margin of the vote which I think the president pro tem of the Senate got It, I think one vote over the hump where you technically can't bring it back. So in our case, we could have netted out two seats. The one near Chicago has been turning redder and redder every round, but when it gets close, the national dams just pour a bunch of money in there. And then Marion county, which is basically Indianapolis, has become deep blue, like many, many big cities.

[Buck Sexton]

Mr. Governor, before we let you go, gotta put you on the hot seat, can't you out with this policy stuff, sir, is the win by the Hoosiers in the national championship game, which I saw the single greatest college football game of all time.

[Governor Mike Braun]

I think it would be, because you got to remember your sports aficionados there will probably know IU had the worst Division 1 record of any football program, and it's been a long one. And by going undefeated this year and only losing two before, we've only moved up to the second worst record. So that context. And to think that a guy like Signetti slipped into a school like ours and the whole nil portal system made it possible, which I didn't really like that I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to it. All of that had to be aligning, and I think it's right up there with the Hoosiers movie. I think someday there'll be a football film made that will be kind of the analog of it, and that's got to sink in for maybe a decade or so.

[Clay Travis]

I think 100% it's going to be a football version of Hoosiers, and you guys have led the way on that one, too, is a heck of a season. Buck was with me in Miami for the game against the Hurricanes. We appreciate the time. Governor, thanks for coming on. Good luck with getting that Chicago Bears deal officially hammered out.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Well, if that actually hits fruition, maybe we'll do a debrief on it.

[Clay Travis]

100%. You reach out to us when you're ready to officially say, hey, it's a done deal.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Okay. Good deal. Enjoyed it.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you, Governor.

[Buck Sexton]

Wait, Clay. So would it be the. Would they be the Indiana Bears? Is that they're not going to go, or would it be like the Indianapolis Bears? How does this work?

[Clay Travis]

Well, Indianapolis Colts, they're not going to give up the Indianapolis. They would still be the Chicago Bears. They would just play in Indiana.

[Buck Sexton]

Sorry, I forgot about the Colts thing. Let's just. Let's just erase that from the record. But I'm just saying.

[Clay Travis]

But I mean, it's to the people.

[Buck Sexton]

They can't be the Chicago Bears playing in Indiana, though, Clay well, the New

[Clay Travis]

York jets and the New York Giants are both playing in New Jersey, so some would point out that But New

[Buck Sexton]

Jersey is like our close cousin. We it's like a very, you know, I don't know,

[Clay Travis]

an incredible indictment of Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, and J.B. pritzker, the governor of Chicago. The Bears are an indelible part of the Chicago's landscapes. Soldier Field is right there on the river on the lake in downtown Chicago. And so the idea that they can't figure out how to get a new stadium built is frankly just yet more evidence of the fact that people of Chicago have made awful choices for their leadership and they deserve better. But unfortunately this is what they're choosing to represent them and there are consequences. And so I think this is a Great Red State vs. Blue State example of being able to get things done versus tripping all over yourself and looking moronic.

[Buck Sexton]

All very good points. All right, if you're not yet an owner of gold, let's change that. Let's make you a gold owner. More Americans than ever before own gold. There's a lot of reason to become one, whether it's growth of gold over the last year, which is up over 65%, or simply the reality that gold is the only currency that seems to endure and even grow in value when the world is in turmoil. So buy gold sooner than later, and it's so easy with Birch Gold Group's help. Now imagine having gold in your IRA or 401k and what that can do for your future as you grow your retirement savings. Remember that gold has grown in value more than 700% over the last 20 years. The price of gold increases when investors, countries and central banks purchase gold for stability. I've relied on Birch Gold Group for my gold purchases and transactions. Birch Gold can help you convert that existing IRA or 401k into an IRA in gold, no matter how many years you've had the account. Text my name Buck to 9,898 98 to receive your free info kit on gold. No obligation, just useful information. Text Buck to 98-98-98 today.

[Clay Travis]

Stories of Freedom. Stories of America. Inspirational stories that unite us all. Each day. Spend time with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome in Friday edition of the program. Buck ducked out last hour. He's doing a bunch of final minimum minute, kind of because the first week is so important. Advertisement for his book Manufacturing Delusion, which we would all encourage you to go get it's I think the number six book on Amazon right right now has a very, very good chance to be at the top of the bestseller lists across the country thanks to you guys, Manufacturing Delusion. You can go buy your copy like I did. The president of the United States has just ended his press conference and walked out discussing all of the impacts of today's Supreme Court ruling on tariffs. If you did not hear six to three, we'll get into this more some this hour. The Supreme Court ruled that President Trump did not have the authority to implement the tariffs as he had done under the existing legislation. But they did not tell us what should happen with the tariffs that have been collected so far. They also in the dissent, Brett Kavanaugh specifically said, hey, we think he does have the authority if he puts it under this legislation. Instead, the president has now said he will be doing that again. I'll put my lawyer hat on and discuss some of this going forward with all of you. But a lot of details coming out there. We are joined now, though, by a, by a woman that I'm excited to have on the program who wrote a really powerful op ed in the Wall Street Journal last week detailing what her life was like as she got caught in the gender transition medical system beginning at the age of 11. She decided that she was under the tutelage of a lot of different people. I want to hear her story in detail that she was a girl in a boy's body, began to receive treatments for that, and then as she got older, came to regret that immensely. And her name is Soren Aldaco. She is with us right now. Soren, I appreciate you writing the op ed that you did in the Wall Street Journal and I appreciate you coming on with us right now. So I just want to give you an opportunity to tell your story. I believe, according to what I've heard, you started receiving treatments around the age of 11. Tell us how that happened and what your experience was like in the gender reassignment world.

[Soren Aldaco]

Yeah, thanks for having me. Well, at age 11, I was actually kind of doing all of this on my own. I was on the Internet in all different corners of the Internet, from chat rooms to online art forums. And unfortunately, I got into some pretty, pretty dark corners where I was groomed. So already going through something that kids struggle with generally, right. Puberty. I have this added trauma on top of that, this thing that made me feel scared in my body. And when I was speaking to some of those girls on the art forum I discovered transgender identity as a manifestation almost of the role playing that we were doing, this idea that I. I could adopt a new name and a new appearance and almost be like the characters that we would create. So that was eventually affirmed around age 15, when I met my dad and my stepmom for the first time. I went inpatient, actually, after having a fight with my stepdad. And it was inpatient that a psychiatrist pressured me to come out to him as transgender and then told my family that actually my distress had nothing to do with my home life, my turbulent home life, but in fact, it was because I was transgender. So fast forward two years after that. I met a nurse practitioner through a support group that my dad and my stepmom were taking me to. He prescribed me testosterone without my mom's consent after just 30 minutes. And by age 19, I had a double mastectomy that I would have massive, massive complications from.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, thank you. That is a big picture. I want to dial back in, if we can, to some of these details. And again, thank you for coming on and telling us this story. So 11 years old, you are getting on the Internet. I assume these are chat rooms of some sort. And what was your initial draw on the Internet? Where did you enter? Because I think this is important for a lot of parents and grandparents. You didn't initially enter into the idea that you were trans. You were an unhappy 11 year old. It sounds like you go on the Internet. Where did you go? What sort of chat rooms, what sort of Internet sites were you on where people found you and started to try to address your unhappiness and potentially give you a solution for it? How did that happen?

[Soren Aldaco]

What's interesting is this occurred around the same time that Instagram and other social media apps were coming around. However, I actually entered onto the Internet using my handheld Nintendo device, my dsi. The I stood for Internet. And the app specifically was a flipnote app where me and lots of people, young and old would create little animations that were hand drawn and comment on those animations, find community through fandoms, through these TV shows and comic books, etc. That we. We liked. So that.

[Clay Travis]

So this had nothing to do, in theory, with gender in any way. You're going on into these, I guess, if it's through your intent. Nintendo handheld device, a lot of kids are on there, and then people start to interact with you and you start to make friends online, and they start to push you in the direction of, of. Of embracing this idea that you might be a, a boy in a girl's body?

[Soren Aldaco]

That's correct.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so you were profoundly unhappy. How old are you now, by the way?

[Soren Aldaco]

I'm 23.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so you're 23 at 15. I want to go. I believe you said you went in to see a psychiatrist, and you had, at that point, convinced yourself that one of the reasons you were unhappy through the conversations that you were having online, I would imagine were a part of this, was that you were, in fact, a boy in a girl's body. What is that like when you tell the psychiatrist that? What is that discussion like? Quizzing. And for your parents, now that you can look back on it, what was it like for them?

[Soren Aldaco]

When I first spoke to the psychiatrist, he was mostly curious about why the name on my door was different from the name on my chart. I remember telling him, he had asked me, you know, when are you happy? When are. What are moments that you find happiness? And I told him about the summer camp I was going to at Duke University. It was like a gifted and talented summer camp. He spent three weeks with a bunch of other kids who had taken their SATs in seventh grade and scored well. And I remember I'd go to this camp, and all my needs were taken care of. I felt like I belonged for the first time. I was also being socially transitioned at this camp. All the. The faculty, administrators were using my boy name and boy pronouns, as were the other children. And so I told him about this, and instead of recognizing that it was just okay, you found other smart kids that you could get along with for the first time, you could be a kid for three weeks. When I came from a hard home life. Right. He saw the transgender part of it and ran with it and essentially diagnosed me then and there.

[Clay Travis]

So he attributed your happiness not to being in a comfortable, welcoming environment with other smart kids who were kind to you, but instead to the fact that they were telling you you were a different gender and so your happiness was connected to your gender, not to the environment that surrounded you.

[Soren Aldaco]

That's correct, yeah. Because at home, my family just. They wouldn't have entertained that idea. They wouldn't have entertained the idea that I was a boy. And when they were told, they were actually super shocked. My mom and my stepdad, who had raised me my entire life, they said to my dad and my stepmom, you know, we thought maybe she'd come to us saying she liked girls, but, you know, the idea that I could be a boy trapped in a girl's body, that wasn't even mainstream at the time.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so 15, he says the doctor. She says, the psychiatrist says, hey, this is an issue. You are a boy trapped in a girl's body at 17, you start to get testosterone. If I jotted down my notes correctly, what kind of sign off is required for that because you're still a minor

[Soren Aldaco]

at that time, there was no sign off required. There were maybe forms that we filled off or filled, filled out in the regular course of the doctor's questionnaires. But my mom, who is the only one online birth certificate, the only one legally allowed to sign off on these things, she wasn't consulted whatsoever.

[Clay Travis]

17 years old, you're on testosterone. 19 years old. So just after you attain the age of majority, you decide that you want to have top surgery, you want to have your breast removed. That seems like a hugely impactful decision. What was that process like? And for people out there who may not know, so what happened after that? What kind of surgery reaction? What does your body do when things like that occur?

[Soren Aldaco]

When I first wanted to get a mastectomy, I remember going into these Facebook groups where countless other young women were having mastectomies and posting their photos before and after of their surgeries, all identifying as transgender. And. And when I sought out a surgery team, it really was just, you give us this payment for the consultation. You come in, it's not even actually, you come in, you answer a phone call in my case, talk to the surgeon for a few, basically confirm, yeah, I want the surgery, and they send you a bunch of paperwork telling you what letters to get, what the letters need to say, and all these other details just around getting insurance to cover it, essentially. So it was pretty straightforward at that point. But when I had the surgery a week before was the first time I'd ever met the surgeon. It was a real cut and dry kind of, hey, we're having surgery next week. Make sure you don't, you know, smoke cigarettes, which I didn't even do at the time. That was about the only advice I was given. And then after this.

[Clay Travis]

No, I was just gonna say your insurance pays for this. So your insurance pays for, at the time, a healthy 19 year old girl to have her breasts removed. And basically you barely meet the doctor, you go in and you have this incredibly significant elective surgery with it. Sounds like very minimal supervision associated with it.

[Soren Aldaco]

Yeah, exactly. And what's unfortunate is in the case of the surgeries that they give these young people who identify as trans, in the case of these mastectomies, they're drainless. Regular mastectomies have drains. The women Stay overnight. In many cases these, you know, I was sent home the same day without drains and five days later went back for post op. But by then I was, I was bruising significantly. I had blood pooling in my chest and in my sides, and they didn't really seem to think it was a problem whatsoever.

[Clay Travis]

This seems like. And again, I don't know very much about it, but to have your breast removed as basically outpatient surgery For a healthy 19 year old, I mean, this sounds barbaric to me.

[Soren Aldaco]

Yeah, definitely. It's absurd in hindsight.

[Clay Travis]

And so when did you start to question the decisions that you had made and that the medical establishment had helped pull you along through? When did you start to say, hey, was this the right decision? You're 19, I think you said you're 23 now, now you're 19. At what point do you start thinking, oh my goodness, have I made the right choice?

[Soren Aldaco]

Shortly after my surgery, when those complications continued to get worse, when the bruising continued to darken and I was told, you know, it'll get lighter with time, I tried reaching out to my surgery team on several different occasions, and they were equally dismissive at each. I eventually ended up seeing breast oncology at a different hospital in the er, and it was there they had to cut my scars back open, insert drains, and I had to drain my chest manually for the next couple of weeks. Around that, that point, I thought, okay. My original surgeons were real eager to take my money and do the initial surgery, but were nowhere to be found when it came to the follow up care. I started following the money from there, realized just how profitable this industry is, that you can be a lifelong medical patient and end up affording these individuals, these doctors, performing these procedures, millions of dollars. And alongside the classes I was taking at the University of Texas at Austin, where I was learning about how important role models are to our concept of self and growing up to think of ourselves in a healthy manner. Just realized, okay, there's a different way to be living my life. I can reclaim my life from this medical industry. And that that process only took about six months. I was still 19 when I transitioned.

[Clay Travis]

Can you come back and you stay with us? Because I want to ask about the lawsuit and make sure that you give an opportunity, because I'm hearing all this and candidly, I think a lot of these doctors, not only should they lose their medical licenses, I think they should be charged with crimes because this is indefensible. Do you have a couple more minutes to spend with us? This.

[Soren Aldaco]

Absolutely.

[Clay Travis]

We've got her sornal Deco. The op ed that she wrote for the Wall Street Journal is [e-mail] I encourage moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas out there to read this because I think it's very important and Soren's bravery in telling this story is also very important. We will come back here in a sec and find out more about this lawsuit which I think could be incredibly important for so many other young people out there that might find themselves in a similar situation. But I want to tell you the Tunnel of Towers foundation honors America's heroes and their families when tragedy strikes. Heroes like Scott Abrams for more than three decades, Scott served his community and country as a United States Marine, a New York City Police detective and a volunteer firefighter. While he was on his NYPD motorcycle escorting the funeral procession of a four year old child, his life changed in an instant. He was hit by a bus, crushing four vertebrae in his neck and leaving him partially paralyzed. Scott's recovery was grueling, but through unwavering love, strength and perseverance, Scott, his wife Tara and their son Joshua made it through unimaginable challenges. Tunnel the Towers honored Scott and his family with a mortgage free smart home. Thanks to supporters like you, Scott now has a home he can move freely in as he heals and raises his family with dignity. More heroes are waiting and in need of assistance. Honor their sacrifices now. Join both Buck and myself in donating $11 a month to tunnel the [e-mail] that's t the number 2t.org sometimes all you can do is laugh and they do a lot of it with the Sunday hang. Join Clay and Buck as they laugh it up in the Clay and Buck podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. We are talking with Soren Al Deco who has shared bravely her story of her experience inside of the gender transition world. At 19 years old, she had a double mastectomy voluntarily because she believed she was a boy. 15 years old, met with a psychiatrist, initially became aware of the concept by going online at the age of 11 where she eventually found discussions surrounding these issues. It sounds like you're much happier now. You mentioned that you're at the University of Texas at Austin Great school and you now have filed a lawsuit and you feel it is part of your role to speak out for other parents, grandparents and the kids out there that might be like you are at 11, 15, 17 years old. What's the status of the lawsuit?

[Soren Aldaco]

Well, just last week the lawsuit was heard before the Supreme Court of Texas. They were looking at a pretty specific issue in my case having to do with the statute of limitations. So the timeline. I'm allowed to sue after the harm occurs. There was disagreement between us and the defendants on what the statute of limitations, when it starts. And we argue that it started in the case of my therapist when she wrote the letter for my mastectomy. They argue it didn't start until. Or they argue my apologies. They argue it started with the letter being authored. We argue it didn't start until the surgery occurred because harm didn't occur until the surgery and I couldn't have sued until then.

[Clay Travis]

So they're trying to argue there's no liability because of a statute of limitation issue, not because there was malpractice committed in your case, which I'm guessing is the ballpark argument here. Let me say this. Any legislatures that are out there and members of the legislator legislature all over the country, you guys need to eliminate, eliminate statute of limitation laws for these young kids who have these surgeries. Listen to me carefully on that because these lawsuits need to happen. Soren, I would imagine one of the goals here is if you hold these doctors and these hospitals accountable for what they did to you, they won't be able to do it to other young children. I assume that is to a large extent your goal.

[Soren Aldaco]

I'm definitely hoping that, yeah, they'll slow down and they'll, they'll think about how to actually help these kids because the surgery and the hormones that they gave me didn't do anything but make matters worse.

[Clay Travis]

How are you now?

[Soren Aldaco]

Well, I'm doing great. Not that I have the hormones and surgery to thank for that. Mostly I just, I feel very resilient and emboldened. I was married last month and so starting that life and moving forward, having something to look forward to, that's been great, just admits the reality that the issues I experienced from medical transition are going to be lifelong.

[Clay Travis]

What do you wish you could say to 11 year olds soaring to 15 year old Soren, to 19 year old Soren?

[Soren Aldaco]

The easiest thing would be to get off your phone and go outside. Not that she would have listened, but really just to try and be patient and get information from as many sources as possible. Something I learned, I feel far too late was you can learn a lot from the people you disagree with and if you disagree with someone right, you're either going to be more affirmative and what you already believe you're going to have nuance added to it or you're going to change your mind. And as long as you're pursuing truth, none of those are bad things.

[Clay Travis]

Well, we are all of us in this audience rooting for you, praying for you to continue to have great things happen in your life. Thank you for sharing your story. You can read it at the Wall Street Journal. And please keep us updated on what the Texas Supreme Court does.

[Soren Aldaco]

For sure. Thanks.

[Clay Travis]

That is Soren Aldeco. When we come back back, we'll dive back into the tariffs. I bet that a lot of you are going to want to react to her 800-282-2882. You can also use the talkback function. We're going to make sure that gets up on YouTube. So for those of you out there with kids or grandkids that you think might benefit from hearing that conversation, I think there are a lot of people that would be in that camp. More on this, more on tariffs. We'll finish off the final half hour of the week next. Thanks for hanging out with us on the Clay and Buck Show.

[Buck Sexton]

Speak.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay. Travis BUCK SEXTON show. A lot of you weighing in. And again, I would encourage you to go read Soren Alo's piece. There are going to be a lot and I think it's incredibly sad. There are going to be a lot of people like her and a lot of people that are on the flip side having surgeries in different ways that realize, oh, man, I was just a really depressed kid in my teenage years and I had all sorts of hormones going on. But I think the story that she shared is an important one. And if you didn't hear it, we're going to put it up on YouTube. I would encourage you, if you're just getting in your cars right now, go listen to it. Because I think a lot of parents, a lot of grandparents, a lot of teachers out there who are dealing with adolescents, age 11, unhappy kid, goes online initially, goes on handheld Nintendo device she plays games on. Eventually that leads into people finding her online and saying, hey, maybe the reason you're unhappy is because you're actually a boy in a girl's body. Then goes off to sounds like a really smart kid, goes to a Duke summer camp. People there believe they're doing the kind thing by saying, oh, you're a boy. We're going to start calling you by a different name. We're going to start calling you a boy. Goes to a psychiatrist at 15. Psychiatrist says, oh, you are. You're a boy. Start giving testosterone to her at 17. By 19, a doctor took her breasts off and sent her home in the same day. Voluntary breast removal surgery. Some of you out there that have had breast cancer and had to have mastectomies as a result of that, Think about how wild that is that you would allow a child, because a 19 year old is still a child in many ways, to have voluntary breast removal surgery and then send them home the same day. How about the fact that insurance dollars paid for that? And right now she's got a case in front of the supreme court that has to deal with a statute of limitations related issue. And I want to reiterate something that I think is really important. We got members of state legislatures in all 50 states, I would wager, listening to us right now from Alaska all the way to Florida. Somebody in the state legislature in every 50 states is listening right here. And if it's not somebody who's a member, certainly staff are listening. Eliminate statutes of limitations on these medical malpractice suits. Because the doctors are going to try to say, well, I believe Soren's 23 years old now. Well, sorry, the statute of limitations told on our decision to take your boobs off. And so as a result, oh, our bad. There's no way for you to be able to sue on this.

[Buck Sexton]

This.

[Clay Travis]

Well, think about your own childhood. How often when you were 15 or 16, by the time you were 25, did you think, I can't believe we did that. I can't believe I did that. I can't believe that me and my friends did that. I can't believe that we made the choices that we did. Oh, tough break. You've been sterilized. You can't have kids anymore. And the people who encouraged you to have these surgeries, the insurance companies that paid for it, the hospitals that okayed it, the doctors that signed off on it, oh, they're not responsible anymore. Nope. We need these doctors, at a minimum, held financially responsible for all these surgeries. I think they should lose their medical licenses and I think that many of them should actually face criminal prosecution because they're making millions of dollars to destroy young bodies. It's barbaric. And I appreciate Soren telling her story with all of us and sharing that story in the Wall Street Journal because what do you hear all the time? If you're a mom or you're a dad or you're a grandma or grandpa or you're a teacher, you're a preacher, they have really tried to emotionally manipulate people. It by saying, Would you rather have, I guarantee you at some point Soren's family heard. Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son? The idea being if you don't allow these surgeries to happen, your kid's going to commit suicide and it's going to be your fault. It's just, it, it, it is, it is barbaric that we have allowed this to occur in any way. And I think this is one where the plaintiff's lawyers out there, I know we got plaintiff's lawyers listening. This is one where the plaintiff's lawyers are going to be the good guys because it's going to take multi million dollar verdicts. We just saw one come out of New York for a lot of people to do what they know they should do, but they're cowards to do it. What do I mean by that? There's a lot of bean counters that work in hospitals trying to get their 8% increased profit margin every year. And when they start to see insurance rates go up on these surgeries because the doctors are getting hit with huge medical malpractice bills, a lot of them are going to start to do what we've seen happen all over the country. They're going to start to say, you know what, I don't know if this hospital should do these kind of surgeries anymore. It's not because they're making the moral choice. It's because they're going to use the business side imperatives to dictate the choices that they make make. And they may know morally it's been in the wrong, but they're afraid of being targeted by the trans community where they say, oh my goodness, insert hospital here doesn't allow top surgeries anymore for teenage girls. They're, they're the bad guy. And they're afraid of losing their job and having themselves targeted so they can use the financial side as an excuse for why they should be making the choice that they're not morally brave enough enough to make. Plaintiff lawyers fire, file these lawsuits. Members of the state legislature file bills eliminating statute of limitations for anyone who has so called gender reassignment surgery. Allow these kids, as they age into adults and realize what adults did to them, to come back and hold the doctors, the hospitals, the insurance companies accountable for decisions that frankly, they weren't old enough and mature enough to be able to make on their own. And I think you're going to hear sadly way more people like Soren coming out and speaking out and telling you about what happened to them. A lot of people weighing In Jeannie in Syracuse, New York. What about Jeannie? What have you got for us?

[Soren Aldaco]

I feel that everyone that encountered this young woman is at fault. And I totally agree with everything you just said because as an 83 old woman, I still remember puberty. And I remember at least five friends that went through different systems than I did. We had to discuss it, but in my age, the nurse would send a note home to my mother and father and say, I want to have your child meet with the nurse with just women and discuss what they're going through. As the 11 and 12 year olds, I have not even heard a thing about lat now. And it made a difference. It explained why you have this feeling, that feeling. And no one listened except the mother to this young woman. And they're all at fault.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Fault.

[Soren Aldaco]

The camp is at fault. They didn't hear you say about that camp.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, well, I mean, thank you for the call, Jeannie. And let me just say this, tomboys are real. There's a lot of you out there listening right now that when you were 10, 11, 12 years old, you might have dressed like a boy, you might have run around and played athletics with boys. You might have felt more like you were a boy than a girl. And then puberty happens and everybody's a little bit uncomfortable with their body when puberty happens, boys and girls. And instead of somebody saying, hey, you're going to be okay, like Jeannie just said, who's 83 years old. People had sanity back then. Now it is a form of toxic empathy. And the camp is guilty too. The camp thought that they were being kind. They thought that they were helping a troubled child by telling her, oh, you're really a boy. Sometimes the best was love is tough love, adults sitting down, kids and saying, I know you feel this way right now. You're wrong. Trust me on this. And by the way, what's the harm in saying if you still feel this way when you are 25 or 35 or 45, you have an entire life to change your body. You don't need to do it when you're 15 or 17, you don't need to have your breast chopped off at 19. And elective surgery. I just can't believe we're here at all. Kevin in San Ramon, California. Kevin, what you got for us?

[Governor Mike Braun]

Love you guys. And looking to get Clay's Book or Bucks Book, but looking at the SiriusXM for three hours of that.

[Soren Aldaco]

I hope that comes up soon.

[Clay Travis]

And let me, let me say, sorry to cut you off, Kevin, we are only on channel123 the first two hours. So it's not your Sirius that's wrong. If you're reaching out, Sirius XM, the third hour is being added soon on channel 123. First two hours are there, if you're listening, and then you're like, wait, what happened? I promise the third hour is coming soon. Sorry to cut you off, Kevin, but we've gotten some questions about that and I wanted to make sure that I mentioned it.

[Soren Aldaco]

Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

I think that was Kevin calling in. Hope he gets Buck's book. Buck had to duck out. He's doing promotion everywhere for that book, Frank. And in Fort Myers, Florida. Frank, thanks for calling.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Yes, thanks for taking my call.

[Soren Aldaco]

I love your show. Listen, I, I, I sorry, I disagree with you with the doctors in the hospitals being accountable. What about the accountability of the parents then to the surgery?

[Clay Travis]

Okay, let me ask you a question. Hold on. Let me, let me ask you a question, Frank. And I want you to think about this as if you're a mom or dad. I'm, I'm a dad. If a doctor sits down, if a doctor sits down with you and your kid is incredibly troubled and you're taking them to a psychiatrist, you're taking them to a psychologist, you're taking them to all different sorts of doctors. And they say to you, if your daughter doesn't have this surgery, she's going to kill herself, this is medically necessary, in my opinion. I don't think it's the parents that are the villains here. I agree with you. You, I wish that more. That's why I want to have this conversation. I wish that more parents would push back. But a lot of us, parents, grandparents, teachers, have been taught defer to doctors on medical judgment. When a doctor who has gone to school for seven years is saying, in my professional opinion, your son or daughter needs this surgery, I think it's hard for most parents to say, particularly when they're being emotionally manipulated and they're saying, your kid's going to kill themselves unless we do this surgery. I think it's hard to blame the parents.

[Soren Aldaco]

Yeah, I think that's a bit extreme. I still. They should have taken to another doctor then. I disagree with that. I do believe that the parents are at 100% fall here for allowing us to go through.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, let me ask you this, Let me ask you. Hold on, Frank, let me ask you this. What if instead of Soren saying, I think I'm a boy in a girl's body, she had said, I think I'm A pirate. And I need to have my leg chopped off because I want a peg leg. And I want you to also take one of my eyes because I want to wear an eye patch. And a doctor said, you know what? I think you are a pirate. We should take your leg off and your eye off. Would you think that the doctor deserved no criticism?

[Soren Aldaco]

No, because the doctor is completely wrong. So I said, go to another doctor.

[Clay Travis]

Okay. Ridiculous. I, I appreciate you, but what if all the doctors. What if. Thanks for the call. What if the medical establishment all had the same opinion, which they did until about a year ago, which is this is medically necessary surgery. And what if they had fought so hard. Think about this. Insurance covered it. Insurance Companies cover a 19 year old girl saying, I need to get my boobs chopped off.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Off.

[Clay Travis]

Now, not, not to get graphic with you, but insurance companies would not cover a 19 year old girl who went in and said, my boobs are not big enough. I need to have breast augmentation surgery. We got a whole rig job going on here. And by the way, you can have all different sorts of plastic surgery if that makes you happier. But unless it's medically necessary, it's not covered by insurance.

[Buck Sexton]

Insurance.

[Clay Travis]

So this has been defined as medically necessary such that her breasts were removed and the insurance company paid for it. Ben, and reading California. Ben, what you got for us?

[Soren Aldaco]

So, just wanted to call and confirm that yes, you can be sent home after either breast surgery or breast removal that day.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, that. I don't know. I don't know a lot about this. Ben, did your. I think it says your wife had to have the surgery for breast cancer.

[Soren Aldaco]

Breast cancer. Had breast removal. And it was like she, you know, there was a process to it, of course, and. But one day you end up going in and 45 minutes, hour later, you know, you're out of surgery and then a few hours later you're being sent home.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, well, let me, let me. Sorry to cut you off, but I. Okay, that may well be true. It may depend on the type of surgery. What I would point out is your wife had breast cancer surgery because otherwise she might have died of breast cancer.

[Soren Aldaco]

Well, depending. They had to remove it because of the style of the kind of.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so she had a serious medical condition that required her to have surgery to have her breasts removed. She wasn't 19 years old. And deciding to have her breasts removed voluntarily. And having seen that surgery.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Yeah.

[Soren Aldaco]

What I'm confirming is they do send you home.

[Clay Travis]

But having seen that. Okay, I appreciate that. Having seen that surgery. What would you think if you found that 19 year olds were voluntarily having their breasts removed?

[Soren Aldaco]

Horrible.

[Governor Mike Braun]

Because I can also tell you that my daughter's best friend had it done.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Soren Aldaco]

And she cannot understand why her best friend did that. Also, you know that that person moved, moved north from California to Oregon.

[Governor Mike Braun]

And, and I don't know if some

[Soren Aldaco]

other things happened up there because Oregon is kind of a funky state.

[Clay Travis]

Well, thank you for the call. I've got to hit a break here, but thank you for the call about that call. I don't know necessarily how long people stay in surgery, stay in hospitals after surgery. The big issue here is the surgery shouldn't exist. It should not be done for anybody. Look, if you want to make your home a little bit safer, Saber can do it. They have every kind of home security you could possibly imagine. You can get hooked up right now if you go to saberradio.com we have every home security device on the Saber website. Whether it's the pepper projectile launcher, whether it is all these different pepper sprays, if you're out and about, different door security, all of these. That makes a tremendous difference for my family. We have kids and kids are sometimes knuckleheads and they can get into the things that you're trying to protect your home with. So if you're a parent or grandparent, you're worried about the kids getting into lethal ways to defend yourself. That's what Sabre was made for, to defend in a non lethal manner. Pepper sprays, pepper gel, stun guns, they got it all. Check them out. Saberradio.com 844-824safe that's saberradio.com 844-8240 for safe keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

having fun Clay Travis and Buck Sexton

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[Clay Travis]

all I wanted to do was get back to work.

[Governor Mike Braun]

I wanted to get back to that

[Clay Travis]

trajectory that I was on. Prior to the cancer. I always felt like I had value.

[Governor Mike Braun]

I had a place on the team

[Clay Travis]

to just be treated with dignity.

[Governor Mike Braun]

It means everything.

[Clay Travis]

Research shows there is a significant connection

[Governor Mike Braun]

between the ability to continue to work work and cancer recovery.

[Clay Travis]

We can make work a better place for healing, learn more and sign the [e-mail] this is an I Heart Podcast.

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