← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
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- [00:00]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Public Investing Advertisement
Guaranteed Human 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 available at public.com/disclosures this Sunday.
- [01:06]
iHeartRadio Advertisement
Iheartradio brings you live to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl 60 tailgate concert presented by NetApp. It's the ultimate pre game party featuring an exclusive performance from Teddy Swims. Your front row experience will be on iHeartradio stations across the country and the free iHeartradio app this Sunday at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific. Then after the concert, tune in to the Super Bowl 60 pregame show on NB.
- [01:37]
Public Investing Advertisement
Nothing in life is free except this $10 that better picks is offering.
- [01:41]
Clay Travis
Download the Better app, pick more or less on your favorite player stats, watch.
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The games and win some cash.
- [01:45]
Clay Travis
It's that simple.
- [01:46]
Buck Sexton
Must be 21 or older in a.
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Jurisdiction where Better Picks operates. Terms and conditions Play Better Picks Sports just got better.
- [01:52]
Clay Travis
Do you know Pure Talk's favorite holiday? President's Day? Because they believe wireless service should only cost you a couple of presidents. A Jackson and a Lincoln to be exact, for just 25 bucks a month. Pure Talk gives you a unlimited talk text and plenty of data, so enjoy superior 5G coverage without the inflated price.
- [02:11]
Buck Sexton
Just go to PureTalk.com buck and save 50% off your first month. That's PureTalk.com buck to switch to Pure Talk. Welcome in everybody to the Thursday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate you being Here with us from all 50 states and from all over the world. Very cool. How many of you tune in and we are grateful for each and every one of you. Now, Clay, we got the National Prayer Breakfast. Trump speaking about a whole range of issues. We'll bring that to you. They've talked about the situation in Minneapolis, the charging of nine individuals, the Department of Education issuing new guidance to protect the right to prayer in public schools. Trump spoke of that. More updates on the immigration ICE Minneapolis situation as well. Trump sat down with Tom Lamas of NBC News for an interview. Again, a whole range of subjects touched on there. A lot on Minneapolis and Trump's deployment of National Guard and the security situation in various cities. That voter ID question, Clay, and the, the bill that Republicans would like to get passed here to create more secure elections. No surprise Democrats are out on that. So we have a lot of policy and news from the policy world and from the Trump administration's latest to dove into. But we will start with this really just heartbreaking situation of Savannah Guthrie, a well known TV news broadcaster whose mother has been abducted. And we don't know much more in terms of details. She released a video trying to trying to get to essentially the captor or captors as well as of course informing the public about what's happening here. I want you to listen. This is Savannah Guthrie released this out on social media and it has been on everyone's feed and on everyone's mind. Who's in the news cycle here in the last 24 hours? Play 28.
- [04:29]
Lyndon Blake
Our mom is our heart and our home. She's 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive and she needs it not to suffer. We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen.
- [05:11]
Buck Sexton
Please reach out to us, Clay. It's a worst nightmare situation for people to have a loved one, to have a family member kidnapped and it seems kidnapped violently and have so little to go on. At this point, we know very, very few facts about the situation other than she's gone, she was taken. And obviously the Trump administration is very engaged. In fact, FBI Director Cash Patel has gone down to Arizona to oversee efforts to find Savannah Guthrie's mother. Trump has Said personally that all available and necessary resources from the federal government will be devoted to finding her. And now the country is. Is. Is waiting and hoping.
- [06:03]
Clay Travis
It feels to me. And we'll open up phone lines on this, by the way, because a ton of you have strong thoughts. 800-282-2882. And there's a press conference coming later during the course of the show that we will go to if we get any additional updates. It feels like this has to be some form of an inside job to me and let me explain why. And I could end up being totally wrong. And we probably have, because we have experts in every field listening to the show right now. We probably have people who have worked kidnapping cases that are listening to us right now.
- [06:35]
Senator Dave McCormick
This.
- [06:36]
Clay Travis
So let me start with this. Savannah Guthrie, to me, is not Elon Musk's mom. She is not so famous. And Savannah Guthrie is not so wealthy that I think random people who had no knowledge of Nancy Guthrie would have any idea who her daughter is, by which I mean this feels like someone knows her, knows her movements. It feels connected. It doesn't feel like a random act of violence where somebody sees a famous person on television and decides that they're going to abduct someone. Probably the most famous, Buck, I would imagine you may disagree, but probably the most famous abduction in history is the Lindbergh baby. Right. Of. Of the entire history of the United States. I'm not sure there has been a more famous abduction than that that was directly connected to Charles Lindbergh, who was one of the most famous people in the United States at that point in time. He was targeted because of that fame. There's been millions of words written about that abduction. If you're a true crime or someone like that who reads those stories, it would clearly be at the very top of the list. Patty hear certainly is. Is famous, too, But I don't think it was famous on the same level as. As what happened with Lindbergh, you know, back in the day, in the 30s, in the 20s. That was about. He was as famous of a person as there was in the United States. Okay. So if you operate from that premise, also based on everything that I've read, and I read a lot about this to get ready for the show today, there's basically no evidence that is tangible of the abduction taking place. And let me dive into this with you, Buck, for a minute because that. That stands out to me as well. It feels to me like that is someone who is knowledgeable of the home because there are cameras, Nancy Guthrie lived in a million dollar house. It's not only the home in which you live, Buck. My entire neighborhood, everybody has ring cameras. So even if my ring camera were down, then there would be 20 other cameras on the street that I live on where people would. If the police came in, they would say, hey, you know, we don't know exactly what time something happened, but if you have footage of five hours ago or 20 hours ago or whatever the heck it is, there would be strong evidence of this. It feels like this was targeted. People were knowledgeable of the home. This is my analysis. In order to do this and not leave a lot of evidence behind, their cameras everywhere, I think it would be hard to abduct anyone and there not be tangible evidence of it right now. But at least so far they're saying they don't have tangible evidence. A ransom note was sent to a local news affiliate in the Arizona area as well as tmz, says they got a ransom note. And people say, okay, how do you know it's accurate? Supposedly the ransom note included details about the scene inside the home that gave clear indications that we knew who was involved. So, Buck, this is my analysis. I think it has to be someone that is connected to Nancy Guthrie, someone who knows something about her life. No. Maybe knows Savannah Guthrie because she knows Nancy Guthrie, because this woman is not standalone famous on her own, where I would expect that someone might decide to target her. Does all that make sense? You worked in the CIA or is that. Is. Is that totally crazy? From my perspective, No, I think that that all.
- [10:03]
Buck Sexton
That all squares. Absolutely, that. That makes sense to me. And you know, one thing that. That I do think about with this is when was the last time you heard about a kidnapping with ransom in America? This is very common in other countries, actually. Unfortunately, depends on where in the world you're talking about. But there have been. There were periods of time when in Colombia, in Mexico, in. There have been actually some Arab states, I think in Yemen for a while. It was very common, people being kidnapped for ransom. I mean, so there. There are some places where this happens in this country. And there used to be movies about this. Remember the. What was the. Was it ransom? I think was the movie with Mel Gibson, right?
- [10:49]
Clay Travis
Oh, yeah. Back in the day. Yeah. Ye.
- [10:51]
Buck Sexton
Where he said. He went on and said, I will basically give all the money to whoever finds you. And that was the, you know, the big move in the movie. You can't really think that you're going to be in America. Right. You have to assume that this person is probably not. And I mean, I guess they could have been taken to Mexico. That's. That's possible. I don't think they're getting on an international flight and going anywhere. And why this, I think matters is if someone is going to have a ransom note for money, whether it's Bitcoin or anything else, and they're going to try to stay in America, they really think they're going to. Even after they get their money. Let's say they do the exchange and they let Nancy Guthrie go free. And we're just. We're all just hoping that she is let free and is unharmed, that even if they do that, they're going to get caught at some point. You're not going to be able to. There's just no way, I think, that you'd be able to. It's too hard with DNA and everything they can do now and cell phone tracking. And so that's why I sit here and say a ransom note that strikes me as doesn't add up. I don't know. I agree with you. I think this is someone who has to know who she is. But the idea that they would be doing this for ransom purposes, this is just not something you really hear about anymore. And I think it's because it's very. It'd be very hard to get paid for the kidnapping and then not end up spending the rest of your life in a cell. Now, maybe somebody made that calculation and they think they'll be the one that gets away with it. But I think that's. I think that's a tough. A tough thing to pull off.
- [12:25]
Clay Travis
I agree. And so we will be following this again. There's a press conference coming in a little while, and again, some of you out there, we've got a couple of guests who want to talk, who are going to talk with this, with us about this. And some of you out there may again be experts in having dealt with kidnapping. We're fortunate because this doesn't happen very often in the United States where someone who is rich, like Savannah Guthrie is, would be targeted.
- [12:51]
Senator Dave McCormick
And.
- [12:52]
Clay Travis
But it is common, like I know in Latin America, Buck a lot of ball players, for instance, Major League baseball players have to have private security around their families all the time because there's extreme wealth that the ball players make. They spend time in Venezuela, they spend time in some of these Latin American countries, and their families are well known. And there is that sort of perpetual terror when it comes to kidnapping, that it might happen and there might be a payment that goes on. I Wonder too, Buck, you were talking about staying in the U.S. arizona. Is there a possibility they went south of the border and the only way got into Mexico to try to hold her there? That's one of the things that. That I would wonder about. But yes, like the way you communicate now is so trackable. It seems very, very hard for a ransom process to take place without there being abundant evidence of your ransom and how it's being communicated.
- [13:48]
Buck Sexton
I think it'd be also a very hard thing to pull off successfully to kidnap somebody if you're an American and then go over the border to Mexico and with given all the attention if you don't have the help of the. Of the cartels. I think they have very sophisticated networks of intelligence collection themselves on the board. I'm just saying I think that would be a very risky move. Again, we're going into the realm of speculation here because that's all that we can. That's all that there is. We don't have really any further information. I was also thinking about the. There was. There's a group, I think Control Risks, for example, does this. They do. They do VIP security. It's a real, you know, real company. I think it still exists today. Kroll has done some of this as well. It's a big. A big security outfit where they protect people, but they also sometimes have to have hostage negotiation facility.
- [14:43]
Clay Travis
And it's possible to. Buck, we just don't hear about these as much. Maybe there are occasional payments that are taking place and it's staying quiet. I tend to think that's less likely. But maybe there is in the United States some of this occurring and it just never goes public. That's the only thing like a real.
- [14:58]
Buck Sexton
Plague for a while in Mexico, I know that I actually had a friend growing up who had. His uncle was kidnapped, like at gunpoint, thrown in the trunk of a car, and the ransom was paid and they did release him. So that. That does happen. But remember Proof of Life, the Russell Crowe movie?
- [15:13]
Clay Travis
Oh, yeah.
- [15:13]
Buck Sexton
Actually a pretty underrated movie I thought was a pretty good movie for what it was, but with Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. Well, it deals with this very phenomenon of a bunch of. I think they're oil workers who are kidnapped somewhere in what is South America. They don't specify the country, and then they have to go through that whole negotiation process.
- [15:30]
Clay Travis
Yeah. And I thought she was interesting. Savannah Guthrie, in the clip we played. I hadn't really thought about it, but the Proof of Life is usually you hold up some sort of newspaper to show hey, this is the day. This is, you know, here's the hostage. They're still okay. In an AI age, I don't even know how you can 100% prove a video is real. And I think this is a challenge across many different aspects of life. But I hadn't really thought about it until I watched that Savannah Guthrie movie video. That taking some sort of video and trying to do use proof of life now is almost impossible to know if it's real or not.
- [16:03]
Buck Sexton
I think that if you're, if you're looking at the odds on this, someone doing this kidnapping because they think they're going to get money probably has a more likely outcome of Nancy coming out of this. Okay. Than if this was like a grudge, you know.
- [16:24]
Clay Travis
Yeah. Right.
- [16:24]
Buck Sexton
Situation. So. And, you know, but again, we, we just, we don't really know. We'll continue to follow the story. There's very little in the way of additional detail. Trump is on it. The president has. This has gotten his attention. Cash Patel, the director of FBI, they're on it. And they're devoting a tremendous amount of resources to finding Nancy Guthrie. So we hope we could have, we could have good news for you during the show. You know, who knows? Let's all, let's all say a prayer. All right, Stay in bed this Valentine's Day with super comfy cozy Earth PJs. Right now, they've got a buy one, get one deal on their bamboo fabric pajama sets. Pick out two pairs that you like, and when you put in the code Buck Bogo, one of them will be free. That's my name, Buck and Bogo B O G O. Cozy Earth is known for their ubersoft fabric, including these luxury pajamas. I've actually got a pair of these downstairs. In fact, Carrie just got the Bogo herself and is sending some to her sister. They're a classic Cozy Earth favorite. A gift your valentine will love. Sleeping in them night after night. Bamboo fabric used in the creation of these pajamas sets allows anyone to sleep comfortably without getting too hot or too cold. It's just right. Go online@cozyearth.com, use my name and the Bogo term. So ready? It's Buck Bogo, Buck B O G O. To get these PJs for someone you love. That's cozyearth.com and if you got a post purchase survey, be sure you mentioned you heard about Cozy Earth right here. That's cozyearth.com Buck Bogo for a buy one, get one deal on these amazing pajamas.
- [18:03]
Clay Travis
Making America great again isn't just one man, it's many. The team for 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.
- [18:17]
Public Investing Advertisement
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 lit 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 tool output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.comdisclosures this Sunday.
- [19:19]
iHeartRadio Advertisement
Iheartradio brings you live to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl 60 tailgate concert presented by NetApp. It's the ultimate pre game party featuring an exclusive performance from Teddy Swims. Your front row experience will be on iHeartradio stations across the the country and the free iHeartradio app is Sunday at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific. Then after the concert, tune in to the Super Bowl 60 pregame show on NBC.
- [19:50]
Better Picks Advertisement
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- [20:20]
Clay Travis
President's Day a favorite holiday for our friends at Pure Talk?
- [20:24]
Buck Sexton
After all, it only takes one Jackson and one Lincoln to pay for Pure Talk's monthly cell phone Service. For just 25 bucks a month, PureTalk gives you unlimited talk, text and plenty of data.
- [20:35]
Clay Travis
Now compare that to big wireless. They'd rather celebrate Benjamin Franklin Day if there was such a thing. That way they can charge your family hundreds every month. That's not right. You deserve better.
- [20:46]
Buck Sexton
PureTalk is an American wireless company who supports our veterans and invests in a US only customer service team.
- [20:53]
Clay Travis
PureTalk uses the same towers as the big carrier, so you get superior 5G coverage without the inflated price. Just $25 a month for talk, text and plenty of data. No contract, no cancellation fee.
- [21:08]
Buck Sexton
Go to PureTalk.com buck and you'll get 50 off your first month. Again, that's PureTalk.com buck to make the switch to PureTalk.
- [21:17]
Clay Travis
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the Thursday edition of the program. Let me start off with something. Well, let me go ahead and give you an update here. We are right now monitoring the latest press conference that is taking place in Arizona surrounding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. And we will have coverage of any information that comes out from that information that that is underway right now. We've got a guest, Lyndon Blake, who works at the Daily Wire and has been covering this at the bottom of the hour, just FYI and I don't know if we said this earlier, we probably should have. Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick is going to be on with a scheduled to be on with us in the third hour. There are a lot of different moving parts, as is always the case with senator schedules. So exactly when remains in flux. But at some point, we hope to be able to talk to him during the course of the program. Okay. Lots of serious things going on, Buck, but one thing that is always fun is mocking Kamala Harris for being one of the most inauthentic politicians that we have ever seen. And Kamala decided that she had a big announcement that was incredibly important. And that announcement was that she has a new headquarters on the Kamala website. And this is what that sounded like. For those of you who missed it this morning. Kamala Harris, major announcement.
- [22:49]
Lyndon Blake
Listen, Madam Vice President, what's going on with Kamala hq?
- [22:53]
Clay Travis
Well, I'm so glad you asked. I have good news. So Kamala HQ is turning into headquarters and it's where you can go online to get basically the latest of what's going on and also to meet and revisit with some of our great courageous leaders, be they elected leaders, community leaders, civic leaders, Faith leaders, young leaders. I'm really excited about it.
- [23:15]
Buck Sexton
So stay engaged and I'll see you out there. Thank you.
- [23:18]
Senator Dave McCormick
Okay.
- [23:18]
Clay Travis
Okay. So Kamala did this. Buck and I immediately when I watched this this morning as I was getting ready for the, for the program. For those of you out there that are fans of the Office, one of the all time best comedy sitcoms, I mean, I think it's, you know, top three or four all time. If, if you are got kids out there and you want to entertain them and have them watch a, a show my boys have gotten to where they will watch Office episodes with us. They think it's really funny. Maybe the last great really funny on air sitcom to air in on broadcast television. Here was Ryan, the intern from the Office, announcing his new big tech platform. For those of you who remember, it was called woof. This is what that sounded like.
- [24:03]
Senator Dave McCormick
Woof is the site that I'm launching to be the last word in social NETWORKING. For just $12.99 a month, Woof links up all your communication portals so you are always within reach. It's part of the dog pack, as I call it. But look, why tell you when I can show you? I just sent myself a Woof.
- [24:23]
Lyndon Blake
Ryan, you, Aaron.
- [24:26]
Clay Travis
Woof. All right, so everything goes off all at once. When I watch every Kamala video, I can't help but think, buck, how many versions of this did she do before they ended up on the awful version that they put out there? And I also think every time I see Kamala, I can't wait to have the steak that I'm going to win. Cause she's 1 billion percent running.
- [24:46]
Buck Sexton
I don't even, I can't even. I'm not selling any, any plots on Buck island this time. I think I probably got too emotional with my disdain for all things Kamala. She, by the way, she. See, this is what's so unfair. From the beginning, I've nailed that. She will eventually, she will eventually be the chancellor of a use of a third tier UC school who, you know, like has some memoir that nobody actually reads. You know, that's where she's headed and I've called that for years.
- [25:14]
Clay Travis
She's not going to be president.
- [25:16]
Buck Sexton
She's not going to win the nomination. I maybe got a little ahead of my skis. Maybe a little ahead of my skis. But she's not even going to run because that would just be. Because here's the problem with my position on this. People forget how awful she is. And she's counting on even Democrats forgetting about how awful she actually is. She does have name recognition. I do think the Newsom Kamala, if it happens, and I'm not totally abandoning my post here, but I think we're about.
- [25:44]
Clay Travis
I think.
- [25:45]
Buck Sexton
I think I'm about to get overrun on this one. I think Buck island, the lave. The waves are lapping higher and higher on the beach of Buck island here. I think that it's likely that the Gavin Newsom Kamala Harris throwdown, because only one will really emerge from this. I don't think Kamala would take a VP job again. Do you think she would do that? Like, if Gavin won, would he offer her vp?
- [26:11]
Clay Travis
I don't think they like each other. Buck, I'm gonna blow your mind here because I'm gonna give you another opportunity. So I think you're. I think you're slowly acknowledging that I'm gonna win the steak bet on she's gonna run. You know what I bet some of our friends with? I was out to dinner with a bunch of our friends. Let's see, on Tuesday night in la, and I bet everyone at the table, there were six of us. I bet the other five guys at the table. I said, not only is Kamala gonna run, she's gonna be the nominee. So I will give you, Buck, an opportunity that I will give you. She's a not anywhere near even money, but I will give you. I think she's going to be the nominee. And I'll give you straight up.
- [26:55]
Buck Sexton
Am I able to. Am I able to roll my she won't even run bet? Oh, look at this. He's waving that.
- [27:02]
Clay Travis
Already got house money. But I am giving you the opportunity to. I think she's going to run. I think even you recognize. I think most people out there recognize that she's going to run, but I think she's going to be the nominee. And I'm going to give you my logic. So I'm giving you right now, before I even give you the logic, I will allow you to make an additional bet on Kamala Harris will not be the nominee, which could mean that I have to buy you a steak dinner to make up for the fact that you basically already lost another steak dinner to me over Will Kamala run?
- [27:35]
Buck Sexton
Oh, man. I mean, you're. We're really. You know, I got. I got. I got a mortgage to pay.
- [27:41]
Clay Travis
You know, I'm gonna.
- [27:42]
Buck Sexton
I'm gonna double up on my stakes.
- [27:43]
Clay Travis
Do you need to leave and go make sure it's okay with Carrie?
- [27:45]
Buck Sexton
Do you need to go consult with.
- [27:47]
Clay Travis
The bosses to See, whether the money.
- [27:49]
Buck Sexton
Like, I. I think. I think you're. Let me think on this one a little bit.
- [27:55]
Clay Travis
All right, Let me make. Let me make.
- [27:56]
Buck Sexton
Because I. Because I made an emotional call with comma, is not even going to run. And now I'm feeling like. Because people forget, Clay, she was so awful and lost so badly. The fact that the Democrats are even considering, like, thinking about putting her up again is complete madness. But they're lunatics, so think about this.
- [28:15]
Clay Travis
All right? Let me make. Let me pretend that I am advising Kamala Harris, which is probably means that I'm smarter than anybody that is actually advising Kamala Harris. She lays low. She does these stupid things like, hey, we're going to have HQ67, or whatever the heck this thing is called. But she relies on one inescapable fact. What I would tell her is pour all of your attention behind the scenes into making sure that a Southern state is the first primary state. Georgia, South Carolina, heck, Tennessee. There's a bunch. There's 12 states, I believe, right now competing to become the first primary state in 2027, 2028. All right? And you say, okay, Clay, why does that matter? Everybody has forgotten because he didn't end up getting actually challenged. Biden changed the entire order of the primary in 2024 to put South Carolina first because people in Iowa and New Hampshire never were impressed by Joe Biden. Kamala is not going to do well in Iowa or New Hampshire because she has to be natural. She has to walk into a diner. She has to eat a hot dog at the Iowa State Fair. She has to do all these things that are normal that she's completely unable to do because she's not normal. She's the joker. You know, she's cackling all the time, walking around in a purple pantsuit. But if Southern states vote first, black voters are going to show up in huge numbers for Kamala Harris. I don't believe that. Okay?
- [29:52]
Buck Sexton
I don't believe that.
- [29:53]
Clay Travis
I think so.
- [29:54]
Buck Sexton
I don't think so.
- [29:55]
Clay Travis
I don't think there's nothing.
- [29:56]
Buck Sexton
You know what I will say for the black Democrat primary voter? They want to vote for a winner. They want to vote for somebody that they think will both win the primary and win the general election. I don't think anybody who's going to show up for a primary after what happened this last time around. But you know what? I'm not putting a stake. I'm not putting a stake on this.
- [30:18]
Clay Travis
We'll just.
- [30:18]
Buck Sexton
We'll just put the stake in there. All Right. Clay might already win the stake with Kamala running because it's looking more like she's running. But it's not. Not determined yet. Okay, it's not determined yet, but we'll just put that out there. Clay is saying Kamala will be the nominee. I'm just saying I'm not making any bet on this. That is insane. No way. Totally disagree. Will not be Kamala as the nominee. I'm not buying it. No way.
- [30:37]
Clay Travis
Okay. I think black women are not leaving her. And I haven't seen yet another black candidate who could, like, actually manage to take away her black support. So right now, if there were a primary in South Carolina or Georgia or Tennessee for the Democrat Party, she would win big. So if I were advising her, I would say, you need to argue, Kamala, that it would be racist to let white voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, which is the argument really, that Joe Biden made. Really, it was. Nobody ever liked Biden in those states to not have a diverse electorate select the nominee. And if there is a black focused Southern state strategy, Kamala is going to be the nominee. She's going to be the nominee.
- [31:23]
Buck Sexton
What about. What about Kamala losing every swing state. Every swing state in the last election speaks to you with. People are going to try to give her a second shot at this one. I don't think it's possible for her to have whiffed more bigly than she did.
- [31:41]
Clay Travis
I'll give you. I'll give you the answer. This is what I would tell Kamala to say. Donald Trump is a uniquely talented Republican politician who produced voters that will not show up for JD Vance or Marco Rubio. And I would beat those guys. Trump, Biden was a disaster. I think she'll say, now Biden was a disaster, but now she'll be able to say, whether we believe it or not, Trump was a disaster. People are ready to turn the page and all these banal, banal, whatever you want to say phrases that Kamala trots out. Trump is a uniquely talented politician, and I only lost by 220,000 votes. I will kick JD Vance's ass because he doesn't have the charisma or panache of Donald Trump. And those voters are not showing up for him the same way.
- [32:27]
Buck Sexton
Here's why. Here's why. I think. I think that you're wrong. This would mean that the Democrats after. After the most absurd, obscene political blunder of our lifetime, which was trying till the very last minute, technically, you know, I should have just said that Biden would run, which is what you've said with Kamala instead. I said that he would be the nominee, which he was until the 11th hour. And they couldn't pull the con off anymore. They basically handed the Republicans this last election with their stupidity. Not to take anything away from Trump, but what they did putting Biden forward, the debate disaster, the whole thing was an absolute catastrophe. Kamala was a part of that catastrophe inextricably linked to and carried the burden of in the end of it that catastrophe to run her again as their nominee. I will put this stake in the ground would be political malpractice for Democrats on the same scale as trying to run Biden for. For reelection given his clear dementia. Like it is unfathomably dumb for them to do this.
- [33:40]
Clay Travis
I agree with all that. She's going to be the nominal and.
- [33:43]
Buck Sexton
You so you think they're going to do the dumbest thing we've ever seen in politics two elections in a row.
- [33:49]
Clay Travis
What I would say in response to all of that is even with a calamitous, incredibly mal adjusted campaign, they came within 220,000 votes of beating Trump. I think that they. I'm telling you.
- [34:05]
Buck Sexton
But it's a case that every other candidate for the Democrats could make. Clay is. That's just what's baked in. It's that last 200. Look at the recent elections. It's that last 200,000. Look at how close it was in 2020. It's always about the last 200,000. It's always about the swing states. Of course a Wes Moore or a Gavin Newsom or a whoever else you think is going to be able to win all the states that Kamala did. All that matters is the 300,000 or so votes that are up for grabs or that differentiate in those swings. I think. Right.
- [34:37]
Clay Travis
I think what she will say and I think this is going to be the huge Democrat argument.
- [34:41]
Buck Sexton
Hire you. You're really, I mean you're like a true believer.
- [34:43]
Clay Travis
I think the, the argument is going to be out there and I think it may well be true and it's something to think about. Trump motivates voters that J.D. vance is not going to motivate. I don't think that Trump says hey, go vote for J.D. vance. Look at every time Trump's not on the ballot, the overall Republican Party fails to turn out.
- [35:03]
Buck Sexton
I don't think Kamala motivates any voters. I don't think Kamala motivates any voters that any other Democrat would not also motivate. And I actually think that Kamala will do very poorly with working class white voters, who in the swing states will be the single most important demographic that would be up for grabs if you don't have a Trump.
- [35:20]
Clay Travis
I. I hope. I hope. Look, this is right, but I'm telling you, this is what I think they're telling Kamala behind closed doors. If they have anybody smart enough to actually be making these arguments.
- [35:31]
Buck Sexton
This isn't as crazy as your Michelle Obama is going to be the secret stealth nominee take, which I have to remind everyone of that. That was Clay for a long time, and I told him he was crazy. We didn't put a bet on that one. We didn't put a stake bet on that. Well, we should have, because I said, clay, you're insane. And it was insane. And now we all know Michelle Obama is a deeply unlikable political candidate. So that was all just kind of boomer talk.
- [35:53]
Clay Travis
Well, I thought that they needed a black candidate because they would recognize that Kamala was awful and it would be racist and sexist if they didn't have a black woman to replace her. And the only black woman I could think of to replace her was Michelle Obama, who was popular enough to potentially win. Well, but that was. That was the logic behind.
- [36:09]
Buck Sexton
That was the logic, but it was.
- [36:10]
Clay Travis
There was.
- [36:11]
Buck Sexton
I think that was fantasyland stuff, Clay. I think this take of Kamala as the nominee is almost as crazy as Michelle Obama parachuting in to be the nominee for the. Like, this is. This is. And I know, by the way, the numbers don't disagree with you. I think right now she is, by the betting markets, supposed to be the candidate Gavin Newsom.
- [36:27]
Clay Travis
I just can't imagine a substantial favorite over.
- [36:30]
Buck Sexton
Oh, Gavin Newsom is.
- [36:31]
Senator Dave McCormick
Okay.
- [36:31]
Clay Travis
Yeah, yeah.
- [36:32]
Buck Sexton
I'm. I'm putting. I'm. I'm on that one.
- [36:34]
Clay Travis
I'm on that.
- [36:35]
Buck Sexton
It's going to be news.
- [36:36]
Senator Dave McCormick
No.
- [36:36]
Buck Sexton
Is going to wipe the floor with Kamala. Wipe the. I can't believe I'm saying this. I sound like I'm evil. Keanu Reeves biggest fan over here. He's just gonna button down that shirt and look at all the ladies of America in the eyes and say, hey, I'm here for you. I think Gavin Newsom's gonna crush Kamala Harris. I don't. I think it's gonna be an if, which is the only reason I thought maybe. Or one of the reasons I thought that she might just realize it's not a good idea for her long term buck.
- [37:02]
Clay Travis
What if she goes full Trump and says, I don't need to debate. People know me already and just sits out the actual debates.
- [37:10]
Buck Sexton
She tried to do that with Trump and then couldn't because the pressure became too much. I don't think she could do that. I don't think she can pull that off.
- [37:15]
Clay Travis
I think it's interesting. But yeah, okay, you could think about it.
- [37:18]
Buck Sexton
Gonna be Newsom. All right. I put my flag down. It's gonna be Newsom. You say it's gonna be Kamala. I might have to get your stake when Kamala runs because again, I made an emotional, an emotional bet on that one because Kamala was so horrible. But we'll see. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
- [37:32]
Clay Travis
All right.
- [37:33]
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- [38:54]
Clay Travis
Stories of America. Inspirational stories that unite us all each day. Spend time with Clay and box. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome in our number three Thursday edition of the program. We appreciate all of you out there listening to us all over the country in all 50 states. Reminder Monday you will be able to listen to this program on satellite radio. People have been asking for a very very long time. Channel 123. I believe it's the Triumph station if you are a satellite radio subscriber. We will continue to be on all 50 states on nearly 600 affiliate stations. We thank all of you who are listening everywhere. But in addition to everything else, channel123 on satellite radio, this show will now be available there beginning Monday at 8 noon Eastern, 9am on the West Coast. I am on the west coast right now. I've been in California all week. And this morning I got out. We're, by the way, going to get an update on this Nancy Guthrie story in a bit. But for those of you out there that were wondering or have been following this, and it is the number one story on every newscast. No suspects. Blood on the porch confirmed hers. They believe she is still alive. And there have been, they think, multiple ransom notes sent to a local affiliate station in the Arizona marketplace and also one to tmz. They believe those ransom notes are in some way authentic because they describe the scene of the kidnapping in a way that only the people who were involved in the kidnapped kidnapping might be aware of. So we will continue to update you on that. We're gonna have a call in as soon as that press conference ends in the near future. I wanted to mention this. I feel fortunate I get to travel all over the country. We have great affiliate stations. I'm in our San Francisco I Heart studios right now. I walked from my hotel this morning in San Francisco to the studio here, and they actually told me, hey, you probably don't want to walk. And I thought when I was told that what an incredible indictment it is for any city for you to be staying in a hotel and for someone to say, hey, you're probably not gonna wanna walk. Now, I understand if I had to walk across an interstate or if it was unsafe because of the roadways and the method in which I would have to get there, that wasn't the case here. For those of you who've been to San Francisco before, it's a very walkable city. It's not a very substantial size, geographical, geographically of a city. It's a beautiful place. One of, I would argue, the most beautiful cities, natural beauty that exists anywhere in the United States and indeed, really anywhere around the world. And they said, hey, you probably don't want to walk from your hotel. And one of the guys we have out here, my buddy Dan Dockic, who does a show for us at Outkick, we've got a bunch of people out here for the super bowl, which is taking place in Santa Clara, not San Francisco, for those of you who care. And Dan said he and his wife, they got in the previous night at 10pm and they didn't feel safe going into our hotel. Now we're right in the center of San Francisco. And he said it looked like a third world country on the streets with all of the homeless people and the way that people were behaving on the streets. This morning I'm up early. Woke up at 6am on the west coast doing all my prep, go get a coffee. And I like to walk. I like to walk in the cities that I'm visiting to get a little bit better sense for what they're like. Probably a lot of you who travel know what I'm talking about. You get into a car, you move fast, it's hard to really get a sense for what a city is like. You walk around in a city and you feel like you have a little bit better idea what the surrounding environment's like. So I had about a mile and a half walk this morning from my hotel right in the center, Market street, right downtown San Francisco, down Producer Alley. You can figure out exactly what area we're in. You can text me. I'm not an expert on the different neighborhoods of San Francisco, but about a mile and a half I think I walked towards the water, towards the bay, towards Alcatraz, where I could potentially swim spectacularly as needed if I weren't going to be eaten by a shark. And I passed eight different abandoned needles on my walk. I don't know what city you guys live in, I don't see needles on the street very often, anywhere that I visit. And I go all over the place. Eight different abandoned needles, four different human feces related deposits in my walk from a hotel right in the center of downtown San Francisco to the I Heart studios in San Francisco. And I, when I saw the first needle, I couldn't believe it. You kind of feel sick. You're eerie. You think, hey man, you know, gosh, if you got a two year old or you got a kid that's walking around on the streets, you know, if you know and have done that, kids will reach over and pick up anything. I couldn't believe when I saw the first needle. I saw eight different abandoned needles in the center of San Francisco on my walk. And then I saw human feces four different times. You say, well maybe it was a dog. It was not a dog. And I thought to myself, what are we doing? I passed multiple clearly strung out people on the streets who were out of their mind at 8:15 in the morning. We're not talking about midnight, we're not talking about middle of the the night, 8:15 in the morning. People wandering around clearly strung out, out of their Minds. And all of this is happening when the super bowl is in town. And if you remember before, I think it was San Francisco that Gavin Newsom cleaned up when China came to visit. Cause he wanted the city to look better. So this may be a cleaned up version of San Francisco that I am seeing. And they said, don't walk. You probably need to take a car. I walked and I saw eight needles and four human dumps. And I thought to myself, what are we doing? Tons of strung out people. How has a city as wealthy as San Francisco, as beautiful as San Francisco, descended into feces and needles everywhere? And people are just out and they just deal with it. I also passed joggers. And I'm thinking to myself, you're in tennis shoes. Like, I would be nervous that I would step on a needle. Can you imagine stepping on a freaking needle in the middle of a city and being terrified about what you might have gotten exposed to? How have we come to accept filth as a standard cost of living in an American city? That's what I was thinking as I was walking and looking at my surrounding. And I've talked about this before, Washington, D.C. is infinitely better now with President Trump having cleaned it up. But you can go back. I tweeted during the Biden administration, I went to Washington D.C. a city that I know very well because I lived there for four years in college. And there were just homeless encampments all over the city, parks that had just been taken over, and people were putting tents up and just living there. Filth is a choice. And you can say, and I think it's fair. Well, Clay, there are more serious things to worry about. We're concerned about murder. We're concerned about robberies, we're concerned about carjackings. I would submit to you, I guarantee to you that the level of violent crime is directly correlated with the level of filth on the streets. I guarantee you that's the case. So that was my walk this morning. Now we are joined by Lyndon Blake. I know Lyndon well. She works at the Daily Wire. Now. She has worked off and on without kick, a variety of different places. She does good work. Uh, and she has been monitoring the press conference for all of us that's just been taking place in Arizona for the absolute latest as it relates to Nancy Guthrie. I want to get that update for all of you because it is something that many people are following very closely. Okay, Lyndon, What I saw from the press conference, no suspects, $50,000 reward, blood on the porch. That is, there was Nancy Guthrie's and they believe she is alive. Those are the three major takeaways that I jotted down from this press conference that just happened. Is all that accurate so far as you could hear? And what else should we know about what was revealed in the last 30 minutes or so in that press conference?
- [48:45]
Lyndon Blake
Yeah, you took good notes, Clay. Everything you said there was correct. My biggest takeaway from this press conference, again, so much information is still being held close to the chest of these investigators. But the big story has been the ransom notes since Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings addressed the ransom notes head on in a video last night, talking directly to the people who may have their mother, I mean, held hostage at this point. And I wanted to talk about the deadlines that were revealed from the ransom notes. In this press conference, the FBI revealed that the ransom notes that went to the media outlets, there were two local stations in Arizona, K O L D and KGUN plus tmz, all received the same ransom note. That's new information. We could have assumed they were the same, but now we know that all three got the same ransom notes that demanded millions of dollars in bitcoin. With a deadline of 5pm today, the extended deadline for payment is Monday. And this didn't come from the press conference, but KGUN said in the ransom note that if payment wasn't received by Monday, that second deadline, there are words in there that threatened to kill Nancy. So that's why they're taking this ransom note so seriously. And there were also two pieces of information in that ransom note. And you can look at this information and say, maybe anyone can know this, but they mentioned Nancy's Apple watch and a floodlight at her house. That was something off about it. And those are the two things that you have to imagine struck the family as alarming. They that were factual, that made them warrant a response to address the person that wrote this ransom note. Assuming this is all legitimate. The legitimacy has not been confirmed. They're not saying, yes, the person that wrote this ransom note has Nancy Guthrie. What they are saying is they're alarming things and they're taking the note seriously.
- [50:46]
Clay Travis
Okay. One of the things that. Thank you for all that information. We're talking to Lyndon Blake. One of the things that stands out to me that I just find kind of unbelievable, and I talked about it in the first hour of the show, I think is in my neighborhood, every single house has a camera on it, meaning a ring camera of some sort. So if a car drives by, maybe my camera is not working, which is, I think, one of the reports that's out there. But there would be a lot of people in the neighborhood whose cameras would be working to have no suspects. It sounds strange to me because I would think there would be a lot of video of presumably whoever got her had to come in. In a vehicle. Right. She's not able to be that mobile, so they had to come in on a vehicle. I would think there would be lots of evidence in the neighborhood of cars that have been driving by. Has there been any discussion about that? Not. I get that her individual camera may not be working, but what about the neighborhood at large?
- [51:41]
Lyndon Blake
Yeah. So the neighborhood, the way it's set up, Houses are very far away from each other. And there's no street lights at all on this street. So they act like. And there's a lot of foliage and stuff. You know, think like cacti and whatever that are blocking the houses from the street. So they're still saying they're processing. They said they've been going up and. And asking for that. But at this point. That is a weird point. That's a question I have. How do we not have. I don't. If it's the most grainy nighttime image of any vehicle that may have gone through that area sometime after now we know 1:47am Sunday morning. That's a good question. The foot. The camera footage is just the big question mark. And the only thing I can think of if they do know more about that than they're telling us, is there really just focusing in on their. Further along than what they're leading on, even though, again, they say no suspect, no person of interest, and trying to follow up on something in that camera footage that would just. That would damage the investigation at this point.
- [52:47]
Clay Travis
Okay. Couple of questions here, additional for you. And I'm going to ask them both, and you can kind of unpack them. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings asked for proof of life. There is a discussion that they believe she is alive. Do we know. First question. Do we know why they believe she's alive? Second question. Have they said what amount of money is being demanded? Do we have any idea? Bitcoin, obviously, is harder to trace, but do we have any idea what dollar amount they are saying, hey, you've got to give us this in order to get her back?
- [53:24]
Lyndon Blake
Yeah, there's no indication of how much money, just besides the millions of bitcoin. And what was the question you asked.
- [53:32]
Clay Travis
Before that about why do they believe she's alive? Is there any suggestion that they've actually seen proof of life yet?
- [53:40]
Lyndon Blake
No, no, they say that they have no reason to believe that she's not alive is their thing. So they're acting as if she's alive. But there's been nothing. But I thought one part in the video that was interesting when they directly Savannah and her siblings address the AI of it all and said that images and videos can be manipulated and that they demand without a shadow of a doubt proof of life. So it makes you think, has the FBI, has someone received these, these fake images that they're not releasing? But no, they say that on record they have no reason to believe that she's not alive. One other thing, Clay, that I do want to point out. Since we were talking about the neighborhood and that situation with the camera footage and stuff, multiple outlets have reported over now the last five days that there were signs of forced entry. Today in the press conference, Sheriff Chris Nano said that he's not going to say there were signs of forced entry. And I thought that was interesting how he said he pulled back on that. We know that when investigators got to the scene, the front door was unlocked. And he's saying that he would not discuss how the person or persons got in the house and wouldn't describe if it was forced entry or not. And that also makes your just curiosity button go off again to who are we looking for here? Is it someone that is familiar with Nancy's patterns? What if they did just go through the front door? You know what I'm saying? That would just. I don't know that. That part stuck out to me as well.
- [55:18]
Clay Travis
The White House, by the way, a reporter inside of the White House is reported that President Trump watched the entire Arizona press conference on the latest developments on the search for Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy. That's according to Jennifer Jacobs at CBS News. So the president is super involved. We know the FBI is involved. If there was initially a 5pm deadline today to bump it to Monday, seems like a big jump to me. That would also mean that whoever is holding Nancy Guthrie, if I'm surmising, feels very confident they're not going to be caught because Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, adding four days to a deadline, I would think would increase the risk substantially that you would be tracked in some way.
- [56:00]
Lyndon Blake
Oh, 100%. I mean, the two deadlines is weird. Why would you say 5pm Thursday and then. But needs to be done for sure by Monday or there's language in there threatening to kill her. It's, it's, it's interesting. And they. And again, like that's what the ransom notes is they're, they're not necessarily saying that this is the key here, but it's just signs that can't be ignored. And they did want to make clear that even though the FBI was there at the home where the siblings were filming the video and they can advise the family, it was the Guthrie's decision to speak directly to the perpetrator to put that video out. Meaning again. And you know, Clay, with Savannah's background in law and all this cases she's covered, she has to have a gut feeling and stuff in that letter that makes her say no, like we are going to respond to this and engage and we want to talk to this person, no doubt.
- [56:58]
Clay Travis
And we'll continue to follow. Thank you for the time, Lyndon. Thank you for updating on all this and we'll see what happens going forward. And I'll react a little bit more to this as we continue. By the way, Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania scheduled to join us as well. Thank you, Lyndon.
- [57:12]
Lyndon Blake
All right, thanks guys. Bye.
- [57:13]
Clay Travis
All right, when we come back, more reaction to this story and more. This is claim. Buck, thanks for hanging with us. News and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [57:32]
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- [58:33]
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- [59:35]
Clay Travis
President's Day a favorite holiday for our friends at Pure Talk?
- [59:39]
Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
Now compare that to Big Wireless. They'd rather celebrate Benjamin Franklin Day if there was such a thing. That way they can charge your family hundreds every month. That's not right. You deserve better.
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Buck Sexton
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- [60:32]
Clay Travis
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. I am out in California. Super bowl coming up. I'll get the pick of a guy who's pretty big football fan, big sports fan in General. Senator Dave McCormick. McCormick. We'll get to that in a moment, but I'll start with this because everybody is talking about it. Senator McCormick, are you and your family, are you following this Nancy Guthrie story? The the press secretary Caroline Levitt just said that she and President Trump watched the entire press conference that just aired. It's a crazy story and certainly everybody's rooting for a great outcome. I know a ton is going on, but it seems like this is in many ways captured the attention of the nation.
- [61:15]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah, I know. I I Haven't been following it as much in the last couple hours, but I listened to the, the video last night of the three children and just so heartbreaking. I have a 87 year old dad and an 85 year old mom and I'm just imagining the sense of helplessness when you're. Your parents who you want to take care of are, are vulnerable and who knows what's happened. And it's just absolutely heartbreaking and it's riveting.
- [61:42]
Clay Travis
We are, we are talking with Dave McCormick right now. When you, you and I texted because I read your. Let's dive into what you're doing now. You've been in the Senate for a year. You wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal having to do with the budget related issues and just how much money is being spent. You ran to try to help address this. But in a year have you been stunned at just how rapidly people spend money, Democrats, Republicans, everybody on Capitol Hill and how little regard there is for in any way trying to balance the budget? I loved your editorial.
- [62:17]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah, well, Clay, you know, it feels like a lifetime ago since you and I were together in Pennsylvania during, during my campaign. And one of the things I said is I'm going to be a guy who shakes up Washington. I'm a, I'm a business person. I'm going to try to bring business person sensibilities. And the reason for writing op ed is, you know, we've got $37 trillion debt. We have interest payments that are bigger than our defense budget, and it's growing out of control this year alone, despite making some, some modest progress in the Working Families Tax Cut act. We have a $2 trillion deficit. We're spending $2 trillion more than we're bringing in. And the point I was making is we did some reforms, we did some Medicaid reforms which are tiny. They essentially slow the rate of growth from like 6% a year. Medicaid's the fastest growing program. It's grown by billions of dollars. In Pennsylvania, it's grown by 80% in the last five years with, with the same number of recipients, 3 million recipients. And I was just making the point. We made modest reforms, basically saying you got to work if you're going to receive it, if you're able bodied. 80 hours a month, Clay, this is not 80 hours a week. 80 hours a month. And you would have thought we were dragging babies out of incubators. I mean, it was the way these modest reforms were presented by the public, to the public, by the Democrats, by the, by the Liberal media was absolutely, unbelievably irresponsible. And the point I was making is, listen, we're going to fall off a cliff. And I'm, you know, my pop up, my granddad was a county commissioner in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He's a New Deal Democrat. So I grew up with that in my house. I want to take care of the helpless, the vulnerable among us, but I want to do it in a responsible way. And right now, we're going to destroy all these programs because we're not able to make. Make a modest. The modest kinds of modest reforms that are necessary to make them viable. And so it was kind of like a Mr. Smith goes to Washington. I'm like, holy cow, this is what we're dealing with. And I ended with the point, hey, listen, when I was the CEO, if I would present to my board, hey, we're going. We're going to be bankrupt, but we got no plan to reduce spending and we got no strategy, I would have gotten fired on the spot. And I said, well, maybe our elected officials should have that same principle. Listen, if we're not going to do something, we should be fired.
- [64:30]
Clay Travis
John Fetterman is maybe the only sane Democrat in the Senate, which is. Which is, you know, a small measure of. Of praise there. But you guys seem to get along pretty well. And I saw polling recently that Fetterman's actually more popular with Pennsylvania Republicans than he is Pennsylvania Democrats, which kind of made me raise my eyebrows. What has your working relationship been like with Fetterman? What do you think people should know about him and about what having one Democrat, one Republican in Pennsylvania says to the country?
- [65:02]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah, there's only. There's only two states out, 50, that have a split like that. And, you know, he campaigned against me. He was with Bob Casey. And, you know, we met for the first time. Well, I guess for the second. We met once during the campaign. We met the second time after I had won, and we just sat down and talked. And he basically said, listen, you know, you seem like a good guy. I'm not going to ever play games. I want to find ways to work together. And I said, okay, you seem like a good guy. Let's do that. And we just built a relationship, a friendship. I trust him. We agree on a lot of things. We look for things to agree on, whether it's stopping fentanyl in Pennsylvania or fracking or the fight against anti Semitism. Both of us are strong supporters of Israel. We both would never vote to shut down the government. And so we have found A lot of common ground. And, you know, I guess the best example of this is he was getting killed by his own party. You know, that people were accusing him of having lost his, you know, cognitive abilities, his mental health. It was just a, it was a horrible thing three or four months ago because he wasn't voting the way the liberal Democrats wanted him to vote. And he was just getting killed. And I was like, nobody's defending him. So I sent him a note and I said, listen, you're getting killed. I'd like to come out and defend you and support you, but I'm afraid it might hurt you. What do you think? And he said, come in because nobody else is, right? And so I came out and said, this is a disgrace. I know him, you may disagree with him, but he's a good man. And next thing I know, some other Republicans come out and then some Democrats come out. And I think that sort of solidified it, which is, you know, I've got his back, I'm gonna speak truth. We both of us have little tolerance for the nastiness, the name calling, the dehuman, humanizing. Neither of us do that. And it's worked out great. And I'd say we disagree on more things that we agree on, but we're both working hard for Pennsylvania and I, I feel lucky to have him as.
- [66:59]
Clay Travis
A partner from Pennsylvania. Senator, a lot of discussion about voting and in particular what the rules should be. Nationwide, there's the Face act that is right now in front of the Senate. A lot of debate going on. You won, I think by 15 or 16,000 votes, but it took a long time for that final race to be called. It seems quite clear that we should have voter ID and nationwide standards. Huge percentages of Democrats and Republicans all agree on that. Why can't we get it done?
- [67:35]
Senator Dave McCormick
You are right. This is a, this is the SAVE Act. I am a co sponsor, a strong public voice on this. And I just, I just don't understand it. It's the most basic principle, which is you should only be able to vote if you're a U.S. citizen and you should be able to prove that with voter id, just like you have to prove that to get on an airplane or any basic things in society. And there's a piece of legislation that I think the number of supporters on the Republic side is growing. I'm going to make a very strong public case to get my colleagues to support it and I'm hoping we can get some Democrats to support it. And not supporting a sin defensible, it's indefensible in terms of substance. Why would you ever want to allow people who aren't American citizens, which is in conflict with the Constitution, to be able to vote? And why wouldn't you want them to verify they're the people they serve? The only reason you would not want that is if you thought you were going to benefit from illegal people voting, which is the why the Democrat leadership, Even though the 95% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats in polling support voter ID, support this. Well, not the SAVE act, but voter ID. Despite that, we're not having a movement. So I think we need to have this debate publicly. We need to have the Democrats get on the floor of the Senate and explain why they're not in favor of voter id. And I think when the American public hears that, they will not be convinced. I just listened to Thune in the last day or so say that we're going to have a vote in the Senate, which I think is absolutely the right thing to do. And I think everybody should be put on notice. This is a critical thing for America's elections. And more important, as important as the election, is the faith that people have in their elections. And, you know, a lot of people don't have faith in Pennsylvania. A lot of people don't have faith across America. And unfortunately, it's for good reason.
- [69:26]
Clay Travis
I think I said the FACE Act. That's what Don Lemon got charged under a SAVE act, is what the voting ability to make it reliable is. You have seen a lot of transformation occurring in Pennsylvania in a positive way, economically. What have the president's economic policies that you supported, the tax cuts, what have they meant on the ground in Pennsylvania?
- [69:45]
Senator Dave McCormick
Pennsylvania, it's been great. I mean, the agenda is the deregulation agenda, the energy dominance agenda is particularly important for Pennsylvania because we're the second largest energy producer in the country, fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. And the president's not only had great policies, he's been a great supporter. He came Dean and I, my wife, we hosted an Energy and Innovation Summit with the President in July. He came as my guest at Carnegie Mellon. His whole cabinet came. We had CEOs from across energy investing, the big tech companies, the big hyperscalers. We had the Democratic governor came, we had big global investors. We had the building trades come. And you need all those people, Clay, to make this happen. This is a team sport. You need all those people to make this transformation happen. And we had a roundtable with the President and all those CEOs and those CEOs stepped up and committed publicly. $92 billion of investment in Pennsylvania, 50 billion of energy infrastructure, 42 billion in data centers publicly. We had 100 media people there. The reason I say that is that would have been inconceivable under the Biden administration. And it's the kind of effort that we need to transform America to win this global AI and energy race. And what I tell my friends in Pennsylvania is, listen, we're in a race with China for AI leadership. We're also in a race with Georgia and Tennessee and Texas and Florida because capital and talent is like water. It's going to go the path of least resistance. And so my goal is to make Pennsylvania ground zero for all this new investment. It creates hundreds of thousands of jobs, great paying jobs for Pennsylvanians. And we're off to a great start with that.
- [71:27]
Buck Sexton
All right.
- [71:28]
Clay Travis
Much less significant, but I'm in San Francisco. Game is in Santa Clara on Sunday. The Super Bowl, Seahawks, Patriots. I'm taking Seahawks 24, 21. Have you had time to make your pick yet? Do you have anything? I think you have six daughters, if I'm not mistaken. What is Super Bowl Sunday like in the McCormick household?
- [71:48]
Senator Dave McCormick
Well, it's usually, it's usually has a lot to do with a lot of food and a lot of, a lot of energy in preparing for it. We're, we're gonna have, our girls are spread, they're all out of the house now. They're empty now, so we're not going to have the whole gang. But I'm gonna be rooting for the Patriots. I just saw my friend Bob Kraft and I don't think he'd let me forgive it if I wasn't cheering for him. Now, if it's, if it's the Steelers or the Eagles, the Birds in the super bowl, it's easy. But in this case, I'm hoping for the Patriots. And you know, it's been, they've had an unbelievable season. And you know, I, I think what the, what, what Bob Kraft and his organization have done has really been remarkable. And to be back in the super bowl after that dynasty they've created is a real tribute to that organization.
- [72:30]
Clay Travis
No doubt. Incredible. Thanks to Senator Dave McCormick. We'll talk to you again soon. Let us know how we can help and keep up the good work.
- [72:37]
Senator Dave McCormick
You got it. Thanks for having me.
- [72:39]
Clay Travis
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- [74:18]
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- [74:50]
Clay Travis
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