Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Jan 16 2026

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show — Daily Review

Episode: January 16, 2026

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Episode Theme

This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show dives into current political headlines with a focus on rural healthcare reform under Trump, the latest developments in immigration enforcement (ICE activity, especially in Minnesota), rural vs. urban political dynamics, media bias, and insights from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on agricultural and dietary policy reforms. The show mixes serious policy talk with trademark banter, sports references (particularly college football), and critiques of the current media and political landscapes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Focus on Rural Healthcare Reform

[03:18]–[15:14]

• The hosts outline Trump’s recent rural health roundtable, highlighting how the cost of healthcare, government intervention, and Obamacare have allegedly failed rural America.
• Trump’s direct criticisms of Obamacare and Medicaid spending (“Only 7% of the annual Medicaid spending on rural hospitals has gone to rural hospitals” – Donald Trump, [07:36]).
• The show discusses waste and fraud in healthcare, emphasizing the perverse incentives in Obamacare and Medicaid.
  • Clay Travis: “People in Obamacare never use Obamacare at all... health care companies are getting paid to cover people who either don’t need the coverage or don’t even know that they have it. Does that sound like a good system to you? It’s waste with fraud.” [09:51]
• The conversation shifts to conceptual remedies, like making Medicaid truly representative of insurance, not subsidies for major corporations.

Notable Quote:

“We increased funding for rural health care by an unprecedented record setting $50 billion over five years.” — Donald Trump, [14:31]

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2. The Minnesota ICE Protests and Media Spin

[22:25]–[33:52]

• The recent ICE raids and subsequent protests in Minneapolis are dissected, with attention to both policy implications and media portrayal.
• Show highlights exchange between White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt and The Hill’s reporter Niall Stanage, where Levitt accuses the reporter of media bias.
• The hosts stress the double standard: How the left treats law enforcement and federal officers differently depending on the context.
  • Caroline Levitt: “You’re a left wing hack... you’re posing in this room as a journalist... you should be reporting on the facts.” [23:00]
  • Buck Sexton: “His whole profession is based around this lie, that they don’t actually... that they don’t actually have an opinion... he just let it rip.” [29:32]
• They tie this into a bigger theme of trust and transparency in journalism, referencing Jim Acosta and the performative antagonism in press briefings.

Memorable Exchange:

“Never half-ass two things. Whole ass one thing.” — Ron Swanson reference by Buck Sexton, [65:43]

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3. Impact of Deportations on Census and Congressional Seats

[13:22]–[14:22]

• The hosts highlight a key political strategy discussion: If large-scale deportations continue, it may alter the 2030 Census, potentially decreasing the number of House seats apportioned to Democrats.
• This, they argue, is why Democrats are aggressively opposing current immigration enforcement.

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4. Special Interview: Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins

[35:39]–[49:55]

• Brooke Rollins discusses the shift in official dietary guidelines, introducing a new “real food”-focused food pyramid demoting grains and processed foods.
  • Brooke Rollins: “Instead of focusing on carbohydrates and breads... we flipped it to eat real food, protein, butter, whole milk, fruits, vegetables, that this will fundamentally transform our nation.” [36:29]
• Discusses chronic disease linked to poor diet—“40 cents of every American tax dollar goes to treating chronic disease” [36:29]—and how changing food programs could both save money and foster a healthier society.
• Touches on food costs and how an America-first approach and reduced regulatory burden could help bring prices down.
• Also, discusses access for low-income communities, SNAP reform (“250,000 retailers... must stock double their offerings of food that comes off this new food pyramid” [43:47]) and the wider implications for military readiness and national security.
• The conversation pivots to college football, Texas A&M rivalry, and the Miami-Indiana national championship.
  • Buck Seksxton (on learning Texas football signs): “Everybody who is playing against Texas is horns down.” [50:39]

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5. Foreign Policy: Iran, Venezuela, and Insurrection Act

[59:26]–[66:45]

• Trump addresses the decision not to attack Iran, suggesting the threat of US action halted mass executions:
  • Donald Trump: “You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the hangings...” [59:31]
• Discussion of Venezuela, with Trump referencing meetings with opposition leaders and the importance of maintaining stability.
• Analysis of the use and limitations of the Insurrection Act concerning civil unrest in Minneapolis.
  • Donald Trump: “If I needed it [the Insurrection Act], I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful.” [61:34]
• Buck draws on his national security background to explain why “halfway measures” don't work in places like Iran:
  • Buck Sexton: “You’re either all in or you should pick something else to do... all of this nibbling around the edges is not the move.” [65:43]

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6. Texas Primary and Show Travel Plans

[55:51]–[58:46]

• The hosts express their appreciation for their Texas audience, anticipate coverage of the key Texas primary (March 3rd), and hint at a tour of several Texas affiliates.
• Discussion on Texas college traditions and the importance of understanding local rivalries.
  • Clay Travis: “You college football people with your secret handshakes. I can’t keep...”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Democrats' rigged system is collapsing around them and they’re seeing it happen.” — Buck Sexton [13:22]
• “Social media over time reveals who you really are, for better or worse.” — Buck Sexton [30:11]
• “I love Vermont as a state... but it’s Bernie Sandersville. I mean, the politics there are... It’s pure commie. It’s beautiful place.” — Clay Travis [11:03]
• “Caroline Levitt, great job answering that question and in general as White House press secretary.” — Clay Travis [23:58]
• “This is a massive, massive issue for the continuation of the American dream.” — Brooke Rollins [44:44]
• “Never half-ass two things. Whole ass one thing.” — Buck Sexton quoting Ron Swanson [65:43]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:18–15:14| Rural healthcare, Trump’s policies, Medicaid, Obamacare | | 13:22–14:22| Deportations, census impact, political strategy | | 22:25–33:52| ICE protests, Caroline Levitt vs. media, journalism bias | | 35:39–49:55| Secretary Brooke Rollins interview on food policy & football | | 59:26–66:45| Iran, Venezuela, Insurrection Act, foreign policy analysis | | 55:51–58:46| Texas audience appreciation and tour/traditions |

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Tone & Language

The show mixes political critique with humor, directness, and occasional sarcasm, reflecting the hosts’ perspectives and backgrounds. The conversational tone invites listeners into both serious policy analysis and lighter asides, particularly regarding sports and media culture.

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For listeners who missed it, this episode offers insight into Trump policy initiatives, confrontations over media narratives and immigration, a substantial health and agricultural policy discussion, and some fun with sports rivalries—capturing the balance of information and entertainment that defines the Clay and Buck brand.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome in, everybody. Friday, January 16th edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. I say it because the month has flown by. I cannot believe we are already into 2026. I'm starting to say the right year or write, write it down more. So checks and things like that have been 25 for the first week and Trump is not wasting any time. We had a rural health round table this morning which we shall be discussing here shortly. Health care is going to be a big deal. Caroline Levitt gets into it. Gets into it from the podium.

[Buck Sexton]

Feisty.

[Clay Travis]

She went mama bear mode on some, well, left wing hack to borrow from her.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, at the.

[Clay Travis]

With the Hill. A reporter from the Hill. I used to work at the Hill long time ago. And yeah, interesting. And then there's more on ice here. This is now the fight, my friends. This is what it is. They can't beat Trump on the economy, they can't slow him down. Maybe the Supreme Court will, but they can't slow him down on tariffs. But it is in fact on immigration enforcement that Democrats are making their big stand. Minnesota at the heart of this whole thing. And we'll give you more of those details. Plus Greenland, will it become Trumpland? That is something that is very much in the ether, Clay, and are talking about this. I think we're going to have to do a show from Greenland. This is one of these things that I've said out loud and now I'm going to make. At first I was kidding and now I'm not really kidding. I'm working on this.

[Buck Sexton]

I. You have been diving into this. I am going to. I am happy to go. I am going to. Before I. What's the, what's the opposite of Monday morning quarterbacking? I'm going to Friday morning quarterback this before even the game is played. You and I are going to get to Greenland and no communication devices are going to work. So like we have to bank an entire show that airs if we just can't get on the air in Greenland, right? Where we just come on and we're like, hey, if you're hearing this probably means that we are unconnectable somewhere in Greenland. Like this is definitely a danger.

[Clay Travis]

I think that you are underestimating the telecommunication capacity of Nook, the capital of Greenland. I have more faith in Nook.

[Buck Sexton]

I have no respect in Nook's communication capabilities as it pertains to getting us on to 555 stations in all 50 states. Thank you for listening.

[Clay Travis]

I have been doing research into this. The best way for us to get a real sense of what could be, you know, how there's the Gulf of America. Now this could be the Greenland of America. We shall see. But the best way to check it out is dog sledding, which some of our Minnesota listeners perhaps already engage in sometimes.

[Buck Sexton]

But I've dog sledded before.

[Clay Travis]

You have?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, yeah. Laura Travis is a very big fan, having grown up in Michigan of winter related activities. Activities. And so one of the times when we were out, the boys ski. I don't ski. I'm a, you know, dumb redneck who never got on ski slopes as a young guy. So I, I, that's one sport I don't need to get into. But we got on the dog sled and it was super. I have to say it was pretty cool.

[Clay Travis]

Cold.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, cool.

[Clay Travis]

You might be back on the dog sled, perhaps with some native guides. The only thing is I need Laura Travis to give permission here. She's going to have to like, sign that this is ok. I don't want her mad at me if you twist an ankle or something on the dog sled or I'm not.

[Buck Sexton]

Sure if you want to go. She's been begging to go to Iceland for some time, which has become a very popular tourist destination for people who don't know. No one, however, goes to Greenland at all. So you and I would be among the first tourists to visit Greenland from the United States in the history of the nation.

[Clay Travis]

So that's something that's out there. We might wait a little bit because I'm not even sure you can get flights there right now. We might wait until the summer season there. So this is something we'll have to plan out. But Clay and Buck's excellent Adventure Greenland edition might be something that in fact happens on the show. Let's get into the news for a second here. Trump talking this morning at this rural health roundtable. Why does this matter? Well, health care matters to all of us. The cost is outrageous. The system is a mess. The government intervention in this has been nothing but disastrous. They've made it worse. Obamacare made it worse across the board and specifically rural areas have gotten the short end of the stick on this one. Trump was talking about Obamacare. This is cut to specifically and how Medicaid spending, for example, it's pretty much all just going into the cities, the population centers and a lot of Democrat votes There play two Rural hospitals and.

[Donald Trump]

Communities were devastated by soaring costs, and that continues despite colossal increases in government spending. Since Obamacare was passed, only 7% of the annual Medicaid spending on rural hospitals has gone to rural hospitals. So there's only a very little. They didn't care. Obama didn't care about the rural community. To be totally blunt, what he did care about is insurance companies. And this was a bill to make insurance companies wealthy. And they did. They made insurance companies very wealthy. I would say they don't like me too much because they spent hundreds of billions of dollars. And we're going to have that money spent to the people and given to the people, not we're going to circumvent the insurance companies.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, he recognizes that if you're talking affordability, the single place where I think people are finding the most pain over the longest period of time is their health care costs are just outrageous.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. And Obamacare is a failure. So, by the way, is the argument that if we stopped some of these subsidies for Obamacare that remember when, I mean, this was a big topic of discussion. I do think it's important to come back sometimes when these awful predictions don't come true and say, hey, remember when we were all told, I think that The Democrats said 7 million people would lose health insurance if the subsidies were dialed back for Obamacare. And open enrollment has basically ended and there's about a million less people enrolled in Obamacare than were before. You might say, ok, well a million is still a decent number. And ok, but what seems to be happening, Buck, is, and this is why Democrats, the fraud is so rampant in all this health care. A lot of people are getting signed up for Obamacare, potentially millions of them. And the health care companies are getting subsidies and the health care is not being used at all. So this is real. And I understand a lot of people out there. It gets into the nitty gritty. We don't talk about it that much. A lot of people that have Obamacare now, it appears when they basically have to enroll and have to get themselves enrolled, the health care companies are incentivized to sign up as many people as possible so they can take advantage of these subsidies. A lot of the people in Obamacare never use Obamacare at all, Buck. They don't pay even $5. So the health care companies are getting paid to cover people who either don't need the coverage or don't even know that they have it. Does that sound like a good system to you? It's laced with fraud.

[Clay Travis]

It's also not insurance, which we all know from. Do I pay more for wind insurance here in Miami where we have hurricanes than people will who, you know, live in. I don't know. Is Tennessee wind insurance a big thing, Clay? Probably not.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, we have tornadoes.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, sorry, tornadoes.

[Buck Sexton]

Ok. Well, other probably. Probably. I would say Vermont. There's not a ton of wind insurance. I don't think they have very many tornadoes. Hurricanes typically not hitting Vermont. I would bet maybe you guys are going to blow me up and tell me I'm wrong. I would bet that there's not a lot of concern about wind damage in Vermont.

[Clay Travis]

You know, I have a whole plan that we need to just make Vermont red. Right. It's not hard.

[Buck Sexton]

We could colonize it very easily.

[Clay Travis]

Tennessee could lend us enough Republicans easily to colonize Vermont. I love Vermont as a state. It's beautiful. I used to go to camp there in the summers. I highly, highly recommend it to any of you if you can get there. But it's Bernie Sandersville. I mean, the politics there are. It's pure commie. It's beautiful place.

[Buck Sexton]

Anyway.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I'll talk about my Vermont planet. I got Greenland, I got takeover Vermont for the Republicans. I got a lot of things going on here. But back to the health care thing, Clay, we don't. It's not actually insurance because the whole system is set up so that people who are young and healthy are paying for people who are old and sick. It's a transfer of wealth. It's a program of incredibly complicated subsidies where the corporations also, because of the way the Obamacare is written and the way a lot of these bills are written up, the corporations, the companies, the health care providers are incentivized to deny a lot of claims for people. They're incentivized to make sure that they're making a profit as an administrator of health care, but they don't actually provide health care. These are. People don't understand. We have this whole system with so much fraud and wasting it. Medicaid fraud annually, Clay, I think they estimate is like $80 billion.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, did you see we talked about this with Scott Bessant. He came on and echoed Elon Musk.

[Clay Travis]

Well, he said 10% of the entire.

[Buck Sexton]

U.S. budget is fraud. Yes. 600 to $800 billion, depending on how you define it, is fraud. And he said we could probably increase GDP by a substantial margin if we just reallocated those resources outside of the fraud category. And so, yeah, a huge part of the fraud comes from health care. And obviously we're seeing a huge part of the fraud comes from any number of federal programs which subsidize state fraud. Like what really started this whole Minneapolis mess was the degree of fraud going on in their daycare system, which led to President Trump's decision to surge resources there for ICE to go after all of the fraud that's taking place in that community. We should mention this, too. We're talking to Ryan Gardusky next hour. He has pointed out something that's very significant about this and we should have talked about it. Smart. Credit to him for thinking of it. The amount of deportations that are occurring is potentially going to alter to a substantial degree the 2030 census. Because, remember, for purposes of House of Representatives representation, illegal immigrants are counted in the census. Roughly 720,000 citizens in each district in the United States, 435 districts, they count illegal immigrants. This gives Democrats a plus 10 or so benefit, at least in the House. And we're talking about the entire House of Representatives being decided by a couple of seats. So starting in 2030, that advantage is going to vanish. This is one of the big impacts why Democrats are fighting so hard. Their rigged system is collapsing around them and they're seeing it happen.

[Clay Travis]

Trump also saying here they've increased funding.

[Buck Sexton]

For rural health care.

[Clay Travis]

So, you know, rural tends to mean red in this country. This is cut one. Listen to what the man has to say.

[Donald Trump]

As part of the great big beautiful bill, we're increased and we have increased funding for the health care by an unprecedented $50 billion. That's rural health care. Nobody thought that was going to happen and we got it done. So we have rural health care for those that were trying to make a case that we weren't taking care of the rural community. I'm all about the rural community. We won the rural communities by numbers that nobody's ever won them before. And we're taking care of those great people. So we already did this. We increased funding for rural health care by an unprecedented record setting $50 billion over five years, which will benefit Americans in all 50 states.

[Clay Travis]

It's a big deal. Clay Trump able to do what needs.

[Buck Sexton]

To be done here. Go ahead and I'll hit you with the data when we come back because I pulled this up. The headline in the Wall Street Journal editorial page. I'll hit you with some of these numbers. Editorial is headlined the Obamacare Apocalypse. That wasn't they told you that if these subsidies were dialed back that there would be a huge cataclysmic impact on American healthcare. It didn't happen. The Wall Street Journal's got the numbers. I'll share those with you in a sec. But in the meantime, Cozy Earth first incredible company. Just flat out unbelievable whatever products you have. I was excited to get back home last night because I climbed right into my bed. Cozy Earth Sheets. It felt amazing. They just added a whole new line. Baja Bedding Sets. Supposed to make you feel like Baja California. It's like just being right on the beach and living in the beautiful salty clean air. You're going to love it. That's Baja California right on the beach. They also have a luxe bath towels. I use these this morning. They feel incredible. Absolutely phenomenal. Cozy Earth Sheets Both of those products come with 100 day trial 10 year warranty. They want you to be satisfied. They believe in the product. Go online to cozy earth.com use my name Clay as the promo code for up to 20% off. That's cozyearth.com promo code clay and if you get a post purchase survey you can mention you heard about Cozy earth right here. Cozyearth.com My name Clay 20% off cozyearth.com Trust me on this co z y earth. Check out the website today. You will love the products. Cozyearth.com promo code clay Making America great again isn't just 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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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

With special guests.

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. You never know what you might get on YouTube. We've got. I'm trying to up my game. This is not my baby. I am not involved in raising babies, right? Maybe one day I'll have grandkids. But my assistant Katie, who has been with us for 11 years now, she initially started helping the kids. Now the kids are getting so old that I need all the help. And she just had a second baby. And so Annie is right here visiting with everybody. So if you want babies, Buck sometimes picks up his young guy who's coming up on what, nine months old right now, if I'm not mistaken. Nine or ten months.

[Clay Travis]

He just turned nine months.

[Buck Sexton]

And Annie is working on three and a half months. So she is a really tiny little baby. And I'm holding her right now, soon to hand her back to her mom. But if you are craving cute babies, I had a cute baby experience for all we.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, we can't hear. There we go. There we go.

[Buck Sexton]

I had to hand off the baby. I wanted to make sure the handoff went well.

[Clay Travis]

Safe baby transfer. More important, very important than the radio ratings. Yes, yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay. So seriously, things going on here. President Trump is talking on the White House lawn. He looks like, I think he's leaving for Florida, because I believe Buck Marco Rubio and President Trump are both going to be in the, in the crowd as part of the national title game down in Miami. And President Trump looks like he is on his way to take the helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base. And I'm presuming likely to be headed to Florida as it is Friday afternoon right now. And we know he's going to be there for the game on Monday, but we're monitoring this. He's talking about anti ICE chaos in Minneapolis. He's talking about Venezuela, he's talking about Iran. We will grab those clips and make sure that we get them for all of you. But in addition to what is going on right now with the President leaving the White House and presumably headed for Camp David. Sorry. Headed to Andrews Air Force Base to head down to Mar a Lago. There are continued fallout in Minneapolis. They have been showing, even continuing this morning, protesters gathering around the ICE raids that are continuing in Minneapolis. And yesterday, Caroline Levitt at her press conference right as we were finishing the show, had this exchange with a Hill reporter. This guy's name is Niel Stanage and I probably have mispronounced that, but like.

[Clay Travis]

N I A L l usually.

[Buck Sexton]

Is that a British name? I don't know that very well. Yeah, yeah, this guy is British, as you will hear. Cut six. Caroline Levitt and the Brit.

[Clay Travis]

32 people died in ICE custody last year.

[Donald Trump]

170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE.

[Buck Sexton]

And renegade good was shot in the.

[Donald Trump]

Head and killed by an ICE agent.

[Clay Travis]

How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?

[Clay Travis]

Are you asking me my opinion? Because a nice agent acted recklessly until they're unjustified.

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

Oh, okay, so you're a biased reporter with a left wing opinion.

[Clay Travis]

What do you want me to do?

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

Yeah, because you're a left wing hack. You're not a reporter. You're posing in this room as a journalist. And it's so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people in the media who have such biases but fake like you're a journalist, you shouldn't even be sitting in that seat. But you're pretending like you're a journalist, but you're a left wing activist. And the question that you just raised in your answer proves your bias. You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on the cases. Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens who ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you Don't. I bet you didn't even read up on those stories. I bet you never even read about Lake and Riley or Jocelyn Nungray or all of the innocent Americans who. Who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country. And the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer. And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you're a real honest journalist.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, Buck, what is super interesting here? First of all, Caroline Levitt, great job answering that question and in general as White House press secretary. But credit to her because she asked him why are you asking that question? And I jotted this down. He said because he believes the agent acted recklessly. I'm surprised he stepped into that trap and shared his opinion because he is acting the way he is. Not because he's an unbiased middle of the road reporter of the news, but because as he said, he believes the ICE agent acted recklessly. And I think that was really the most interesting part of the entire exchange.

[Clay Travis]

He's helped his career. I'm going to be honest.

[Buck Sexton]

This is.

[Clay Travis]

The people that he is trying to appeal to are going to like that he said this. No one is. You'll notice this. No one is ever punished for showing a left wing bias in journalism at any of these places. It's always actually to their benefit. I mean, look at Jim Acosta, right? For a long time, his whole routine was just to antagonize. Who was it? It was the White House press secretary at the time, the lady, she's a great. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, her name. You know, his whole routine was just to get up in her face and be crazy. So it benefits this guy to do this. Caroline handles it very well. But I also, this people, you just see this over and over again. People believe what they want to believe to say that this guy acted recklessly. She hit him with her car.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

What else do we. It's not that she came close to hitting him with the car. It's not that he thought maybe she was going to punch the accelerator and he got scared. She ran her car into him and he defended himself. He doesn't know by the way she could run into him and then try to run over a bunch of other officers. Like he just has to deal with the threat. He stopped the threat. It's sad. I mean, I wish it didn't happen, but he didn't do anything wrong. The same way that if someone commits suicide by cop, I'm not saying she did this, but if someone commits suicide by cop, they say, officer, officer, I've got a gun on me. I've got a gun on me. I'm holding it here. And the cop says, don't do it, don't do it. Show me your hands. If that person makes a move to pull what they believe is a gun out and you see this on the body camera, and the cop shoots him, it's sad because this person's committing suicide, but the cop did nothing wrong because the cop doesn't have an obligation to lose his life because somebody else is creating the situation. Renee Good caused this. She made bad choices. She shouldn't have done that. It's sad, but it is on her that this is the end result. It is not on that officer.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. And look, I do think that this is an interesting window into how stories are made. This guy who says that he's an objective reporter at the Hill, he believes personally that the agent acted recklessly. And so he is asking questions with that premise as the underlying basis for which he is asking all these questions. And I thought Caroline Levitt pointed it out. I don't have a problem. And I think you would sign on to this too. If you are an opinion person and you want to go out and you want. I'm an opinion person. You want to write your own articles, you want to write your own opinions.

[Clay Travis]

Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

Every now and then. But I'm not pretending that I am 100% unbiased. Right? Hey, here is what I think. Here is what we should do. All of these reporters on the left, they pretend that they have no preconceived notions that they're just right down the middle. And then there is a huge difference in the way that they treat. You mentioned Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Some of the best work I think that has been done on Twitter is when they put these so called unbiased journalists the way they question a Republican and the way that they question a Democrat. To your point, going hard after a Republican guarantees you lifetime employment in media. By and large. There's an easy question. How many people have lost their jobs for being too stridently left wing. People lose their jobs because they don't have high enough ratings. That happens all the time. That's the business of media. But nobody, to my knowledge, loses their job because their opinions are too far left wing. It just doesn't happen. And so I think what she illuminated and illustrated there very well is she could have gone after him for the premise of the question, regardless. But I love that she set a trap for him and he walked right into it. What do you. Well, what. What do you think? What's your opinion? You want my opinion? Yes. I think he acted recklessly. Okay, well, that's the underlying premise guiding your entire questioning.

[Clay Travis]

It's so funny too, though, because if he was what he. And the Hill does have people who are. I mean, look, I used to work there. I was doing an opinion TV show there. But the Hill has people who are left and right. At least it used to. I think it still does. But if he was doing the journalism thing, the response, his. His immediate reaction should have been, I don't. It's not about. I don't have an opinion on the matter. I'm just here to try to get facts and additional information. That's actually what he should have said.

[Buck Sexton]

It would have been a lie. It would have been a lie.

[Clay Travis]

It would have been a lie.

[Buck Sexton]

But he pulled the mask completely off.

[Clay Travis]

With this answer because their whole profession is based around this lie. That they don't actually, the journos, the journalists, that they don't actually have an opinion, that they're just bringing you objective truth and objective information. And so that's why it was just funny to me, because, yeah, he just let it rip. He just told you what he really thinks. And then this is why I've also. I've been saying for over a decade, journalism was killed by social media because you can't have somebody. You can't have, like, you know, Margaret Brennan or someone who's, I'm just an objective journalist, you know, at. At noon on Sunday, saying, you know, I'm just here to bring people the facts. And then on Twitter, be like, I hate Trump. He's a fascist. He's a Nazi. It's like, we figure out what's going on here.

[Buck Sexton]

Social media over time reveals who you really are, for better or worse. I do believe that in many ways. Let me hit you with a couple of these, Buck, because I thought it was interesting. Ron Johnson, our buddy, fabulous senator from Wisconsin, he says, the truth conduct of anti ice protesters in Minneapolis is the real insurrection. Cut 11.

[Clay Travis]

Senator, what runs through your mind when you see these videos of protesters anti ice impeding law enforcement getting in the way? And then there's these bad consequences. And now we see Hollywood kind of backing them up.

[Donald Trump]

They're wearing the be good pins.

[Clay Travis]

What do you think about this whole situation? Well, what first comes to mind is that's What a real insurgency, insurrection looks like.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay.

[Clay Travis]

The rise of December 2020, that's what a real insurrection looks like. And understand why are we having these protests right now? Well, it's because Democrats, the radical left, the Biden administration threw open our borders, allowed millions of people to flood in here. And some of those millions are criminals and they need to be apprehended and they need to be deported.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay. And you know who agrees with him?

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

I.

[Buck Sexton]

This is one of the ones that we have to be honest on. John Fetterman is saying. Yeah. That what we're seeing In Minneapolis, unacceptable cut 10 senator protests going on.

[Donald Trump]

There's a lot of unrest there. What's your opinion of that?

[Clay Travis]

What you've seen, law enforcement. My views have always been, I reject the extreme on either side, those things. And I'm saying it's like free speech. Demonstrate, but don't block the roots. Don't do some of these kinds of aggressive things, you know, make your views heard, but not in those ways. You know, both sides, we got to turn down the rhetoric and the kinds of tactics. It is not entertainment for this. So it's tragedy. I agree. For that six year old, they lost his mother. Undeniably, that's an American tragedy.

[Buck Sexton]

For a Democrat buck, that's about as good as you can get. Again, I don't agree with a lot of what John Fetterman says, but if we had more Democrats who were saying if there were seven or eight John Fettermans, I think the country would be a lot better off as opposed to one fetterman and 46, at least in the Senate, crazy people, which is where we are right now.

[Clay Travis]

It's remarkable to see how reckless the language is. When I say remarkable, it's not surprising. It's just you got to pay attention to it. You got to keep in mind that this is who we are dealing with. The kind of language that is used by these Democrats about the situation playing out in Minnesota right now. And as I keep reminding everybody, they, we talked about this yesterday, they are encouraging violence against federal law enforcement, which given their pretense of having all the Capitol Hill police officers and that guy who had like the beard who was always crying on cnn, you know, and then the members of Congress who were crying about how scared they were and everything else, they cared so much about law enforcement that one day, that one time in that, in that context. But now you have people who are being attacked and putting their lives on the line to enforce the law, and we are told that they're the bad Guys, Yeah, the cops are the bad guys in this. I also would want to know, what do they want to happen? And I'll get into this in a second. Clay, there's a big part of this that they don't want anyone to pay attention to, which is why is it necessary to find these illegals on the streets? There's another way this could be done, but the Democrats won't allow it. We'll get into it. That's what we call tease in the business.

[Buck Sexton]

We will indeed get into that here in a bit. But in the meantime, look, if you're trying to save money as we come up on the beginning of 2026, I guarantee you that a lot of you had New Year's resolutions that involve finances and a lot of you probably had New Year's resolutions where you said, hey, you know what we need to do? We need to spend less money. We need to have a better budget. Maybe partly you could do that by saving a lot of money on your cell phone bill. You can switch from Verizon, T Mobile or AT and T this month and you can put your family in a position to save up to a thousand dollars over the course of a year. Because Pure Talk can save you 50% or more off your existing cell phone bills without sacrificing any quality of service. Because PureTalk operates on the same cell towers and network as one of those other companies I named, but without all the overhead expenses. The result? It can be as low as $20 a month for unlimited talk text. 3 gigs of high speed data on Pure Talk's superfast nationwide 5G network. Making the switch is easy. To save your family a bundle, Dial pound two five zero, say Clay and Buck. And Pure Talk's US Customer service team will help you switch in minutes again, talk, text and data for just 20 bucks a month. Dial £250, say Clay and Buck, and you'll save an additional 50% off your first month. £250, say Clay and Buck. That's £250, say Clay and Buck. 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 podcast.

[Clay Travis]

Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now with a cabinet member in this Trump administration. Brooke Rollins joins us. She is the Secretary of Agriculture. Secretary Rollins, welcome to the program.

[Brooke Rollins]

Well, I think this is my first time, guys. It's really fun to be on with you all. Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

We are very, very pleased and honored to have you something. We have a lot to talk to you about, actually. But one thing that, that sticks out right away, because I even remember being a kid and looking at the food pyramid and thinking to myself, 12 servings of grain a day. That seems like. That seems like a lot of Cheerios and a lot of. A lot of bread. It turns out it was not a good idea. And now we have a different, finally, a different food pyramid. Speak to us about the Maha movement and how you're involved in it.

[Brooke Rollins]

Well, yeah, I tell you, it's been an amazing two weeks here in Washington. Who knew if you had told me a year ago that as I was becoming the Secretary of Agriculture and very proud to do that, one of the biggest agencies, but supporting rural America, our farmers and ranchers, that a man by the name of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Bobby, whom I had never even met before, that A, he would become one of my best friends, B, he would also become my key partner in making America healthy again. Or maybe I should say I would become his key partner in making America healthy again. And C, we would have the opportunity under President Trump's leadership, to completely change the trajectory of American health and the American way of life. And I think that's. I think that's how big this is. Last week, we announced the new dietary guidelines. We, we flipped the pyramid to your point. And instead of focusing on carbohydrates and breads, and that being the most important thing, we flipped it to eat real food, protein, butter, whole milk, fruits, vegetables, that this will fundamentally transform our nation. The final thing I'll say on that is we have a massive chronic disease crisis in this country. 40 cents of every American tax dollar goes to treating chronic disease, most of which is tied to poor diet, lack of exercise, which leads to a pre diabetic, diabetic, obese population. So there's so much we can do, so much we can talk about, but it's been a big couple of weeks.

[Buck Sexton]

We're talking with Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture. She manages also to be a Texas A and M Aggie and a Texas Longhorn alum. We will ask about that. Be sure. Yeah, be sure. That's coming. I'm just going to give you a preview that that is coming. So let me ask you this. The number one thing that a lot of people are focused on is cost of groceries, right? You hear it, we hear it. Everybody out there feels that, unfortunately, because of the Biden era, everything went up in a massive degree in a very short period of time. What can we do to Produce more American agriculture right here in the good old usa, particularly when it comes to beef, and help to drive down prices. What do you expect we will start to see throughout 2026 as it pertains to that issue?

[Brooke Rollins]

Yeah, it's such a great, great question, Clay. And here's what I'll say. I, I was in the first Trump administration. I ran the Domestic Policy Council, so I was in charge of the President's entire domestic agenda. In Trump 1, I knew that what was going to happen when Joe Biden was sworn in in January of 2021, that prices would skyrocket, the border would open, we would be more in more foreign entanglements. I mean, we just knew it was not an America first approach to governing. What I didn't realize, and I probably should have, was just how bad things would be and realizing that when I came back around, obviously to serve in the President's Cabinet In Trump 2.0, to your point, the cumulative inflation over four years of Biden was over 23%. This is astounding. But when you look at the sort of the foundation of that, all of the spending, I mean, I took over a department that, that manages food stamps, the SNAP program, it increased 40% under Joe Biden. We saw the spending out of control at every single level of government. We saw the borders open. There is no doubt that, you know, and I was an agriculture major, but even me, my ag major degree would tell you that you spend more money, you take more tax dollars, you're going to create inflationary, everything's going to go up. But we've already seen things start to come way down, whether it's fuel. In the agriculture sector. Under Biden, labor went up 47%, fuel went up 32%, interest rates went up 73%. So that driver of inputs, while there were no new trade deals, basically meant that our farmers are struggling, our food is increasing. It's just been a complete disaster. But all of that has already begun to come down. We've already seen inflation come down, wages go up, mortgages come down, fuel come down. But we've got a lot more work to do. I'll say this kind of in closing, and I think this is what's probably for me the most exciting thing about what's happened under Trump 2, year one, not only are prices coming down, but as we release this new dietary guideline and we talk about eating real food and stop eating packaged, ultra processed food, it isn't just a health question and it isn't just a taxpayer question, although certainly Those are two very important pieces.

[Buck Sexton]

But.

[Brooke Rollins]

But it's also to your point, Clay. A farmer question, an American farmer question. As we begin to move the American diet back toward eating real food, as the $400 million a day, a day, y', all that USDA spends on nutrition programs, school lunches, SNAP, et cetera, we begin to recalibrate that toward better, healthier, more locally produced food. Not only again, the American child, the American will, will prosper not only to taxpayers better protected. We're not spending as much money on the backside of that. But our American farmers, for the first time in perhaps any of our lifetime, will begin to move into a golden age as we open up that aperture. So that's really what we're looking at, and that's why this is just so important.

[Clay Travis]

And we're speaking to Secretary Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, and Mr. Secretary to that. To that end, I have to say, because I've been going through my own health journey in the last couple of years, changing up eating patterns and everything else, I firmly believe that what you are doing, what the partner vag is doing with the, with both on the education side, but also the provision of just the real food is the easiest way to put it. Real food in schools, real food on people's plates at home. The health benefits of this, you know, we're a country that has far too many chronically sick people. The health benefits of what you're talking about, I think, are massive and fiscally significant. Over the long term, this is going.

[Brooke Rollins]

To save the American taxpayer hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars. I'm from Texas. I did Texas policy before I got to the first Trump White House. In Texas, we spend 40 to 50% of our state budget on Medicaid, Medicare and health care. I mean, you think about every dollar that's put into the system, all whole swathes of Texas, you have the diabetes, the obesity, et cetera. And at the same time, you look and you see that 70% of what the average American eats comes out of a package. It's a processed something or other. And so that is what really we have to work to change. Now, I think an important piece of this is, well, you think about those from our most vulnerable communities, right? Those who are living on the margins of society. They can't run to their H E B or their Kroger or their central market and, you know, buy the latest fresh chicken on sale, the latest fresh organic chicken. They're using the SNAP program. But there are 250,000 retailers in America that Take SNAP dollars. Now, we probably have time today and come on another time and talk about the fraud in the SNAP program, but I won't even focus on that today. But what I will say with those 250,000 retailers that we are now requiring them to stock twice as much. If they're going to take a SNAP dollar, they have to stock twice as much, double their offerings of food that comes off this new food pyramid. Healthy, real food. Frozen is fine. Canned is okay. Fresh is obviously great. But we've got to make sure that these populations have that access. And to your point, we will begin to again see a complete transformation. We have a national security issue in this country.

[Buck Sexton]

We.

[Brooke Rollins]

When three out of four young adults, 75% of American young adults cannot pass our military readiness test. So this is, this is a massive, massive issue for the continuation of the American dream. And that's, that's, I think, again how important this is.

[Buck Sexton]

We're talking to Secretary of Agriculture Brooker Ollins. All right, I teased you. You've had time to think about your answer. You went to Texas A and M. You then went to the University of Texas to get a law degree. I'm assuming that your loyalty stay with your undergrad, as a lot of people's loyalties do. But what was. And if that, if I'm wrong, you can correct me. What was it like to be undercover as an Aggie inside of the University of Texas? Or were you out and out, open and outspoken? And have you recovered from A and M's loss to Texas in their final return to rivalry series here so far?

[Brooke Rollins]

Oh, you're stabbing me in the heart with that. Listen, I am an Aggie through and through. I like to say that I increased the IQ of both schools when I left Texas A and M and went over to the University of Texas. And by the way, in Texas, Clay, we call it TU because Texas A and M is the University of Texas. And you know, the school in Austin is just little T, Little, uh, Texas University. We kind of overtook Austin. I say we did go behind enemy lines. I went from conservative pro America, Texas A and M. I was student body president there, over to the law school. So I am all in on Texas A and M. I don't miss a game. My son is a yell eater. My husband was a yell eater. For a lot of your listeners, they may know what that is. We were there in the stands in Austin the day after Thanksgiving as our heart split into a million pieces again. Thought we were going to make it up a few weeks later against Miami at Kyle Field for that first playoff game. Again, heart split into another gajillion pieces. But, man, my Aggies under coach Elko Marcel Reed. I mean, we've got. The future is so bright, and we've got that national championship, I think, just around the corner. And, you know, if we do. If we don't, I will continue to be at every single game cheering my Aggies on.

[Buck Sexton]

We're talking to Brooke Rollins. Okay, so Buck and I are going to be at the Miami, Indiana national title game on Monday. You just mentioned Miami beat Texas A and M in College Station to start the College Football Playoff. 10, 3. You mentioned Marcel Reed. Great kid. He goes to a school that my kids. He's a Nashville kid. He goes to a school that my kids attend as well. So who do you have in the national title game, Miami or Indiana? And Buck is still learning to be a college football fan. What advice would you give him as he goes to the national title game on Monday?

[Brooke Rollins]

Buck first. Last question. First, Buck, other than fighting for America, there is no greater pastime than college football. Period. Full stop. No arguments, no question. You got to get to Kyle Field in College Station to really, really experience, I believe, the best atmosphere in college football. Marcel Reed is an amazing kid. I think he represents this new wave of leaders in college football that love their country, that love their Lord, that sets such a great example for all these other young kids. I have four teenagers. It's just remarkable to see I am having to go with Miami. I think Indiana is very impressive. Their win against Oregon was pretty remarkable and obviously very telling. That quarterback, talk about a great model for everybody. Just incredible. But my friends in Miami, my brother Marco Rubio, our Secretary of State, my sister Pam Bondi, our Attorney General, we talk about, by the way, we talk about college football in every single cabinet meeting. Just like. Yeah, just like. But President Trump isn't fully. Doesn't fully understand the magic of college football. But I'm working on him, too. So he's. He's there as well. He loves it. But I'm going with Miami. They beat my Aggies. I want to see them win it all the way through, and I think it'd be great. But love Indiana. What an amazing Cinderella story Indiana is with a coach who was coaching James Madison just a couple of years ago.

[Clay Travis]

Well, you know, I live. I live in Miami. Secretary Rollins. So my beloved Hurricanes are going to be the champions. I just got to go on the record. I got to tell you, my Hurricanes, they're blowing through town.

[Brooke Rollins]

I think they Are. I think they are. I. I'm glad to hear that. So I think Miami's going to pull it out, but it's going to be a really good game.

[Buck Sexton]

Secretary Rollins, good luck with all those four teenagers as well as everything else you got going on. Thank you for coming on the show for the first time. Look forward to talking to you again. And I can't wait to see what's going to happen on Monday.

[Brooke Rollins]

I know. I'm so excited. Thanks, y'.

[Public Ad Sponsor]

All.

[Brooke Rollins]

Let me know when you're in Aggieland. Would love to host you and be back on soon.

[Buck Sexton]

We'll do that for sure. I. I do think Buck needs to get down to Aggieland because Texas A M is a really, really fun place to go watch a game.

[Clay Travis]

Is that. Is that hook em? Yeah, hook him.

[Buck Sexton]

L. Oh, no, no, no.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, boy. Whoops.

[Brooke Rollins]

You're killing me. You're killing me.

[Clay Travis]

I actually thought. I actually thought I was going to get an atta boy on that one.

[Buck Sexton]

Whoops. Exactly. Wrong way. You need to throw the horns down. That would make her much happy.

[Brooke Rollins]

Horns down. Buck, thank y' all so much. God bless. Really fun to be on with y'.

[Buck Sexton]

All. Thank you. That is Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins, who Buck has forever alienated himself from by saying hook him. When hook them is like, you're Aggie. Like, you want to hook them. Hook them. Horns. The. The A M is. And everybody else, really, who plays Texas is the opposite of that. You go horns down. So the horns up is the signal. Like, you'll see Matthew McConaughey, like all the big famous Texas fans on the sideline. They're given the hookum sign that's basically horns up.

[Clay Travis]

Hold on a second here. You're telling me there's two, like, cutthroat rival college football teams. One has horns up, one has horns down. I'm supposed to know this?

[Buck Sexton]

Everybody who is playing against Texas is horns down. They actually had to start in the Big 12. This is getting into the weeds. But they were giving kids players penalties for doing the horns down gesture. So hook them. Hook them is like the. The sign. And so your anti Texas move is the anti hook em, which is horns down.

[Clay Travis]

You college football people with your secret handshakes. I can't. I'm trying, but I don't even get.

[Buck Sexton]

To get you started on, like, guns up. What has to happen when you're given all the hand gestures at Texas A and M, for example? All right, look, speaking of gestures, Brock Purdy, more than one half touchdown pass. Drake May more than one half touchdown pass Josh Allen more than one half Bo Nicks more than one half now that's NFL that starts tomorrow. Double game Saturday double game Sunday before we get to college football. If you love football and this audience wildly over indexes for loving football then 2x you can make 2x if you take Brock Purdy, Drake May, Josh Allen, Bo Nicks four quarterbacks all to have more than one half touchdown pass. Plus you got a free square there. As we've talked about before on throwing for 1 yard passing CJ Stroud with the Houston Texans. You get hooked up. Go to Prize picks all 50 states prizepix.com use my name Clay that's C L A Y Y that is prizepix.com code Clay $50 in credit deposited into your account. You get $50 right now if you go to prizepix.com code clay and play $5, that's prizepix.com code Clayton you just heard the pick. It'll be up on clayandbuck.com prizepix.com code CLAY 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.

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

With special guests, Get Tickets [e-mail] Chris.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. We got a lot of Trump isms to work through, but Clay wanted to dive into to the the depths of college football knowledge. He wanted to show us his gridiron erudition. Explain to me what you wanted to say. I don't even, I don't even. I'm, I'm in, I'm in a timeout. I'm in the corner here with a special cap on because I got the whole hook em upside down hook thing, right? I mean by the way, most of America is like, buck, please, no one knows this stuff unless you live in Texas.

[Buck Sexton]

But okay, first of all I would submit and maybe our data gurus who know all of our markets can confirm this. I would bet that right now, as we are speaking to the nation, I bet our biggest market is Texas. Oh, it is sign off on that like this of states like the most people who are listening right now are in Texas. That would be my. Now obviously Texas, a huge state. So like Texas, California, Florida have advantages over a lot of others.

[Clay Travis]

We have a wonderful, huge. We got so many Texas, can't name them all, but in the big cities, great station in San Antonio, great Austin, great station in Houston, massive ktrh. And since we're blessed by the czar of talk there, Michael Berry, we are embraced by the people of Houston and it has been fantastic. So yeah, we love Texas.

[Buck Sexton]

So what I was just saying off air, which I think it does make a lot of sense, we're going to have a ton of primaries. The first big primary of 2026 is Texas on March 3rd. So what we were just talking about off Air. And so now it's probably, hopefully going to become a reality is we would like to do the show around that primary date of March 3rd and do it from multiple different of our affiliates in the state of Texas. So maybe we start Austin, Houston, San Antonio, like, kind of work our way through on that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, March 3, is the primary. And this is important for all of you that are listening in Texas because you've got a really big decision to make in particular in the Senate race, which a big battle going on on the Republican side, but also Democrats. Jasmine Crockett is running on that side. So there will be a lot of news to come out. So I think we should go to Texas while we are there. While we were there, we will teach Buck what the difference is between hook him and gig him so he's got it down once and for all so that he doesn't alienate the Lone Star State by managing to antagonize both fan bases simultaneously. You got to pick a side. Like every year I have to pick who's going to win A and M or Texas. And the team that I don't pick hates me. The team that I do pick likes me a little bit for a little while, as long as I'm right. And then they hate me if I'm wrong. This is my world. This is why I don't get worried. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, like, if you pick a side in Auburn, Alabama or Michigan, Ohio State or Texas, Texas A and M, the other side hates you. So, like, this whole idea of, oh, it's, it's going to be really antagonistic in politics. Trust me, bloodsport is, is picking side. So that would be really fun. It'll be great. Michael Berry, our friend Jesse Kelly's down there, too. A lot of you listen to, to those guys. So let's try to get that in the work because I think it will do well and it's a big deal and that'll be a huge topic of conversation. And Buck will learn along the way everything that he needs to know about the culture of Texas. You'll be leaving in cowboy boots and a, and a big, big cowboy hat.

[Clay Travis]

Now, I'm just, I'm not going to walk around yelling war eagle. That much I have learned. See, I sure enough that would be.

[Buck Sexton]

That would be poorly received across the board by most people in Texas. All right, I wanted to hit this because we mentioned earlier, Trump came out. I believe he's headed to Florida. I don't know if that's been confirmed, but I would be stunned if he weren't going to Florida, hopped on his helicopter, went to Andrews Air Force Base, and he dealt with a lot of the big stories of the past two weeks. So I want to hit a couple of these. Trump was asked if he was convinced to not attack Iran. This is cut 34.

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

Did Arab and Israeli officials convince you.

[Buck Sexton]

To not strike Iran?

[Donald Trump]

Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself. You had Yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, so Trump, we gave you that comment from Trump saying that they had actually chosen not to hang people. Now, the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on its way to the Middle East. We'll see whether this temporary bit of a thaw between Trump and Iran continues. Now, other stories. Let's hit Venezuela. Trump was asked why he aligned with Delsey Rodriguez. She is the vice president of Venezuela who has now been elevated to president after Machado was taken out. And Trump, buck, he echoed a lot of what you said earlier on this show about one of the flaws of Iraq was we took out everybody in the Saddam Hussein regime and suddenly there was a total power vacuum. Cut 36.

[Reporter (Niall Stanage)]

Trump, Rodriguez and the residents of the Maduro regime. And not with Machado, who has the support of the Venezuelan people.

[Donald Trump]

If you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being isis. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being isis. So I remember that. But I'll tell you, I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously for me and our country, and she gave me her Nobel Prize. But I'll tell you what I got to know. I never met her before, and I was very, very impressed. She's a really. This is a fine woman.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, so that is Venezuela, that is Iran. Major foreign situations going on there here. Also, Trump was asked about whether the Insurrection act was necessary in Minneapolis to deal with the anti ICE protests. Cut 35. This is what he just said.

[Donald Trump]

Well, the Insurrection act, which has been used by 48% of the presidents as of this moment. The Insurrection act, also, if you look at it, I believe it was Bush, the elder Bush. He used it, I think, 28 times. It's been used a lot. And if I needed it, I'd use it. I don't think there's any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I'd use it. It's very powerful.

[Buck Sexton]

So very powerful. Very Powerful.

[Clay Travis]

Well, his analysis of Iraq is exactly what you heard me tell you a few days ago on this show. So clearly the President has access to very high level national security folks who have studied the lessons of Iraq, as I did on the CIA desk for Iraq when it was going on. And yeah, you can't just like lop the entire apparatus of the government and everything off like with a guillotine and then hope that something that replaces it is going to work out. You have to understand, and this is why Iran is different than Venezuela. Iran, there are many differences, but one of them is you have a stolen election in Venezuela. If you have a different election with different people, rather a different, you know, election winner, I know she actually won, but you get what I'm saying. If you just put the person who actually won in place or something, or you hold new elections, the people already have this process in mind. There's already, you know, and you have new people running the security services. You're not trying to reinvent the wheel in Venezuela. You're trying to get people to stop, you know, sabotaging it in Iran. You gotta, they don't have elections, really. They don't have, you know, you got jihadism, you got all kinds of stuff you got to deal with. So I think Trump looked at this and he was just like, this isn't the move right now. So as long, you know, he kind of got a halfway, a halfway win. Insofar as, yeah, they're saying they're not killed, they're not hanging all these people today, which is good, or yesterday, but they're still in prison. The security services still have their names on a list. Yeah, it's not, like I said, it's, it's Trump making the, these are tough calls. There's no people who tell you that they have the answers on foreign policy are inherently wrong because no one really has the answers or nos. You're always making difficult determinations with lots of different variables and input that are changing in real time and that are often unsatisfactory. Clay, in the end, no matter how wise, no matter how brilliant you are as a tactician.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, in particular Iran, which I would just point out if things are actually getting better in Iran, how about turn the Internet back on and how about turn the ability of people to use their cell phones back on so if things are calming down and things are infinitely better and the government is not executing innocent people who are protesting in the streets, turn the Internet back on and turn phones back on and let people be able to communicate with the rest of the world, that would be one request that I would make. I think that's something good that the President could say. On top of that, the challenge here, we've seen this happen a lot. People rise up, the government cracks down, kills a lot of people and remains in power. And so I think the calculus that Trump is trying to analyze is you don't want to halfway do something. If you are really going to go in.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Then you have to know the Ayatollah is gone and we're going to put in the Shaw or whatever. To your point, Buck, the game planning, you. It's a little bit like taking antibiotics. You don't want to take antibiotics, only half the dose, and the virus comes back stronger than it would have been if you had never done anything else.

[Clay Travis]

The bacteria comes back strong.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, you. You want to end the sickness. You don't want to make the sickness stronger. And so if you go halfway, if you're not going to actually, you know, sort of decapitate, you know, then you're in a. What rough spot?

[Clay Travis]

Do you know Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, I know Ron Swanson's. I'm familiar with his work.

[Clay Travis]

This was how I was. I was mocked by some of the staff in the Intelligence division of the NYPD as the NYPD's Ron Swanson, because they're like, I've never seen someone who hates government so much working for the government. I complained about a lot of the bureaucracy there. That's fair. So they would. They would tell me that I was the Ron Swanson. Now, I can't grow quite that mustache, but I bring it up, Clay, because one of his best lines from that series is never half ass. Two things. Whole ass, one thing. And that's true. You know, it's basically, you're in or you're out. You're, you know, you're either all in or you should pick something else to do. And when you're talking about a situation like Iran, 90 million people, all of this nibbling around the edges is not the move. And I think Trump realized, given the situation, but this is what I said, that the regime is staying. The regime is. Unfortunately, we're going to have another one of these moments. We go, oh, it was so close. No, not yet. Not yet. Because without Trump going all in, there's no way the people in Iran are going to be able to get rid of them on their own.

[Buck Sexton]

All of those things just said by Trump, I imagine that he will be handling everything from Miami going forward. And we'll see if anything transpires over the course of the weekend as it pertains to those issues. Buck, knock us out here and then we'll take some of your calls and get to some of your talkbacks to close out the week in the final.

[Clay Travis]

Segment next this may be the year that some of you for the first time join me on a magical journey, a journey of gold ownership. I actually just bought more gold and it's on the way to my home currently. I bought it from Birch Gold Group because I'm a long term believer in gold and Birch has great pricing, great customer service and likes to educate people like me about the gold market and what the long term thesis is. This is about long term hold. They're very clear about that. This isn't your buy gold today, you sell it tomorrow. This is do you believe that gold and silver and look what silver's been doing are going to go up in the future? In a world where we have constant money printing, central banks engaged in all kinds of shenanigans, is gold going to be there for you? Will gold be solid? I think the answer is very much yes. And I wouldn't tell you to do it if I didn't do it. I'm a gold investor. I buy gold from Birch Gold Group. I think you should check them out until January 30th. If you're a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, text my name Buck to 9898 98. Birch Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you are still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make this month your first time buying gold. Take advantage of a rebate of up to $10,000 when you buy by January 30th. One more time, text My Name Buck to 9898 98. Claim your eligibility today.

[Buck Sexton]

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]

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