← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Loading summary
Transcript86 lines
- [00:00]
Unknown Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Elahe Izadi
When I listen to the news, here's what I want to know. Why this story matters, who's at the center of it, and how the reporters uncovered it. And as a journalist, I want to make sure that's what you get, too. I'm Elahe Izadi, co host of the podcast Post Reports. Every weekday, my colleagues and I at the Washington Post give you the context you need on the biggest stories. Health care tariffs, artificial intelligence. We've got you covered. Look for Post Reports where I you listen to podcasts.
- [00:35]
Clay Travis
Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Podcast.
- [00:40]
Buck Sexton
Welcome, everybody, to the Wednesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. A lot of news today and we're going to break it all down for you. Here's a story. Will the media focus on this one? Let's take a look here. PPI Producer Price Index inflation falls to 2.3%. Lowest reading since September 202454 disasters in the Bloomberg survey were wrong on this one. The tariffs, the bottom line here, the tariffs not having the inflationary effect that we were all told would happen and not having the price rise effect that we were all told would happen. So that seems like a pretty big, pretty big deal. You know, the economy thing's going well. Another story that may get some attention. And President Trump, just to be clear, we're monitoring it. We have our monitors going. We have our team pulling from it in real time. President Trump is currently in the Oval Office and he is actually. Guys, can we join this live for a second here? Can we try to join the president?
- [01:44]
Clay Travis
Let's plan on firing Fed Chair Jay Powell markets, is that right?
- [01:48]
Donald Trump
Those are reports, but they're not true.
- [01:49]
Buck Sexton
So it would be useful to know.
- [01:51]
Clay Travis
Are you committed to picking someone from the outside?
- [01:53]
Buck Sexton
Are you going to intervene, interview individuals?
- [01:55]
Donald Trump
So many people that want that job. I have people that I've known a long time, they're calling me, begging for the job. You know what you need there? A smart person with common sense. But you need a very smart person for that job.
- [02:07]
Buck Sexton
Okay, I think it's. So he's talking now about the Fed chair, which it looks like it is it. Well, it is underway that they're going to replace the Fed chair. That process has begun. Rates coming down. Wow. The economy could be just so fantastic, Clay. It's already strong, already looking good, already proving his critics wrong on tariffs. Another story that may get some attention here, a truth from President Trump, and he was just asked about this we're going to bring you that soundbite here momentarily. But this, Clay, is. Is what the President wrote. And I am. I'm just going to read it. I'm going to read it for. This is from the President, United States. From his official account. The radical left Democrats have hit pay dirt again. Just like with the fake and fully discredited Steele Dossier, the lying 51 intelligence agents, the laptop from hell which the Dems swore had come from Russia. No, it came from Hunter's bathroom. And even the Russia, Russia, Russia scam itself, totally fake, made up, store used in order to hide crooked Hillary's big loss in the 2016 presidential election. These scams and hoaxes are all Democrats are good at. It's all they have. They're no good at governing, no good at policy. Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. And my past supporters have bought into this bs. He didn't write bs. Hook, line and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson and probably never will. Even after being conned by the lunatic left for eight long years. I've had more success in six months than perhaps any president in our history. Democrats are starved for things. The success Democrats are starved for is the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. Make America great again. Clay, what do you make of it?
- [03:50]
Clay Travis
I don't understand why he keeps talking about it. I mean, if you truly feel like this story is not a story, the number one thing to do is just move on and not talk about it. Because this is, to me, the equivalent of a scab that Trump keeps ripping off. And every time this happens, we get deluged with people that are really upset with Trump over the way that he's handling this. And I'm leaving aside the Epstein story for the moment and purely talking about the communication associated with this. Okay, so this is not Epstein based. It's been awful. Just gonna be candid. Pam Bondi has been a disaster on this. The fact that she gave all those influencers a Jeffrey Epstein binder, the fact that she said that the Epstein files were on her desk, I understand why that set forth the expectation that there were going to be substantial results as a result of those public comments. And then, what is it, 10 days ago now? Ish. They walk it back in a Sunday night post, if I remember correctly, a release. Buck, you can correct me and team, you can correct me on the dates because everything kind of runs together. And now here we are two weeks later, and Trump continues to post about it. I think he's upset that he is getting criticism on this front. I think that Trump feels that he has done nothing wrong and that Epstein is old news. He killed himself six years ago. Democrats had this story for years that they could have done something with in the Biden administration. They didn't. And I think he believes that this is a manufactured hoax of a story. I think he's being honest with his expectations. It's not going away. And this is where again I'm addressing directly the management related to it. We had the poor, I think, handling of the initial situation by Attorney General Bondi. We then had last week the report that Dan Bongino was basically at loggerheads with the Attorney General's office and potentially was going to leave. That seems to have been diffused. I thought this story was kind of put to bed. I woke up this morning in Atlanta and the number one thing that's echoing all over the social media universe this morning was Trump deciding to go after the Epstein story again and tell anybody that basically doesn't believe him, hey, go, you know, I'm done with you. So that, that is the language we have.
- [06:28]
Buck Sexton
He was just asked about this minutes ago. And so as we were coming on air, he was mid answer. So we wanted to give you the full answer. President Trump in the Oval Office with a Bahraini prime minister. The press gaggle goes right to Epstein. Here's what he said. We're going to play the full answer. Listen in.
- [06:45]
Clay Travis
I know you want to move past all this intrigue over the Epstein files, but I do want to ask you to clarify something you said this morning. You said this was all a hoax. Has your Attorney General told you this was a hoax? What evidence.
- [06:54]
Donald Trump
Have you seen the Attorney General? No, I know it's a hoax. It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years. You had Christopher Wray and these characters and Comey before him and it's a bad group. It started acting. Actually, look at the Steele dossier. That turned out to be a total hoax. The 51 agents, the intelligence so called intelligence agents. It was a hoax. It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats work. The Democrats are good for nothing other than these hoaxes. They're bad for policy. They're bad for picking candidates that can get elected. No, no, it's. I call it the Epstein hoax. Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achieve, we've had a great gentleman yesterday, as you know, went on CNBC and he made the statement that Trump may go down as the greatest president of all in the United States. And instead of talking about the things we've achieved, we've had tremendous achievement. They're wasting their time with a guy who obviously had some very serious problems who died three, four years ago. I'd rather talk about the success we have with the economy, the best we've ever had and all of the things we've done, including the middle least. I mean, you see it instead, they want to talk about the Epstein hooks. And the sad part is it's people that are really doing the Democrats work. They're stupid people.
- [08:20]
Buck Sexton
Clay, this is not going to make the issue go away. I don't think people who are still upset about the whiplash over the promise versus the presentation. And we could all, again, I don't want to go down the Epstein rabbit hole right now. We could do that. I mean, people are doing that. You can do hours and hours and hours on the Epstein case. But the way this is being handled at this moment by the administration has a lot of people scratching their heads and pretty frustrated. And I think that frustration is completely fair.
- [08:53]
Clay Travis
Well, look, here's what I would say about the idea of the Epstein hoax. I think it's an interesting idea and I think Trump probably does believe it, that this is a continuation of the Russia collusion hoax, that this is a continuation of the Steele dossier hoax. All these things that Democrats were told, hey, we're going to get Trump on this. He sees it as connected. Here's where I would say the difference is unlike those, and I think you would sign off on this too, like just making the analogy there was no real crime committed related to Russia. I know they got a couple of people for lying to intelligence, you know, during interviews.
- [09:35]
Buck Sexton
That was, the whole thing was a fabrication, a fantasy. Nobody was harmed in the making of that movie, so to speak. It was just all, well, Trump was harmed in the event. But I'm saying there was no actual crime. There was no murder. There was no nothing. Nothing happened.
- [09:50]
Clay Travis
We know there were. Yeah, we know there were crimes related to Epstein. Right. So unlike Russia, collusion, where it is, I think, manufactured out of whole cloth. I don't think anybody out there is saying, hey, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, they were totally innocent. This was manufactured. There's nothing associated with it. Now I, and I get people are, are fired up about this. I actually think that if you look at the logic, if you look at the logic, I don't buy that. There's tons of information that they are refusing to give to the American public. I think might be the frustration of Trump that that is why to me, and I think I said this last week, the only way to handle this is either one, just move on, just say, hey, we got a difference of opinions. We're not going to solve this. But we're not seeing that. Right? Because the president put out the statement that he did today. He just had that statement that we played for you in the Oval Office. And so the second one is, I think you have to just put out everything that you have. Now, here's the challenge, as you well know, this buck, whatever they put out, there are going to be people who say they're still holding things back. This is not all of it, right? So the challenge you're in now is everyone who believes that this is a massive, huge scandal that is decades in the, in the history. Right. Building, they're not suddenly going to believe if you give them a binder and push it out publicly. And again, I don't know who advised Pam Bondi. Fuck, we said this when this happened, giving those influencers the binders, the Trapper Keepers, whatever the heck it was, it.
- [11:33]
Buck Sexton
Made it seem like a clown show. And there's nothing funny about any of the stuff that is being discussed.
- [11:38]
Clay Travis
Who in the world, if you or I have been asked a question about this, I've been involved in investigations, right? I've done criminal defense work. Who in the world said, hey, we should give these guys, these influencers a binder and call it part one, right? There's not very often Epstein files part one. There's not very often you call something part one and part two never comes. Right? So the lack of fulfilled expectations here is real. I get why people are super frustrated. I just don't get why Trump, if he truly thinks this is not a significant story, you stop talking about things that you think are insignificant and you move on to other things. And he does have an incredible story on six months of the economy on the border on crime, as we have talked about on this show, I think he's got the best six months of tangible results of any president in my life. But when you put out that post this morning and then you get, as you would expect, a question like this in the Oval Office, I don't know what he expects the news cycle of the day to be other than what we started off the show talking about, which is what everybody's talking about.
- [12:41]
Buck Sexton
And Part of the problem is that there are a lot of senior government people who said that there was a lot going on with Epstein in the run up to this election, and now they're. Some of those same individuals are saying everything is fine. There's not, I mean, meaning there's nothing further to show or share. And I just don't think that's going to fly. I think people are going to continue to be very agitated about this. So I had said they should do a press conference where they just address with clarity. Because when you say things like the Epstein hoax, okay, Epstein is not a hoax, obviously, no one actually is holding. Trump doesn't. No one's holding the position that Epstein wasn't a serial sex criminal over decades and did horrible things. No one takes that position. The part of it that he's saying is a hoax is that there is a. And I'm doing some Trump translation here, but the notion that there actually is a list of people who committed crimes or proof of those people committing crimes, not going to release, just a general covering of all allegations, even those that were unsubstantiated, et cetera, I think that's what the position of the administration is. I think. And I just wish they would make that more clear because this tweet and I just. Look, we're just reading to you what the President is saying. I'm not the president. Clay's not the president. He's saying, shut up. There's nothing to see. I don't want to answer any more questions about this. And if you still fall, if you still want answers on this, you're playing into the Democrats hands. That's what he's saying. And he's. And he's using a little profanity and he's done with it. So take that as you will. I would advise not to go in that direction. No one's asking me. Well, some people, but the President's not asking me. I would say address it with clarity and openness. And if there is anything more to be shared than what has already been shared, share it. Redact what is necessary. Explain those redactions. Now, I just want to be clear. President Trump is saying even that position is not helpful and is bad right now. I disagree. Right. I mean, that's. He can, he's the President. He can say what he wants to say. But I think that to make this go away, it would be better to have that transparency. So. But I don't get to make the call. The President does. And that's where this is I also.
- [15:03]
Clay Travis
Think the more you talk about it, the more people think there's something to it. I mean, I, I, I'm just gonna be honest. Like, if you keep, I mean, in your own lives, step away. If somebody keeps talking about something with you and forces you to constantly marinate in it. We're going to break here, and we'll take some of your calls and we'll take some of your reactions. Again, this is gonna be the story that comes out. I think the Jerome Powell stuff is far more significant today.
- [15:28]
Buck Sexton
I, I want to play the gentleman who said Trump might have the greatest presidency ever. Because I agree. Because I agree. I think Trump is absolutely kicking ass. I don't want to talk about this stuff at all, but here we are. All right, look, if you consider yourself pro life, and I know so many of you do, you're probably very distressed by what's going on. Yes, we had the Supreme Court victory that overturned Roe v. Wade, but there's abortions happening all over the country at higher rates than previous. A lot of this is because of the availability of the abortion pill. But the fact of the matter is we are losing the lives of tiny babies in this country day in and day out. This is why preborn isn't waiting for more laws, isn't waiting for the country to have a change of hearts and minds at the national level. They are in communities where abortions are happening right now, and they are saving babies by giving love and support to moms in a crisis pregnancy. Here's what they do. They say, hey, mom, you've got a crisis pregnancy, meaning a pregnancy you weren't planning. Maybe you're getting pressure from a partner or from your family to, quote, do something about it. Well, here's what preborn says you should do. Go in, meet that baby via ultrasound, feel that love in your heart, understand that this is a boy or girl made in God's image, and then have that baby, with preborn's help, bring that life into this world. It's an incredible organization and they're doing fantastic work every day. $28 is the cost of an ultrasound. If you can donate that once, that's fantastic. You could also set up to do a recurring donation of $28 a month. Go to preborn.com buck preborn.com buck. Or if you want to donate using your phone, this is so easy to do. It's very convenient. Dial £250 and say the keyword baby. That's £250. Say the word baby, sponsored by preborn.
- [17:18]
Unknown Advertiser
Let's be real. Life happens. Kids spill, pets shed and accidents are inevitable. Find a sofa that can keep up@washablesofas.com Starting at just $699, our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out so you can say goodbye to stains and hello to worry free living. Made with liquid and stain resistant fabrics, they're kid proof, pet friendly and built for everyday life. Plus, changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want. Neat flexibility. Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa anytime to fit your space, whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment. Plus, they're earth friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers. It's time to upgrade to a stress free mess proof sofa. Visit washablesofas.com today and save that's washable sofas offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.
- [18:17]
Hannah Jewell
I hear a lot from people that there are days where it's hard to read a single news story. Forget actually being caught up, but I host a podcast that can fix that. It's called the seven seven stories every weekday by 7am Eastern. And here's the other thing. It's short, less than 10 minutes in fact. I'm Hannah Jewell. The Seven podcast will turn around your morning and get you caught up. Check it out and follow the seven wherever you listen to podcasts, cracking and.
- [18:48]
Buck Sexton
Stacking a lot of your calls as well as your talkbacks. And and we want to hear from all of you about the subjects of the day, as we always do. So we will dive into some of that. We'll also bring you more from the Trump presser that just was going on in the Oval Office a few moments. It might actually still I'm paying attention to the radio show we're doing. Is it's still going on? It could be, but Trump is definitely addressing that, has been addressing the nation, taking questions. So we'll dive into some of that. But he mentioned this and I saw this this morning. Ken Langone, who is the Home Depot founder, a very wealthy guy and a guy who understands business. I, you know, I gotta say he's going on TV and he's basically saying mea culpa. I was wrong about my concerns about the Trump presidency. Not only was I wrong about it, but I have to say that this may be the best presidency in my lifetime. And you know, he's an older guy and here is exactly I wanted to hear this. This is what he's a billionaire. I feel like you would.
- [19:54]
Clay Travis
Oh yeah, and founded, where I'm from in Atlanta, Home Depot, where I'm broadcasting from right now, Home Depot, one of the great American companies. And yeah, this guy is swimming in billions of dollars and kind of understands, maybe better than most retailers because so much of what he sells is predicated on construction, which gives you a good indication of how the growth of the economy is going. But, yeah, this was an incredible endorsement that he gave this morning.
- [20:21]
Donald Trump
Look, I'm going to tell you right now, I am sold on Trump. In fact, I'll say this, I think you've got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best presidents ever.
- [20:31]
Clay Travis
That is a real turnaround because you didn't want to vote for him.
- [20:34]
Donald Trump
I told you the reason. I want to tell you I'm a believer. What I'm seeing happening is absolutely nothing short of a great thing. And there's a beat. People are walking with more bounce in there. It's all around.
- [20:50]
Buck Sexton
I think that's all true. He went on, he went on at some length there just to talk about how much Trump is, let's just say it, just kicking ass with the economy and with the border and doing, we talk about the difficulties as well as the victories here, but let's not forget those victories. And I think he's doing a phenomenal job in the economy. The fact that once again, he had essentially all of the, as we say, the consensus, right, the economy saying, oh, my gosh, you can't do this tariff thing. Tariffs haven't raised prices and are bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars to the treasury. And it hasn't done the terrible things that we, that we were told were going to happen despite so many people saying it. So, Clay, at some level, I will, I'll put this out there. I understand his frustration because anything that's not this, that affects 350 million people to Trump right now, I believe he does view as something of a distraction. So I get that he's frustrated because the administration is doing on the, on the big things that matter with the economy. I think we can all agree that phenomenal job so far.
- [21:54]
Clay Travis
Not only the economy, economy, border crime, which is what he ran on as his foremost, you know, three tent poles that he was focused on. I think he has delivered in a massive way on all three of those. And I give credit. Look, one of the things, if I could go back in time, one of the things I wish I could do is I wish we gave as much credit to people for admitting when they're wrong as we do when they're right. Because admitting when you're wrong on something is, I think, a sign of intellectual health and growth. I'm wrong on things all the time. When we're wrong on this show, we try to come on and correct. And we've been wrong about a lot of things, as everybody is, especially when you're in the prediction game. But what I love about business guys and gals in general, ultimately it all boils down to what the data shows them, right? And this Home Depot founder said, like, hey, I wasn't a Trump guy. I was not a big believer in Trump. And he now is seeing through the data that the economy is producing that he might well have been wrong. And he's going on and saying what I think is true, which is Trump has had one of the greatest six months of any president ever. And I get it. I get why Trump would be frustrated because there are distractions from that. What I would say to Trump is, and if you asked me, I would tell him this, you know, face to face, hey, you're creating some of the distractions from your super significant successes because as soon as you sat down and decided to draft something on Epstein, it's going to take away from other things that I think are more consequential. Inflation below expectations is a huge deal. Jerome Powell not lowering rates is a huge deal for you and me and everybody out there that has a home, that has a mortgage, that's buying a vehicle, that's playing paying interest rates. They have cut rates seven, eight times in the eu, I believe in the, in the last year or so, we haven't done it hardly at all here. And so look, is it a coincidence that Jerome Powell cut rates right before the election? I don't think so. He was trying to help Joe Biden. So the idea, in my opinion, the idea that he's an apolitical economic steward, I don't believe is true. And look, I mean, the economists are wrong over and over and over again. I believe this is five straight months where their inflation expectations have been higher than what the results have been. And so look, to me, that's the story. The economy is starting to roar. We need to have more steam. More steam would mean lower interest rates. That would help get the growth rate up. Buck, we just hit a surplus in June. Well, it's like nobody even noticed it. How much time have we spent talking about, hey, we gotta balance the budget, we gotta make sure that we're not spending more. Now, I know that it's not gonna happen every month I would love, by the way, if the economy got roaring so much that it did happen, if the tariffs ended up having the impact that Trump believes that they might, that would be an incredible outcome. But the fact that we actually didn't borrow money in June for one of the first times in years that we balanced the budget, I believe had a $27 billion surplus that should be scream from the heavens. No, there was, I bet there wasn't a single economist in the country that said if you asked them, hey, will there be a budget surplus in any month in 2025 during the Trump administration? I bet there wasn't one single forecast of that occurring. And it's already happened in six months. Gas prices, four year lows, the overall stock market prices, we got a 401k record highs. All of these things are great. But you've got to be disciplined on the messaging. And I think one, the media is not going to want to give Trump a lot of credit. Two, they're going to follow conflict and chaos. So if you sow conflict and chaos in any way in your messaging, then you're going to create, I think a continued storyline which suggests that you haven't been as successful as you have. And I think that's where we are.
- [25:51]
Buck Sexton
Yeah, I think that the more that people see the economy and the trajectory over all of it as well, the more understanding there'll be and maybe even people coming out and admitting that the choice between Trump and Kamala for the economy, how could that even be a choice? How could anybody, any person think, oh yes, I wanted Kamala Harris to be making the decision. Kamala Harris couldn't run a, you know, a food stand somewhere.
- [26:21]
Clay Travis
There's no idea how to run a profitable lemonade stand. I, I like a lot of kids do in the neighborhood. I don't think commonly she never run a business. I don't think she'd be able to do it. By the way, Larry in Thomasville has a good theory here. And by the way, have we reached out ally to Alan Dershowitz to ask if he will come on and talk about some of these things. Okay, let's do that today. Yeah. Here is Larry who wants to talk some about Alan Dershowitz. Listen.
- [26:48]
Unknown Caller
Yes. Like Dershowitz said, said this weekend, it's not Trump's DOJ and the FBI of Trump that is doing the suppression of this evidence. It's the southern districts in New York and the previous administration spot for that and probably some in South Florida where the previous trial was, some evidence was probably suppressed. There. But, but they don't, they don't need to get Trump mad with his supporters. His supporters do not blame Trump and his people. They blame the previous bunch.
- [27:20]
Clay Travis
Okay, so I think this is a good call. And again we'll reach out to Alan Dershowitz. This is why I'm focused. There's two different stories to me. There is the Epstein story which has been, I mean it's 20 years in the making. People have covered it ad infinitum. There's lots of uncertainties. Was he intelligence asset, was he not? How substantial is the larger ring of criminal perpetuity that surrounds him outside of Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein himself, all of those things, you can dive into them, deep dives, all those things. I think there's also the messaging side which is what he's calling about. If Pam Bondi and Cash Patel and Dan Bongino and Trump, after reviewing all of these files had had a big press conference and they had answered every question and they said, guys, we went over everything in here with a fine tooth comb. We are going to release as much as we possibly can. And what we have uncover covered here is there's nothing that can be criminally charged against anybody else. We can't speak to what evidence might have existed before. Certainly if any new evidence comes out. I think people, I'm curious how you think this would have gone, Buck. I think people would have been upset, but I don't think they would have had the expectation based on the binders and all the comments from buy from Bondi that charges were coming and there was going to be some grand revelation here. It's managing communication wise, this story that I think has been a failure beyond a shadow of a doubt.
- [28:42]
Buck Sexton
Well, a huge problem has been the, the on the one side of the equation promising massive transparency. Look, this is why I didn't like the, oh, the JFK files, the MLK Jr files. We're going to unseal those and there's going to be big things in there too, because there's not. I knew there wasn't in that. I know people are now saying, oh, the CIA killed jfk, please, this is not something, maybe you can believe that, but that hasn't been proven based on these new files that are out.
- [29:13]
Clay Travis
And.
- [29:13]
Buck Sexton
Even beyond that in those cases too, I just want to say, okay, so what do we, everybody involved would be dead. Like, what would we even do about that? Even if that were theoretically true? But I don't want to.
- [29:21]
Clay Travis
I know the problem and I think this is important. If there were truly earth shattering things in files on JFK or RFK or any of those, the idea that it would have stayed buried or not been destroyed for 50 years is what I've.
- [29:35]
Buck Sexton
Been saying all along. Okay, anybody. There are people that have access that would know these things and they would have smuggled it out. Just think, look at some of the stuff that has been leaked. Everybody. I mean I was in the CIA when the whole black site thing was leaked. I mean stuff that's supposed to be kept really, really secret has gotten to the press. Big juicy stories get to the press. Now the Epstein thing is different because at different layers of the Justice Department there have clear and it's recent still. There have been efforts. We're talking about the 2019 Raiders. Houseman, this is recent stuff, right? This isn't 50 years of sitting in files. People could see nobody cares anymore. And so when they say there's going to be a huge revelation and then there's not, that's a, that's not good. That's, that's, that's a problem and that's where a lot of this has come from. So I understand, I get it. I just, I just, other than just sitting around and speaking about the frustration, we can advise what we think should happen which is make more stuff transparent or make do a press conference. Beyond that, the people in charge are the people in charge and they determine what gets released. We don't get, you know, we're not, I'm not sitting on any documents. I, if I were you would know.
- [30:50]
Clay Travis
I think the challenge that you're in now, and I'm just being candid is if you release every single file in the entire Epstein file, I'm saying that that happens. A ton of people are saying for sure not enough. Right. There is no way to satisfy the demand now short of frog walking perpetrator style, people out in handcuffs associated with it.
- [31:11]
Buck Sexton
Well, we got Todd in Louisville, Kentucky wants to talk to us about this. Todd, let's, let's go for it. What do you got?
- [31:17]
Unknown Caller
All right guys, this couple angles Trump here's what aggravated me about all of it and is Trump campaigned on it vociferously. Constant we're going to get to the bottom of it. Da da da da da Constant. Now when all their information when it came out Bondi said there was Bonzino, there's no there there Patel Bondi come out but the one that kind of killed me because all of them were in, they're all in sync and I think they've Done a wonderful job. I'm behind them a million percent. This doesn't bother me at all, but it's aggravating to me when I hear Trump when he was asked a week and a half ago what, they're still talking about that like it's something that hadn't been mentioned in five years. He just got off the campaign trail for months talking about it. And just that, that to say that the other angle, I love Trump. Hey, make no mistake, Bongino, Patel and Bondi are appointed by Trump. A lot of people said, oh, Bonzino knows he'll come right out. No, he won't because he knows that Trump will drop the hammer. He can fire him on the spot, get rid of them. I'm not saying people would, would sacrifice their, their goodness. I'm just saying with putting information out that ain't going to matter here or there if he tells them.
- [32:36]
Clay Travis
I, I think, thank you for the call. We got to go to a break. But let me say this, and I think, Buck, you would sign off on that. I agree with quite a lot of what he was saying, but I do believe that Bongino Cash, I don't know Pam Bondi well enough, but I think if those guys had evidence of crimes that were being committed and they were told, hey, you can't prosecute people, I think they would resign. I think they would leave. I don't think that they would not charge pedophiles with sex crimes. That's my personal opinion. Some of you can disagree. I think they would resign if they were given that instruction. Look, the IFCJ is trying to fight because the ongoing battles in the Middle east are so significant. Your gift to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has helped countless civilians in need. Your next gift will help provide wide scale food distribution along with critical first aid and emergency supplies. Items will help Israel's most vulnerable, the sick, the elderly, children and families. IFCJ is there in Israel working tirelessly with your donations. Your gift today will help place new bomb shelters across Israel along with necessary supplies for existing bomb shelters. Now's the time to save and heal Israel's innocent and most vulnerable. To rush your gift, call 888,488, IFCJ. That's 888488, IFCJ. You can also go online at IFCJ.org that's IFCJ.org all of you hanging out with us. I'm down in Atlanta, Georgia. Fabulous spot, awesome all star game last night that ended near midnight. For those of you who stayed up and watched. It ended in a home run derby. Producer Ally said even she couldn't escape it while she was in her gym. We are here. I am here. I want to thank Atlanta's Extra 106.3 FM. They are our affiliate here in Atlanta and they do a fabulous job of hosting me 106.3 FM. I know many of you have been listening on that broadcast network, so we thank you. Buck is down in Miami. We broke down the latest from the president's address with the media. Basically a running press conference he had for a long period of time. I think we need a tally through July coming up at the end of the month. I can't imagine that any president has ever taken more questions from the media in the first six months of his presidency than President Trump has. And he has been weighing in on a variety of different subjects. So I want to dive into some of these that I believe are consequential. And I'm surprised this isn't getting more attention. I really. Because it's kind of unprecedented. Was it earlier this week or last week? Team, look this up. I think it was last week that, in fact, I'm pretty sure that it was. Joe Biden's doctor took the Fifth Amendment when he was asked about whether there was a conspiracy to cover up the mental and physical health of Joe Biden inside of the White House took the Fifth Amendment pretty, I thought significant detail. And we talked about that last last week. But some people said, well, he's a doctor. He's got the out of hipaa. And I tried to distinguish between a patient diagnosis and a doctor being told, hey, no matter what your diagnosis is, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, this guy is going to be okay. Right? That would be a conspiracy potentially. Now, Anthony Bernal, and I know Buck is disappointed in me, but I read all of Original Sin and Anthony Bernal is a huge character in this book because he is basically Jill Biden's personal staffer who is in charge of messaging. And as you read the book, is no great surprise that Dr. Jill Biden was among the most vociferous of Joe Biden's defenders and constantly saying that he was fine and there were no issues. And Anthony Bernal was sort of her eyes and ears inside of all top White House meetings. And he was often dictating policy. He just took the Fifth, too. They called him up to Capitol Hill. They asked him whether or not there had been a conspiracy to protect Joe Biden. And he also took the Fifth Amendment. Here is cut one James Comer is hosting these hearings. Here is what was said about yet another top Biden official now taking the Fifth Amendment rather than answering questions.
- [37:25]
James Comer
Well, unfortunately, that was quick. This is the second witness that we've brought in via subpoena for a deposition that has pled the Fifth. And they've stated they're not going to answer questions. I want to read the first two questions. Just so everyone knows. These are the types of questions we ask. Was Joe Biden fit to exercise the duties of the president? He pled the Fifth. Second question. Did any unelected official or family member execute the duties of the President? This is Joe Biden's chief of staff.
- [37:59]
Clay Travis
Those are really very broad. Easily, I would argue, avoided legal questions that he pled the Fifth for. Again, a second figure buck. Here is my reading of the tea leaves here. I don't know this to be true. Let me be clear. I feel like there may be somebody who is singing like a canary inside of the Biden administration, because otherwise, the logic behind these guys taking the Fifth doesn't add up. He could just say, no, there was no conspiracy. I thought Joe Biden was perfectly fine to be President of the United States. Those are his opinions. The fact that he's not wading into it at all after the presidential physician did not weigh in at all makes me wonder, where are these guys thinking there is legal peril? What are they afraid of? Because the history, as all of you know, has been basically, anybody in power can do anything they want except for Trump, and there's never charges brought.
- [39:07]
Buck Sexton
Something. Well, I was gonna say something to keep in mind is that the precedent has been very clearly set. They sent Bannon to prison. They sent Navarro to prison. You know, the over. Over an executive privilege claim that I think was entirely valid, and yet they sent them to. They actually made senior presidential advisors go to prison. So, you know, Clay, on the one hand, it's deeply suspicious, even though. I know. It's so funny. Whether you like someone or not is what determines whether you like. Or whether you defend their. Their use of the Fifth Amendment as just the process or suspicious. Right. Is this. It's like, what is it? I think Jon Hamm in. In not the Departed, the Town, the Town. You know the movie with. With Ben Affleck about the bank robbers?
- [39:56]
Clay Travis
Yes. He's.
- [39:56]
Buck Sexton
He plays an FBI guy, and he says. He's like, look, people who lawyer up are guilty. That's what he says. And, you know, if you're the FBI guy, you maybe think that. I think that on this issue. They recognize that the Trump administration and Congress specifically in this case will make examples out of people who lie and they don't know what other people are going to say about what they knew and when they knew it. So the smart if Clay, let's, let's take it to this level. If you were their lawyer, if you were there, their consulari on this one for a Biden, Senior Biden, Aiden, wouldn't you say no benefit in testifying?
- [40:35]
Clay Travis
Plead the fifth maybe, but this is why I think they know more than we do publicly.
- [40:42]
Buck Sexton
Why, why the maybe though?
- [40:43]
Clay Travis
Right?
- [40:44]
Buck Sexton
Like what possible upside for them could there be other than causing legal jeopardy for themselves? They already look horrible because Biden had dementia and we all knew that they hit it and they all knew.
- [40:54]
Clay Travis
Right.
- [40:54]
Buck Sexton
So there's the reputational damage I think is already done.
- [40:58]
Clay Travis
I would actually, if I thought I had done nothing wrong, I would actually want to sit down and go under oath and tell you that all of the attacks are wrong.
- [41:07]
Buck Sexton
But you know what would happen? They would ask them, they would sit them down that this burn, burn all guy. They would sit him down and they would say, you didn't, like, you really didn't know that there was a problem here, buddy. You didn't see him, I get it.
- [41:20]
Clay Travis
But he can just, he could just say no. I think the story here, I think.
- [41:24]
Buck Sexton
He would look preposterous if he said no. That was the problem. Like he would look like a total clown and a joker if he actually tried that. Now you don't think so?
- [41:30]
Clay Travis
Maybe, but. Maybe. But I think the story here is from a legal perspective, I think they're afraid somebody's flipped and that is the legal peril. Because if everybody just says, hey, all hands in the center of the ring, we're all gonna say Biden was fit as a fiddle and we're just gonna ride or die on this forever. If everybody agrees to lie and or give their impression that there was nothing wrong with him, then the charade can continue. But as soon as one guy or gal says, hey, we had a meeting and somebody came in and said, hey, here is the reality. We are going to say that Biden is fit as a fiddle, even though we know that to not be true and we've got the doctor who's going to say every time, hey, I did a full examination of him, everything's good. If one guy or gal comes out and says that, just think about this buck. Think about the, the lunatic people on the Jan 6 investigations. They put Cassie Hutchinson under oath. I think that was her name, Cassidy maybe. And she said yes. She said Trump tried to strangle the driver of the beast. I mean remember they had her under oath saying that as hearsay, that she supposedly had been told from somebody else. And the media all ran and covered it like it was the gospel truth. And Trump to his credit came out and said, have you seen the guys that are actually in charge of protecting me if I could strangle where they would knock me back with, you know, one flip of the wrist. But they were able to flip some people to get them to say something negative. So far that hasn't happened inside of the Biden inner circle. I'm just saying the Fifth Amendment suggests to me that there is some concern about legal peril. I don't think it's related to how are you going to look publicly. I think it's that they maybe have somebody who is going to testify to the opposite of you and you could be in trouble if you get caught athwart that test.
- [43:36]
Buck Sexton
Of course you always. But the whole, you plead the Fifth because of the possibility of legal peril, right? You avoid self incrimination. So yeah, that's, that's a given. I think the question is why? Why wouldn't you know why? For them, from their perspective, there's nothing.
- [43:55]
Clay Travis
Let me, let me ask you this.
- [43:56]
Buck Sexton
There's no outside from them testifying about this because they're going to look like liars and clowns no matter what, even if they're not prosecuted. That's my contention.
- [44:04]
Clay Travis
I can see that argument. Did Foushee ever take the Fifth on anything?
- [44:08]
Buck Sexton
No, but I don't think that he did. Fauci was very good at, you know, well, there were like a lot of data to look at. And then we thought.
- [44:17]
Clay Travis
And as a result though, I think there are some people out there that would still say Anthony Fauci is.
- [44:24]
Buck Sexton
Rand Paul just renewed his call for Fauci to face DOJ prosecution. I think that was like a couple days ago.
- [44:31]
Clay Travis
Yeah, I think that's right. But I give credit, I don't know that I've ever given credit to Fauci ever before. He didn't take that Fifth Amendment out and he argued that he had done nothing wrong. I'm surprised the Biden team is not continuing to go down with SS Biden and saying, hey, because now it's on the historical record. You've already, you know, you're the die is cast. You were engaged in a cover up. You might as well and say he didn't have any cognitive decline all the way down. Now we've got another cut here. And I think Trump is right about this. And Trump said, hey, this auto pin thing, which we have talked about some, is a big deal. The New York Times dropped this story on Sunday and a lot of people have ignored it. But I do think it is a big story. And listen to him saying, hey, this is the story that should be getting a lot of attention, not Epstein, which is what he said just a few minutes ago. Listen to this.
- [45:27]
Buck Sexton
He didn't have a policy.
- [45:29]
Donald Trump
Some lunatic around the desk had a policy. Whoever operated the oil auto pen had a policy, which is, by the way, I think, the biggest scandal. That's the scandal they should be talking about, not Jeffrey Epstein. The scandal you should be talking about is the auto pen, because I think it's the biggest scandal, one of them in American history.
- [45:53]
Clay Travis
This is again, for those of you who didn't read this stuff, Biden did his first interview with the New York Times in five years. My alarm bells go off when I see Biden doing an interview with anybody that they feel like they're in peril. If you go read what he said to try to defend himself. And during the auto pin thing, basically he had no idea who they were pardoning. And I think this goes to the larger context which Comer is investigating right now, which is, hey, who was actually president of the United States and who was executing the authority? Think about how bad Biden is that they wouldn't even let him just sign stuff, right? They, they, this guy they didn't trust to such an extent that they were using auto pins on incredibly significant stuff. And I think we had a audio clip of Trump saying, yeah, look, the auto pin in general is used, but it's usually used when it's like, hey, a seven year old wrote in and you want to send him back a letter and acknowledge that the 7 year old was there. This is how it's usually used. Not for super significant things like pardons. Trump has these signing ceremonies where he makes sure everybody sees him sign significant stuff. I'm not saying he can't ever use an auto pin, but it shouldn't be for the presidential pardons.
- [47:07]
Buck Sexton
We use this term, the apparatus for the Democrats so many times. And it seems that the apparatus was doing the pardons, the collective, the top of the hive mind inside the White House because it wasn't Biden's mind. And this is once again for anybody who says it's not important or we should move on from that story, from the Biden story. I just point out, if nothing else, the American people should have a full accounting of how dishonest the Democrats were in all respects about Biden and how they're willing to trample on the rule of law and the Constitution itself in the wielding of executive power. And they should keep that in mind when the Democrats are saying, oh, put us in charge, we'll be better on health care or something in the midterms. This stuff matters. It does matter. Their record matters because we also talk about how Trump is doing phenomenal in the economy, in the border and crime is going down and all these great things. People need to be reminded because the greatest, the greatest asset the Democrats have is the public ignorance of how they actually govern. That's, that's the biggest thing that helps Democrats. So we don't want to let that be an asset for them so they can take power again and the apparatus can be in charge once again. As we saw from around Biden, it was, it was disastrous. You know, there's another way you should stay in touch with your kids this summer that doesn't involve cell phones. And it's so easy and it's actually a lot of fun. Get a pair of Rapid Radios. Your kids will love them because they're like walkie talkies. Fun, easy to use and they're super convenient. No setup is required. Just pull them out of the box, press a button and talk. It's a one touch connection, perfect for busy families. Rapid Radios operate on a nationwide LTE network, meaning they can connect with anyone who has access across the US Also carrying a Rapid Radio. Rapid Radios combine the simplicity of walkie talkies with today's technology for peace of mind. We've got them ourselves and know how easy they are to use. Go to rapidradios.com, save up to 60%, get free UPS shipping from Michigan and use Code Radio for an extra 5% off. That's code radio. Go to rapidradios.com, use code radio and you'll get 65% off total.
- [49:22]
Unknown Advertiser
There's nothing like sinking into luxury. At washablesofas.com, you'll find the Annabe sofa which combines ultimate comfort and design at an affordable price. And get this, it's the only sofa that's fully machine washable from top to bottom. Starting at only $699, the stain resistant performance fabric, slipcovers and cloud like frame duvet can go straight into your wash. Perfect for anyone with kids, pets or anyone who loves an easy to clean spotless sofa with a modular design. And changeable slipcovers. You can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair loveseat or a luxuriously large sectional, Annabe has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now you can shop up to 60% off store wide with a 30 day money back guarantee. Shop now@washablesofas.com Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.
- [50:22]
Unknown Host
If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.
- [50:51]
Buck Sexton
We were just talking a second ago about what happened when J.D. vance went with his family to Disneyland. And for a second I didn't hear the land part. I just thought, think of Disney. I was like, there's no way that a random crowd would be booing J.D. vance in my great state of Florida. That just wouldn't, that wouldn't happen. The Florida sun would immediately melt them if they tried such a thing. We don't allow that kind of nonsense in this great state of Florida. But in California, Calmy fornia. Unfortunately, this stuff, this stuff is able to fly. And some of you are particularly fired up about this. So we'll get. Yes sir.
- [51:32]
Clay Travis
I just think this is something that connects with a lot of parents out there. I mean, the idea, I think you have to be, I'm just going to be honest, a really awful person to see someone with their young kids. I mean, we're talking about, I think his kids are like three and five, ballpark, and even younger, like a one year old or something. To see somebody with several young kids at Disneyland. I do agree with you that they probably should have gone to Disney World. I think the people there are likely to have been more hospitable to them than the people in Disneyland politically. But you shouldn't do this anywhere, right? I mean, look, I think that Hunter Biden is a awful, drug addicted, lying, conniving, I could put a lot of bad adjectives in front of him. He has a young kid. If you saw him in line for, I don't know, Mr. Toad's wild ride and you started yelling at him when he was there with his three year old. I think you would be the jerk. That's indefensible. And I disagree with, I think the guy has been awful. Right? Like, by the way, Joe Biden's a grandpa. There's no, he's in line.
- [52:37]
Buck Sexton
Same thing there's no excuse for. People will try to sell, they'll try to justify. Leftists were justifying this for a while in the first Trump administration when, remember, remember Senator Ted Cruz had maniacs surround him in a restaurant in D.C. and I think the restaurant actually, to its, to its enduring credit, was like embarrassed. Told the, told the protesters to leave, invited Senator Cruz back and said, you know, we don't want any of that nonsense here. I think that's how it went down. But also, Sarah Huckabee was harassed at a restaurant and that restaurant actually was backing the protesters. So this was a thing they were doing. And they kept acting the left, you know, the activists, the MSNBC crowd kept saying, oh, we have to get up in people's faces and have our voices be heard. Like never in human history has it been easier to tell a public official what you think or to have your voice be heard. If you are shouting at somebody in public, generally it's because you're trying to intimidate or embarrass them. It has nothing to do with having your concerns heard. And if you're doing it in front of someone's kids or their family, you're a jerk.
- [53:42]
Clay Travis
You're a jerk.
- [53:44]
Buck Sexton
I think it's very, very straightforward on the, on the good news side of things, when it comes to immigration. Stephen Miller, he is, you know, if, if the open borders crowd was choosing the form of their destructor, I think they, I think it would be Stephen Miller who is the destructor of open borders and the madness. Here he is standing up for ICE officers and pointing out that day in and day out with the enforcement operations that these officers are doing in communities where there are a lot of illegals and a lot of illegal criminals, right? I mean, I know that's sort of a weird way to say it, but illegal status and they're committing crimes, right? So people who are doing bad things and they're never supposed to, weren't supposed to be here in the first place. Here's Stephen Miller.
- [54:29]
Stephen Miller
Play for the rhetoric from Governor Newsom, the rhetoric from Karen Bass, the rhetoric from Democrat leaders in Washington is directly encouraging and incentivizing murderous migrant mobs to attack ICE officers. When they describe ICE officers, these heroes as some kind of fascist force, some kind of a Gestapo force. They are using the language that is meant to justify violence. ICE officers are literally in real time liberating American communities, communities once peaceful, once idyllic American communities from an invasion force. I cannot imagine a nobler, a more righteous activity for any American to do than to go into these communities, face off against hostile mobs and literally free them from the forces of destruction and violence.
- [55:14]
Buck Sexton
He's the best man, just, just always on it, never backs down an inch, knows the mission, totally dedicated to it. Tom Holman and Stephen Miller are a dynamic duo sitting atop a core mission of this Trump administration.
- [55:31]
Clay Travis
Totally. And you mentioned yesterday, I think we had this conversation and Stephen has said it on the show. Stephen Miller sees what happened to California where he was born and raised, and he is terrified that it's going to happen to the whole nation and he is going to do everything in his power to try to keep that from continuing to occur. And, and I think one of the big differences between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0, and we've talked about this a lot, is the quality of advisers and the people who can get things done that Trump has surrounding him now. I think Trump would say, and he has said on this program before, Trump 1.0, he didn't really know what he was getting into. He wasn't a politician. He didn't understand the opposition that he was going to face in Washington, D.C. to his agenda. You can look at the first six months. There have been very, very few policy based errors that this administration has had in the first six months of this tenure compared to the first six months of the last tenure. And I think it's important for us to keep echoing and keep reinforcing and for many of you out there to recognize the border is shut down. I saw that the fewest border encounters number just came out yesterday, Buck, I think since 2003. So it's not only that people aren't getting across, it's that a lot of people have realized you're not going to get and so they're not even trying to come anymore. Fewest in a generation at the border. Crime. Again, I don't want to jinx this, but murder rates all over the country are collapsing as police are being enabled to do their jobs and actually make us safe all across the nation. And all time record highs on stock prices and inflation as we talked about to start off the show today, came in below expert expectations again, economy, border, crime. Trump is delivering real consequential leadership that is impacting everybody now on a day to day basis and it is incredibly successful now. Are there still things that can be better? Yes. Every president and every administration can all be better always at what they're doing. But this has become pretty phenomenal to watch through the first six months. I want to tell you, I was at the All Star Game last night. Night before that I was doing the Home Run Derby which was pretty amazing, pretty awesome. And right now you can get hooked up. If you want to have fun with the second half of the Major League Baseball season with prize picks, you can play it here in Georgia, you can play it in Texas, you can play it in California, all over the country. 13 million people have signed up and right now this is just you get 50 bucks if you play $5 and you go to prizepix.com code clay that is pricepix.com code clay. You get $50 instantly when you play $5. Win or lose, you are going to get hooked up and you're going to love this app no matter what you enjoy, whether it's baseball, whether it's basketball, whether it's football season. Training camps are going to open soon and it's not going to be long till kickoff. Now you can get hooked up. I promise you're going to love it. I've been hanging out with some of the guys who run prize picks down here because they're based in Georgia. Get hooked up today@prizepix.com my name Clay that is prizepix.com my name clay. Win or lose, you get 50 bucks for just playing guaranteed and prize picks run. Your game must be present in certain states. Prizepix.com for restrictions and details. That's pricepix.com code clay.
- [59:01]
Hannah Jewell
I hear a lot from people that there are days where it's hard to read a single news story. Forget actually being caught up, but I host a podcast that can fix that. It's called the seven seven stories every weekday by 7am Eastern. And here's the other thing. It's short. Less than 10 minutes in fact. I'm Hannah Jewell. The Seven podcast will turn around your morning and get you caught up. Check it out and follow the seven wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [59:31]
Unknown Host
This is an I Heart Pod.