← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
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- [00:00]
Carol Markowitz
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Buck Sexton
Welcome everybody. Tuesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show kicks off right now. Coming to you live from Washington D.C. our nation's capital, aka the Swamp. Although it is lovely this time of year, not very swampy. Clay is on vacation today. He'll be back with us Thursday. Is that Thursday, right? Yes, Thursday. So he is working on his tan by the Gulf of America. We are diving into the news of the day, my friends, and there is a lot of it. More on the showdown between the Trump administration and various Democrat run cities, notably Chicago and Portland. But the mayor of Chicago has done something pretty remarkable. He thinks that he can create federal government enforcement free zones and we shall discuss what that looks like. We shall have a conversation about how absurd the Democrat position on all of us is getting. As a CNN anchor decides to throw down with Stephen Miller. It does not go well. Spoiler alert for the CNN anchor Stephen Miller having none of it. President Trump, some comments yesterday from the Oval that I wanted to get to today. The government shutdown continues. I'm here in our nation's capital and I don't know, feels it feels fine. Doesn't feel very shutdown like feels okay. Things are kind of just doing what they do. So there's that. We'll discuss though the latest with it and also it is of course the two year anniversary of the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. Our friend and podcast host Carol Markowitz will be with us in the third hour to discuss some reflections. Two years on as the Trump administration is trying to bring a ceasefire and some kind of peace deal into effect in that region has been two years of conflict. But I wanted to dive in first to this situation and it is more of the deep state weaponization that we have known about but continue to find new things out. This is now the surveillance of United States Republican senators. The FBI or in this case actually came out from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. He released this publicly. But the FBI led by Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino is providing transparency as promised about what kind of weaponization has occurred at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and notably on this Arctic Frost operation that they were running. And this is about election J6 2020 stuff. And they clearly were on a hunt for individuals that were political targets in instead of actual criminals. That's a problem. I think Donald Trump summed it up well with this. This was on truth Social deranged Jack Smith caught with his hand in the cookie jar, a real sleaze bag indeed. The President of the United States pulling no punches and letting it be known how he feels about the unduly anointed prosecutor Jack Smith in this whole situation. But we've got this. We from, from the FBI. We have an electronic communications tally here as in surveillance of the cell phones of toll analysis records. You've got Mike Kelly, Lindsey Graham, Bill Haggerty, Josh Holly, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson. He'll be with us tomorrow. Senator Johnson and Cynthia Loomis, Marsha Blackburn. These are the names on this release. Well, this is not just one of those times where we're finding something out. There's already been action taken. The FBI and this is from Director Patel has terminated some employees that were involved in this when the Republicans had their private communications, their private phone calls tracked. Director Patel put this out. We are cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making, identifying the rot, removing those who weaponize law enforcement for political purposes and those who do not meet the standards of this mission while restoring integrity. To the FBI, I promise reform and I intend to deliver it. So that was in a statement to Fox News. So that is where we are right now. It is more information to add onto the pile about weaponization of government that has happened. But we had AG Pam Bondi testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on this issue. I wanted you to hear it from the Attorney General herself. This is cut to hit it. When I was confirmed as the 87th Attorney General of the United States, I took office with two main goals. To end the weaponization of justice and return the department to its core mission of fighting violent crime. As to ending the weaponization of justice, we learned that former FBI secretly investigated you and your colleagues why they wanted to take President Trump off the planefield. They were playing politics with law enforcement powers and will go down as a historic betrayal of public trust. This is the kind of conduct that shatters the American people's faith in our law enforcement system. We will work to earn that back every single, single day. It's critical because when the people have a lack of faith, and rightly so, in the fair minded, in the ethical application of the rule of law, especially when it, especially when it comes to the fearsome powers of the FBI, when the public no longer believes that that is being done in a nonpartisan fashion, we have a very big problem on our hands. And the public is right to not just question the FBI but to have lost tremendous respect for it as an institution. And that is why Director Patel, Deputy Director Bongino and other good men and women in the FBI under this Trump administration are trying so hard to first deal with the rot, excise it, but also to set things right. We cannot have an FBI to that is pulling the phone records of Republican senators to try to jam them up on some nonsense. We already had an FBI, as we know, that was involved with the entire Crossfire hurricane debacle, involved in trying to pin a lie on a President Donald Trump to destroy his administration and perhaps even to send him and members of his family and top advisers to prison. One thing I will note, and you should all keep this in mind, too, there are a whole bunch of Republicans who have actually gone to prison from Trump World. There's a whole series of people that have served time for overwhelmingly the most petty offenses imaginable. And we've seen an FBI with James Comey that was willing to pretend it was investigating laws that no honest person thinks are the basis for any investigation, like the Logan act against General Flynn in the first Trump administration. So the weaponization has been broad, it has been consistent, and it has been taken as far as the investigative body. The FBI can take things, meaning that they have brought these cases, they have used these tools, they've used Pfizer. And it is a very dangerous thing. Let me tell you, coming from a CIA analysis background, when you have what is effectively the secret police in a country playing games, using surveillance powers to undermine one political party or another, it doesn't lead to good places. In fact, sometimes it leads to a straight up coup and maybe the head of the secret police running the country. And if you've paid attention to James Comey in recent years, that is terrifying. I think a Comey administration might even be worse than a Kamala administration. And, and I just read Kamala's book, and it is also deeply, deeply troubling because it is so boring and so and so awful that you think this woman could have been president in this country. I know Trump beat her soundly, but the fact that so many people voted for her I think should keep us all on guard. It is, it is a wow moment. One of the least talented politicians of our lifetime somehow managed to be the Democrat nominee and got tens of millions of votes. Anyway, back to FBI weaponization. I'm weaving. Isn't that what Trump says, I'm weaving? Isn't that the term right when he starts going off? I haven't used that one in a while, but if Trump says it, I'm weaving. I'm getting back to it. I don't think Trump has said that. In a while either. That was a, that was a big Trumpism for a while when he would start to go, start to go on tangents. So yes, the reality here is cleaning up the FBI is absolutely essential. I'm just a few blocks from the Hoover Building, so it feels very close, it feels very real that this is underway right now. But this is, this is essential. And then there's also. Speaking of cleaning up law enforcement, there is the deployment issue here about National Guard going to these cities. Pam Bondi also in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee here, saying to Senator Dick Durbin, another deeply, deeply unimpressive fellow, very Kamala esque in that respect. Here he is, or rather here Pam Bondi is explaining that, you know what, National Guards going to Chicago. Deal with it. Play 3.
- [10:32]
Carol Markowitz
The National Guard is on the way.
- [10:34]
Buck Sexton
Right now as we speak. Oh, by the way, so is Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. You're sitting here grilling me and they're on their way to Chicago to keep your state safe. Madam Attorney General, it's my job to grill you. Mm, no. I mean, he could just ask questions and be respectful, but however he wants to position this. Of course. But this is, this is now going to let me transition into this ongoing fight over bringing safety and security to these cities and allowing for Immigration Customs Enforcement to do their job without obstruction, without, without being unduly burdened by lunatics in the streets who are throwing rocks and bottles and Lord knows what else at them. It is time for a law enforcement reckoning here. Remember, when it came to January 6th, the Democrats were willing to not only have the National Guard deployed for four or five months with big fences around the Capitol, but they used the FBI very much like a secret police force in some third world country to hunt down people for nonviolent crimes, to bust into their homes, sometimes in the pre dawn hours with tactical teams. And I mean, just look what they did. Well, they've done this so many times what they did to Roger Stone in an earlier era. They're willing to abuse the powers of the FBI, of the DOJ for the most nakedly partizan purpose. It's gotta stop. And that means consequences. That means people have gotta get fired and it means people have gotta go to prison. If they can send Bannon to prison for nothing and Navarro to prison for nothing and a whole bunch of others, maybe we can send some Democrats to prison for something, as in breaking the law, which they've done. I think that's where we need to go. I think that's where people are recognizing we have to go and I will take your calls on this 1-800-282-2882. Look, fall is a busy time for families. Whatever it is that keeps your kids busy, it's important you want to stay connected with them. So how do you do that if they're not old enough to carry a cell phone? Well, how about Rapid Radios? Rapid Radios Walkie Talkies Easy to operate. One touch of a button. Unlike previous generations of walkie talkies, Rapid Radios rely on an LTE network so distance is not a problem. You can be anywhere in America and connect to another person carrying a Rapid radio. 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. Also comes with a five day charge. Visit 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 when you go to rapidradios.com saving America One thought at a time. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [13:36]
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- [14:36]
Buck Sexton
People ask us all the time how we can save the next generation. We've got our show and the info is an antidote. But we also have a couple books coming out. Clay that's right, and you can pre order both of them right now and be book nerds just like us. You'll laugh, you'll nod, and you'll get smarter too. Mine's called Balls How TR Young Men and Sports Saved America and mine is manufacturing delusion. How the left uses brainwashing, indoctrination and propaganda against you. Both are great reads. One might even say they would make fabulous gifts indeed. So do us a solid and pre order yours on Amazon today. Just wanna let you know if you were trying to listen to the interview yesterday with the president of Taiwan. If you happen to miss any of was up at it is up@clayandbuck.com or you can listen on the podcast. I I think it is well worth going to check it out because things are heating up in that part of the world. China is definitely gearing up for an invasion of Taiwan. It's just a question of when and if they pull the trigger. When they pull the trigger. So very important part of the world and a really interesting series of conversations there, most notably with the president of Taiwan. So you can see that atclay and buck.com and please go and check that out now. President Trump just in the Oval Office a few moments ago. He's down the street. He's not far off from where I'm doing the show. And here he is on the Democrat Party. What he thinks of their leadership.
- [16:07]
Clay Travis
34 and I really think that these are people that I think they have nothing to lose. They have a party that's out of control. They have no leader. Nobody knows who the leaders. I look at people with very low IQs, like Crockett, this woman Crockett, I never met her, but she's a low IQ individual. I look at AOC talking about how if they want to negotiate, they can come to my office. She's not in that position to do that. And who the hell is she to say that? And then I watch Nancy Pelosi not knowing what to do. I watch, I watch their leadership. Look, Schumer is petrified of the primary because he's not going to win probably against anybody in a primary. You know, Schumer did the right thing, but he handled it badly. Originally, a year ago, he did probably the right thing, but he handled it badly. I think Schumer is incapable of making a deal. They are a mess. They're a party that has no leadership. They have and they have no policy. You know, we have great, we have great, I think we have great leadership, but we also have great policy. Their leadership. Look, Schumer is petrified of primary because he's not going to win probably against anybody in a primary. You know, Schumer did the right thing, but he handled it badly. Originally a year ago, he did probably the right thing, but he handled it badly. I think Schumer is incapable of making a deal. They are a mess. They're a party that has no leadership. They have. And they have no policy. You know, we have great. We have great. I think we have great leadership, but we also have great policy.
- [17:40]
Buck Sexton
I think he's right. But let's unpack this for a second. The claim from the president that the Democrats don't have leadership right now, I think you'd have to agree with that. To the, to the degree that it is possible for me to be objective on this, which I know is. That's a challenge. Right. Because I am a Republican and don't agree with the Democrats. I understand all that. But trying to take a step back and look at this as honestly as possible. If the Democrats had a day fat to Taiwan, but the brutal experience of reading Kamala's 107 days and it felt like it took 107 days to read. So the title is Apartment and really, I think she did not endear herself to anyone in the Democrat Party or the reader. I came away from it thinking this is a person who has never really been tested, has been elevated by the system for superficial characteristics all along. And you have somebody who's just not a talented politician, got way beyond her skill set. And so I don't think that she's going anywhere in politics. Meaning I don't think she's going somewhere. It's off the stage. You have Gavin Newsom. Oh, you've got Pritzker. He's really trying to make a go of things these days. He really believes that he's a big deal. And this is what, this is the kind of leadership this is cut 10. This kind of leadership you get from this guy. He's a jerk. Play it. Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation's cities. For weeks now, Donald Trump, Kristi Noem and Gregory Bevino have brought their militarized CBP and ICE agents to the streets of Chicago to cause violence and chaos in this city. They need to stop inciting our city's residents. Since the beginning of this invasion, families have been snatched up off the streets or removed from their homes, zip tied and detained for hours, including especially US Citizens and legal residents of our state inciting the people of Chicago. Think about the framing from the governor here, who certainly thinks of himself as a heavyweight. Think of the way that he discusses this. The problem isn't the riots. The problem isn't the lawlessness and the disrespect shown to federal officers, it's that they're there. And Democrats in Chicago are having some kind of collective nervous breakdown in response to it, and so they can't be held accountable for their actions. The real problem here, the real issue is the deployment in the first place. That's a pretty crazy point of view, isn't it? And yet this is the governor of Illinois who certainly thinks of himself as a contender for the Democrat. The mantle of Democrat leadership. Chuck Schumer, as Trump and others have been discussing, he's just trying to hold on because the Democrat Party that, that he has managed to sit atop in different ways for a long time now. He's been involved in this longer than I. That was funny, actually. Funny yesterday we're talking to speaker of the House. He's like, buck, He's. He's been doing this for almost as long. I'm like, no, dude. Longer than I've been alive, actually. Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer has been in the Senate longer than I have been on this earth. So that tells you something. But this is where we are now. Chuck Schumer running for cover. He knows the radical left fringe of his party is ascendant and they can't stop it. This is the thing. They can't reason with their left wing base any more than we can because they're lunatics. And so by definition, there's no way. There's no common ground to have with them. The only thing that they can do is try to keep them at bay long enough to fool enough voters to keep the Democrat seats in more purplish areas. And to try this. This is the game. Every election cycle, Democrats, to win enough votes to have power, have to pretend that they're not actually Democrats. It's certainly what's going on with Allison, whatever her name is in Virginia. And by the way, it might as well be whatever her name is, her last name, because her whole game is nobody knows anything about this lady. Really. Like, what does she stand for? Me, I don't know. The Democrat. She's a lady. That's about all we know. You know, Spanberger. Spanberger. Uh, what does span burger stand for? Well, if you really were to dig into it, it would be probably abortion, all nine months of a pregnancy and DEI and transgender stuff and all the. But she doesn't talk about that. The whole game is, I'm so boring and lacking in charisma. How dangerous can I be? And that's what a lot of These Democrats, do they. They put forward this, this Trojan horse in the purple states of, well, I'm not one of those AOC momdani Democrats. I'm something else. And unfortunately, because a lot of people spend time thinking about their lives and not politics. And I can, I can respect that. I don't, I don't really cast stones. I wish everybody was very informed on these things, but, you know, you got lives to lead. And so they just, whatever's on the tv, they go, okay, this person seems pretty moderate. And what is a moderate Democrat these days? Chuck Schumer is starting to look like a moderate Democrat these days just because he's not insane. I mean, he's bad news, but he's not as loony as some of these others, and he's maybe gonna lose his job because of it. So we go back to the initial question or the initial premise by President Trump. Who is the leader of the Democrat Party? This is the first time in a long time there has not been an. Nobody would have asked that question, obviously, for the eight years of Obama. And if it wasn't Obama, the answer was Clinton. And somehow, believe it or not, when the answer wasn't Clinton, the answer became Biden. So there has been a leader of the Democrat Party for a long time now. And I would argue that in the Bush years, even the answer was still Clinton for a lot of people. That's why that show the West Wing where that half wit Martin Sheen plays the, like, brilliant scholar president. It was really just the stealth presidency for libs during the Bush years. And I remember I was in the CIA at the time. And so, yeah, I would flip this thing on sometimes. I'm like, oh, this is where the, where the libs get to feel safe and warm. Oh, look at this president. He has a PhD in economics and he likes baseball just like all the Democrats. These, you know, that was, it was their fantasy land, their Aaron Sorkin provided fantasy land presidency. But we've always known who the leader is. We've always known who the, who the top dog is in the Democrat Party until now, because there isn't one. And Trump is just pointing that out. He's. He's. Wait, wait, what did I say? Yeah, Abigail Spanberg. I did. I, I got her name right, didn't I? It took me a minute. Oh, did I? Oh, I said, there you go. That's how memorable she is. Allison Abigail. Potato, potato, whatever. Yeah, Abigail Spanberger. Man, she really stands for a lot, you know? No. No idea. She's just hoping that enough Virginians get their politics from having like the drone of CNN on in the background. And then, you know, when they're watching who Wants to Be a Millionaire and there's some political ads running that say, oh, she's gonna do great things for the schools and she's gonna help working families. Just the pablum, the, the milquetoast. Like the, the way the Democrats win in purple states is like they, it's like they, they smother you with a boring pillow of. It'll be fine. You know, she's not gonna do anything crazy. And you just go, oh, okay. How bad can it be? And at some level, by the way, this was the, the Biden play in 2020. Good old Joe. He's so old. He's so old and, and, and kind of feeble. How dangerous can he be? Well, very, as we saw, because he wasn't calling the shots. The left wing activists around him were the ones calling the shots. So in a sense, the answer to the part, the question, who's the leader of the Democrat Party? Is. Well, because they're leftists and increasingly commies, it's really a collective. You could say there is no one leader. There are a bunch of different people who adhere to an ideology of collectivism. And they like the committee, if you will. They're like the Committee for the Undermining and Destruction of America. That's what the. That's the leader of the Democrat Party. Other than that, you can put in a bunch of different names. You know, you can look at narcissistic individuals like Newsom and Pritzker. And you know, the thing about someone like Pritzker is I know he's. People say, oh, he's a billionaire. Guys like, has he ever had a. I know he's the governor now, but let's be honest. Anybody can do these jobs, right? This is one thing that we've learned in this new era of politics. It's hard to get some of these jobs. You need a lot of money, you need a lot of name recognition. But doing it, I don't know. And look at some of these people who have had these jobs. Has Pritzker ever done a hard day's work? Is really the question. And no, I don't mean like in the gym. I mean in general, has he ever done a hard day's work? I don't think so. Does he have any understanding whatsoever? Oh, people will say, but how dare you look at Trump. He grew up also very privileged. Everything else. Yeah, but people who do hard days work like him. And he seems to understand them and have a kinship with them. And you can't fake that because the people who do the hard days work can tell. They know John Kerry tried it. A lot of others have tried it. Oh, I'm just like you. I'm like, hello, fellow working class people. Look at my Carhartt jacket. Like, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. Somehow Trump is different and we all know that. Look, I'll take your calls here. 800-282-2882. Do you think who is the leader of the Democrat Party? I put that question out to you. Trump says there isn't one. I tend to agree with him. I think right now, if we were ranking them, I go, wow, this is like, this isn't, this is not a fun list. You know, this is like ranking painful medical procedures or something. I go, gavin Newsom, number one slot. I go, I might put AOC at number two. And I know she's not senior in it, but she's power. She's more powerful than these other Democrats. She just is. Please, you think if Pritzker and AOC go head to head, I mean, she's gonna, she's gonna smoke that guy. So, yeah, we'll see. Let me know what you think. Following the 911 attacks, New York City firefighter Daniel Foley assisted in the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. At that time, he couldn't have known that his heroism would later cost him his life. Daniel spent months at Ground Zero searching for victims, including his firefighter brother Thomas Foley, who was killed in the attacks. Daniel's father also took part in the efforts at Ground Zero. He died years later from a rare 911 related leukemia. Daniel's death, like so many others, was also a direct result of 911 related cancer. He leaves behind his wife Carrie and their five children. Tunnel to Towers paid the mortgage on the family's home. Every day we see the toll that 911 continues to take on heroes and their families. Your donation today can make a world of difference to a family like the Foleys. It can provide a sense of security and stability in the face of uncertainty while also bringing hope. Donate $11 a month at hometoothtowers@t2t.org that's tthenumber2t.org Want to be in the know when you're on the go the Team 47 podcast. Drop highlights from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Third hour of clay and Buck kicks off now. We're joined by our friend Carol Markowitz, host of the Carol Markowitz show on the Clay and Buck Podcast Network, which, thanks to all of you, is growing every single month and also normally which she co hosts with Mary Catherine Ham, and that is doing fantastic numbers as well. So thank you all for your support. And Carol, great to have you on the program. Thank you so much.
- [30:32]
Carol Markowitz
Hi, Buck. Thanks so much for having me.
- [30:34]
Buck Sexton
Two years, Carol, two years since the events of October 7th. I want to get into some of the policy specific conversation in a moment with where Trump is trying to end this thing between the IDF and Hamas and all of that, as well as some other news of the day. But first, I just wanted to ask you to reflect on how you view this day and what you think about, given what's happened over the last two years.
- [31:03]
Carol Markowitz
You know, the first thing I want to say is today is the first day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and I'm not a super observant Jew. I should be better, but I'm not. But many observant Jews, our friend Josh Hammer, some other people are offline today, so they can't commemorate October 7th. So I'm just so grateful for you and so many other people for noting this in the absence of Jews being online. And I think that that's really incredible and special. And I feel just grateful to have you as, you know, an ally, as a friend, and to have non Jews care about what's going on in Israel or with Jews in the world is so meaningful to me. And I hope that you know how much I appreciate it.
- [31:47]
Buck Sexton
Oh, absolutely. Clay and I have felt very strongly about this issue from the very beginning and have felt like this was a clear case of right and wrong. Not just, of course, on the horrible day of October 7th and what was done to Jews in Israel, but so much of what we saw afterwards, I think was shocking to people, Carol, who haven't followed this issue and don't understand some of the dynamics at play. I mean, the calls, for example, the calls for a ceasefire while the Israelis were still counting their dead and preparing to bury them was just an astonishing show of bad faith and quite honestly, the worst kinds of antisemitism.
- [32:31]
Carol Markowitz
Yeah, absolutely. And it's been just a really tough two years, I would say. And it's interesting because I went to Israel during that time and they are so resilient and strong and they're really, they've been prepared for how long this is going to take. And they understood it wasn't going to be overnight and all of that. And they want their hostages back so badly. But it has been a tough time to be a Jew in America, a Jew in the West. I have such faith in America and Americans, and I know that it's just a tough time right now, but it is hard to watch that. Commemorations of October 7th are taking place in our biggest cities. And they seem like celebrations and they're, you know, Zionists, quote, unquote, are being pushed out of various spaces. I mean, it's been going on on the left for years and years. I wasn't very surpr about the reaction from the left on October 8th. I know a lot of people were, but I had seen it coming for the better part of a decade. I just hope the right doesn't follow them down that path. And like I said, I do feel very comfortable and so blessed that I feel like conservatives are largely on the right side of this and that they. I do feel like I have allies standing with me.
- [33:45]
Buck Sexton
Well, you know, Trump, I think, is a consistent ally and friend of the state of Israel, which is. And sees this issue with the clarity that it demands. And on that issue of clarity, you know, we've had you on Carol before to talk about the so called genocide and the New York Times running a story with a photo as the primary photo of somebody who looks emaciated, having nothing to do with hunger. It's actually a birth defect or, you know, a congenital birth issue that that person had. And I think it's, you know, to me it always seemed like, hold on a second, there's not a genocide going on. And here's why. And we made that case before. This is a term, of course, that's thrown around with the additional salt in the wound of the genocide that was committed against the Jews in the Holocaust and World War II. So the opponents of Israel used this, knowing the full implications of the term in this context. But now we have a peace plan, or at least a ceasefire plan put forward with all of these steps, it's essentially Hamas has to stop fighting, hostages have to come back, and then there has to be some responsibility from the Palestinian side. And it seems like it's not a genocide because they say, no, we're going to keep fighting.
- [35:05]
Carol Markowitz
Right? It's amazing the first victims of genocide ever to say, no, we're going to keep going. It's baffling to me that anybody cannot see what's going on here. And you're right, Trump is such a friend to Israel, I'm just, I find his clarity on the matter to be breathtaking. And, you know, I make all of the Trump 2028 jokes in our, in our chats because of it, because I really feel like he holds back a lot of the insanity around the world. And, you know, when Britain or France, when you recognize, quote, unquote, the Palestinian state, Trump sort of laughs at them and says, who cares what they think? And that's meaningful and amazing that an American president is such a leader on the world stage. But you're right, the idea that there's a genocide going on while that population of Palestinians in Gaza has actually grown in the last two years makes no sense. And it makes no sense that really chubby moms are holding starving babies, because that's generally not the way that it goes. So I'd love to see more clarity from other world leaders. There's some really good ones. The president of Argentina is amazing. The prime minister of Italy is fantastic. But in general, a lot of them are afraid of their Muslim populations or their leftist base. And they are really bringing down the idea of civilization around the world. It's not just about Israel. It's really a civilizational question that they would have to contend with in their own countries. What will our countries be with this unchecked immigration that we've allowed to go on with? It's all tied together.
- [36:42]
Buck Sexton
I would also note that if there was a starvation genocide underway, the photos of it would be everywhere, accessible and obvious. It would not be in the least bit difficult in the social media Internet era that we all live in to see this. And yet the reliance on photos by the biggest newspaper in the United States, for example, that is essentially a falsified premise. I think that speaks very loudly about what is going on here. What are the chances that just happen to pick a photo that doesn't depict what's going on? If there are endless photos that would. Right? I mean, that just makes, it makes no sense. You can supply logic to this and it falls apart.
- [37:22]
Carol Markowitz
Yeah. And they cropped out his healthy looking brother out of the photo because they wanted to project that the starvation thing was happening. And the very healthy brother would show that that wasn't going on.
- [37:34]
Buck Sexton
What is going on on the right with. And you know what I'm going to ask you, Carol, but to the degree that we can cover some of this now, there seems to be some questioning and even some hostility to Israel specifically that I haven't seen from the right on the left. It's been there for a long time. But on the right, it seems like there's some problems bubbling up. Where is that coming from?
- [38:05]
Carol Markowitz
You know, I don't want to ascribe bad motives to people. I'm not going to say they're all paid by Qatar, although kind of seems like they're paid by Qatar. It really could be any number of things. I understand questioning foreign aid, for example, but if your questioning of foreign aid means that Israel should be the first country stripped of it, I'm sorry, that is not a real argument. And a lot of the time there'll be people saying we're allowed to criticize Israel. Of course you're allowed to criticize Israel. I criticize Israel. There's a million mistakes that I think Israel has made before and since October 7th, and you're absolutely allowed to criticize any number of things. But the idea is that Israel is allowed to exist and should exist, and that is Zionism. So it's really not that crazy to say Israel is a country, it exists, it's going to continue to exist, and we should support that. I hope the right doesn't get wound up in conspiracy theories, which is largely what a lot of this comes down to. And I get where it comes from. We were lied to again and again and again over the last decade, and I feel like people have lost all faith in everything. But you have to remember not everyone is lying to you all the time. And you have to find the people that you trust, and they shouldn't be people who lie to you. If your favorite podcaster is telling you things that you know to be a lie, they're probably lying about other things as well. And that's how you should look at it. You should trust the voices that you listen to. And if you can't do that, then you shouldn't do it on anything.
- [39:38]
Buck Sexton
You know, I've begun to see, finally, because I've been trying to make this case for a while. As somebody who was involved in some capacity among millions of other Americans, including those who actually served in the military, I was a civilian trying to do a part of what we call the gwat, the global War on terror. But the level of violent hate that has been inculcated in some of these Middle Eastern societies, and specifically in the case of Gaza, I'm a little surprised that so many people on the right seem to have either forgotten or aren't able to draw the obvious parallels. That these societies, they're not upset about foreign aid in Gaza, they're not upset about the lack of some agreement that would move things forward. They actually have been trained and taught to hate Jews and Israelis. This is very straightforward. And I think this has gotten lost in the conversation even on the right for some in a way that bears reminding everybody.
- [40:45]
Carol Markowitz
Yeah, I will say that poll after poll continues to show that the people on the right support Israel. And so no matter how many loud voices are trying to change that, I.
- [40:56]
Buck Sexton
Think that's an important distinction you're making. So not to interrupt, you keep going.
- [40:58]
Carol Markowitz
How far it hasn't moved the needle at all. I would say that abortion is a more contentious issue on the right than Israel is. It's an overwhelming, positive, supportive point of reference for the right on Israel. And so, you know, I don't know what again, what the motivations might be, but I will say that antisemitism is not a bigotry. And I think when people think of it as a bigotry, they get it all wrong. It is a, it's a mind virus. Once it grabs people, it's all they can think about. So again, if you think, if you're, if your favorite podcaster has suddenly become wall to wall Israel, every single episode is Israel, Israel, Israel. They're on a dark path. And it's not about Jews as a kind of culture. It's about a larger mind virus that will really swallow them up. And you've seen this happen in societies but in history where once it gets going, it really doesn't stop. So I hope that the trend where the larger right just blocks out those voices continues. And that's what I'm going to be looking at.
- [42:03]
Buck Sexton
What are you going to be talking about this week on Normally? Carol?
- [42:07]
Carol Markowitz
So normally just celebrated our one year anniversary. Buck, Mary, Kathryn, Ham and I completely didn't realize the date. So it's actually a year and a week and a half, half or so. But we're really thrilled to be on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton podcast network. It's been amazing. We cover news of the day in a funny way and I hope your listeners will tune in.
- [42:28]
Buck Sexton
Yeah, no, you guys are doing a great ladies, I should say are doing a great show.
- [42:32]
Carol Markowitz
I love it.
- [42:33]
Buck Sexton
Yeah. Carol, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate talking to you as always and we'll talk to you again soon.
- [42:38]
Carol Markowitz
Thanks so much.
- [42:40]
Buck Sexton
Two years ago we woke up to the horrific news from Israel. The terrorists were on a rampage, slaughtering innocent civilians. By the end of the day, the Death toll was 1200. With 250 people taken hostage. The equivalent to that in the US would be 40,000Americans. To give you a sense of the magnitude, Americans have supported the people of Israel for the past two years in big and small ways with the help of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. One way is by joining a growing movement called Flags of Fellowship. The Flags of Fellowship unites churches across America, planning over 1 million Israeli flags across our country show the world that Israel is not alone. To get more information about how you can join the Flags of fellowship movement, visit IFCJ.org that's IFCJ.org Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Mic drops that never sounded so good. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
- [43:39]
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- [44:37]
Buck Sexton
All right everybody, welcome back in. I'm joined by my friend Leland Vitter. On balance, Leland Vittert is a show on News Nation program that I am, I'm honored to occasionally get to grace with my presence or I am graced by its presence. Either way, and as a speaking of presence, I'm here in our DC studio and I am feeling like a, like a fraternity bum or something. This guy comes in here dressed like Gordon Gekko. This is the difference between TV and radio. I'm wearing like sweatpants and a fleece and Leland comes in here crisp as a hundred dollar bill, ready for television at a moment's notice. So I'm just saying good for you my friend. It's a respect, respect. You gotta, you gotta do it how you do it. We've got this book. It is doing very well. Born Lucky, a dedicated father, a grateful son, and my Journey with autism. This has really struck a chord with people. Tell everybody a bit about it.
- [45:32]
Leland Vittert
So Buck Born Lucky is the story of my father, when I was diagnosed with autism, choosing to adapt me to the world, rather than the world to me. So this goes back to the 1980s, and this book is for every parent of a kid having a hard time. Doesn't matter if it's a parent of a kid on the autism spectrum. Adhd, anxiety, social issues, bullying at school. It is proof to parents of how much agency they have and how much hope there is for a loving parent to really dedicate to their kid and help their kid be more and achieve their full potential in a way they never would if they listened to the experts.
- [46:12]
Buck Sexton
Tell me more about that part of this. Like what, what are some of the. The hurdles, the artificial hurdles that are put in place by expert opinion about autism, how to deal with this and what.
- [46:24]
Leland Vittert
There is a movement in America and the experts will tell you to meet kids where they are. Right? So you just sort of put little Sally in a. In bubble wrap and tell her that she's perfect and everything's great and we're so proud of you and everything else. 1988, 89. My parents are told that I have to be evaluated. So they take me to one of those little medical centers. You're a new dad. Worst thing a parent could possibly hear, right? So they take me to one of these little medical testing centers. Linoleum floors, old magazine, stale coffee, whatever. The woman comes back with me after two hours. They're nervous, and the woman says to my parents, we have no idea what's going on inside his head.
- [47:03]
Buck Sexton
What. Can I ask, what were some of the signs?
- [47:05]
Leland Vittert
How did you know exactly?
- [47:06]
Buck Sexton
How do they know that you need.
- [47:07]
Leland Vittert
So you know, I had terrible behavioral issues. So if a kid touched me in the lunch line, I'd turn around and slug them. I had awful behavioral issues, sensory issues. Couldn't really wear a lot of clothes or socks or anything else because I didn't like how it felt on my skin. Big learning disabilities. So from the IQ test. Two halves of an IQ test make up the average of your iq. Buck doesn't have to do an average. His is additive. It just goes very high. Mine was half genius, half mentally retarded. So 20 point spread on your IQ test is a learning disability. I had a 70 point spread. And the woman said to my dad, look, you know, there's not much you can do. And my dad goes, as any father would, anything we can do. And she goes, generally not. Got to meet him where he's at. And my dad said, if I meet him where he's at. And I adapt the world to him and I give him extra time on tests and behavior modification plans in school and tell everybody what's happening. He's not going to know how to operate in the real world. So this was my dad's quest to adapt me to the real world.
- [48:09]
Buck Sexton
What were some of the things that in that process he did, he learned. And congratulations to your father. I mean I also just so I have no personal experience of anyone in my family with autism. I have people in my extended family that have serious mental health challenges. People who have. We have my. I have a second cousin with down syndrome, but I've never experienced somebody close to me with autism. And so my knowledge of it is really just from reading, picking things up in the media. We'll hear about the spectrum. What are some of the things that your father had to learn and had to understand to push you through this process?
- [48:48]
Leland Vittert
It's a great question. And this was much less about autism because at the time autism was really not understood very well to a father leaning in and saying, I am going to push my son to be more right. So he knew I couldn't get self esteem from school because of learning disabilities. I wasn't going to have any friends. So I couldn't be the popular kid. And I couldn't do athletics because I was completely uncoordinated. So at six years old, he started me doing 200 pushups a day as a way to start earning self esteem. 200 push ups a day, five days a week. Now what, what expert would ever tell a parent do that? Right? But it was to teach me effort in equals real results and real achievement. He was big on character. He said the two things you can control are your character and your work ethic. That was something that he forced me to take a lot of pride in. And then it was trying to teach me almost minute by minute the social skills that come naturally to people in the human equation. So he would take me out to lunch with one of his friends. I had a lot of free time because no kid wanted to hang out with me. And we show you. In Born Lucky, he would take me out and he would sit me down at lunch with one of his friends. I'd start talking to the guy and badgering him and my dad would tap his watch and that was a signal for me to stop talking, number one. But in Born Lucky, then we take you into the post game, right? Where he would sit there and be like, okay, when Mr. Sexton never, never Bach never by a first name. But when he was talking about his new child and his dog. Why did you want to talk about how many commercials are in his radio show? I don't know, Dad. I thought was interesting. Well, what do you think Mr. Sexton wanted to talk about? It was this minute by minute teaching.
- [50:27]
Buck Sexton
Of the human emotional skills.
- [50:28]
Leland Vittert
Yeah, my emotional intelligence was about free then. You're freezing level. My iq EQ was freezing.
- [50:35]
Buck Sexton
So how long did it take? I mean, I wouldn't have known from. I mean, we've known each other professional dude, we're getting old. I think I probably met you a decade ago, so it's been at least. Yeah, yeah. I mean it's been a long time. I did your show at Fox a long time ago. I would not have known. And again, I'm somebody who there's a lot of people listening who have autistic children or grandchildren or have dealt with this themselves. So they have a much higher understanding of it. But in layman's understanding of it, I would never have known that you struggled with autism. Is, is, is your level of functionality in day to day unusual for somebody who's ever been diagnosed with autism? I mean, people always talk about this spectrum. I mean, how do you describe that so that there's an understanding?
- [51:17]
Leland Vittert
Yeah, I'm not an expert on it. Right, sure, sure.
- [51:20]
Buck Sexton
From your own experience?
- [51:21]
Leland Vittert
My own experience though what I would say is it's an everyday struggle.
- [51:24]
Buck Sexton
Was, was there a point at which though you were, you felt like you were more normal, you know, you real. I'm saying like the point in time you said, okay, I've caught up. I have that emotional intelligence.
- [51:36]
Leland Vittert
It's a great question. I would say it's still a struggle every day, every hour to force your mind to think through the way that my dad taught me to think rather than the way my mind normally would think. In the book in Born Lucky compared a little bit almost like to alcoholism, that it's never a cure, it's something you work on every day. But sure. My dad used to always tell me when I was bullied and isolated and alone in middle school and high school, what's making you bullied and isolated and alone is what's going to help you succeed later in life. And there was a time, sure, once I got into TV and started working that hard work, good character made up for a lot of the emotional intelligence that I didn't have. But certainly it's something I still deal with every day.
- [52:24]
Buck Sexton
So this was a progression over time. We're speaking to Leland. Leland Vittered. The book is Born Lucky. A dedicated father, a grateful son, and my journey with autism. Obviously, this. This conversation about autism also comes up a lot in the context of RFK Jr. And Paul, I'm not gonna put you on the spot.
- [52:42]
Leland Vittert
You're welcome. You're welcome to.
- [52:44]
Buck Sexton
Do you have thoughts? Yeah, I guess I will put you on. Do you have thoughts about why there's been this explosion in diagnoses of this condition, which. That part of it. I think everyone agrees that there's a lot more of this than there has been.
- [52:55]
Leland Vittert
Absolutely. And I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist. I have the chemistry grades to prove it, so I won't discuss Tylenol dosing. You don't want to hear from me on that. But I think it's fantastic that this is now the scientific question of our time. One in 1500 kids when I was diagnosed, now one in 31, three times higher for boys and higher still in poor and minority communities. This should be the scientific question of our time. And look, you're a new father. If my wife was pregnant, I'm newly married. And you said, hey, check a box. Your kid can have autism or not. Every parent, Prospective parent, is checking. No, Right?
- [53:30]
Buck Sexton
Yeah. So it's a big challenge. I know that. I have friends who have autistic kids. Yeah.
- [53:34]
Leland Vittert
So why would we not try to solve this problem? And I wrote an op ed in the Wall Street Journal before Born Lucky came out, effectively saying, you know, does the left or does the anti Trump crew hate Trump more than they love our kids? Because if you're. All you're gonna do is demonize RFK and Trump on the search for this answer. That's the only explanation.
- [53:53]
Buck Sexton
So you believe, obviously, that the public focus. Well, the Trump administration focus on this is clearly a good faith effort to try to get at an answer that we should all want. But, of course, this becomes politicized because anything Trump and RFK Jr now are involved in, people view through a partisan lens. Right.
- [54:09]
Leland Vittert
Everything. Everybody views everything now in America through a partisan lens. And I think part of the reason Born Lucky has gotten such a tremendous response. Right. We're now in our third printing in our first week, is because it proves to parents how much hope there is and how much agency they have. And no one is telling parents that whether it's autism or ADHD or anything else. I had a parent come up to me and say, your book speaks so much to me. And I knew both of these. This. These woman's kids. They were both very Successful college athletes at an Ivy League school. I said, you know, your kid didn't have a hard time? He said, oh, well, my kid had a nut allergy. And they told me when my son had a nut allergy just to pull nuts out of every classroom that he was gonna be in. And instead, I said, I'm gonna desensitize him to nuts. So that is the Born Lucky story, just through various different challenges that every parent faces.
- [54:59]
Buck Sexton
So now I'm one of these people that is particularly interested in the book because it resonates. And I'll tell you why. As I say. So you are a. You know, in our business, just to be employed is, I think, successful. Right? I mean. No, really. I mean, to be true, you know, you have your own show. I share this huge platform with Clay. The fact that we get to do what we do is you're beating the odds and very blessed and very fortunate. Right? But you're a TV presenter, and so your ability to connect with audiences is your currency in one way or another, right? That's the way it works. I'm a radio host. I had a speech impediment as a kid. I had a speech impediment, and it made me so uncomfortable. I mean, I would mispronounce my own name. Made me so uncomfortable that they thought about pulling me out of school. And it was my mother who really stepped in and said, no, work. I will. I will work with him. No, we will figure this out. And I went to speech therapy, and I had tutors after school. And all of this because she didn't want me to be one of those kids who felt like he couldn't be with the other kids. And that was a remark. I will never be able to thank my mother enough for that one. And the story that I always tell is here I was a kid who could not pronounce his name. True story. I could not pronounce my own name in first. Second, going into third grade, constantly made fun of for that. And here I sit on a microphone. We're speaking to a few million people right now. Something 2 to 3 million, depends on the.
- [56:21]
Leland Vittert
I'd say you've done pretty well.
- [56:23]
Buck Sexton
And so radio, which is obviously about the ability to verbalize and communicate, is how I make a living. And I started out with a speech impediment, and then with the tutors, by the way, they got me to the point where I was about two years ahead of grade level in terms of academics within 18 months. Right. So went from, you can't speak you need to go to a special place. You can't stay with your friends. To my mom saying, just like your dad did, we're going to figure this out. And I think that that really does resonate with people. It the parents make the difference. Parents make such a huge difference in all of this. Born Lucky is the book, everybody. I have a feeling right now a lot of people are going on Amazon. A lot of people are looking to be a part of your third printing of this. Congrats on the success of it, Leland Vittert. And I'll be seeing you on your News Nation show very soon. Very soon indeed. You do great work over there and thank you for this important book and good to see you here in the studio. Even though you make me feel like I'm underdressed in my own studio. That's okay though. That's okay. Look, one of the better investments I've made is the purchase of gold. This year alone it's up 47% in value. I think it just crossed the $4,000 an ounce threshold today, which is an all time high. It's not slowing down, folks. Goldman Sachs is saying it's gonna go higher. I mean a lot of people see this as just the continued thesis of gold has value in a world where the printing presses of the central governments are going off, so central banks are flocking to gold. You can still get gold though. I mean this is the key point. It's not too late at all. In fact, Birch Gold Group wants a lot of first gold buyers to consider an entry point now. And you can convert an existing IRA or 401k with birch gold into a tax sheltered IRA. In physical gold. I'm sorry, in gold you don't have to pay a dime out of pocket. Just text my name. Buck to 989898 claim your free info kit. There's no obligation, just useful information. Best indicator of the past is the future. Gold has historically been a safe haven for decades. Text Buck to 989898 to claim your free info kit on gold. That's B U C K. Text Buck to 989898 Get get with Birch Gold Group today. 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.
- [58:45]
Carol Markowitz
This is an iHeart podcast.