Hour 1 - America's Cookies

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: Hour 1 - America's Cookies
Release Date: March 7, 2025

In the first hour of the latest episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into pressing issues facing America today. From government spending and fiscal policies to immigration and foreign affairs, the duo provides insightful commentary peppered with their characteristic humor. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key discussions, notable insights, and significant conclusions drawn during the episode.

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1. Economic Policies and Government Spending

Government Spending and the Deficit Crisis

Clay Travis opens the discussion by highlighting the critical state of the U.S. deficit, emphasizing the need to address the accumulated debt of $36 trillion. He references Treasury Secretary Besant's "Cut 25" initiative aimed at reducing government spending by $2 trillion annually to tackle the deficit.

"If what we were doing with spending was fine, it would already be working. It's clearly not fine. The math speaks very clearly on this."
— Clay Travis [02:30]

Shift from Public to Private Spending

Buck Sexton underscores the imbalance created under the Biden administration, where the top 10% of Americans account for 40-50% of consumption, leaving the bottom 50% struggling. He explains the necessity of transitioning from public to private spending to stabilize the economy.

"The market and the economy have just become hooked. We become addicted to this government spending."
— Buck Sexton [03:10]

2. "Cut 25" and Fiscal Restructuring

Implementing Fiscal Discipline

The hosts discuss the "Cut 25" plan, which involves significant government spending cuts to address the deficit. Clay analogizes the situation to reducing habitual cookie consumption, suggesting that cutting government spending will lead to short-term discomfort but long-term economic health.

"There's going to be a detox period. We've been having too many cookies when it comes to spending."
— Clay Travis [03:22]

Entitlement Programs and Budget Prioritization

Buck highlights the challenge of entitlements—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid—and defense spending. He notes that interest on the debt is poised to surpass defense expenditures, signaling a potential decline.

"The biggest challenge that we've got is still entitlements... we're on pace to spend more on interest than we are on defense, which historically means that a country is in decline."
— Buck Sexton [04:11]

3. Immigration and the Border Crisis

Trump's Border Policies and Achievements

The conversation shifts to immigration, with Clay praising President Trump's efforts to secure the border. He cites the reduction in border crossings to the lowest in 25 years and criticizes the Biden administration's previous stance.

"In 40 days, we are at the lowest border crossings in 25 years."
— Buck Sexton [07:45]

Ongoing Challenges and Deportations

Despite shutting down border inflow, Clay points out the existing issue of over 10 million illegals already in the country, complicating enforcement and deportation efforts.

"He has shut down the inflow. But the bigger challenge is still what do we do about those who have already come in illegally."
— Clay Travis [08:48]

4. Trump's Influence on Foreign Policy

Russia-Ukraine Conflict and Potential Sanctions

Clay elaborates on President Trump's influence in the Russia-Ukraine war, mentioning his pressure on both sides and the threat of sanctions against Russia to push for a ceasefire.

"Trump is threatening to hit Russia with sanctions. He wants the fighting to stop."
— Clay Travis [00:00]

Prospects for a Diplomatic Resolution

Buck discusses Trump's strategic positioning to mediate a ceasefire, potentially earning a Nobel Peace Prize, contrasting it with Democratic approaches.

"Trump went all in on Russia over their recent attacks on Ukraine... he is trying to maneuver this resolution so that we can get a ceasefire."
— Buck Sexton [09:19]

5. Critique of Democratic Strategies and Media Approach

Ineffectiveness in the Digital Age

The hosts critique the Democratic Party's inability to adapt to the open Internet landscape post-Elon Musk's changes to social media platforms. They argue that Democrats, accustomed to having the algorithm favor them, now struggle to compete organically.

"Democrats have had all of the institutions rigged in their favor for so long that they don't know how to actually compete on the open Internet."
— Clay Travis [18:45]

Failed Social Media Campaigns

Clay and Buck mock recent Democratic social media efforts, such as Congresswomen creating outdated TikTok trends, which they believe backfired and subjected Democrats to ridicule.

"They made this video was going to appeal... it's not that you can't do things that are creative and have fun in politics, but it just shows how detached from reality the Democrats are."
— Clay Travis [22:27]

6. Media Bias and Perception Management

Selective Reporting and Media Narratives

The duo criticizes mainstream media for downplaying Trump's achievements, such as border security, while relentlessly focusing on controversies like alleged connections to Putin.

"The media suddenly is not talking about the border at all because if they did, they would have to acknowledge that everything Trump said is true."
— Buck Sexton [07:45]

Manipulation of Public Perception

They also discuss how Democratic figures, like Gavin Newsom, manipulate media narratives to maintain public interest, often leading to public confusion and skepticism.

"Everything that he has done is a form of pure calculation... It's the reality of the Democrat party."
— Clay Travis [27:45]

7. Future Outlook and Concluding Thoughts

Economic Restructuring and Market Adjustments

Clay and Buck express cautious optimism about the Trump administration's efforts to restructure the economy. They acknowledge potential short-term economic pain but believe it is necessary for long-term stability.

"If we don't do this, things just get worse and worse. But doing it is going to require us to understand..."
— Clay Travis [04:11]

Call to Action for Sustained Momentum

The hosts conclude by emphasizing the importance of maintaining political momentum to implement necessary fiscal and policy changes, ensuring America remains resilient and economically robust.

"We have a moment in time here... where real stuff can be done to at least begin to turn this cruise ship around before it buries itself in the port."
— Clay Travis [14:23]

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Conclusion

In this episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton provide a forthright analysis of America's current economic challenges, immigration policies, and the overarching influence of political strategies on public perception. Through engaging dialogue and pointed critiques, they advocate for decisive action to address fiscal deficits and secure the nation's borders, while scrutinizing the Democratic Party's adaptability in the evolving digital landscape.

For those seeking an unfiltered perspective on America's pressing issues, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show offers a compelling listen, blending policy discussion with relatable analogies and sharp commentary.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

Welcome, everybody, to the Friday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. And we've got much to discuss with all of you across this great land of ours. America is back. We are feeling it, but we have much work to do. President Trump leading the charge. More specifics from the White House about where Elon Musk fits in with the cutting down the government situation, which is very, very important to see how that goes. We've got a lot to look at there on the tariff situation. There's going to be a whole lot more negotiating, which is not a surprise. And I think we also are seeing something that is starting to unfold, which is Trump now pressuring both sides of the table when it comes to the Russia, Ukraine war. And Trump is threatening to hit Russia with sanctions. He wants the fighting to stop. And I think all of that is very important stuff. But Clay, I just wanted to start with a thought today and it actually ties in with what this cut 25 Treasury Secretary Bessant has talked about. This stuff that we're seeing happen here is going to require when you're talking about taking on this system, when you're talking about draining the swamp, which I don't really use that phrase anymore, but a lot of 2016 draining the swamp talk, but certainly cutting down the bureaucracy, beginning to tackle our deficit. Right. The deficit is part one of this whole thing. The debt is the accumulation of the deficit over many decades. That is our problem. That's why it's at $36 trillion. The first step is how do we, how do we get ourselves to not spend 2 trillion extra, extra dollars a year, you know, give or take. And this is going to require a change to the system. If it was going to change on its own, if what we were doing with spending was fine, if that was going to work, it would already be working. It's clearly not fine. The math speaks very clearly on this. And if what we were doing on trade was the best that it could be, I think we wouldn't have all of these countries that are clearly sticking to the tariffs that they've had for a long time and engaging in practices that advantage some of their industries vis a vis Americans. But this, Clay, was to me a really important point made by Treasury Secretary Besant. This is cut 25. He's talking about how, look, we got to figure out some big problems here and there's going to be a little bit of short term pain before the long term gain play it.

[Buck Sexton]

The Biden administration created this bad equilibrium where the top 10% people in this room, probably most of the people watching this show, top 10% of Americans are 40 or 50% of consumption. And that is an unstable, equal equilibrium. The bottom 50% of working Americans have gotten killed. We are trying to address that. We're trying to get rates down. And could we be seeing this economy that we inherited starting to roll a bit?

[Clay Travis]

Sure.

[Buck Sexton]

And look, there's going to be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending. The market and the economy have just become hooked. We become addicted to this government spending.

[Clay Travis]

And there's going to be a detox period, Clay. A detox period. Now, not that I'm all fixated on, on the personal weight loss journey, but it does remind me a little bit of the first month when you've gotten into a habit of just having that extra cookie before you go to bed. You know, I just. It's just a cookie, right? No big deal. And it's not a big deal. But if you have just that extra cookie for about 12 months, 12 months in a row, you know, speaking from experience, all of a sudden you start to realize it adds up. The first month, you stop doing it. You notice it, and it. And it kind of, you know, you get a little like, what's going on here? America has been having too many cookies when it comes to spending, and it's not going to be painless and easy to get us back into fighting shape. I think the Treasury Secretary has given us a little heads up here.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. And look, the biggest challenge that we've got is still entitlements. Right. For all of the talk about cutting spending, if you look at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense and the interest on the debt, which has become a huge part of our overall budget, you know, we're on pace to spend more on interest than we are on defense, which historically means that a country is in decline. As soon as that happens now, we're just in a really, really challenging spot. And Trump is trying to address those challenges to the best of his ability. I come back to Elon Musk. What has he said that he's trying to do? Cut the overall budget by a trillion dollars in terms of spending. And then if we can get the growth of the American economy going again, we can add a trillion dollars in revenue and that gets us back to a balanced budget. That's the goal, in some sense. And the reality is, yes, in the short term, that creates pain. For anybody out there that's ever been ill, ever been sick when you're in the hospital, Things often get better before they get worse. Right. If you.

[Clay Travis]

Worse before they get better.

[Buck Sexton]

Worse before they get better. Right? Yes. Yeah. Reversing that, like, you oftentimes get to the hospital, you get sicker before you make the comeback. To your point on getting, getting back in shape, that early start is some of the most painful we're in, I think. Hey, the shock to the system element of the Trump administration, which is designed to bring the body politic back to life.

[Clay Travis]

And this is where having that political momentum and backing that Trump has right now from the mandate is so important, because for a short while, it's not going to be popular. It's not going to look like this is awesome. If they really do the kind of cuts. Now, remember, Elon is advisory, and the White House has made this even more clear to everybody. Elon is advising on what should be done. Trump and his cabinet have to decide what will be done. That's a different thing. But when you're looking Clay at cutting government spending, part of the issue is that our economy has become reliant on government spending for its growth and expansion. You're looking at 25% in 2023. I mean, I just pulled this up. 25% of all new jobs in 2023 were government jobs.

[Buck Sexton]

Why?

[Clay Travis]

Think about, we're in a country of 350 million people. Of all the new jobs created, one in four were government did. Do you feel like your government has gotten that much? Has your government gotten 25% better? And I mean anywhere, you know, federal government, state government, or a red state, state government, a blue state, local government. Is your government getting how much? So the issue here is much like the diet situation, you're going to feel, or rather the American economy is going to feel like what happened to my cookies for a little bit here? And you're going to miss them for a little bit. And I think it's important that people, if we don't do this, things just get worse and worse. Right. But doing it is going to require us to understand, and we're not even, you know, entitlements is a whole other thing. Entitlements is something that no one's even talking about touching right now. And I don't think we're going to get to touching them, but at least we can begin to make some progress on overall spend.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. And I also think it's important because the story is basically vanished. Trump solved everything at the border in 40 days. I know. Think about the last four years that we've been doing this show. Buck, how often have we circled back around to the situation at the border is untenable. In 40 days, we are at the lowest border crossings in 25 years. And I do don't mistake the fact that the media suddenly is not talking about the border at all is because if they did, they would have to acknowledge that everything Trump said is true. That Biden could have shut down the border at any point and then leaving it wide open was a conscious choice that he made.

[Clay Travis]

I'm having fun with analogies today. The border is a bit like we're in a house where the bathtub has flooded and been left on for a couple of days and the house now has, I don't know, a foot of water on the, on the, on the floor. Ok. The border is. The faucet is now off.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

But the bigger challenge is actually the foot of water that is in the entire house, which is the tens of millions of illegals. So he has, he has shut down the inflow. But the bigger challenge, really, I think, is still what do we do about those who have already come in here illegally, especially the 10 million plus that were here under Biden under the false pretense of asylum, which they are not going to get and do not deserve. Right. So. So there's still a big challenge there ahead for ice, for Homan, for Nome, for the whole crew.

[Buck Sexton]

I think what you have to hope, and you're right about that, I think what you have to hope is that the lack of welcoming will actually mean that some people are going to start to go back. And the reality, and we told you this, the reality was the idea that Trump was going to be able to get millions of people out of the country via deportation, where we're taking control of those people and taking them out was going to be very, very difficult. And we had Tom Homan on, I think, last week, right. And he ran through and he said publicly, I was reading in the New York Times this morning, he has said publicly, look, the only way to deport more people is to arrest more people. And we've arrested a lot more than Joe Biden. And to their credit, they started with the violent felons who were here that are the biggest threats. But the ability to arrest a ton of people is not there right now without more money being spent and without more resources to be directed there. Positive, again, the border is shut down. It appears that most of the FBI and of justice is now focused on actual crimes as opposed to being concerned about what parents are saying at school boards. Um, I Saw the arrest news yesterday from Cash Patel and Pam Bondi about catching people inside of our government. Uh, and we should mention too, as we continue throughout the show, one of the top criticisms of Trump so far has been what, Buck? Oh, that they've tried to resurrect the idea that he's Putin's stooge. This morning, Trump went all in on Russia over their recent attacks on Ukraine, said they're unacceptable and that we need a cease fire immediately. Direct statement, which is where Trump, I think, has been smart in terms of being able to try to stay in the middle in some way without saying Ukraine is pure innocent good and Russia is evil incarnate. He is trying to maneuver this resolution so that we can get a cease fire in tens of thousands of people who are dying on a regular basis now on the side of Ukraine and Russia comes to a close. And if that happens, he would get the Nobel Peace Prize, any Democrat that did it. He's also obviously stepped up his rhetorical flourishes against Hamas over the hostages that they still control. So there is a lot going on. But yes, the, the, the federal government. Is the budget the number one biggest challenge, I think it's fair to say, of the Trump administration right now.

[Clay Travis]

Well, and what you're going to see is a continuation of the media saying, why hasn't the price of eggs gone down? If they make substantial cuts, substantial cuts to government spending through Doge Advisory opinions, effectively there's going to be a little bit of economic. What's going on here for a second. You might, you know, you've already seen this is the worst week, I think, that the stock market's had since September. Now, that's just one week. My point is that you're going to see this and the other side is going to just try to, in bad faith, capitalize on it if cuts are made. But expect that, like I said, you're going, when you stop eating the extra cookies, you're going to be a little hungry at first. We, we are going to have to go through a little bit of a hungry phase here. It's not going to be a huge deal. I'm not saying, you know, we're not talking about a Great Depression or something. We're just there might be a little bit of a, of a downturn in some of what we see in the markets. I mean, I think a big problem with, with Biden's administration, rather a. One of the additional big lies, was the ways that they pretended the economy was always better than it was. Yeah, right. Because People will recognize that, hold on. Prices are super high, inflation's really bad. They say, oh, well, look at the jobs numbers. The jobs numbers were all always dramatically wrong in favor of Biden. Every quarter dramatically wrong in favor of Biden because it was in favor of jobs that weren't actually created. When you add to that 25% of new jobs are government jobs. This whole thing, right, you've got the government printing money, you've got the government spend, you know, spending more money on more useless stuff. As the government growing, the bureaucracy growing, the expenditures increasing, the debt, it all feeds into each other. People wonder why, you know, they feel like their dollars aren't going as far now as they did even 10, 15, 20 years ago. Because they're not. Yes, that's reality. And to get this under control requires people to do things that aren't necessarily in the short term going to feel like everything is, you know, because we have a, a system that is propped up by a lot of fantasyland stuff right now. And Elon saying that if you wait until the music truly stops, then things get very ugly. I think we have a moment in time here, Clay, where real stuff can be done to at least begin to turn this cruise ship around before it buries itself in the port.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

I just went, yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

But I have heard Steamboat Springs is fantastic. So if you have been or maybe were on in Steamboat Springs, I don't know if people regularly listen there or not. Let me know what I need to see. The kids are going to be skiing, snowboarding, doing all those things. I don't do it. I hit a tree years ago, decided I like every sport. I don't need to ski. I'm a Southern boy. I didn't grow up doing it. But if there are things that I need to see around Steamboat Springs, let me know because I'm excited to go to that area. I've been to Colorado a lot. Beautiful place. But we are, that is where we are headed. So I'm excited to check that out when we come back. Buck, I want to hit you with some of this. Jasmine Crockett and some of these other crazy Democrats are so bereft of ideas that they are getting ridiculed now by CNN for their attempt to reach out. And I've got a thesis here. My theory is they have had everything rigged in their favor for so long that they don't actually know how to compete on the Internet. Because when you had the algorithm all in your favor, you didn't actually have to be good. You didn't have to have smart arguments. Everything was being done for you and suddenly in the wake of Elon Musk and now the Trump win, there's real competition and they don't have the ability to compete in the marketplace of ideas in a very rational way because they've never had to do it before. And I think it's showing. And I've got some cuts that I think you guys will enjoy. I want to get your reaction to.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis BUCK Sexton show For those of you watching on video, I have an adorable one year old in my lap who is wanting to say hi. Can you wave to everybody there watching? Yeah, there you go. His name is James and Mr. Buck is going going to have a little boy named James in about a month. So this is like looking into the future and the lovely Katie is I.

[Clay Travis]

Definitely want to get him some cool overalls like that too. I like the overalls look very, very nice.

[Buck Sexton]

Overalls is an elite look here. All right, let's dive in. Buck, I was telling you that there were several parts of the before we.

[Clay Travis]

Dive in, is this, is this having adorable child on your lap? Is this a ploy to keep the heat down after yesterday's talk about theater because I saw some of the emails.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, did we get a bunch of emails about this?

[Clay Travis]

Oh, of course we did. Of course we did.

[Buck Sexton]

So, you know, most people, I felt like, agreed with me because they have good sense and they know that musicals are wildly overrated and that really, no heterosexual man likes them. But we'll get into that maybe a little bit later. But I do think that the reaction overall, producer Ali says, we got tons of this fantastic. Uh, producer Ali and Greg who have to go through all these emails. I do kind of think it's very funny that they get deluged. Like, we could have the most controversial take on, you know, the federal budget or what we should do in the war in Ukraine and Russia. And people are like, yeah, whatever, you know? And then I'm like, hey, the flute is the worst wind instrument to play. Or musicals are wildly overrated and most of them are not worth watching. And everybody just like, is like, oh, my goodness, how dare you? But I did want to. Speaking of. Of. Of, how dare you, Buck. The big story that I think is playing out right now is Democrats have had all of the institutions rigged in their favor for so long that they don't know how to actually compete on the open Internet. And they keep trying to compete because the Trump team, I think, is very skilled at speaking to the larger Internet. I also think common sense tends to work very well on the Internet, based on how I've seen my career go. But they keep putting up these ridiculous videos. And they put up a video, some of you, I'm sure, saw it, of all these democrat congresswomen pretending to be boxers, pretending to be fighters.

[Clay Travis]

Grapplers say, can I jump in here? Because for once I have a little bit of pop culture knowledge. It is a TikTok trend that I believe is a reference to the arcade game version of Street Fighter 2.

[Buck Sexton]

So it has gone viral. Fine. But. But it was.

[Clay Travis]

It's old, too, I would say. This was a thing. This was cool for the cool kids, like, two years ago. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The show is agreeing. Our product producers are all agreeing. It's an old trend that they clay it would be like if they tried to learn a shuffle dance.

[Buck Sexton]

Now, shuffle dance we're doing back in the day when I.

[Clay Travis]

When it was cool back in 2020 and we were all locked into our homes and couldn't go anywhere. TikTok shuffle dance was what all the hip kids.

[Buck Sexton]

I would give anything for video of you attempting the tick tock shuffle dance by yourself in your apartment.

[Clay Travis]

I Mean, it was sad. I don't know why you want to.

[Buck Sexton]

See like I would like, I would like to see it because I think it would be hysterical. Well, they did a version of this, this fighter thing video and even cnn, Abby, Phillip just absolutely obliterated them over their inability to connect and trying too hard. Here's cut 19, that TikTok chat. I don't even know where to begin. I'm not sure why this is necessary. I mean there is like serious stuff happening in this country, but that seems.

[Clay Travis]

To be just inviting ridicule. I don't get it. Like, I don't get it.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean maybe you will get 7 million eyeballs.

[Clay Travis]

What is the point?

[Buck Sexton]

I think she's right. And also there is a difference between doing something that feels a little bit organic and doing something that feels desperate. And Democrats just feel to me desperate. Like I'll give you an example, Buck, the video of the DJ, the DJ kid, the 13 year old cancer surviving police role modeling, got the Secret Service vote. Buck. He hugged Trump in the Oval Office. It's been viewed I think 20 million times on TikTok. But that was an organic clip that they happened to share that is in some way reflective of the interaction. There's an element of try too hard and desperation that seems to be coming through in everything that Democrats do.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, well, what is the playbook supposed to be for them right now? I couldn't even really come up with it. I think it was funny that Gavin Newsom saw this opportunity to sit down with somebody on the right who's very close with Trump and Trump's family and start to sound a little bit less crazy. And now the Democrats are in this whole whole tizzy about it. But he didn't even really say anything. He just sort of did the. Well, your side has some things to say, my side has some things to say. It's a fairness issue. It's. I agree that there are problems. I agree that there are. And what you have to remember about someone like a Gavin Newsom and I think everybody should be prepared for this, he will lie to you about anything. It does not matter what he said yesterday. It does not matter what he says on a podcast today. He if the political wind shift or if it's of, if it will be advantageous to him, we'll say something entirely different tomorrow. This is how Democrats operate. Which is also why all the outrage against him is both short lived and pointless. Because ultimately he's going to go back on all of this stuff unless he thinks that he can actually win the Democrat nomination with it. But he's not going to make any changes in the state of California. He's not going to. You know, I want to give people, some people credit out there because we've said a lot of nice things here because we call balls and strikes about Fetterman. We've said, wow, I was a little too hard on him. Wow. You know, he's actually good on Israel, good on the border. He said some things that I agree with the words. But Clay, people pointed this out. How does he vote? And he votes like a communist. Yes, he votes like a communist and that's what matters. He uses his power for the bad guys. And there's no doubt.

[Buck Sexton]

And I mean, I think that that's why you can't even point to a reasonable Democrat right now, like just somebody who's relatively in the middle. They almost don't exist. And I think the challenge associated with it is how do you, if you're the Democrats, Like I looked at this coverage of the, of the Gavin Newsom comments about trans related individuals trying to compete in women's sports. I think Buck, his team leaked all of this. The fact that the New York Times has a front page story about it. I don't think they would have done that unless Gavin Newsom's team was encouraging Democrats, Democrat funded media to write about this. Right. It seemed very calculated. It was on his own podcast. It felt like his PR team was blasting this everywhere to try to get attention for it. You know what I mean? Like it didn't feel like this story got. It took off almost immediately. Like everybody had gotten their talking points of Gavin Newsom has done this and now every Democrat group needs to talk about it. Does that make sense? It felt very calculated by him.

[Clay Travis]

Well, absolutely. I think everything that he has done is a form of pure calculation. And that's why he's as left wing as he is. Because he's just doing what is popular in California. If he were, and there are other Democrats who are going to try this as well, they'll play games. They'll take both sides of the issue and then hope that the media will be there for them. When they're trying to convince you they didn't say what they actually said or they didn't believe. Remember Kamala tried this. Oh, I never said we should have trans surgery for inmates. Well, thanks to X and the Internet largely, I think X was able to get it out there. But people found no. She did say not long ago that she thought that illegal, illegal alien Prison inmates should have taxpayer funded sex change operations. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that you would think the right wing was making up in a parody of the Democrat party, but it is the reality of the Democrat party. So the fighter, choose your fighter video. You know, I don't want us. Our side is the side that has fun. And I'm not trying to be a scold about it or anything. I don't think anyone else really is either. It's just, it wasn't, it wasn't funny or cool. And they're trying to be cool is the part of it that's. It's not that you can't do things that are creative and have fun in politics. I think actually you should. But it just shows how detached from reality the Democrats are that a bunch of them would think that making this video was going to appeal. Also the people they had do it. They, you know, what are you going to have like Chuck Schumer doing his workout routine. I remember this and I would say this the time and I got a lot of hate for this, but maybe 2018 timeframe Clay 2017, 2018. The cult of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Was the beginning of the end for Democrats. They were bizarre. This little frail old woman who has now passed away, as we know, but the tiniest, frailest old woman. There were all these, you know, memes and things being shared about how hardcore she is during workouts. Look at her swinging a kettlebell. Look. You people are insane. Yeah, he's barely standing up. And I'm watching workout videos of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Because of the insularity of so many, of the, of so many people on the left, they can convince themselves of anything. And so they can convince themselves that this video is, is going to be something that, that goes over well. Even Democrats thought it was cringe inducing.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, that's because they had everything rigged for so long in their favor that it's like they started off in a sporting event with a 40 point lead and they thought they were elite competitors. And now that the algorithms are being reestablished and reengineered and there seems to be an element of true legitimacy, marketplace of ideas out there, their ideas don't actually sell very well in the marketplace. When Twitter was rigging everything to make it seem like surgery for trans illegal immigrants was something that was hugely important and popular in the American populace, that looked like something that made a lot of sense. Remember AOC Buck? One of the most ridiculous ones that went mega viral to me was AOC in Her all white outfit, standing by the chain link fence, like, holding her hand out. Do you remember that? When it went mega viral for the children in cages, Maybe the most inauthentic story of all.

[Clay Travis]

Pelosi and Schumer taking a knee in the Capitol, draped in kente cloth. There is nothing that is more worthy of mockery that that was like a photo op than I think anything that I can remember in American. But like, they, these two people, oh, yeah. Nancy Pelosi's down with the struggle in her $50 million San Francisco mansion with huge gates around it. She understands the street.

[Buck Sexton]

That was an amazing moment. I think they also had masks on, didn't they?

[Clay Travis]

Because it was during COVID Big double mask.

[Buck Sexton]

There are a lot of images that I think are kind of amazing. I mean, our former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the mask with the huge face shield, walking outdoors. Do you remember that? He was like Darth Vader.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, I'll tell you this, and I'm sure the same thing's true for you. There is no photo of me that I took or know of in existence where I was wearing a mask because I refused. You know, a lot of people thought it was like, oh, it's Covid. Like, let's take photos. Like when I would go out walking my dog or whatever. Like, it's just no mask photos. Now somebody might have, you know, taken a photo of me and I didn't know about it or something. And I had, you know, you had to wear masks to go on a plane, stuff like, I'm not saying I never wore mask, obviously, but I never took any mask photos because I found it so degrading. I thought wearing a mask was like wearing a T shirt that said I'm a jackass with no backbone. So I refuse to pose in any photos of the mask. When I, when I went to see Trump In May of 2020, no mask on. We're shaking hands.

[Buck Sexton]

There is photo. There are photos of me in a mask, Buck. You know when it happened, when I testified in front of Congress In March of 2021, they demanded that everyone. Because Democrats had control, you had to testify in front of Congress wearing a mask.

[Clay Travis]

That's appalling.

[Buck Sexton]

Speak into your microphone while wearing a mask. So there are some photos of me, like, trying to deal with the stupid mask. And how do you talk in a congressional hearing? Democrats made you have to wear a mask and speak into a microphone because they controlled Congress at that point.

[Clay Travis]

And whenever. No one, really. I have very few lib associates. I have friends who are libs, but they don't talk politics to me. They know better. But occasionally when I've seen people bring up recently about Trump cabinet picks and they'll say like, well, do you think Pete Hegseth. Someone brought this up to me. Do you think Pete Hegseth is qualified? I said, one, yes. Two, the previous Secretary of Defense walked around double masked with a plastic face shield thing hanging off his face in public. He thought that was a good idea.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

If you are so dumb that you thought one of those plastic things like a welding mask was, was going to protect you from anything, I don't know what to say. But I definitely don't want you in charge of deploying military forces.

[Buck Sexton]

Totally. And remember, I know it's been forgotten, but everybody wants to talk about Pete Hegseth and whether he's qualified. Remember when the Defense Secretary was hospitalized in critical condition or serious condition and nobody knew at the White House? Remember that story that just kind of vanished, but that Lloyd Austin was hospitalized in very serious physical related conditions and nobody at the White House even knew, like he didn't notify them that he had been hospitalized. And one, it was in a significant position and until the media contacted the White House, the White House didn't know. And that story's just kind of vanished. But it's kind of a big deal when the Defense Secretary is not able to do the job and nobody in the White House actually bothered. No. Nearly 18 months after the Hamas invasion, the brutal attack, life's still not normal for everyone in Israel. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews continuing to support those in the Holy Land facing the lingering horrors of war and those who are in desperate need right now. Nonprofit organization helps thousands of Israelis each week. And your ongoing monthly gift of 45 bucks will provide critically needed aid to communities in the north and the south devastated by the ongoing war. I saw all of this in December and I saw the incredible work being done by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in Israel. It really does make a difference when you can see where the donations are going. Shake the hands of people being helped. If you want to help provide hope during a time of uncertainty, go to supportifcj.org one word supportifcj.org you can call 888-488ifcj. That's 888488 ifcj. Bless Israel and her people by visiting support ifcj.org Making America Great Again isn't just one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We're gonna go up to Staten island in New York City city W O r listeners with our friend Joe Borelli to ask him about this Andrew Cuomo decision to run for mayor here in a few moments at the top of the next hour. And Buck, I was reading this morning reading the New York Times so you don't have to. And according to a Quinnipiac poll that just came out, Mayor Eric Adams has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the recorded history of polling in New York City.

[Clay Travis]

And at least he's number one.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes, number one. At least he's number one in something. Cuomo has now opened a 20 some odd point lead in who is going to be the next mayor of New York City. And that election Democrat primary is in June. So it's pretty soon. I mean, this election's going to be here in a hurry.

[Clay Travis]

So we'll talk to him about that. Also, more on what's going on with the Doge White House relationship. We've got some additional commentary from Trump and we're going to be diving into all that. Also, Crockett coffee is what we're going to be diving into here in the commercial break. Crockett Coffee.com Please use code book get a signed copy of Clay's American Playbook if you subscribe. And it is the most delicious coffee you'll find anywhere. But also, 10% of our profits goes to Tunnel the Towers Foundation. So whatever other coffee you're drinking, dump it out. Go to crockettcoffee. Com. Subscribe today. Whole bean, ground bean, K cups, all that good stuff. In the spirit of Davy Crockett. I'm going to go get some now. We'll see you in a couple minutes. Right back here on Clay and Buck.