Hour 1 - Best President Ever?

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Episode: "Hour 1 - Best President Ever?"

Release Date: July 16, 2025
Host: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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I. Introduction and Economic Updates

The episode kicks off with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton diving into significant economic news, emphasizing positive trends that defy previous forecasts.

• Producer Price Index (PPI) Inflation Drops:

  Clay highlights that the PPI inflation has fallen to 2.3%, the lowest since September 2024. He notes, "The tariffs, the bottom line here, the tariffs not having the inflationary effect that we were all told would happen and not having the price rise effect that we were all told would happen. So that seems like a pretty big, pretty big deal." ([00:34])

• Economic Resilience Amidst Tariffs:

  The hosts discuss how the anticipated negative impacts of tariffs have not materialized, suggesting robust economic health despite earlier concerns about inflation and price increases.

II. President Trump's Oval Office Press Conference

A significant portion of the episode centers around President Donald Trump's recent press conference in the Oval Office, where he addresses multiple contentious issues.

• Speculation on Fed Chair Jay Powell:

  The conversation begins with speculation about the potential firing of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump deflects rumors, stating, "Those are reports, but they're not true." ([01:47])

• Discussion on the Epstein Case:

  Trump vehemently dismisses the Epstein scandal as a "hoax," blaming Democrats for the conspiracy. He reads a statement from his official account criticizing various Democratic actions and insinuating corruption and deceit. Notable excerpts include:

  • "The radical left Democrats have hit pay dirt again."
  • "Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax." ([02:07] - [03:49])

III. Analyzing the "Epstein Hoax" Narrative

Clay and Buck engage in a critical analysis of Trump's stance on the Epstein case, debating its impact on his presidential image and broader political narratives.

• Buck's Perspective on Media Focus:

  Buck expresses frustration over Trump's continued references to the Epstein case, likening it to a "scab that Trump keeps ripping off," which fuels ongoing controversy and distracts from policy achievements. He states, "This is equivalent to a scab that Trump keeps ripping off." ([03:49])

• Communication Mishandling:

  The hosts critique the Trump administration's communication strategy, particularly the mishandling of Attorney General Pam Bondi's involvement with the Epstein files. Buck remarks, "The lack of fulfilled expectations here is real. I get why people are super frustrated." ([08:18] - [08:52])

• Audience Reactions:

  They explore audience sentiments, with listeners expressing annoyance over the repeated focus on a decades-old scandal, which they feel overshadows significant achievements. Emails include statements like, "Every minute you continue to talk about a four-year-old Epstein story does exactly what the Democrats and the liberal media want." ([40:09] – [40:41])

IV. Trump's Economic Achievements and Presidential Legacy

Shifting focus, Clay and Buck laud the Trump administration's economic performance, positing it as potentially historic.

• Ken Langone's Endorsement:

  The hosts highlight a pivotal endorsement from Ken Langone, Home Depot founder, who publicly revised his stance on Trump, declaring, "I have to say that this may be the best presidency in my lifetime." ([23:44] - [24:20])

• Economic Milestones Celebrated:

  Clay enumerates several economic triumphs under Trump:

  • Budget Surplus: "If you asked them, it should be scream from the heavens. No, there was, I bet there wasn't a single economist in the country that said... and it's already happened in six months."
  • Low Gas Prices and Stock Market Highs: Referencing "four-year lows" in gas prices and "401k record highs."

  Buck adds, "One of the things I wish I could do is I wish we gave as much credit to people for admitting when they're wrong as we do when they're right." ([25:44] - [29:40])

V. Public Endorsements and Shifting Opinions

The episode underscores the significance of public figures altering their views based on observable economic data.

• Home Depot Founder’s Shift:

  Ken Langone's change of heart serves as a testament to the administration's economic success, reinforcing the narrative that tangible results can sway opinions even among skeptics.

• Buck's Endorsement of Economic Data:

  Emphasizing the importance of data-driven judgments, Buck argues, "The economists are wrong over and over and over again... That's the story. The economy is starting to roar." ([25:44] - [29:40])

VI. Audience Feedback and Reactions

Listeners actively engage with the hosts, voicing their perspectives and frustrations.

• Calls and Emails Highlighting Discontent:

  Messages such as, "If you keep talking about something with you and forces you to constantly marinate in it, we're going to break here," reflect a desire among the audience to shift focus away from entrenched scandals. ([40:09] - [42:42])

• Listener Messages:

  Audience members like Karen express skepticism towards the ongoing emphasis on the Epstein narrative, asking, "Why do you keep talking about it?" Buck responds with, "The president talked about it, so I feel like we probably have to talk about it." ([40:09] - [40:41])

VII. Concluding Remarks and Teasers

As the episode winds down, Clay and Buck tease upcoming topics, including:

• Joe Biden's Advisor Testimony:

  Anticipating discussions on Anthony Bernal and Jill Biden’s advisors taking the fifth amendment, hinting at potential political ramifications.

• Tax Rescission Package:

  Preparing listeners for analysis on a tax policy vote in the U.S. Senate.

• Local and Upcoming Events:

  Brief mentions of local news and sports events, including the Hank Aaron Memorial by the Braves.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Clay Travis on Tariffs and Economy:
   "The tariffs not having the inflationary effect that we were all told would happen and not having the price rise effect that we were all told would happen. So that seems like a pretty big, pretty big deal."
   ([00:34])

2. President Trump on the Epstein Hoax:
   "Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax."
   ([03:49])

3. Buck Sexton on Media Focus:
   "This is equivalent to a scab that Trump keeps ripping off."
   ([03:49])

4. Ken Langone's Endorsement:
   "I have to say that this may be the best presidency in my lifetime."
   ([24:20])

5. Buck on Economic Achievements:
   "The economists are wrong over and over and over again... That's the story. The economy is starting to roar."
   ([25:44] - [29:40])

6. Listener Karen's Question:
   "Why do you keep talking about it?"
   ([40:09])

7. Buck's Response to Karen:
   "The president talked about it, so I feel like we probably have to talk about it."
   ([40:49])

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Final Thoughts

In this episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton navigate the complex interplay between economic indicators and politically charged narratives. While celebrating significant economic achievements under the Trump administration, they critically examine the ongoing focus on the Epstein case, exploring its implications on public perception and political discourse. The hosts balance commendations of policy successes with levies on communication strategies, underscoring the challenges of media narratives in shaping presidential legacies.

Transcript

[iHeart Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Elahe Izadi]

When I listen to the news, here's what I want to know. Why this story matters, who's at the center of it, and how the reporters uncovered it. And as a journalist, I want to make sure that's what you get, too. I'm Elahe Izadi, co host of the podcast Post Reports. Every weekday, my colleagues and I at the Washington Post give you the context you need on the biggest stories. Health care tariffs, artificial intelligence. We've got you covered. Look for Post Reports where I you listen to podcasts.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Podcast. Welcome, everybody, to the Wednesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. A lot of news today, and we're going to break it all down for you. Here's a story. Will the media focus on this one? Let's take a look here. PPI producer price index inflation falls to 2.3%. Lowest reading since September 202450 forecasters in Bloomberg survey were wrong on this one. The tariffs, the bottom line here, the tariffs not having the inflationary effect that we were all told would happen and not having the price rise effect that we were all told would happen. So that seems like a pretty big, pretty big deal. You know, the economy thing's going well. Another story that may get some attention. And President Trump. Just to be clear, we're monitoring it. We have our monitors going. We have our team pulling from it in real time. President Trump is currently in the Oval Office and he is actually. Guys, can we join this live for a second here? Can we try to join the President.

[Buck Sexton]

Firing Fed chair Jay Powell markets, is that right?

[Donald Trump]

Those are reports, but they're not true.

[Clay Travis]

So it would be useful to know.

[Buck Sexton]

Are you committed to picking someone from the outside? Are you going to intervene, interview individuals?

[Donald Trump]

So many people that want that job. I have people that I've known a long time. They're calling me, begging for the job. You know what you need there? A smart person with common sense. But you need a very smart person for that job. Okay, I think it's.

[Clay Travis]

So he. He's talking now about the Fed chair, which it looks like it is.

[Pam Bondi]

It.

[Clay Travis]

Well, it is underway that they're going to replace the Fed chair. That process has begun. Rates coming down.

[Buck Sexton]

Wow.

[Clay Travis]

The economy could be just so fantastic, Clay. It's already strong, already looking good, already proving his critics wrong on tariffs. Another story that may get some attention here, a truth from President Trump. Um, and he was just asked about this. We're gonna Bring you that soundbite here momentarily. But this, Clay, is. Is what the President wrote. And I am. I'm just gonna read it. I'm gonna read it for. This is from the President, United States. From his official account. The radical left Democrats have hit pay dirt again. Just like with the fake and fully discredited Steele Dossier, the lying 51 intelligence agents, the laptop from hell which the Dem swore had come from Russia. No, it came from Hunter's bathroom. And even the Russia, Russia, Russia scam itself, totally fake, made up store used in order to hide crooked Hillary's big loss in the 2016 presidential election. These scams and hoaxes are all Democrats are good at. It's all they have. They're no good at governing, no good at policy. Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. And my past supporters have bought into this bs. He didn't write bs. Hook, line and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson and probably never will. Even after being conned by the lunatic left for eight long years. I've had more success in six months than perhaps any president in our history. Democrats are starved for things. The success Democrats are starved for is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Make America great again. Clay, what do you make of it?

[Buck Sexton]

I don't understand why he keeps talking about it. I mean, if you truly feel like this story is not a story, the number one thing to do is just move on and not talk about it. Because this is to me the equivalent of a scab that Trump keeps ripping off. And every time this happens, we get deluged with people that are really upset with Trump over the way that he's handling this. And I'm leaving aside the Epstein story for the moment and purely talking about the communication associated with this. Okay, so this is not Epstein based. It's been awful. Just gonna be candid. Pam Bondi has been a disaster on this. The fact that she gave all those influencers a Jeffrey Epstein binder, the fact that she said that the Epstein files were on her desk, I understand why that set forth the expectation that there were going to be substantial results as a result of those public comments. And then what is it, 10 days ago now? Ish. They walk it back in a Sunday night post, if I remember correctly, a. A release. Buck, you can correct me and team, you can correct me on the dates because everything kind of runs together. And now here we are two weeks later and Trump continues to post about it. I think he's upset that he is getting criticism on this front. I think that Trump feels that he has done nothing wrong and that Epstein is old news. He killed himself six years ago. Democrats had this story for years that they could have done something with in the Biden administration. They didn't. And I think he believes that this is a manufactured hoax of a story. I think he's being honest with his expectations. It's not going away. Um, and this is where again I'm addressing directly the management related to it. We had the poor, I think, handling of the initial situation by Attorney General Bondi. We then had last week the report that Dan Bongino was basically at loggerheads with the Attorney General's office and potentially was going to leave. That seems to have been diffused. I thought this story was kind of put to bed. I woke up this morning in Atlanta and the number one thing that's echoing all over the social media universe this morning was Trump deciding to go after the Epstein story again and tell anybody that basically doesn't believe him, hey, go, you know, I'm done with you. So that, that is the latest we have.

[Clay Travis]

He was just asked about this minutes ago. And so as we were coming on air, he was mid answer. So we wanted to give you the full answer. President Trump in the Oval Office with a Bahraini Prime Minister. The press gaggle goes right to Epstein. Here's what he said. We're going to play the full answer. Listen in.

[Buck Sexton]

I know you want to move past all this intrigue over the Epstein files, but I do want to ask you to clarify something you said this morning. You said this was all a hoax. Has your Attorney General told you this was a hoax? What evidence.

[Donald Trump]

Have you seen the Attorney General? No, I know it's a hoax. It's started by Democrats. It's been run by the Democrats for four years. You had Christopher Wray and these characters and Comey before him, and it's a bad group. It started acting. Actually, look at the Steele dossier. That turned out to be a total hoax. The 51 agents, the intelligence so called intelligence agents. It was a hoax. It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats work. The Democrats are good for nothing other than these hoaxes. They're bad for policy. They're bad for picking candidates that can get elected. No, no, it's. I call it the Epstein hoax. Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achieve, we've had a great gentleman Yesterday, as you know, went on cnbc and he made the statement that Trump may go down as the greatest president of all in the United States. And instead of talking about the things we've achieved, we've had tremendous achievement. They're wasting their time with a guy who obviously has some very serious problems who died three, four years ago. I'd rather talk about the success we have with the economy, the best we've ever had, and all of the things we've done, including the Middle East. I mean, you see it instead, they want to talk about the Epstein hooks. And the sad part is it's people that are really doing the Democrats work. They're stupid people.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, this is not going to make the issue go away. I don't think people who are still upset about the whiplash over the promise versus the presentation. And we could all. Again, I don't want to go down the Epstein rabbit hole right now.

[Buck Sexton]

We could do that.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, people are doing that. You can do hours and hours and hours on the Epstein case, but the way this is being handled at this moment by the administration has a lot of people scratching their heads and pretty frustrated. And I think that frustration is completely fair.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, look, here's what I would say about the idea of the Epstein hoax. I think it's an interesting idea and I think Trump probably does believe it, that this is a continuation of the Russia collusion hoax, that this is a continuation of the Steele dossier hoax. All these things that Democrats were told, hey, we're going to get Trump on this. He sees it as connected. Here's where I would say the difference is. Unlike those, and I think you would sign off on this too, like, just making the analogy there was no real crime committed related to Russia. I know they got a couple of people for lying to intelligence, you know, during interviews. That was.

[Clay Travis]

The whole thing was a fabric fabrication, a fantasy. Nobody was harmed in the making of that movie, so to speak. It was just all crow. Well, Trump was harmed in the event. But I'm saying there was no actual crime. There was no murder. There was no nothing. Nothing happened.

[Buck Sexton]

We know there were. Yeah, we know there were crimes related to Epstein. Right. So unlike Russia collusion, where it is, I think, manufactured out of whole cloth. I don't think anybody out there saying, hey, Jeffrey Epstein, Jelaine Maxwell, they were totally innocent. This was manufactured. There's nothing associated with it. Now, I, and I get people are, are fired up about this. I actually think that if you look at the logic, if you look at the logic, I Don't buy that there's tons of information that they are refusing to give to the American public. I think that might be the frustration of Trump, that that is why, to me, and I think I said this last week, the only way to handle this is either one, just move on, just say, hey, we got a difference of opinions. We're not going to solve this. But we're not seeing that. Right. Because the President put out the statement that he did today. He just had that statement that we played for you in the Oval Office. Um, and so the second one is, I think you have to just put out everything that you have. Now, here's the challenge, as you well know this, Buck, Whatever they put out, there are going to be people who say they're still holding things back. This is not all of it. Right? So the challenge you're in now is everyone who believes that this is a massive, huge scandal that is decades in the, in the history. Right. Building, they're not suddenly going to believe if you give them a binder and push it out publicly. And again, I don't know who advised Pam Bondi. Buck, we said this when this happened, giving those influencers the binders, the Trapper Keepers, whatever the heck it was, it.

[Clay Travis]

Made it seem like a clown show. And there's nothing funny about any of the stuff that is being discussed.

[Buck Sexton]

Who in the world, if you or I have been asked a question about this, I've been involved in investigations, right? I've done criminal defense work. Who in the world said, hey, we should give these guys, these influencers a binder and call it part one, right? There's not very often Epstein files part one. There's not very often you call something part one and part two never comes. Right? So the lack of fulfilled expectations here is real. I get why people are super frustrated. I just don't get why Trump, if he truly thinks this is not a significant story, you stop talking about things that you think are insignificant and you move on to other things. And he does have an incredible story on six months of the economy on the border on crime, as we have talked about on this show, I think he's got the best six months of tangible results. Results of any president in my life. But when you put out that post this morning and then you get, as you would expect, a question like this in the Oval Office, I don't know what he expects the news cycle of the day to be other than what we started off the show talking about, which is what everybody's talking about and.

[Clay Travis]

Part of the Problem is that there are a lot of senior government people who said that there was a lot going on with Epstein in the run up to this election, and now they're. Some of those same individuals are saying everything is fine. There's not, I mean, meaning there's nothing further to show or share. And I just don't think that's going to fly. I think people are going to continue to be very agitated about this. So I had said they should do a press conference where they just address with clarity. Because when you say things like the Epstein hoax, okay, Epstein is not a hoax, obviously, no one actually is holding. Trump doesn't. No one's holding the position that Epstein was in a serial sex criminal over decades and did horrible things. No one takes that position. The part of it that he's saying is a hoax is that there is a. And I'm doing some Trump translation here, but the notion that there actually is a list of people who committed crimes or proof of those people committing crimes, not going to release, just a general covering of all allegations, even those that were unsubstantiated, et cetera, I think that's what the position of the administration is. I think. And I just wish they would make that more clear because this tweet and I just. Look, we're just reading to you what the president is saying. I'm not the president. Clay's not the president. He's saying, shut up. There's nothing to see. I don't want to answer any more questions about this. And if you still fall, if you still want answers on this, you're playing into the Democrats hands. That's what he's saying. And he's. And he's using a little profanity and he's done with it. So take that as you will. I would advise not to go in that direction. No one's asking me. Well, some people, but the President's not asking me. I would say address it with clarity and openness and if there is anything more to be shared than what has already been shared, share it. Redact what is necessary. Explain those redactions. Now, I just want to be clear. President Trump is saying even that position is not helpful and is bad right now. I disagree. Right. I mean, that's. He can, he's the President. He can say what he wants to say. But I think that to make this go away, it would be better to have that transparency. So. But I don't get to make the call. The president does. And that's where this is.

[Buck Sexton]

I also think the More you talk about it, the more people think there's something to it. I mean, I, I, I'm just gonna be honest. Like, if you keep, I mean, in your own lives, step away. If somebody keeps talking about something with you and forces you to constantly marinate in it. We're going to break here and we'll take some of your calls and we'll take some of your reactions. Again, this is gonna be the story that comes out. I think the Jerome Powell stuff is far more significant today.

[Clay Travis]

I, I want to play the gentleman who said Trump might have the greatest presidency ever.

[Buck Sexton]

Cause I agree. Cause I agree.

[Clay Travis]

I think Trump is absolutely kicking ass. I don't want to talk about this stuff at all, but here we are. All right, look, if you consider yourself pro life, and I know so many of you do, you're probably very distressed by what's going on. Yes, we had the Supreme Court victory that overturned Roe v. Wade, but there's abortions happening all over the country at higher rates than previous. A lot of this is because of the availability of the abortion pill. But the fact of the matter is we are losing the lives of tiny babies in this country day in and day out. This is why preborn isn't waiting for more laws, isn't waiting for the country to have a change of hearts and minds at the national level. They are in communities where abortions are happening right now, and they are saving babies by giving love and support to moms in a crisis pregnancy. Here's what they do. They say, hey, mom, you've got a, you've got a crisis pregnancy, meaning a pregnancy you weren't planning. Maybe you're getting pressure from a partner or from your family to, quote, do something about it. Well, here's what preborn says you should do. Go in, meet that baby via ultrasound. Feel that love in your heart, understand that, that this is a boy or girl made in God's image, and then have that baby, with preborn's help, bring that life into this world. It's an incredible organization and they're doing fantastic work every day. $28 is the cost of an ultrasound. If you can donate that once, that's fantastic. You could also set up to do a recurring donation of $28 a month. Go to preborn.com buck. Preborn.com buck. Or if you want to donate using your phone. This is so easy to do. It's very convenient. Dial £250 and say the keyword baby. That's £250. Say the word baby. Sponsored by preborn.

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[iHeart Podcast Host]

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[Buck Sexton]

We started off the show talking about the economic news, which is significant and it is that inflation is below expectations. Again, we'll come back, we'll break down all the breaking news that just came out of the Trump presser basically inside of the Oval Office with the President or Prime Minister Bahrain visiting. But I got a question for you Buck and we can have some fun with this when we come back. More accurate forecaster, weather guy or economics guy? Because I actually think Weather guy is infinitely better than no, this is known.

[Clay Travis]

This is known. Weather Guy is definitely a more trustworthy source of prediction, but then economists and even political prediction guys.

[Buck Sexton]

I think it is a it is kind of extraordinary how the economists have been wrong on everything. I'm not sure there's a profession that gets paid more that is wrong more than economic analysts because they're really good once the data is already in with telling you why the data is that way. But if you ask them to try to tell you where we're headed, they do the transitory inflation thing like like we saw with the Fed chair there for so long when everything Jerome Powell said ended up being incorrect. We'll talk about that and more when we come back. But we don't hear about database cyber hacks anymore unless it's a huge company. That doesn't mean it's not happening. Important to understand how cybercrime and identity theft are affecting our lives. Just like it's important to remember lifelocks online identity theft protection Single best way to protect your online identity lifelong will detect and alert you to pot identity threats you may not spot on your own like loans taken out in your name. You can join now and save 40% off the first year with promo code CLAY. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK or head to lifelock.com and use my name Clay as the promo code for 40% off terms apply. That is lifelock.com promo code clay 40% off terms apply. Get hooked up today. Make sure that you check it [e-mail] promo code clay. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the.

[Clay Travis]

Front lines of truth week nights from 6 to 9.

[Buck Sexton]

It's Jesse Kelly only on 710 WO. The Voice of New York.

[Donald Trump]

710 WO.

[Liz Warner]

It is now 88 degrees at 12:30. Good afternoon, I'm Liz Warner. New York City mayoral nominee Zoran Mamdani now trying to distance himself from the phrase globalize the intifada. Some 30 NYPD rookie cops staying on the job after being alleged that they should have been disqualified prior to being hired. The PBA prevailed in that instance. President Trump says the media and some Republicans are now wasting their time on what he's calling the Epstein hoax. And New York City under another heat advisory with feel like temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees today. News sponsored by Arroyo Grande with Raymond Arroyo. He invites you to listen to his new podcast Arroyo Grande. Discover life lessons, practical advice and inspiring examples to live by. Sits down with celebrities and thought leaders you'll love. Listen to Arroyo Grande wherever you get your podcasts. Next news 1 o' clock bulletins at once. Wake up with mentee in the morning 6 till 10 tomorrow. I'm Liz Warner, 710 WO R. If.

[Buck Sexton]

You have unfiled taxes or are in debt to the irs, this is important news.

[Clay Travis]

Did you know the IRS has programs.

[Buck Sexton]

Specifically designed to help people struggling with tax debt? Powerful tax assistance programs that can save you thousands if.

[Clay Travis]

And welcome back into play and buck. And we're, we're racking and stacking a lot of your calls as well as your talk facts and and we want to hear from all of you about the subjects of the day as we always do. So we will dive into some of that. We'll Also bring you more from the Trump presser that just was going on in the Oval Office a few moments. It might actually still. I'm paying attention to the radio show we're doing. Is it still going on? It could be, but Trump is definitely addressing the, has been addressing the nation, taking questions, so we'll dive into some of that. But he mentioned this, and I saw this this morning. Ken Langone, who is the Home Depot founder, a very wealthy guy and a guy who understands business. I, you know, I gotta say, he's going on TV and he's basically saying, mea culpa. I was wrong about my concerns about the Trump presidency. Not only was I wrong about it, but I have to say that this may be the best presidency in my lifetime. And, you know, he's an older guy and here is exactly. I wanted to hear this. This is what. He's a billionaire. I feel like you would.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, yeah. And founded, where I'm from in Atlanta, Home Depot, where I'm broadcasting from right now, Home Depot, one of the great American companies. And yeah, guy is swimming in billions of dollars and kind of understands, maybe better than most retailers because so much of what he sells is predicated on construction, which gives you a good indication of how the growth of the economy is going. But, yeah, this was an incredible endorsement that he gave this morning.

[Donald Trump]

Look, I'm going to tell you right now, I am sold on Trump. In fact, I'll say this, I think he's got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best presidents ever.

[Liz Warner]

That is a real turnaround. Because you didn't want to vote for him.

[Donald Trump]

I told you the reason. I want to tell you I'm a believer what I'm seeing happening is absolutely nothing short of a great thing. And there's a beat.

[Buck Sexton]

People are walking with more bounce in there.

[Donald Trump]

It's all around.

[Clay Travis]

I think that's all true. He went on, he went on at some length there just to talk about how much Trump is, just say it, just kicking ass with the economy and with the border and doing. We talk about the difficulties as well as the victories here, but let's not forget those victories. And I think he's doing a phenomenal job in the economy. The fact that, once again, he had essentially all of the, as we say, the consensus, right, the economy saying, oh, my gosh, you can't do this tariff thing. Tariffs haven't raised prices and are bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars to the treasury. And it hasn't done the terrible things that we that we were told were going to happen despite so many people saying it. So, Clay, at some level, I will, I'll put this out there. I understand his frustration because anything that's not this, that affects 350 million people to Trump right now, I believe he does view as something of a distraction. So I get that he's frustrated because the administration is doing on the, on the big things that matter with the economy. I think we could all agree that phenomenal job so far, not only the.

[Buck Sexton]

Economy, economy, border crime, which is what he ran on as his foremost, you know, three tent poles that he was focused on, I think he has delivered in a massive way on all three of those. And I give credit. Look, one of the things, if I could go back in time, one of the things I wish I could do is I wish we gave as much credit to people for admitting when they're wrong as we do when they're right. Because admitting when you're wrong on something is, I think, a sign of intellectual health and growth. I'm wrong on things all the time. When we're wrong on this show, we try to come on and correct. And we've been wrong about a lot of things, as everybody is, especially when you're in the prediction game. But what I love about business guys and gals in general, ultimately, it all boils down to what the data shows them, right? And this Home Depot founder said, like, hey, I wasn't a Trump guy. I was not a big believer in Trump. And he now is seeing through the data that the economy is producing that he might well have been wrong. And he's going on and saying what I think is true, which is Trump has had one of the greatest six months of any president ever. And I get it. I get why Trump would be frustrated because there are distractions from that. What I would say to Trump is, and if you asked me, I would tell him this, you know, face to face, hey, you're creating some of the distractions from your super significant successes because as soon as you sat down and decided to draft something on Epstein, it's going to take away from other things that I think are more consequential. Inflation below expectations is a huge deal. Jerome Powell not lowering rates is a huge deal for you and me and everybody out there that has a home, that has a mortgage, that's buying a vehicle, that's playing paying interest rates. They have cut rates seven, eight times in the eu, I believe in the, in the last year or so, we haven't done it hardly at all. Here. And so look, is it a coincidence that Jerome Powell cut rates right before the election? I don't think so. He was trying to help Joe Biden. So the idea, in my opinion, the idea that he's an apolitical economic steward, I don't believe is true. And look, I mean, the economists are wrong over and over and over again. I believe this is five straight months where their inflation expectations have been higher than what the results have been. And so look, to me, that's the story. The economy is starting to roar. We need to have more steam. More steam would mean lower interest rates. That would help get the growth rate up. Buck, we just hit a surplus in June. Well, it's like nobody even noticed it. How much time have we spent talking about, hey, we gotta balance the budget, we gotta make sure that we're not spending more. Now I know that it's not gonna happen every month. I would love, by the way, if the economy got roaring so much that it did happen, if the tariffs ended up having the impact that Trump believes that they might, that would be an incredible outcome. But the fact that we actually didn't borrow money in June for one of the first times in years that we balanced the budget, I believe had a $27 billion surplus, that should be scream from the heavens. No, there was, I bet there wasn't a single economist in the country that said, if you asked them, hey, will there be a budget surplus in any month in 2025 during the Trump administration? I bet there wasn't one single forecast of that occurring. And it's already happened in six months. Gas prices, four year lows, the overall stock market prices, if you got a 401k record highs, all of these things are great. But you've got to be disciplined on the messaging. And I think, one, the media is not going to want to give Trump a lot of credit. Two, they're going to follow conflict and chaos. So if you sow conflict and chaos in any way in your messaging, then you're going to create, I think, a continued storyline which suggests that you haven't been as successful as you have. And I think that's where we are.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, I think that the more that people see the economy and the trajectory over all of it as well, the more understanding there'll be and maybe even people coming out and admitting that the choice between Trump and Kamala for the economy, how could that even be a choice? How could anybody, any person think, oh, yes, I wanted Kamala Harris to be making the decision. Harris couldn't, couldn't run a, you know, a food stand somewhere.

[Buck Sexton]

There's no idea how to run a profitable lemonade stand. I, I like a lot of kids do in the neighborhood. I don't think commonly she never run a business. I don't think she'd be able to do it. By the way, Larry in Thomasville has a good theory here. And by the way, have we reached out Ali to Alan Dershowitz to ask if he will come on and talk about some of these things? Okay, let's do that today. Yeah, here is Larry who wants to talk some about Alan Dershowitz. Listen.

[Pam Bondi]

Yes. Like Dershowitz said, said this weekend, it's not Trump's DOJ and the FBI of Trump that is doing the suppression of this evidence. It's the southern districts in New York and the previous administration spot for that and probably some in South Florida where the previous trial was. Some evidence was probably suppressed there. But, but they don't, they don't need to get Trump mad with his supporters. His supporters do not blame Trump and his people. They drown claim the previous bunch.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, so I think this is a good call. And again, we'll reach out to Alan Dershowitz. This is why I'm focused. There's two different stories to me. There is the Epstein story, which has been, I mean, it's 20 years in the making. People have covered it ad infinitum. There's lots of uncertainties. Was he intelligence asset, was he not? How substantial is the larger ring of criminal perpetuity that surrounds him outside of Jelaine Maxwell and Epstein himself, all of those things, you can dive into them, deep dives, all those things. I think there's also the messaging side, which is what he's calling about. If Pam Bondi and Cash Patel and Dan Bongino and Trump, after reviewing all of these files, had had a big press conference and they had answered every question and they said, guys, we went over everything in here with a fine tooth comb. Uh, we are going to release as much as we possibly can. And what we have uncovered here is there's nothing that can be criminally charged against anybody else. We can't speak to what evidence might have existed before. Certainly if any new evidence comes out. I think people, I'm curious how you think this would have gone, Buck. I think people would have been upset, but I don't think they would have had the expectation, based on the binders and all the comments from, from Bondi that charges were coming and there was going to be some grand revelation here. It's managing communication wise. This story that I think has been a failure beyond a shadow of a doubt.

[Clay Travis]

Well, a huge problem has been the, the on the one side of the equation promising massive transparency. Look, this is why I didn't like the, oh, the JFK files, the MLK Jr files. We're going to unseal those and there's going to be big things in there too, because there's not. I knew there wasn't in that. I know people are now saying, oh, the CIA killed jfk. Please, this is not something. Maybe you can believe that, but that hasn't been proven based on these new files that are out and even beyond that in those cases too. I just want to say, okay, so what do we. Everybody involved would be dead. Like what would we even do about that? Even if that were theoretically true. But I don't want to. I know the problem is your point.

[Buck Sexton]

And I think this is important. If there were truly earth shattering things in files on JFK or RFK or any of those, the idea that it would have stayed buried or not been destroyed for 50 years is what I've.

[Clay Travis]

Been saying all along. Okay, anybody. There are people that have access that would know these things and they would have smuggled it out. Just thinking, look at some of the stuff that has been leaked. Everybody. I mean I was in the CIA when the whole black site thing was leaked. I mean stuff that's supposed to be kept really, really secret has gotten to the press. Big juicy stories get to the press. Now the Epstein thing is different because at different layers of the Justice Department there have clear. And it's recent still. There have been efforts. We're talking about the 2019 Raider assassin. This is recent stuff, right? This isn't 50 years of sitting in files. People could see nobody cares anymore. And so when they say there's going to be a huge revelation and then there's not, that's not good, that's a problem. And that's where a lot of this has come from. So I understand, I get it. I just. Other than just sitting around and speaking about the frustration, we can advise what we think should happen which is make more stuff transparent or do a press conference. Beyond that, the people in charge are the people in charge and they determine what gets released. We don't get, you know, we're not, I'm not sitting on any documents. I, if I were, you would know.

[Buck Sexton]

I think the challenge that you're in now, and I'm just being candid, is if you release every single file in the entire Epstein file. I'm saying that that happens a ton of people are going to say for sure not enough. Right. There is no way to satisfy the demand now short of frog walking perpetrator style. People out in handcuffs, associ with it.

[Clay Travis]

Well, we got Todd in Louisville, Kentucky wants to talk to us about this. Todd, let's, let's go for it. What do you got?

[Pam Bondi]

All right, guys, this couple angles Trump. Here's what aggravated me about all of it and it's Trump campaigned on it vociferously. Constant. We're going to get to the bottom of it. Constant. Now, when all the information when it came out, Bondi said there was Bondino, there's no there there. Mattel, Bondi come out, but the one that kind of killed me because all of them were in, they're all in sync and I think they've done a wonderful job. I'm behind them a million percent. This doesn't bother me at all, but it's aggravating to me when I hear Trump when he was asked a week and a half ago what they're still talking about that like it's something that hadn't been mentioned in five years. He just got off the campaign trail for months talking about it. And just that, that to say that the other angle. I love Trump. Hey, make no mistake, Bongino Patel and Bondi are appointed by Trump. A lot of people said, oh, Bonzino knows he'll come right out. No, he won't because he knows that Trump will drop the hammer. He can fire him on the spot, get rid of them. I'm not saying people would, would sacrifice their, their goodness. I'm just saying with putting information out that ain't going to matter here or there if he tells them.

[Buck Sexton]

I, I think thank you for the call. We got to go to a break. But let me say this, and I think, Buck, you would sign off on that. I agree with quite a lot of what he was saying, but I do believe that Bongino Cash, I don't know Pam Bondi well enough, but I think if those guys had evidence of crimes that were being committed and they were told, hey, you can't prosecute people, I think they would resign. I think they would leave. I don't think that they would not charge pedophiles with sex crimes. That's my personal opinion. Some of you can disagree. I think they would resign if they were given that instruction. Look, the IFCJ is trying to fight because the ongoing battles in the Middle east are so significant. Your gift to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has helped countless civilians in need. Your next gift will help provide wide scale food distribution along with critical first aid and emergency supplies. Items will help Israel's most vulnerable the sick, the elderly, children and families. IFCJ is there in Israel working tirelessly with your donations. Your gift today will help place new bomb shelters across Israel along with necessary supplies for existing bomb shelters. Now's the time to save and heal Israel's innocent and most vulnerable. To rush your gift, call 888-488-IFCJ. That's 888488 IFCJ. You can also go online at IFCJ.org that's IFCJ.org want to be in the Know when you're on The Go the Team 47 podcast Trump highlights from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clan Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Clay Travis]

Sean Hannity Coming up today at 3 on WOR.

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis BUCK Sexton SHOW. All right, come back at the next top of the next hour. We're going to talk about Joe Biden, one of his top advisors, Anthony Bernal, also Jill Biden's top advisor taking the fifth and why I think all of this combined with the Biden doctor doing it as well. But I will read some of the messages. All right, Karen says you just said the more you talk about the issue, the bigger it becomes. So why do you keep talking about it? Well, the president talked about it, so I feel like we probably have to talk about it.

[Clay Travis]

When the president's talking about it in a press conference as we're on air, I think it makes it a news thing to talk about. I think that's fair.

[Buck Sexton]

But I'm going to read these. The Democrats had four years to release anything on Epstein. Why is the Trump administration being demonized over this issue? Seems to me me you're helping keep this non issue alive by making it a focus every day. I don't care if Epstein was murdered or killed himself and I can happily live the rest of my life without seeing the list. Please give it a rest. Another email, uh, every minute. This is from Bob. Every minute you continue to talk about a four year old Epstein story does exactly what the Democrats and the liberal media want, exactly what Trump said today. They do not want to talk about everything he is doing to move the country forward. The legacy media wants you guys doing their bidding. Move on. If Bongino has his underwear and a knot, move on from him. Also, most of us are tired of the smoke and the mirrors, by the way. Okay, we're now gonna get deluged in the exact opposite side. But those are the most recent emails we just got. We come back Anthony Bernal update on what his testimony was, why I think it was significant. NPR and pbs, a tax rescission package being voted on in the United States Senate. And we will talk about that and more all coming your direction. We'll also take your calls, 800-282-2882 and you can continue to let us know what you think. Those are both VIP emails that I just read and we will bring you the absolute latest there as well. I was down in Atlanta. I hope you guys got to watch the All Star game. I'm still in Atlanta. The Hank Aaron Memorial that they did last night was fabulous. If you haven't seen that. You want something uplifting and you're a sports fan. We'll link that up on Clay and Buck as well. Really well done by the Braves Major League Baseball. We'll be back right after this. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the front lines of truth. Jesse Kelly tears it up. Weeknight 6 to 9 on 710 W.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

Having trouble sleeping?

[Donald Trump]

It could.

[Buck Sexton]

Be.

[Elahe Izadi]

When I listen to the news, here's what I want to know. Why this story matters, who's at the center of it, and how the reporters uncovered it. And as a journalist, I want to make sure that's what you get, too. I'm Elahei Izadi, co host of the podcast Post Reports. Every weekday, my colleagues and I at the Washington Post give you the context you need on the biggest stories. Health care tariffs, artificial intelligence. We've got you covered.

[Pam Bondi]

Covered.

[Elahe Izadi]

Look for Post Reports wherever you listen to podcasts.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

This is an I Heart podcast.