Hour 1 - Is Social Media A Problem?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Hour 1: Is Social Media a Problem?

Date: July 2, 2026
Host: Clay Travis (Buck Sexton out for July 4th preparations)

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Overview:

This episode is a solo hour with Clay Travis as he examines the role of social media in shaping national mood, political trends, and personal well-being—especially among young people. With signature directness and historical context, Clay argues that social media is a root cause of rising anger, envy, and the allure of socialism in American culture. He draws comparisons to past eras, asserts the value of capitalism and growth, and takes calls to illustrate generational economic anxieties.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. America’s Mood: Anger and Its Roots

• Clay opens with recent political news: socialist wins in Democratic primaries across New York and Colorado, and the accompanying national mood of anger ([02:38]).
• He links current discontent to Consumer Confidence Survey data indicating Americans are "angrier than they ever have been in the history of the United States" ([04:45]).
• Quote: "There’s a level of anger in this country that I’m not sure very many of us have ever lived through before." – Clay Travis ([04:15])

2. Historical Perspective: Comparing America 200 & America 250

• Clay contrasts 1976 (America’s bicentennial) with 2026, noting improvements in inflation, unemployment, wages, and social cohesion, yet more anger now than then ([06:30]).
• Quote: “Even in the immediate aftermath of the incredibly conflict-laden Vietnam era... everybody came together in 1976, even after Watergate. Yet in 2026, we’re not seeing that.” – Clay Travis ([07:10])

3. The Core Thesis: Social Media’s Transformation of Expectations and Community

• Clay argues that happiness used to be localized: people compared themselves to neighbors, not global influencers ([09:15]).
• He references the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses” and the cultural phenomenon of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” and “MTV Cribs,” contrasting them with today’s influencer economy ([09:26]–[11:58]).
• Social media, he says, has wired people to constantly compare themselves to unattainable standards, breeding discontent and envy ([12:35]).
  • Example: “Instead of being connected to your community, a lot of people have no idea who their neighbors are. They don’t go to church. Your community suddenly became your phone.” ([12:55])
• Young people’s milestones, like getting a driver's license, have lost their allure—“their lifestyle isn't in the world, it’s in their phone.” ([13:26])

4. Political Consequences: Rise of Socialism as Emotional Reaction

• Clay links social media–driven anger to the surge of socialism among Democrats and young voters ([14:05]).
• He contends that this leads to policies based on envy, not rational analysis, with Democrats “trying to sate anger by selling a bill of goods that is actually going to make everything worse.” ([14:25])
• Quote: “The only problem with socialism is every time it has been tried... it actually leads to worse outcomes.” ([14:46])

5. Call-In Segment: Economic Frustration & Generational Angst

• Caller (Matt from Oklahoma) [21:43]: Discusses younger oil workers’ inability to buy homes, frustration with entitlement programs, and both parties’ failures.
  • Clay’s response: Recognizes widespread economic anxiety but insists each generation worries about affording homes. He promises to provide "positive data" after the break ([22:45]).
• Quote: “I tweeted at my friend Tomi Lahren—Democrats are wrong on everything, but unfortunately Republicans are pretty much incompetent when it comes to fixing the things Democrats are destroying.” ([22:47])

6. Positive Data & The ‘Bigger Pie’ Argument

• Clay shares a Wall Street Journal stat: 440,000 Americans became millionaires in 2025 (1,200 daily), and the murder rate is at a historic low ([24:15]).
• He elaborates on the metaphor of the economy as a pie—Democrats view wealth as static and seek redistribution, while conservatives emphasize expanding the pie ([27:00]).
  • “The reality is, and the story of capitalism is, we have to keep making bigger pies. That’s how everyone gets wealthier, by making more.” ([28:45])
  • Critiques calls to ‘take from the rich’ as missing the point of economic growth ([29:12]).

7. Mental Health, Social Media, and Youth Crisis

• Data: “One in three girls have thought about killing themselves, teenage girls, in the past year. One in three.” ([33:11])
• Clay attributes much of this to social media’s distortion of reality and self-image, with young people yearning for filtered, inauthentic lives ([34:10]).

8. Republicans’ Messaging Failure

• Clay laments that Republicans are poor communicators and unable to “connect with the story” in the way Democrats (or “communists pretending to be socialists”) do for emotional appeal ([36:35]).
• Quote: “Ultimately, you have to connect with the story and you have to make people understand through story what’s going on. And I think Democrats are doing a better job of it right now.” ([37:58])

9. Final Calls & Listener Perspectives

• Caller (Kurt from Southern California) [44:58]: Hard-working, self-made, high-school educated, runs a suicide awareness org for military and youth; strongly agrees with Clay on social media as a source of distress.
• Clay thanks him and says he’ll return after the break to continue the discussion.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media and Satisfaction:
  “You knew that you weren’t probably going to have the life that Robin Leach showed you on ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’... But because [influencers] are on your phone, their entire basis is making you think the influencer is like you… Suddenly, people began to get angrier and angrier.” – Clay Travis ([11:15])

• On Teen Mental Health:
  “You can’t tell me that teenage girls today have a worse life than they did in 1986… but they feel like they do. Why? Social media.” – Clay Travis ([33:25])

• On Economic Messaging:
  “Taking presumes that you have a fixed piece, right?… The reality is… we have to keep making bigger pies.” – Clay Travis ([28:45])

• On National Stakes:
  “If our economy isn’t growing and if we aren’t the shining city on the hill, there is no one else to look to. It’s us.” – Clay Travis ([39:45])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:38 – Clay opens with recent political news and national mood.
• 04:15 – Discusses Consumer Confidence Survey and national anger.
• 07:10 – Historical comparison: America 1976 vs. 2026.
• 09:15–12:58 – Social media’s shift of expectations and community.
• 13:26 – Kids and shifting priorities due to life online.
• 14:05–16:30 – Political consequences: rise of socialism.
• 21:43–22:45 – Caller Matt on home ownership and generational economics.
• 24:15–29:12 – Millionaire stats, “bigger pie” metaphor, positive data.
• 33:11–34:10 – Teen mental health crisis and social media.
• 36:35–37:58 – Republican messaging failure and storytelling.
• 44:58–45:51 – Caller Kurt affirms Clay’s points, details his own experience.

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Conclusion

Tone: Clay Travis maintains a blend of urgency, historical perspective, and conversational accessibility, often reiterating the gravity he feels around America’s direction and the role of social media-induced anger. He ends the hour determined—hopeful about the country’s fundamentals, but deeply concerned about cultural currents, the influence of social media, and the ability of conservatism to offer a resonant alternative.

For Listeners: This episode is essential for those interested in the intersection of technology, psychology, economics, and politics. Clay’s big-picture analysis connects cultural, economic, and political dots in a way that’s accessible and provocative, even for those who haven’t followed every recent headline.

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(Skip to [13:26], [21:43], and [28:45] for the strongest encapsulations of Clay’s views on social media, youth frustration, and the philosophical divide over economic policy.)

Transcript

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Welcome in we are here on the Thursday edition headed into America 250. I am your fearless host, Clay Travis. Buck is out getting ready for America 250. We will both be back together on Monday. If the audio sounds a bit different, it is potentially because of a little glitch that is underway right now. Hopefully we're gonna be able to fix at my studio. Just FYI, there are many different things that we are tracking. I'm excited to be back with all of you. I am super tan. Had the family in Hawaii we had never been before. And I may talk a little bit about that before all is said and during the course of the program. But there were a bevy of big news stories that came down so far this week. The Supreme Court decisions have been by far the biggest story that is out there. But I do believe that sometimes getting away and not being immersed in the same way in the daily obsession of one moment to another of what's going on in the news cycle in the same way can be somewhat helpful. Because sometimes with distance comes clarity. Some of you probably have experienced that. They sometimes say the best place that you can think, and I'm sure many of you have experienced this, is in the shower these days because it's one of the only places where you can't actually be reached. So you have complete isolation in some way. And so I was out in Hawaii, long into the, into the Pacific Ocean, awesome place. And I saw the results coming back in, not only of the Supreme Court decisions, but also of everything that was surrounding the choices that were being made in the primary season and everybody out there that is paying attention to what's going on in New York City. I think unfortunately, New York City has been and is a harbinger of what we are likely to face not only in this midterm election, but potentially in 2028. And I think what happened in the first district of Colorado solidified that what's happening in New York City is not only happening in New York City and New York State, it is resonating across the entire country. In Colorado this week, in case you missed it, we had a 15 term incumbent, a 30 year effectively Democrat congresswoman, lose to a 29 year old socialist. In New York City, we had three socialists endorsed by Mamdani, end up defeating three sitting Democrat congressmen and women. And the result has been that four Socialists have now won in the Democrat Party. What's going on there? I think it is such an important story. And as we come up on America 250, I see all of these as intertwined. Socialists are on the march in the Democrat Party because people are angry. And when people are angry, they often don't make rational decisions. They're just angry. And I think this ties in with the consumer confidence survey that came out from Michigan that we talked about some on the program. I think all of these threads directly connect and I think what they lead back to is there's a level of anger in this country that I'm not sure very many of us have ever lived through before. And some of you are going to say, okay, Clay, what exactly why do you think that's going on? I think the evidence is all out there that people are just angry. And the data from the Michigan survey says that people are angrier than they ever have been in the history of the United States. We've talked some on this program. Many of you lived through America 200. And we've talked about the fact that on an objective basis, things in America 250 are much better than things were for America 200. And as a history guy, let me just kind of run through a few of those things. Inflation was through the roof in 1976. Unemployment was much higher. The average income that people were earning was a fraction of what people are earning today. And yet people all came together in 1976, even in the immediate aftermath of the incredibly conflict laden Vietnam era. Richard Nixon had just stepped down after the Watergate investigations. Yet 1976 everybody came together in a way that frankly we're not seeing today. So what's going on? I think what has happened is, and some people disagree with me on this. And by the way, you're welcome to weigh in 800-282-2882, because I'm thinking big picture here as we come up on America 250. I think what's happened is social media has changed people's expectations. Remember back in the day when the phrase keeping up with the Joneses was paramount? And for those of you who somehow have forgotten that, or maybe you're so young you've never even heard that phrase. The idea was somebody in your neighborhood gets a new car or somebody in your neighborhood does something to their house and you are looking at what they are doing in your neighborhood and you're thinking, boy, we've got to keep up with them. We got to get a new car. We've got to do something with an above ground pool. Maybe it was we've got to keep up with our neighbors. And when people back in those days, as they did, and frankly many of the time they still do, people tended to live in neighborhoods with people of a similar socioeconomic status as them. And when they didn't, when you suddenly had more success or less success, you left the neighborhood that you were in and you were surrounded by other people who were more like you. And as part of the way that you would spend your time, you might sit down on the couch back in the day and you might put on a program called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach. Do you remember that? And some of you who are even younger, you may remember back in the day used to sit down and used to put on the sort of Gen X equivalent of that show, which was the not only Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach, you would sit down and you would watch Cribs on mtv. Do you remember watching Cribs on MTV back in the day? And how you would watch some rich, famous rock star or young pop culture celebrity, and they would walk around in their home similar to what Robin Leach did with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. And as you would sit there and you would watch them, you would think, as Fitzgerald said back in the day, the rich are not like you and me. I'm paraphrasing that phrase. But the rich are different. You might judge yourself by your neighborhood, you might judge yourself by people you went to church with or people you went to school with, but by and large, you had a lot in common with all those people. What changed? And by the way, people were mostly happy. People were, according to the data, much, much happier. If you sat and you watched Lifestyles and the Rich and Famous, you weren't angry. You understood that those hundred millionaires and those billionaires were very different than you. And you didn't expect that you should have a life that was similar to them. You might aspire to it, you might desire to have it, but you didn't expect that you would have that lifestyle. And so as you sat and watched Lifestyles in the Rich and Famous and you judged your socioeconomic status by the people that surrounded you in your community, by and large, people were mostly happy. And then social media just exploded in our phones. And all of a sudden you were looking at the lifestyles of other people, but they were selling to you as a whole basis of their life. I'm an influencer. You can have this, too. But most of the time, you couldn't have it. You weren't going on the vacation that influencers were going on. You probably weren't flying on a private jet. You might not have the clothes, you might not have the shoes. You didn't have that. But because it was on your phone, because the entire basis of the influencer economy is to make you think that the influencer is like you. Suddenly, people began to get angrier and angrier because they saw the wealth that others had on Instagram, on TikTok, on Facebook, on Twitter, and they thought to themselves, why do those people have it and I don't? And think about this. Instead of being connected to your community, a lot of people have no idea who their neighbors are. They don't go to church. Your community suddenly became your phone. You know, kids today don't even want to get their driver's license. Do you remember when you turned 16, what a huge deal that was to be able to go take your driver's license test? Do you remember how excited you were for your friends to get their driver's license? Somebody had an early birthday, somebody was the oldest in the grade, and suddenly they could drive and you could go places and you had freedom. You know, kids today don't even want to get their driver's license often.

[E]

Why?

[D]

Because their lifestyle isn't in the world. It's in their phone. And what it shows, the data is the more time you spend scrolling on your phone, the less time you actually are increasing your happiness because you're judging your life based on people that are not like you. And then from inside of these phones, you're also being fed constant, constant propaganda, and many people don't recognize it. Why has the Democrat Party suddenly decided that America is awful? Whatever you think about America, the story of America's growth from 1976 to today is actually one of incredible success. America, I really do believe this, in 2026 for most people, is far better than America was in 1976. So why were Americans so much more excited to celebrate the 200th anniversary of this country than we are to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this country? It's social media. It has changed the wiring of everybody's brains. It's changed how everybody thinks this technology has just exploded in our lives and the data reflects that. People don't know how to deal with it. You knew that you weren't probably going to have the life that Robin Leach showed you on Lifestyles the Rich and Famous. You knew that you weren't going to have the life that you saw on MTV Cribs. You knew that you probably weren't going to date Carmen electra or Jenny McCarthy or Pamela Anderson or any of those 1990s era pinups that all of us around my age grew up loving. Those girls. And when you're angry, when you look and you say, why don't I have that? The politics of envy and resentment work, but also anger leads to people making choices, oftentimes not rational choices. The only problem with socialism is every time it has been tried, especially in this version of socialism, which is closer to communism, it actually leads to worse outcomes. Was reading this morning about rent control in New York City. It's going to mean that everybody has less access to homes to rent and that by and large the overall outcome is worse than if the government did nothing at all. Democrats are trying to sate anger by selling a bill of goods that is actually going to make everything worse. That's where we're headed here at America 250. And I see this as all being directly connected. And I think it ultimately found its root even through social media in the way that we teach history, which is something else that I have been thinking about a lot because of America 250 being here soon. And I'm going to break all this down for you. We've got a couple of guests coming your way. But I hope all of you, many of you probably off on the holiday, many of you probably traveling already. I hope all of you are having a fantastic day. And if the audio is a little bit different than it ordinarily is, we are working on trying to get that fixed for all of you. But I want to tell you, Pure Talk is a way to save an absolute bundle. You can be glad that and you can know Consumer Reports this past month said PureTalk was the number one cell phone company out there, beating out AT&T Verizon T Mobile. It's better and it's cheaper. That's a heck of a combo 5 star tally when it comes to coverage, customer support, value data and the Consumer Reports study reinforces we've been telling you for a long time. Plus PureTalk shares your values. They're giving $250,000 for America's Warrior partnership. In fact, Clint Romeshaw, former staff sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient, joining us at 1:30 Eastern today to talk more about this and also about the battles that he has fought and what he's trying to do for veterans. No service contracts, no cancellation fees, just phenomenal US customer service on the 5G network that powers America. £250, say Clay and Buck to make the switch to PureTalk, a wireless company that actually lives up to your expectations. You can keep your same phone and your same phone number. £250 say clay and Buck. Laugh, learn, hang with the guys right there when you need them most Clay and Buck just preset them on the iHeart app.

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[D]

Welcome back in. Clay and Buck take some of your calls today for sure as we roll into America250 and Matt in Oklahoma's got a an interesting take here. Matt, appreciate the call.

[E]

Fire away.

[H]

Appreciate you having me on. The comment that I wanted to make is I work in the oil industry and I do work with several younger men that are 25 to 30 years old and they make pretty good money but none of them can afford a house. They're all upset about that. They're tired of renting. They're also looking at their future of being able to retire and they're all highly concerned about that here. They're going to spend the next 20 to 30 years of their lives putting money in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Are they going to have anything to show for that? They're tired of the government spending all of their money. You've got these Democrats who open the borders, let all these illegals in and turn around and give all of our money to them.

[D]

Yep.

[H]

And then for the last 10 or 15 years you have these Republicans who stand around with their hands in their pockets and don't really care because hey, that's cheap labor for their companies.

[D]

Thank you for the call and I'm gonna dive into some of this. I tweeted at my friend Tomi Lahren this week that Democrats are wrong on everything, but unfortunately Republicans are pretty much incompetent when it comes to trying to fix the things that Democrats are destroying. And I understand the frustration out there. I think in addition to social media lifestyle concerns and I would point out that every generation thinks that they're never going to be able to afford homes. I'm the last Gen X year. Everybody in Gen X thought we were screwed. Everybody in the millennials thought they were screwed. The data actually reflects that. Oftentimes people are in front of I'll talk about that data where others have been in the past and I've also got some very positive data. But I'll tell you more about that when I come back and I want to tell you putting a self protection tool in the hands of a college bound child that can make A lot of sense. That's what Sabre is all about. 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Why is it having success? 800-282-2882. So the economic realities are, I think, omnipresent in a way on social media that they were not in the past. I do believe that social media is a big part of why young people in particular are filled with angst. They're angry and they feel like socialism, even though it has largely failed because we're closer to moving towards communism than we are socialism. And that is the reality that Democrats don't want to acknowledge, that they don't really believe in socialism. They believe in communism. And again, I've got big thoughts on history and what it represents. But here is what I would say about the, about the big picture economic situation. I saw a stat from the Wall Street Journal yesterday, I believe it was, and I took a picture and I thought to myself, man, why isn't this making a bigger story? You just heard and I understand that there's economic angst out there. A lot of times you see the negative side of things, not the positive. This is pretty incredible. This year, Last year, in 2025, in the first year of Donald Trump's presidency, over 440,000 people, that is 1200 people a day, became millionaires for the first time ever. In 2025, 440 thousand people became millionaires. 1200 a day seems like a pretty good stat. And in 2025, we had the lowest recorded murder rate of all time. We had and still have all time record high stock market prices. We have inflation that has come back down substantially from, remember, it was 9.2% just four years ago under Joe Biden in this newest month, meaning coming forward with gas prices. Plummeting gas prices, by the way, you notice that you're not seeing it on CNN or on MSNBC anymore. Gas prices today, as I'm speaking to you, price of futures oil, a barrel of oil is actually cheaper now than it was before the situation in Iran started again. The storyline is gone. There are now, According to this, 23.6 million Americans that are millionaires. 23.6 million Americans. And this is going back to 2025. 1200 people a day, 440,000 people last year. Maybe some of you listening to me right now were in that category. What does that represent? The way to make everyone have a better life is not to take from people and try to give to others. Because taking, and this is the analogy and the metaphor that, that I am committed to and I think it's so important. Taking presumes that you have a fixed piece, right? If we think about the entire economic picture as one pie, either a pizza or my favorite BlackBerry cobbler, Buck has an awful taste. I'm going to count cobbler as a pie. If we think about it, I like pecan pie. Whatever your favorite pie is, whether it's a pizza pie or whether it's a sweet. Think about whatever your favorite pie is. If you think about it as a fixed object and you presume that in order to get more, you have to take from someone else. That is the democrat, socialist, communist worldview. There is a pie. Rich people are taking too much of that pie. We have to take from the rich and give to people that are not as rich. What it's focused on is a set piece of pie being reallocated. It is one pie. It is not an expanding pie. The reality is, and the story of capitalism is we have to keep making bigger pies. That's how everyone gets wealthier, by making more. Communism, largely socialism, it is focused on the idea that there is a fixed amount of asset and that we have to make sure that everybody gets their fair share. And the way we do it is by taking it from those who have more and giving it to those who have less. The problem is that eliminates and ignores the reality of how you got the pie in the first place, which is by capitalism, by unlocking individual talent to encourage people to produce more. It's all about growth. Everything in the entirety of our economy is predicated on we have to grow more. Growth is how you increase everybody's overall life from an economic perspective. And I'm actually optimistic that things are going very well. My concern is the disconnect between the reality of things getting better and the fact that many people in the country believe that things are getting worse because that can lead to you making a worse choice. Right. It's as if you are overweight and your thought is, well, I'm overweight. The way to solve this is to eat more. Democrats are selling to unhappy people a worldview and a political world that is actually going to make everything that they're frustrated about worse. But because so many young people have not lived through the failures of left wing economics, they don't know any better. And they're angry and they're just lashing out. And this is why we're going to have real significant consequences in terms of the choices that we're going to have to make in 2026 here in November, but also in 2028. This, this story that I think Republicans do a really poor job of is we believe in making more. At its root, capitalism is the greatest wealth creator that has ever existed in the history of humanity. The reason why the United States is uniquely wealthy compared to every other country in the history of the world is because we embrace fear.

[E]

Sorry.

[D]

We embrace fearlessness and we embrace risk taking and we embrace creating more. And if you are focused on the idea of the United States as a finished product, you end up with Mom Donnie getting on social media and telling everybody, hey, turn your air conditioning to 78 degrees and sweat it out. Because we're worried about whether we have enough. We're worried that we don't have enough. So we need everybody to give up what they have. This is ruination. It is a path to ruination because you're not creating more, you're not building more. And one way I've heard this summed up that I think is really well said and I think we should talk about it more makers versus takers. There's people who make, there's people who build, and there's people who take from the work that others do. And Democrats are selling to the takers. Oh, we'll just take more. You know, our federal budget is massive. It has grown inordinately since basically Covid. I think we're spending $2 trillion a year more now than we did in Covid. And you've got the Elizabeth Warren's of the world on social media saying, well, if we just took more of what Elon Musk has, if we just took more of Elon's money, we could solve X or we could solve Y. And the Republican Response should be, if we had better communication. Well, you got 2 trillion more dollars than you had before, COVID You don't know how to spend the money that you have. The issue with the federal government is not that the federal government doesn't have enough. I think that's the federal government has too much. If we cut federal government spending in half, most of us would see no impact at all, and we would actually create more growth. I just. I'm frustrated sometimes with the communication because the essence of success is grow, grow, grow. Remember when Sarah Palin said, drill, baby, drill, and everybody got mad at her? Drill, baby, drill. You know the reason why the economy didn't collapse during the Iran Strait of Hormuz crisis? Because we're the largest producer of energy now, oil and gas, in the world, because we drilled, baby, drill. And we created more. We have to grow. The way everyone is able to have more. The way everybody's life becomes better is with the overall economy growing. The government can't solve any of this. But Democrats, and I think, again, I think this is directly rooted. I think this is directly rooted in the failure of Republicans to communicate well. And I think this is connected to social media. I really do. I think social media in general has created more angst, more. More discomfort. You know, one in three girls have thought about killing themselves, teenage girls, in the past year. One in three. You can't tell me that teenage girls today have a worse life than they did in 1986 or in 1996 or in 2006, but they feel like they do. Why social media? And so Democrats are taking advantage of this anger that is emanating, I think, through social media, this resentment, this disdain over your inability to have the lifestyle of someone that you see on social media, which isn't really reflective of their life, by the way, because by and large, social media doesn't reflect what is really going on in people's lives. It's the curated version of it. I don't even know how to filter a photo. Can we have cut a. I probably should know how to filter a photo. Cut a. I'm sitting here. First thing that somebody wants to talk about. I got back late last night from vacation. I sat down, I did Sean Hannity's phone, the Sean Hannity show. One of y' all picked up their phones, and you said that I looked like play. Cut a. Oh, my gosh, Clay. I just turned on the TV to watch the World cup, and then Bill de Blasio came on Fox News, and I thought it was you. You have an uncanny, uncannily resemblance. I look like Bill de Blasio. I need to know how to filter a lot. If I sat around worried about what I look at, look, look like all the time. You didn't call in and say, hey, I thought I saw Brad Pitt on television. I thought to myself, you know what? That's Clay Travis. I saw Tom Cruise and I thought, oh, just for a sec. Oh, that's Tom. No, that's not Tom Cruise. That's Clay Travis. Bill de Blasio. This is like the worst looking, goofiest person in the history of politics. This is who I look like. I should certainly know how to create a filter. I don't know how to do anything. Every filter. Clay, Clay, you look fat Clay, like you look old Clay. I don't know how. I probably could make myself look skinny and probably can make myself look young. I don't even know how to do it. But by the way, it would be artificial. For better or worse, I am what I am. And I think so much of the lack of authenticity is steeped now in young people's lives. And Democrats are using it. It's what all mom Donnie is selling. All mom Donnie is selling is you're not having the success you want because of what rich people are doing to you. We're gonna take from the rich and we're gonna give to you. It's not a solution because it doesn't grow anything. It presumes that America is fixed and that we cannot continue to grow faster. And anyway, I am fired up about this. And again, going away. Sometimes you can think big picture more instead of getting into the intricate little details of what's going on. Ultimately, you have to connect with the story and you have to make people understand through story what's going on. And I think Democrats are doing a better job of it right now. I do. And scarily, it's not even Democrats. It's communists pretending to be socialists so they can get to power. We got a real battle we gotta fight, and it's a significant one. And the consequences are severe if we lose. In fact, the entire country. Sorry to take you into 250, but if we're not growing, we're the last beacon of liberty in the world. If our economy isn't growing and if we aren't the shining city on the hill, there is no one else to look to. It's us. We got to do a better job. As the Tunnel of the Towers foundation marks its 25th anniversary, its commitment to our nation's Heroes remains as strong as ever through its Smart Home program. The foundation honors heroes by building mortgage free specially adapted smart homes for severely injured veterans and first responders. Heroes like U.S. army Specialist Stephen Travis Maxwell. Following the attacks of 9 11, Maxwell was inspired to serve enlisted in the army just six months later. As a member of the Patriot Reconnaissance Team, Maxwell provided support for mine detection, missile systems and radar placement until injuries sustained in combat caused significant long term health injuries. His previous home posed daily challenges due to limited accessibility. Thanks to the Foundation, Maxwell now lives in a mortgage free specially adapted home designed to meet his exact needs. Support heroes like Sergeant First Class Maxwell visit t2t.org consider donating $11 a month. Additionally, you can make a meaningful impact by donating your car or land. That's T the number two T.org tunnel the towers do good and never forget

[C]

Looking for normal in a world of

[D]

crazy Clay and Buck have your back. The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show podcast is proud to be supported by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, non profit Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. GCU doesn't settle for the status quo, they shatter it at gcu.

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[B]

This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

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[G]

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[D]

Got a positive story. We come back top of the next hour. I don't know how many of you watched the US beat Bosnia Herzegovina last night, but it was awesome. And the US men's soccer team has managed to do the incredible. They have people in Seattle and San Francisco all decked out in red, white and blue chanting usa. Usa. Usa. That is a positive. I will talk about that a bit at the top of the next hour. Kurt in Southern California. I was there in Southern California yesterday. Kurt, what you got for me?

[I]

Yeah, well, welcome to higher taxes and growth. To not the people, but I guess the government again, right?

[D]

Yeah, no doubt.

[I]

I, I, I'm sitting here, you know, let me paint a picture. This morning you know, I, I woke up, I, you know, 250 year anniversary. So I'm spending a weekend down in my boat in Long beach. It's a 40 foot fishing boat, great boat, whatever you want to call it. I'm 55 years old, I wake up this morning at 6:30 in the morning to actually 6 to go help my other buddy with his boat, that's Andrea Del Rey, to put batteries in it. The reason I bring that up is I'm 55 years old. I am high school educated. I've worked my butt off. I've not looked at people to give me anything. I earn it. You work hard. I'm going to go back to what you're saying. One trillion percent on social media. I run a also a suicide awareness organization. I target military and youth.

[D]

All right, come back. Let me come back to you. Stick with us because we're finishing out the hour. More Next the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Podcast is proud to be supported by Grand Canyon University, an affordable, private, nonprofit Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. They say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. GCU doesn't settle for the status quo, they shatter it at gcu.

[F]

Academically rigorous, industry driven programs are built to move at the speed of relevance with practical skills, career readiness and opportunity for every learner. GCU believes education shouldn't be a privilege, but an affordable path forward for all.

[D]

Grounded in Christian truth, GCU works to empower the next generation to lead with integrity, serve with purpose and help transform their communities, building a future that matters. GCU is Purpose Driven education. Take action. Find your purpose at GCU. Private, Christian, affordable nonprofit. Visit GCU EDU to learn more.

[B]

This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

[A]

Experience music, performances by major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history.

[B]

It's more than just fireworks.

[A]

Join this landmark celebration and get your America's Block Party Tickets now for $17.76 at america250.org LA the first ever X

[C]

Games League Championship is going down live and New Orleans has the call. Three days of elite action sports, a season's worth of competition coming down to one final weekend. Watch July 24 through 26 on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, or stream on the ESPN app, X Games, YouTube, Kick, Roku sports channel and Amazon. The championship starts July 24. Don't miss the moment. It becomes history.

[G]

These days it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent, secure any agent. Okta secures AI.

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