Hour 1 - Mark Simone Guest Hosts

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Episode Summary Episode: Hour 1 - Mark Simone Guest Hosts
Release Date: December 27, 2024
Guest Host: Mark Simone

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1. Introduction to Mark Simone's Guest Hosting

Timestamp: [00:00 - 00:08]

Mark Simone begins the episode by introducing himself as the guest host in place of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, who are on vacation. He humorously references his own extended vacation and sets the stage for an in-depth discussion on the year's significant events.

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2. President Biden's Extended Vacations and Accountability

Timestamp: [00:08 - 11:35]

Mark Simone criticizes President Joe Biden for his unprecedented number of vacation days during his administration, claiming Biden has been on vacation for 570 days, likening it to Joe DiMaggio's record-breaking hitting streak. He asserts that much of Biden's "vacation" time is spent on the golf course or at Mar-a-Lago, where business activities continue unabated.

Notable Quote:

"570 days on vacation in one term. That is a record. That's like Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak. That's a record nobody will ever break."
— Mark Simone [05:45]

Simone warns of potential document shredding and cover-ups as Biden steps down, suggesting that incoming Trump allies may uncover significant corruption within federal departments.

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3. COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory and Government Cover-Up

Timestamp: [05:00 - 11:00]

The discussion shifts to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Simone advocating the lab leak theory and accusing the government of an intentional cover-up. He references Jon Stewart's analogy, emphasizing the proximity of the outbreak to the laboratory.

Notable Quote:

"There was a cover up. It was obviously from the lab but they deliberately covered up."
— Mark Simone [07:30]

He anticipates that future investigations under new leadership will reveal extensive corruption within the FBI and other federal agencies.

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4. Democratic Party's Internal Struggles and Future Candidates

Timestamp: [11:35 - 21:00]

Simone analyzes the Democratic Party's fragmentation, likening it to the post-Dukakis era civil war between progressives and moderates. He predicts the party will gravitate towards a mainstream candidate akin to Bill Clinton to regain stability.

Notable Quote:

"Now after he leaves and the Trump people come in there and get access to stuff... They are destroying everything they can, records they can."
— Mark Simone [10:20]

He highlights potential Democratic candidates like Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman for the 2028 election, noting their adaptability and appeal across various voter bases.

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5. Climate Reparations and Energy Policies in New York

Timestamp: [21:00 - 29:00]

Simone critiques New York's climate reparations, arguing that the state's aggressive policies are driving away energy companies and contributing to economic decline. He expresses concerns over fines imposed on fossil fuel companies and the establishment of a "climate change super fund."

Notable Quote:

"They're going to pass this in New York. It's going to be climate reparations... They'll legally just fine you."
— Mark Simone [22:15]

He compares New York's approach unfavorably to states like Florida, emphasizing the negative impact on tax revenue and the exodus of wealthier residents.

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6. Donald Trump's Potential Actions as President

Timestamp: [29:00 - 32:48]

Looking ahead to Trump's possible presidency, Simone anticipates efforts to dismantle Democratic policies, such as climate reparations and lenient crime laws. He envisions Trump leveraging federal task forces to enforce stricter law enforcement policies in cities.

Notable Quote:

"Donald Trump, he's not gonna let him do anything to McDonald's that would change that menu. It's a great menu."
— Mark Simone [27:30]

Simone is optimistic about Trump's ability to negotiate and manage federal-local relationships, potentially curbing what he views as Democratic overreach.

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7. Media Evolution: Decline of Network TV vs. Rise of Radio

Timestamp: [32:48 - 38:00]

Simone discusses the declining relevance of network television, attributing it to the rise of streaming services and the shift in viewer habits. He highlights the resilience of radio, particularly AM talk radio, which he cites as maintaining higher listener numbers compared to network TV.

Notable Quote:

"AM talk radio, 63 million listeners every day. Network TV is only 25 million people."
— Mark Simone [34:10]

He predicts that streaming services will eventually dominate, further marginalizing traditional network TV.

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8. Immigration and Deportation Policies

Timestamp: [38:00 - 45:00]

Immigration enforcement is a key topic, with Simone advocating for stringent deportation measures. He references historical deportation operations and proposes incentives for self-deportation, such as eliminating government subsidies for immigrants and imposing hefty fines on employers who hire illegally.

Notable Quote:

"1954, Eisenhower did it. They called it Operation Wetback... You can do it."
— Mark Simone [39:30]

Simone underscores the importance of aggressive policies to manage immigration, criticizing current liberal approaches that, in his view, have led to economic and social issues.

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9. Ukraine War and Defense Contracts

Timestamp: [45:00 - 50:30]

The conversation turns to the ongoing war in Ukraine, where Simone criticizes the U.S. involvement as a boon for defense contractors. He suggests that the conflict is a stalemate with no clear resolution and accuses both Democratic and Republican politicians of perpetuating it for financial gain.

Notable Quote:

"The purpose of this Ukraine war for us is defense contracts... They love handing out defense contracts."
— Mark Simone [46:15]

Simone warns that Trump might seek to negotiate an end to the conflict, which would disrupt the lucrative defense industry interests in Washington.

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10. Biden's Preemptive Pardons and Democratic Corruption

Timestamp: [50:30 - 58:00]

Simone critiques President Biden's preemptive pardons, alleging widespread corruption and backstabbing within the Democratic Party. He compares Biden's potential legal incapacities to past presidents, arguing that the pardons lack validity and are tools for entrenched political figures.

Notable Quote:

"Biden has no idea who he's pardoned. He couldn't name two people except for his son and maybe his brother."
— A Caller [55:00]

Simone anticipates further corruption revelations and underscores the Democrats' intent to distance themselves from Biden post-presidency.

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11. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Timestamp: [58:00 - End]

In his closing remarks, Simone reiterates his skepticism towards Democratic policies and expresses confidence in the resilience of radio over network TV. He briefly touches on RFK Jr.'s efforts to reform the food industry and criticizes the deep state's influence in maintaining the status quo.

Notable Quote:

"RFK Jr. Is talking about really cleaning up your food... all that stuff are banned in most other countries because they're not healthy."
— Mark Simone [57:30]

Simone wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to continue engaging with the show via social media and the iHeartRadio platform.

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Summary Highlights:

• Biden's Administration: Mark Simone criticizes Biden's extensive vacation time and suggests potential corruption and document shredding as his term concludes.
• COVID-19 Analysis: Simone supports the lab leak theory, accusing the government of a deliberate cover-up.
• Democratic Party Dynamics: The internal struggle within the Democratic Party is likened to a post-Dukakis split, with potential mainstream candidates emerging for 2028.
• New York's Climate Policies: Simone argues that aggressive climate reparations in New York are economically damaging and driving away businesses.
• Trump's Presidential Prospects: Anticipates Trump reversing Democratic policies, particularly in law enforcement and energy.
• Media Landscape: Highlights the decline of network TV in favor of streaming, while praising the enduring popularity of AM talk radio.
• Immigration Enforcement: Advocates for stringent deportation measures and criticizes current liberal immigration policies.
• Ukraine Conflict: Views the war as benefiting defense contractors and predicts Trump may seek to end it.
• Biden's Pardons: Accuses Biden of corrupt preemptive pardons, undermining their legitimacy.

This episode, hosted by Mark Simone, offers a critical perspective on the Biden administration, Democratic Party dynamics, and broader socio-political issues, interwoven with Simone's personal opinions and analysis.

Transcript

[Mark Simone]

This is the Clay and Buck Show. While Clay Travis and Buck Sexton are out, New York City's own Marc Simone is in.

[Marc Simone]

Wow. You had a special opening made just for me. Oh, my. It's Marc Simone. Normally on our big flagship here in New York, 710W O R where you can hear me on iHeart or the iHeart app. Now buck and Clay are away because this is that week. Everybody's away. Everybody on television, everybody on radio, put on any network now everybody's gone. Everybody, including me. I'm not doing my own show this week. I'm on vacation. It's a long vacation. It's like 11 days and to be honest, it's too long a vacation. So I'm here because I'm taking a vacation from the vacation. It's already five days. So I'll come back and work today, then back on vacation. We got a lot to get to the end of the year. It's the end of 2024. Boy, a lot happened this year. We'll go over some of it. And now that Biden is leaving, by the way, he's. What a shock. He's on vacation. He's in St. Croix. You know, what's the difference with a guy in his mental condition? You take him anywhere. You could take him out in the lawn and tell him it's St. Croix. He doesn't know where he is. But he set an all time record as president with this vacation. This is now 570 days of vacation. 40% of the time he was in the White House, he was on vacation. Remember when Trump played golf, Biden would make fun of him, laugh at him playing golf, you know, you know, one thing about golf, it's about four hours. And the way Trump plays, it's about two hours. And on many days it's like an hour and a half. So it's just basically going to the gym for him. He's not a gym guy, but he'll just run out in the golf course, play for an hour and a half, two hours and then back to work. And usually, if you notice the pictures of him on the golf course, he's kind of working there because he's got somebody, you know, some, somebody needs to do business with out there. So really not a lot of vacation. You, you know, he could argue how much time he spent at Mar A Lago, but look at what goes on at Mar A Lago. He's, he's got everybody down there. There's Elon Musk and there's Howard Lutnick. And there's half the cabinet and they're, they're working while they're down there with Biden. It's a real vacation. In other words, he's gone 570 days in one administration. That is a record. That's like Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak. That's a record nobody will ever break. 570 days on vacation in one term. Now after he leaves and the Trump people come in there and get access to stuff I would imagine right now more electricity is being used right now in Washington by all the paper shredders and the deleting that's going on. They're destroying documents as we speak in the FBI, in the Department of Justice, in the Health Department. They are destroying everything they can, records they can. We absolutely know that the COVID ups will have to be uncovered slowly. You get a lot of people in there. One thing about Bobby Kennedy or Cash Patel or whoever takes over the Justice Department actually would be Pam Bondi and Secretary of Defense. These guys will really dig in and really investigate. You're going to find out all kinds of stuff. And we're now learning that it wasn't intended. We're not learning we knew it. But it's being confirmed. Intentional cover up on the virus. It was a lab leak. We're now finding out that everybody that tried to prove that get to the proof was blocked and it was covered up. It was a lab leak. Obviously, as even Jon Stewart pointed out on the Daily show, if you suddenly have an outbreak of coronavirus 19 in a certain area and a block away was a laboratory working with coronavirus number 19. Obviously that's where it came from. As he said, if Hershey, Pennsylvania started having a flood of chocolate everywhere, first place you'd suspect, the Hershey factory. So it's now being confirmed left and right. There was a cover up. It was obviously from the lab but they deliberately covered up. So they'll investigate all of this. They'll find out about the corruption in the FBI. Not the great men and women of the FBI, but the top, that eighth floor, all that management, my orcas will get investigated. Democrats in huge trouble. The whole brand in trouble. This happened in 88 after the humiliating Dukakis loss. And it took the Democrats four years to come back. It was rough because what happens is there's a civil war that breaks out in the Democratic Party. Half of them actually think they weren't far enough to the left. We've got to go more woke. That's the problem. And then the other Half said, this is ridiculous. We got to get back towards the mainstream. We got to go common sense. Usually that's the half that wins out. That's what happened last time. And they decided to go more mainstream and they found Bill Clinton and that was their guy. So they have to do that this time. They're going to have to find a Bill Clinton. Now a lot of the smartest people in the Democrat and that's party, that's not a big handful, but they know that's where it's going to end up going to the common sense mainstream Democrat. So Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro is. He's like a chameleon. He's like Clinton. He's whatever way the wind is blowing. So he's going to move to the mainstream, try to be that guy. Fetterman is trying to be that guy. Now Fetterman looked crazy. He had some medical problems in a weird debate. And then of course, anytime you show up in Congress dressed for the gym with a hoodie and shorts, you're going to look nuts in Congress. But I think that's part of his routine. I think that's the idea trying to look a little quirky and weird. But you listen to him and he's very clever. He can say something liberal, he can say something conservative. He has a way of. It's like Jon Stewart, he can take either side. Like Bill Maher, he can maneuver from side to side to side. So Fetterman, look at him to be. I'm talking about 2028. Who's going to be the Bill Clinton that helps rescue the party? Josh Shapiro, Fetterman. Now the other people in the race, they've got no shot. There's Kamala Harris, she still wants to get back in. Talks about running again. Now that may be because she's right now a total loser. Who the hell wants to hire her? But that may be just to good for business because when you're the ex vice president, you hope to get a big book deal, a Netflix deal or this deal. So you got to look like you're possibly going to be a candidate again. Gavin Newsom obviously is going to run very, very tough with your state total shambles, a total disaster. Then you're going to have that Mayor Pete, that wormy little Mayor Pete. He's going to try to be the guy, I mean a totally fake, ridiculous, silly politician. Look for Whitmere, other governors that try to jump in now before it's all over, before you get to that point in the next year or two, you're gonna see Democrats totally destroy themselves. Take New York for instance. We got this crazy congestion pricing where they're gonna charge you money to drive around. Oh, you wanna go to that neighborhood? $9. Just across 60th Street. $9. This is the latest thing that the crazy Democrats of New York have come up with. We've got a governor who's an absolute babbling idiot who doesn't know what she's doing and she's desperate. She plays along with the woke left wing legislature. The new plot, climate reparations. They're going to pass this in New York. It's going to be climate reparations. So if you were an oil company, energy company, a gas company, they can now come after you for climate change reparations. It'll be in the form of fines, which means you'll have no choice. They'll legally just fine you. They're creating a climate change super fund. Now. Why are they doing this? Because it's Democrats who completely destroy a state. They get people to leave. We've lost a few million people because of all the Democratic nonsense. And the people that leave are the wealthier people, which are the key to your tax base. So it brings down the tax revenue. It's Democrats, they overspend like crazy. You know that Florida has more people than New York and their budget is half the budget of New York. Our budget is twice Florida and we don't have as many people. So they've overspent like crazy. They need money. And this is the latest scheme, this climate change superfund. Now all this would do most likely is get every single energy producer to leave New York and just again, that's a huge tax loss. So hopefully this nightmare ends. January 20th. Donald Trump comes in and besides all the great national stuff he can do, the economy, our energy production, all that, there's stuff he can do locally. He can step in and try to stop this ridiculous climate reparations or congestion pricing or all this. So he can do that. And hopefully, if Democrats won't fight crime, if they're going to allow crime all over their streets, no bail, no jail, let the criminals loose, he can do something about that. Federal task forces can be formed to go in the cities. They have to get local police to cooperate with him. But Trump's the best negotiator there is. So if the local district attorneys are nuts and they won't put you in jail. Federal task force. That way when you're arrested for shoplifting, mugging, whatever, it's a federal arrest, you go into the federal system. Where you'll definitely go to jail. Hey, we'll take some calls to 800-282-2882 is the number. Also, we'll take a look back throughout the show at 2024. The big moments of 2024, obviously, the Trump reelection, huge event, especially when you look back at the beginning of the year, and nobody thought he was going to make it. Nobody thought he had a shot in January or February except me, except Buck and Clay. Was it on this show? Yeah, it was on this show they had me on. And I predicted he would even carry New York. All right, let me put a big asterisk on that. At the time, Biden was the candidate. So at the time the prediction was made, that was Biden versus Trump. Now, it turned out to be Kamala Harris versus Trump. And that helped bring up her, the Democratic numbers in New York. She's black. She's a woman. That, that's big in New York. They love that. And still Trump, huge increase in the amount of votes he got. It's been a long time since any Republican got that many votes in New York. So, hey, we'll take some calls. 800-282-2882. It's Mark Simone here for Buck and Clay. Hey, buddy. You can follow me on Instagram. Mark Simone, NYC@Instagram. Hey, follow me on Twitter, too, now that Elon Musk has rescued Twitter and I'm not getting shadow banned anymore. Mark Simone, NY at Twitter. But we'll take some calls in just a moment. It's Mark Simone here for Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton.

[Mark Simone]

You ain't imagining it. The world has gone insane. Reclaim your sanity with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marc Simone]

Hey, welcome back. It's Mark Simone here for Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton. And we'll take some calls. Let's go to. It says Bob in Russia. Is he really in Russia? Oh, no. Let me see here. Let's go to Bob. Bob, how you doing?

[Caller]

Hello, sir. Yes, I am really in Moscow, Russia. I've been here eight years. A lot of it's due to I can get medication health care in Europe cheaper than I can get in America.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, but look at the quality of it.

[Caller]

Well, the quality in Germany. I'd take Germany and their healthcare system over. I'd take the United States at the moment.

[Marc Simone]

Well, I don't know, you know, if you got a nice job at a nice company, they give you health care here, Right?

[Caller]

But the healthcare system in America tends To be more geared at more tests, more money. Whereas in Europe it's tend to more focused on finding the problem, Solving the problem.

[Marc Simone]

I know, but here you get all kinds of tests. They got a CAT scan, they got a this, they got that, they got. It's pretty good.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Marc Simone]

It is not perfect. It's got a lot of problems, but.

[Caller]

Yeah, it's just. Well, it's the cost because the same equipment, they use the same equipment in Germany is the same equipment in the United States. Just like Ozempic. Yeah, you know, something to diagnose it.

[Marc Simone]

All right, there you go. Okay, well then explains it. You're a cheapskate. Anyway, what do you want to say? Yeah, you got it.

[Caller]

Yeah, what I was gonna say is with this fossil fuel, does Kathy Hochul and all Chuck Schumer, do they get fined for using more than they need to use by traveling privately and having these big mansions when they don't? For one or two people, they have 18, 19 room mansions. If it wasn't for them, the fossil fuels wouldn't be needed.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, that's a very good point. Excellent point. You know, we mentioned before this crazy democratic thing they're passing here in New York, climate reparations. They'll find the big oil companies, gas companies for climate change. But you got a great point there. It's the governor who flies all over the place for no reason in private jets and has a. You ever see the governor show up with this motorcade? It's a bunch of SUVs. It's a caravan of SUV. I don't see any hybrids there. It's all gas causing SUVs. You ever see Biden travel around? In fact, you want to find somebody, find Biden. I was looking at his motorcade, examining one one time the motorcade was something like 65 cars, big trucks, tank like vehicles, ambulance, a lot of SUVs. You know, coming up in January, they have this big globalist Davos conference. Davos, Switzerland. All the globalists go there. Main purpose is discuss climate change. And again, it's a running joke. They always show you the picture of literally 85 private jets on a Runway next to Davos. They caused more climate change with this conference than they could ever, ever figure out how to fix. Anyway, let's go to, let me see here. Let's go to Doc in California. Doc, how you doing?

[Caller]

I'm doing good. I want to give you the lock of the century for the 2028 election for the Democrats. You ready?

[Marc Simone]

No, hang on, give me a minute. Give me a Minute, Let me just, let me sit down here. All right, go ahead. Who?

[Caller]

Harold Ford Jr. His name is Harold Ford Jr. An ex Congressman, I think, from either Tennessee or Kentucky.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, he's a very nice guy and he's a very, you know, attractive candidate. He's a great talker. He's on the Five. He works at Fox News.

[Caller]

I was just going to say he's on the Five. He's got a little twinkle in his eye, a great sense of humor and a no nonsense guy on crime.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, well, I know the guy and I like the guy. And he'd be. He's a great guy. I don't know that he want to give up. You know, it's a pretty good job there. Over there at Fox, you make a lot of money.

[Caller]

Pretty good job. But what you're talking about is the Democrats are desperate to have a candidate that will appeal across the board. And you'll have a lot of Republicans shift towards him if they don't present a good candidate in 2028. He's a rock solid guy. I'm a Republican, but I like him and I like the way he talks.

[Marc Simone]

All right, yeah, no, he's a very good guy. Be a good candidate. But that's a big thing to give up. I don't know if he wants to give up that job and all that money. You could say to them and the Five and all that, you know, if I lose, I can come back. Of course you can come back, but you never know. It's broadcasting. Somebody fills in for you, does great and you don't come. But. So I don't know. I don't think you'd give up that job, but I hear a lot of music. 2904. A little early, right? All right, well, very like a minute and a half early, aren't you? All right, well, we'll hear a concert. We got time for one more call? No. Okay, give me 2904. I don't hear you in my head. 10 seconds. Oh, all right. We changed the time. Sorry, I don't mean to sound confused, but Mark Simone here for Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

[Mark Simone]

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the front lines of truth. Returning now to AM 1710 wors Mark Simone sitting in for Clay and Buck today.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, Clay and Buck are on vacation. Mark Simone here. Normally you can hear me on our big flagship 710W O R in New York, or you can hear me. You can get the podcasts on iHeart, the iHeart app. Anywhere you get podcasts is Maga, obviously. Maga. Now there's Maha. Maha is gonna be talked about a lot. That's make America healthier again or Make America healthy again. That's RFK Jr. Pushing that. And he's going to go after a lot of food companies and oh, I don't like this. He's talking about fast food. He said, I don't tamper with that McDonald's or all that stuff. Well, you could make it a little healthier, I guess, a little less additives and all that. But one thing about Donald Trump, he's not gonna let him do anything to McDonald's that would change that menu. It's a great menu. Now this is not good. If you're the swamp, if you're the deep state, if you're the Washington establishment, you don't want anybody fixing the food system. You remember Michelle Obama made that a big crusade, but not really. She did it like a politician where she just makes some speeches and she'd do some public service announcements about Eat Healthy and just little promotional stuff about eating healthier. Then that was it. Of course, it's just symbolic and it actually doesn't do a damn thing. RFK Jr. Is talking about really cleaning up your food. You know, when you look at the ingredients, you see names, I mean, chemical names. You don't know what the hell they are. Some of the ingredients have their own ingredients. I mean, it's the most preposterous list of additives, chemicals, artificial. So he wants to clean that up. You know, a lot of these things, you see these artificial ingredients, even the dyes, all that stuff are banned in most other countries because they're not healthy. So he wants to clean all that. He would actually end up really doing a lot of good if he did that. So the swamp, this is going to be very tough for them. I don't know. A lot of people think they're going to find all kinds of devious, horrifying ways to fight back at Trump and stop the Trump administration. But they're going to try to clean up your food. They're going to try to clean up the military industrial complex. The waste, the fraud, the bloat. This will be the ultimate battle. The people versus the deep state. We'll see what happens. And then you gotta undo all this woke Democratic crap. This no bail, no jail. Now one thing that's taken place there is a little bit of a rebellion starting. You know, this legalized shoplifting, they did that in New York, they did that in California where these kooky left wing da's literally said, we're not gonna prosecute shoplifters. We're not going to bother. And shoplifting became basically legal and it became widespread, it became organized. If you're in New York, if you're in California, the law became under $10,000. They will not prosecute you. No. Or is it a thousand? Under a thousand dollars, they won't prosecute you. So these professional shoplifting organizations formed. They recruited teenagers and all sorts of people, and they trained them, and they come into the store with their big hefty trash bag, sometimes with their own shopping cart. And they've become experts at running through a store, grabbing stuff, filling up their bag, and making sure it's not $1,000. Sometimes they can hit it almost exactly. It's like 9,000 or $995, and they'll run out with this stuff. It's so widespread that it caused a lot of stores to close. Big drugstore chains here, closing hundreds of stores in New York, California, thousands and thousands. San Francisco, almost every major retailer, chain, store has pulled out of there, just closed. They can't deal with the shoplifting. You know, normally you have a little shoplifting and it's figured into your. Into your budget. It's like 1% for loss. With the legalized shoplifting, it's become like 20%, 25%, and they can't make the numbers work. So there's one county, Orange County, California, now cracking down. They're announcing that that's it, no more shoplifting. They're now going to arrest you. They're now going to lock you up. Now, Orange county tends to be a little more conservative in California, but hopefully this is the new trend. Hopefully it. It catches on. Let's take some calls. Let's go to. Let me see here. Let's go to Todd in Michigan. Todd, how you doing?

[Caller]

You're doing great, Mark, and you're doing great. Love you listening to you. Thanks for filling in for Clay and Buck. Hey, with Ukraine, why aren't our politicians and our news media asking Europe to go in and take care of the problem in Ukraine? It's in their backyard and leave us out of it.

[Marc Simone]

Oh, For a very simple reason. The purpose of this Ukraine war for us is defense contracts. Now, the problem is Donald Trump will probably settle the war. He'll probably negotiate a settlement. That'll be the end of it. Big nightmare for the swamp, the deep state. They love handing out defense contracts. Billions and billions and billions. That's why right now, in the final weeks, Biden is rushing through weapons purchases for Ukraine. It's the last gift to the defense contractors, and they want them to have all the missiles because every time anybody fires a missile, it's 2 million bucks and it has to be replaced. It's a new defense contract. So that's the real problem. They do not want this settled. Listen, if you just stood back and looked at this, it's like Vietnam. It's a stalemate. It's never, ever going to win. Nobody's going to win militarily. It turns out the Russians aren't. There's an incredible, amazing army that we thought they had. They're basically young kids, not very well trained, not very well formed on the battlefield. And it turns out with. With enough weapons, Ukraine can defend itself. So it's a stalemate. How many years is this Ukraine war now? Is it three years, four years, five years? It's been going on forever. Nothing's ever going to change. It's just a stalemate. And why don't the Democrats realize it? Why doesn't Washington realize it? They do. They love it. It's the perfect situation. They love handing out billions and billions and billions in defense contracts. Congressmen. Hey, by the way, Republicans in Congress can be just as guilty of this because you give those big contracts out, that means you get massive donations coming in. You need to get reelected. They'll give you all the money you need. So let's go to. Let's go to Victor in California. Victor, how you doing? Hi.

[Caller]

Good morning, Mark. I'm out here in San Diego.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, it's afternoon here, but okay.

[Caller]

Oh, sorry.

[Marc Simone]

No, it's okay.

[Caller]

So I was watching the news this morning. Of course, the really got a TV now.

[Marc Simone]

Look at that.

[Caller]

The deportation is all over the news out here.

[Marc Simone]

Oh, yeah.

[Caller]

You can tell the atmosphere the media is creating for. It's going to be a PR nightmare for the Republicans. They're going to get a lot of mileage out of it. And logistically, I know it's going to be. I don't know how they're going to get millions of people rounded up.

[Marc Simone]

Oh, you know, it's not that complicated. It's. We can land men on the moon. It's not that complicated. You know, 1954, Eisenhower did it. They called it. You can't say this now, but at the time was called Operation Wetback. And in primitive 1954, he was able to deport a million and a half people in one year. You can do it.

[Caller]

I've got a suggestion. I'd like to hear your feedback about it. What if we had them create an atmosphere for self deportation? The way we do it is we eliminate all the government subsidies to any immigrants. There's no government subsidies at all. And anybody who hires an illegal immigrant as a severe penalty, like say $10,000 a person or something, and there's a real accountability for it. They don't even hire.

[Marc Simone]

No, it's a great idea. In fact, they're actually, they're actually doing this. In fact, if you watch Homan in some of these interviews, he's talking about what's going to happen if you don't leave. And he's urging people to leave and apparently it's working. People are leaving the country. Not in the big huge numbers we'd like, but you're right, he's going to get people to just scare a lot of people. You know, if you. In fact, I think Homan has said in a number of interviews, if you get out now and deport yourself, maybe we'll find a way to get you back in legally. But if you don't self deport, you'll never ever. If we have to throw you out, you're never coming back in legally. Let's go to Ransom in Ohio. Ransom. How you doing?

[Caller]

Doing good there, Mark. Hey, thanks for taking the call. Hey, I just want to bounce a couple things off of you. I believe that God did a miracle getting Donald Trump in there based on, you know, him getting shot in the face and everything else. So we've got a small window to keep the, the accountability going. So a couple of things I wanted to bounce off of you. I don't trust this Speaker Johnson. He's as rhino as it can be. He says he's a Christian, but he lies through his teeth.

[Marc Simone]

Let me stop you there. No, no. He seems like a great guy, really nice guy. I've met him a few times. The nicest guy in the world. But that might be the problem. He's just too weak. Yeah, just too nice.

[Caller]

I don't think what I wanted to say about that was that I'm a Christian, okay? If I go out and just lie, you know, I mean, what kind of, what kind of statement is that about my faith and everything? He's been very bold that he's a Christian and everything.

[Marc Simone]

I'm sure, I'm sure he is a Christian. I don't know that he's a liar. I think he's just. Can be very, very weak. Now sometimes a weak guy can suddenly get tough and realize he's got to get tough, but he better do this fast because he's just been weak. Caves in, you know, I said, I've met him a few times. Such a great guy. Nice guy. That's part of the problem. You can't be nice of a guy, you know? You ever meet Chuck Schumer? He's not a nice guy. This is a, you know, editing my words here. This is a calculating, cold, brutal politician. But sometimes those are the guys that get things done, you know? Sometimes you got to be like that. Let's go to David in Minnesota. David, how you doing? Hey, Mark.

[Caller]

I just wanted to comment real quick on the preemptive pardons. You know, Biden's been a useful stooge for 50 years for the left, always putting himself in the party above the country. And the minute his usefulness runs its course, collectively, the Democrats stab him in the back. So when he's laying there in bed with Jill at night and she's whispering her in her ear, I want her to remind him.

[Marc Simone]

She's whispering in her ear. She's probably slapping him, hey, wake up. Wake up. Yeah. Yeah.

[Caller]

Well, she needs to. You can't tell him anything because they'll forget it 60 seconds later. So I want her to remind him that collectively, all these Democrats stabbed him in the back. So when he's considering these preemptive pardons for whoever it is, Jan, Six people, whatever. No, just remember they stabbed you in the back. Given the opportunity, they run them over with the bus and back over him several times if it meant them holding on to power. So that's all.

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, all right. Good point. But the one thing that will happen, apparently the establishment Democrats really, they can't wait for Biden to get out of there. They realize he's become a disaster. He's really destroyed the whole brand, the whole party. They want him gone. They want. They will treat him differently from other ex presidents. I'm trying to remember when Carter left. The difference is Carter was a nice guy. And everything that went wrong, it seemed to be just honest mistakes. With Biden, it's total sleaze, corruption. The son, the brothers, they can't wait to get this guy out of there, and they want to really just turn their back on him. Hey, we'll talk about this later. About who really ran the White House for these four years. Who's really running things now. Who is the. It's. No, it's not Obama anymore. We'll get to all of this coming up. It's Mark Simone here for Buck and Clay. You can follow me on Instagram. It's Mark Simonenycstagram and follow me on Twitter Mark Simone NY at Twitter. You can hear me on iHeart. And we'll take some more calls. We've got a lot coming up, lots to talk about. Mark Simone here for Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

[Mark Simone]

Stories of freedom, stories of America, inspirational stories that unite us all. Each day, spend time with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marc Simone]

Welcome back. It's Marc Simone here for Buck Sexton, Clay Travis. And our phone number is 8002-8228-8280-0282-2882. Hey, Netflix, big, big ratings. You know, football on Christmas. Now network TV is dying. Network TV is slowly dying. You know, it used to be a big primetime network show, Law and Order in the heyday, be 18 million, 20 million, 25 million people watching. Now, network TV, primetime, you're lucky if you get 3 million, 4 million blue bloods, the greatest show in primetime, Friday nights. That's why it's gone. It was like a number one show. Huge ratings, but huge ratings in network TV now that means 2, 3 million people. Not enough to pay for everything. You know, it's expensive having a car chase and all that stuff. So that's why it's off. Now the only Tthing Keeping network TV alive is sports, football, World Series, baseball, NFL. That's where they get the viewers. That's where they come pouring in for the games. Now streaming has taken everything away from the networks. It's now the place you go for dramas, comedies, movies, all that stuff. All network TV has left is sports, football, maybe the news. That's about it. Once Netflix and the other streaming services take that away, it's the end of network tv. So they're trying to take away football. They've made deals to, you know, get a game here, a game there. And then Christmas Day, that Netflix game set the all time record for streaming, all time record. Now, the only problem is it's streaming services. They don't know how to do live broadcasting very well. So you got glitches, you got freezing up during the game. Give that another six months or a year before they figure that all out and fix that. And then they've got more money than the networks. They'll just offer a staggering amount and take all the games away. And then that's kind of the end of network tv. Radio is doing great. Radio right now, radio has more listeners than it did 20 years ago. AM talk radio, 63 million listen every day. Network TV is only 25 million people. AM talk radio, 63 million people. It's much, much bigger than network TV. Let's take some calls. Let's go to Chris in New York City. Chris, how you doing?

[Caller]

I'm okay, thank you. I miss you. I miss you on New York station.

[Marc Simone]

Well, I'll be back actually next Thursday, January 2nd, I'll be back on my regular show on 710 W O R. Okay, that's great.

[Caller]

So happy everything, by the way. But what I really called about is I know everybody's talking about the pardons that Biden's doing and everything, but in a court of law, if Biden walked into court and signed a contract, the judge would say that he was mentally incapable, mentally deficient of signing a contract that had any validity. Biden has no idea who he's pardoned. He couldn't name two people except for his son and maybe his brother. In the future, this all should be challenged.

[Marc Simone]

Well, you can, but it's not going to work in a court because first of all, it's, you know, when he signs the pardon, that's not the pardon. It then has to go to the Justice Department and they have to sign off on it. It's not valid until they sign off on it and they carefully review them. Remember Bill Clinton did the dirtiest pardon ever, Mark Rich, and then he did.

[Caller]

Like, what, 25 or 30?

[Marc Simone]

Yeah, but he did a really dirty one and then went to the Justice Department. They wouldn't sign it. So they took like, they had to find 27 people till they found one guy that would sign it. And guess who that guy was. Nobody would sign that pardon. They finally found a guy willing to sign this dirty pardon. His name was Eric Holder. His reward, he later became the Attorney General of the United States. And very often you get pardons, you don't know who they are. It's a favor to a congressman, favor to a donor. It's that kind of stuff. Now, in the case of Biden, you're right. It's absolutely out of control. It's already was it 1500 and one night. So here's the other thing I'm warning you about. Those weren't the pardons, the really dirty ones you do in the final week, in the final couple days, you're going to see some really dirty ones coming up in that final week. So anyway, it's Mark Simone here for Buck and Clay. Hey, where's the Crockett Coffee? They don't even have a coffee maker here. But I like that Crockett coffee, and we've got a lot coming up.