Hour 1 - Michigan's Mamdani Wins

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Hour 1 – Michigan’s Mamdani Wins
Date: August 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the shocking results from the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed edged out Haley Stevens in a razor-tight race. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dissect the implications for the 2026 and even 2028 elections, particularly what El-Sayed’s win says about the direction of the Democratic Party in swing states. The hosts also dig into broader trends—like the rise of far-left candidates, polling failures, and how party activism is shaping outcomes. Interspersed with their trademark banter, they tackle topics from Clay’s viral WNBA challenge to the complexities of identity politics, with plenty of sharp asides about the tactics both parties are likely to employ heading into contentious forthcoming elections.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Michigan Democratic Senate Primary: Abdul El-Sayed’s Victory

• Shocking Margin: El-Sayed won by around 1 percentage point (about 15,000 votes out of over a million), defying polling expectations [(05:04), (10:33)].
• Polling Failures: Continues a recent trend of missed calls in Democratic primaries.
  • Clay Travis: "It’s another huge polling error in the polling, polling era of failure that continues." (05:04)
• What It Means: The general consensus: this is effectively an “earthquake” and could potentially decide Senate control, as El-Sayed faces off against Republican Mike Rogers.
• Swing State Implications: Michigan’s outcome is extrapolated to reflect national trends heading into 2028, along with other battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia [(06:19)].

2. Party Dynamics: The Far-Left Surge

• Far-Left Ascendancy: The Democratic Party continues to move left, with multiple DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) candidates making gains not only in Michigan (e.g., Rashida Tlaib, Donovan McKinney) but in state-level races across Kansas, Missouri, and Washington.
  • Buck Sexton: "You have this continued rise of far left candidates within the Democrat Party. There is clearly a trend here. The trend is not definitive, but the trend is real and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon." (11:11)
• Squad Impact: The so-called “Squad” is stronger than ever, as evidenced by easy victories for its members.

3. Republican Optimism vs. Caution

• Mike Rogers’ Chances: Travis is bullish about Rogers flipping the Michigan seat, citing El-Sayed's potential weaknesses with Jewish and Black voters, as well as rural Michiganders.
  • Clay Travis: "I think Mike Rogers is going to beat him. I really do." (05:04)
  • Later clarifies: "It's going to be a super close race...I am very optimistic." (09:31)
• Buck's Caution: Buck is more wary, believing Democrats’ strategic messaging and the perennial 50/50 split could keep the race tight.
  • Buck Sexton: "I am worried. Well, and I am concerned." (09:14)
  • On the left’s strategy: "They're going to lie about what these candidates believe leading up to the election..." (27:25)

4. Identity Politics & Voter Coalition Challenges

• Voter Blocks: El-Sayed’s struggles with Jewish voters and Black voters are discussed at length (especially in Detroit and Oakland County), with Travis arguing these constituencies might shift or lower their turnout due to El-Sayed’s leftist bona fides and comments about Israel [(15:09), (34:37)].
  • Buck, drawing on his New York roots, is skeptical: "The left wing Jews...their politics overrides their identity as Jews." (35:35)
  • Both hosts agree: in a state as closely divided as Michigan, even small shifts could decide the outcome.
• Turnout Worries: The key may not be shifts in party allegiances, but simply who is motivated enough to vote.
  • Clay Travis: "My concern is turnout." (37:21)

5. Specific Controversies Surrounding Abdul El-Sayed

• Stance on ICE: Clip played where El-Sayed calls to abolish ICE: “I think we need to abolish it and start from scratch." (27:25)
• Radical Rhetoric: Past remarks about the Ayatollah and a reluctance to condemn attacks on Jews are seen as vulnerabilities in the general election (21:09, 34:37).
• Democratic Strategy: The hosts predict Democrats will encourage El-Sayed and other far-left nominees to “lie” or hedge about their positions as November approaches [(27:25), (29:11)].

6. Meta-Politics & Media Commentary

• Polling/Election Mechanics: Reflections on the continued failure of polls to capture leftward drift and the impact of party apparatus manipulating primaries (supporting hard-right/left candidates to shift general election dynamics) [(11:39)].
• Viral Sports Culture Thread: Clay’s $10 million WNBA challenge (claiming a boys’ team could beat the WNBA’s best) gets referenced multiple times as evidence of “cancel culture madness” and the hosts’ penchant for stirring debates about sex, sports, and fairness [(03:49), (24:05)].
• Social Media Satire: Banter about Instagram algorithms serving up “AI fake pretty girls” versus real ones—tangential to El-Sayed but reinforcing the show’s irreverent tone [(08:10)].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the primary upset:
  • Clay Travis (05:04): “This is effectively, in many ways, an earthquake. Because Abdul El Sayed won this Michigan Democrat Senate primary... it's another huge polling error in the polling era of failure that continues.”
• On the left’s messaging strategy:
  • Buck Sexton (27:25): “The very complicated political strategy the Democrats are going to deploy... the short version is they're going to lie. They're going to lie about what these candidates believe leading up to the election...”
• On DSA victories:
  • Buck Sexton (13:19): “You're not seeing Democrats walk away from the DSA thing... So they're making plenty of room for the ultra progressive commie maniacs.”
• On the “Squad”:
  • Buck Sexton (13:19): “The squad is not over. The squad is still thriving.”
• On social media and AI:
  • Clay Travis (08:10): “The AI fake pretty girls are now starting to wipe out the actual pretty girls on Instagram... I can't even tell if it's a real person or if it's just an AI bot...”
• On the difficulty of flipping Jewish voters:
  • Buck Sexton (35:35): “Their politics overrides their identity as Jews... Bernie Sanders is going to say vote for Abdul Al Said.”
• On the stakes in Michigan:
  • Clay Travis (31:16): “If Republicans can win Michigan that flips a Democrat seat, there is no math by which the... Senate would be in control or in danger. And so I think this is going to be really significant going forward.”
• On cancel culture and sports:
  • Clay Travis (24:05): “Honestly, Buck, I think I could probably take it to 8th grade boys because I think the best team... [of] eighth grade boys would demolish the best WNBA players.”

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Important Timestamps

• [05:04] - Abdul El-Sayed’s primary win and polling failures
• [10:33] - Narrow margin of victory and Michigan as Senate battleground
• [11:11] - Far-left candidates’ rise; DSA influence
• [13:19] - Rashida Tlaib and DSA seat wins; “Squad” discussion
• [24:05] - Clay’s $10m WNBA challenge and broader gender/sports debate
• [27:25] - Democratic messaging: “they’re going to lie” strategy
• [28:10] - Abdul El-Sayed on abolishing ICE (audio clip)
• [31:16] - National stakes if GOP flips Michigan Senate seat
• [34:37] - Debate over Jewish voters’ loyalty and identity politics
• [37:21] - Turnout as decisive for Michigan outcome

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Tone & Speaker Style

• Clay Travis exudes brash, sports-bar optimism, often light-hearted but assertive in predictions. He injects humor, sports analogies, and personal anecdotes (notably, his legal background and viral media stunts).
• Buck Sexton adopts a more analytic, cautionary stance. He’s quick with references to trends, inside-baseball electoral mechanics, and sharp skepticism about polling and media narratives.

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Concluding Insights

This episode paints a vivid picture of the current political landscape—one where fringe candidates on the left are gaining ground, polling unreliability continues, and both major parties are recalibrating for a prolonged, messy electoral fight. The hosts anticipate that identity block turnout, voter enthusiasm, and the ability of each party to message (or mislead) will define not just Michigan’s races but national power in 2026 and beyond.

Listeners unfamiliar with the episode’s particulars will walk away understanding why Michigan is now ground-zero for Senate control, how far-left energy is driving Democratic outcomes, and just how quickly culture war flashpoints can jump from internet viral moments to the center of national discourse.

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Transcript

[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

As a consumer, you decide which companies succeed with your purchasing power. PureTalk wants to say a heartfelt thank you for choosing them. Because of you, PureTalk had a record breaking year. You've helped them donate over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership to help prevent veteran suicide. You also help provide 1000 hand sewn made in America flags to veterans. And you're supporting U.S. jobs by choosing a proudly American company from the Pure Talk family. Thank you for your trust and God bless America. Welcome everybody. Wednesday edition of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. Oh boy, what a show. What a day. Michigan's Mamdani wins the Democrat Senate primary. Is Al said Fellow Abdul Al Said is victorious against his challenger, Haley Stevens. And we will have that discussion. We'll talk about what this means. There's some other primary results that are certainly worth us spending some time on. And Mr. Clay Travis is continuing to make the rounds on media Elsewhere as his $10 million WNBA franchise expansion challenge is catching fire. And some people very upset, very upset at the observation of reality that men are better than women at roughly equivalent levels, meaning college to professional or maybe even high school to professional, in a lot of different sports. This is controversial, even though that is the basis of why we have men's and women's sports separated.

[Clay Travis]

Right.

[Buck Sexton]

We don't have a men's and women's sat, but we do have a men's and women's basketball team and league, et cetera. There are reasons for this. There are reasons for this. We shall discuss that. Yes, sir. There you, Clay, if you're not on YouTube, you're missing out because he's wearing a blazer today, which means he's probably doing some mover and shaker stuff. Were you just hanging out with the CEO of Goldman? What's going on here?

[Clay Travis]

Apologies for being, like, 30 seconds late. I was on with Piers Morgan. Things got heated, as things often do with. With the debate over men and women's sports. They actually had a guy on the show who was refusing Pierce. I give. Pierce really does do a good job of questioning. And he got a left winger on there, and he said, hey, would you acknowledge that steroids are, for instance, an issue? And the guy kept saying, well, I don't care at all about men and women's sports. I think this is a huge distraction. There's nothing to it. And Pierce got him to admit that he cared about steroids and cheating in baseball in the Olympics. He said, wait a minute, why do you care about fairness in competition as it pertains to that, but you will not acknowledge any issues in men and women's sports. But it was the very end of the show, so this went over. Rand Paul was on as a guest, and so I legitimately sprinted over here. Thank you for bringing us in right off the top, but I'm. If you're watching on YouTube, I got to adjust my chair here in a minute, too. But if you're watching on YouTube, you're getting to see me in a sports coat and a button down, which I rarely wear on this program. Uh, but a couple of other things you just hit off right off the top. The biggest, I would say this is effectively, in many ways an earthquake. Because Abdul El Sayed won this Michigan Democrat Senate primary. But Buck, he only won it by around one point. Haley Stevens only lost this primary by about 15,000 votes. And it's another huge polling era error in the polling, polling era of failure that continues. And now Mike Rogers is going to be going head to head against Abdul El Sayad in Michigan. And this may well decide the United States Senate control because I think Mike Rogers is going to beat him. I really do.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, I would also like you to know, everyone, that the timing is fortuitous. I believe we have Mike Rogers joining us today on the program, Clay, to chat with us about this very important Senate race, which of course people are going to look at any swing state like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, look at these places and the election results and extrapolate, rightly or wrongly, what this means for the big 2028 election. And I'm not trying to freak any of you out, but Clay and I have already been mentally preparing ourselves for this. The president next presidential election cycle basically starts in January and we are in August. Meaning that this is going to be a big, this is going to be a thing, my friends. There's going to be a battle royale among the Democrats. We're going to see something happen. Who is the heir apparent for MAGA seemed to be the Vice President. But some people think maybe there's something else afoot. We'll get into all this. So Clay, just a brief over. I want to dial into the Al Said thing too, who has let everybody know that his Instagram algorithm is very focused on only fans models, which we can play that clip for you a little bit. I'm going to tell you something. Don't tell your wife. Everybody, don't tell your wife. My Instagram is just all these only fans models in the algorithm. Don't, don't do that.

[Clay Travis]

This is going to be a rare situation where you will hear me defend Abdul El Sayed. That is probably a sign that he is looking at a lot of pretty girls on Instagram. I gotta be honest with you. I the every time somebody comes out, and I think I've said it before too, like my Instagram algorithm, Buck, this is not going to shock you. It is all like sports.

[Buck Sexton]

And I know what it is.

[Clay Travis]

It's sports.

[Buck Sexton]

Don't worry.

[Clay Travis]

I know if I don't, if I go into the algorithm, I'm just being honest. Everybody is sports and pretty girls. Now what I actually think is the most crazy thing about this Instagram algorithm in general, I don't know if we've talked about this on the program, the AI fake pretty girls are now starting to wipe out the actual pretty girls on Instagram. Buck. It's to the point now where I see a pretty girl. I can't even tell if it's a real person or if it's just an AI bot creation of a pretty girl, which is now funny. The competition for pretty girls is not other pretty girls, primarily on Instagram, influencing. It's whether it's actually a real person or not.

[Buck Sexton]

Again, not, not, not coming down hard on this one way or the other. I'm just saying, guys don't announce for no reason that your Instagram algorithm is just beautiful women in lingerie because, you know, your wife or your girlfriend doesn't really need to hear that. But back to the election results here we'll talk about Mr. Al Said and what this means. I'll give you a little preview. I think Clay and I are going to, as often happens, we never do this beforehand. I think it's just because while we agree on a lot, we have just somewhat different dispositions and perspectives on the world around us. I think he thinks Al Said is toast against Mike Rogers. And I am worried. Well, and I am concerned.

[Clay Travis]

Here's what I would say.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes, I don't want to do this right now, but go ahead, Go ahead. We've got to hold it.

[Clay Travis]

I don't know that I would say toast. This is going to be a super close race, right? I mean, Michigan, we said yesterday a Senate candidate from the Republican side has not won in Michigan since the 1990s who's a Republican. So this is going to be a tough battleground race. But I am very optimistic.

[Buck Sexton]

Very optimistic. You sound like my, you sound like my dad calling who's going to win the football game Sunday. It's clearly going to be the Giants, but I mean, maybe the Cowboys like, okay, you know, having a little two

[Clay Travis]

sides down to two points one way or the other. It's going to be 51, 49 one way or the other, I think.

[Buck Sexton]

So let's, we're, we're going to dive into that certainly some more and what this means. But I just, Clay, I want to set the table a bit with what we are seeing right now and in this primary and what's gone on. Five states held primaries yesterday, ok, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington. By far, the one that's getting the most attention, as we've already discussed, is the very narrow defeat of Haley Stevens by Abdul Al Said. So it was a 1 percentage point difference, 15,000 votes over a million casts.

[Clay Travis]

That's a big deal.

[Buck Sexton]

The Democrats, well, the other races are not really. I mean I'm trying to skip through to just the ones that we care about. Rep. Rep. John James, who is Trump backed, is now facing off against Benson for the governor's race in Michigan. So that will be interesting as well. So you got a governor's race with some, with a Trump backed candidate on the Republican side who's got a real shot. Uh, you've got Kansas, the governor's race there, nothing that's really getting that much attention. Um, and you know, the Wash. Washington has a top two primary system so we'd have to spend some more time on that. But the broadest takeaway here, Clay, I think is you've still, you have this continued rise of far left candidates within the Democrat Party. There is clearly a trend here. The trend is not definitive, but the trend is real and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I think what it represents, and this is the analogy that I would draw, I think what it represents is in 2022 there was such frustration with Joe Biden and the way that the 2020 election went and Covid and everything else that I said I expected there to be a red tsunami. And you got it a little bit in New York and you got it a little bit in Florida and the House did flip, but the same, we

[Buck Sexton]

got a big time in Florida. It just didn't wash around the rest of the country.

[Clay Travis]

Correct. And a reason why it didn't ultimately wash around the rest of the country was Democrats had been strategic and they had helped to elevate the further right candidate in all of the Republican primaries. They were actually out there buying ads to support right wing candidates. And so as all of this played out, I think in a very significant way Republicans overreached in 2022 and that cost us in a bunch of otherwise close environments. And we didn't get the same result in Florida and New York on the east coast that we got in much of the rest of the country as a result. And frankly a lot of those 2022 races and you go back and look, incumbents basically won everywhere and, and Democrats won a lot of really close races that came down to the very fine margin. And so as a part of all of this, I think that what you may see is Democrats angry, frustrated, furious over 2024 and Trump. And so they're actually going with the farthest left wing candidate which may not pay play very well at all. Buck in the general elections.

[Buck Sexton]

So one thing, a couple of other names that come up here. Donovan McKinney, Clay, Michigan's 13th congressional district, he defeated incumbent Sri Thanadar. Who some of you might be like, who is that guy? If you see him, if you see a clip of him, you'll be like, oh, that guy. He has had some viral clips in the past, but this is a DSA endorsed guy. Donovan McKinney was democratic socialist endorsed candidate. So he's now probably going to win that seat. I know it's just one congressional seat. Rashida Tlaib easily won. She smoked her competitor. So anyone who thinks, oh, the squad, the squad is not over. The squad is still thriving. And then in the state legislative races of Michigan, Kansas and Missouri and Washington, you had a number of explicitly dsa. Now I understand that's just if you don't live in those states, you're like, they don't really affect me. But it's a little bit of the farm team for congressional seats. Right? That's the, that's the, the JV before the varsity of the national level. And you had a whole bunch of Chris Gilmer, Isaiah Harris, Jimmy Lapp, Sean Scott, Jalen Scott. You had a whole bunch of people who are DSA endorsed, who won. Now they have to continue to win. This is just a primary, but you know, you're not seeing Democrats walk away from the DSA thing. And Clay, you got Bernie Sanders out there saying things like, oh, we can't judge, you know, right, I mean left, sorry, not right wing, far left streamer Hassan Piker by saying America deserved 9, 11. He belongs in the party. He belongs in the party more than James Carville. This is what you're hearing from people who are very prominent voices among Democrats. So they're making plenty of room for the ultra progressive commie maniacs.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. And look, I think in, in Wisconsin, I think Republicans have a really good chance of winning the governor's race there. In fact, Republicans are favored to win because it looks like they're going to nominate Francesca Hong. Now, to be fair, in the markets out there, Michigan is still favored to vote for Abdul El Sayed. But I laid it out yesterday. I think he's got major issues with Jewish voters. You mentioned John James, who's going to be on the program again soon, the Republican nominee for governor in Michigan. He's a black guy. Why does that matter? You might say, well, El Sayed has got issues with black voters. They overwhelmingly voted for Haley Stevens. Now, maybe some of those guys and gals are going to come back into the big tent now that El Sayed is there. But I think he's going to struggle in the Detroit area. And Buck, I'll just say I know the state of Michigan really, really well. Everyone who lives remotely in a rural place, there are still some old school Democrats in many of these rural locations. Man, they are not going to show up and vote for Abdul El Sayed. And these are, I'm not talking about the die hard, died in the wool political people. I'm talking about just your regular hardworking people out there in Michigan. I think they're going to show up and they're going to vote for Mike Rogers. Now it's going to be close because Michigan is a 5050 state and we know they could run Big Bird and he would get 48% of the election vote right now in, in, in Michigan because Democrats show up and support Democrats no matter who is actually on the ballot. But I am very optimistic that Mike Rogers can win. We will ask him about all this at 2pm Eastern when he is going to be on the program with us.

[Buck Sexton]

I, I almost, I feel like I can't really argue with Clay effectively right now because when he's wearing a sport jacket he's so much more, you know, usually he's wearing sandals and an old T shirt. So this is why you got to check out the YouTube channel everybody.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, no doubt. Okay. We you, hi. I'm dressed really nice. I'm dressed actually Buck, like I might be had probably have a tie if I were in a courtroom which I used to do back in the day when I practiced law full time. I've been a Lawyer now for 20 plus years, licensed in Tennessee and in the U.S. virgin Islands. And I hear from so many of you all the time about how much it costs to stand up for your rights, about all of the challenges that you face when you are having to battle an insurance company, when you're having to battle big business for yourself. And so many of you have reached out and said, hey Clay, can you represent me on this? Can you represent me on that? Look, now I've got the opportunity to represent you guys nationwide. Clay travislaw.com just put it in your phone. Clay travis law.com you can call us if you've been hurting a car, truck, motorcycle rideshare, workplace accident, loss of insurance denied claims hit by storm, tornado, hurricane, hail, wind, fire, damage to your home or business. This is a huge deal with so many people out there harmed by a dangerous drug, defective medical device, toxic chemical, unsafe product we can help you. It doesn't cost anything. Go to clay travis law.com find out if we are the right attorneys for you all 50 states. We will work hard for you top legal talent to go head to head with the most expensive lawyers out there. It doesn't cost you anything. You can put this into your phone. [phone] that's 877-222-4444 claytravislaw.com the best attorneys nationwide to help you fight against the big guys. To help you be able to have somebody to punch back against the lawyers costing thousands of dollars an hour. Clay Travis law.com It doesn't cost you a dollar. 877-2224-4487-7222-4444 Clay travislaw.com Laugh, learn and hang with the guys. Clay and Buck preset on the iHeart app.

[Sean Hannity]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group voidware prohibited by law 21 terms and conditions apply. Welcome back in Clay and Buck. In addition to the Michigan primary results that have come out, the ongoing discussion surrounding Abdul El Sayad is going to be super intriguing, if only for this reason. Buck, this guy is crazy left wing and the turnout didn't actually end up being that huge in Dearborn. I wonder how many people in Michigan are really going to respond very well to him saying that he didn't want to celebrate the Ayatollah of Iran being killed. Which. Can we pull that that audio again? Because I believe it was leaked. I know we talked about it back then because there were too many people that were upset that we're going to be voting for him. This is pretty radical when a terrorist gets killed and the Democrat candidate says, hey, there's too many people that are going to be upset, so we shouldn't talk about this. I just think that's going to be a hard putt to sink in Michigan.

[Buck Sexton]

I would like to come back here and explain. Clay, I think I have insight into the incredible political strategy Democrats are going to use for Abdul Al Sayed. I think I know their playbook. Let's come back and talk about it here. Fun in just. In just a minute. Okay? Rapid Radios keep you connected with family, friends and colleagues. When the power is out of service or disrupted. They operate like walkie talkies on a nationwide LTE network. Just push a button and connect with anyone anywhere across the US you have crystal clear audio over thousands of miles. Rapid Radios run on battery power that can last up to 5 days. 100% private with 256 bit encryption so no one can listen in. You don't have to sign a contract, no monthly fees, just a reasonable annual renewal. Look, they're great to have for convenience, but necessary to have for preparation customers. If the lights go out, storms, weather, crazy things happen. Rapid radios are there for you. Go to rapidradios.com bundle for their massive buy more, save more event. Buy two radios, get one free. Buy four radios, get two free. Every bundle includes a year, a full year of service and shipping. Go to rapidradios.com bundle. We are making sense of, well, trying to make sense of what Democrats are showing the country with this primary that Just happened. I know it's just a primary, but it's also almost mid August or soon to be mid August. And we'll take whatever political stories come our way from them, where the things are going for the midterm or how things are looking at this stage. Also, Clay Travis all over the place. Some people loving, some people not so much loving. His $10 million offer of the boys sports team beating the women's WNBA, was it the champions? The women's champions. Champions, right.

[Clay Travis]

Although if they wanted to put the all star team out on the court, I would have the same outcome. They could pick the 12 best and put them onto a team to compete and it would be the same outcome. And honestly, Buck, I think I could probably take it to 8th grade boys because I think the best team. It would have to be the best team of eighth grade boys, but I think a really talented eighth grade boys team would demolish the best WNBA players.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, no. I went to a high school that was in the third, like, division of the New York City Catholic School League. So we were like the C level, I believe, for basketball. The A level had. Would actually produce people who like went on to the NBA. You know, there's like a number of NBA players that have played in that. This is New York City Catholic School. Some of them have a couple thousand students are really big. I just bring it up because there were ninth graders who could throw it down. Like, there were ninth graders who. Ninth and tenth graders who were dunking. And to me, that was just like. I was like, wow, okay, that is pretty.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, look, as soon as testosterone hits your. And any of you who've raised a boy know what I'm talking about. Your kid goes from a little boy to a young man almost overnight. Voice changes, they can suddenly jump a lot higher. They got armpit hair, they got a mustache growing. Um, it's a. It's. It's a different species in many ways.

[Buck Sexton]

So we got this Abdul Al Said guy. I want to return to this theme throughout because it comes up in a few contexts, Clay. The very complicated political strategy the Democrats are going to deploy for this midterm. And the short version is they're going to lie. They're going to lie about what these candidates believe leading up to the election, what they've said in the past, what observable reality is about the policies that they support. I give a shout out here to my friend Michael Malice, who, in response to Steve Hilton, responding to former Transportation Secretary Buttigieg. Buttigieg. And we'll Pull this clip. Buttigieg is out there on some podcast, one of the big. One of the sort of big, you know, long form podcasts. He's out there talking about how we just need to raise taxes to build trains. Steve Hilton, our friend, who is running a very, very solid and serious campaign for the governor of California, responds to Buttigieg. Of course that's ridiculous. That's not True. We've spent $200 billion or something in California and have like a couple, I think, no, not one mile of track laid. That was the exchange. But then Michael Malice chimes in online, who's a very smart guy and an unusual and interesting thinker. He says no, he knows. Buttigieg knows that he's lying. And I actually think we need to be. We need to understand that that doesn't mean that what, what Steve Hilton is doing is, is not necessary. Yeah, of course, point out the incorrect thing, but don't think that the Democrats are surprised when you point out what they're saying isn't true. The whole point is that they're lying. And this Al Said guy, they're going to say, Clay, whatever they have to say as this, as this gets closer. I mean, here, here's an example. Here's Abdullah Al said, saying that ice is really bad. We need to get rid of ice. Play 10 here.

[Abdul El-Sayed]

Ice has nothing to do with the southern border. That's Customs and Border Protection. I believe in a secure border. I also believe in immigration enforcement, but I also believe in not shooting Americans in the back of the head in the face while you're trying to do it. And maybe it's because I've served in government agencies, but once a government agency like that is told that has impunity to do the worst things and violate the high law of the land, which is the Constitution itself, I don't think you can reform or retrain that. I think we need to start from scratch. And ice is not very old. It's 15 years younger than I am. It was starting. It started. It was a bad experiment. It's been weaponized to do the worst things. And I think we need to abolish it and start from scratch. Perhaps going back to something like the ins, which for a very long time very capably enforced immigration policy without of course, shooting Americans and violating our civil liberties.

[Buck Sexton]

Now, there's a lot of problems with what he says here. First of all, we didn't have 10 million people plus just flooding the country in a four. I mean, we've gone through completely unprecedented open borders thanks to the Biden administration, which even a lot of Biden people have basically admitted at this point, Clay. But here he's saying that's abolish ice. That's what this guy has been saying. As the election gets closer in Michigan, don't be surprised when on CNN they're giving him the opportunity to be like, you really mean reform, right? And he's like, yes, I'm calling for the reform of ICE because I believe in borders. And they're just going to lie a lot.

[Clay Travis]

Yes, and they're actually going to be encouraged to lie. Look, I think Bakari Sellers is a moron. He's a CNN analyst. He's come after me on men and women's sports before. He tweeted yesterday. Can someone close to Francesca Hong just advise her to focus on grassroots activities in Wisconsin? No more national media interviews. Just put a lid on that.

[Buck Sexton]

Why?

[Clay Travis]

Because she's going to say what she actually believes and get questioned about it. And if they can hide her from the media and just have her doing grassroots events without aggressive questioning, then they can pretend she isn't a radical. And they will now pretend that Abdul El Sayed is not in any way a radical, even though the evidence overwhelmingly shows that he is insanely radical. In fact, we've got a. A clip here at the end that I wanted to play. Did you play cut 10? Is that the one you just played? A lot of what he is saying. In fact, when we can get this ad, let's see if it's not in yet. I just sent it to producer Greg. The National Republican Senate Committee is already running an ad that is up on the air right now. I texted early on in this campaign. I tweeted that the best thing that could happen for Michigan Republicans was Abdul El Sayed ending up the nominee. And people got mad at me. In fact, the Michigan. I even said that Michigan Republicans should consider go to vote for Abdul El Sayed. This came down to about 15,000 votes. He basically only won because of how well he did in the University of Michigan and Michigan State University campus votes.

[Buck Sexton]

Can I give you one? One person who agrees with you very, very, very strongly, beautifully agrees. Brilliant, Clay Travis. But you know that better than anybody. Clay, great news for the Republican Party. Trump writes Al Syed, a communist loser was who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in this race with the socialist. As usual, the polls were way off on this one. She was not expected to do nearly as well as she did. Now the Democrats crazy policies will only get worse. So Trump sees this very Much the way you see this.

[Clay Travis]

Yes. And he's right. And look, this is going to be a race that if, if, if Republicans can win Michigan that flips a Democrat seat, there is no math by which the. The Senate would be in control or in danger. And so I think this is going to be really significant going forward. The money that is going to pour in is going to be incredibly impactful. And buck. This will also matter in the governor's race. Again, I don't know if very many people are talking about this. I think having John James, who is a great candidate, already been elected in Congress, him campaigning as a black guy alongside a Mike Rogers, when Abdul El Sayyad has been struggling immensely with black voters in Michigan, I think that's going to help. I do think that that's going to send a message of who the normal candidate is.

[Buck Sexton]

And you think John James is going to be able to take away from the expected black vote for the Democrat in that race?

[Clay Travis]

Because I remember it doesn't take very much the same thing that I would say about Jewish voters. We got a lot of people that are listening to us that might not have been traditional voters. This guy refused to condemn after the attack in southeast Michigan in Oakland county. The. I know everybody just immediately forgot about it because the guy who was trying to attack got shot. He said hurt people do hurtful things. I'm paraphrasing him. After a crazy Muslim terrorist tried to attack a Jewish school, he said hurt people do hurtful things. Like that's the response to a terrorist trying to kill Jews in southeast Michigan. People remember Jewish voters in particular. Going to be an interesting decision for them.

[Buck Sexton]

So, Clay, if you recall, we had some discussions here on the program after October 7th, and you were thinking or you were making the case that there would be a. Now we can get into what's the definition of major, but a major shift in the Jewish vote once October 7th happened. And they saw that all of the people who were either cheering it or downplaying how horrible it was publicly are on the left and Democrats without nobody on the right. After October 7th, not a single person of any significance anywhere in politics and media was saying, oh, Israel got what it deserved, or, oh, it wasn't that bad, or whatever. Right. This is the result of the oppression of the Palestinians. It was all Democrats, all the left. The difference in the Jewish vote from 2020 to 2024 was about 3 percentage points.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

And I told you they weren't going to switch, even though. Because I grew up in New York and I know, it's funny, I grew up in New York surrounded with a very, I mean, the largest Jewish population anywhere in the country. And right wing Jews and I always saw eye to eye on everything. And the left wing Jews, I was always like, what are you guys? But they're very, you know, there are their issues, they will stay with those issues. And they're, it's more, they're sort of Marxist leftist leaning is more important to them than because they're tend to be also less religious than their Jewishness in many cases, like their politics overrides the, their identity as Jews.

[Clay Travis]

Let me just make a little bit of a distinction that I think does matter and I think I'm going to now put myself into the mind of a Jewish Democrat voter. Kamala is married to a Jewish lawyer. I think she could nod to Jewish people and say, I am one of you. They all knew that she had married a Jewish lawyer. And so the chirping out there, if you're 85 year old Jewish woman, you could think to yourself, okay, but there's crazy people in the party, but Kamala married a Jewish man. She's with us. I do think it's going to be harder to say to the average Jewish voter, Abdul El Sayed, who will play a couple of these cuts for you. Who refused to condemn a synagogue attack and who has said that Israel is an apartheid country. I think it's harder to distinguish, to be like, well, he's married to a Jewish person.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm telling you, I know, I know these people well and grew up meeting these, the left wing Jews. I knew them well. I grew up around them. I lived in New York for almost 40 years. Think of it like the Bernie, like the Bernie Sanders Jews. Bernie Sanders, right. There's the, you know, there's the conservative Jews. You know, there's your, there's your Dave, Dave Rubin, Ben Shapiro, you know, all these right wing Jews that are friends of ours and we know, you know, Mark Levin and all these. And we agree with them on all this stuff, right? We agree with them on the constitution, the country, the republic, all this stuff. Then you have these left wing Jews who are like the Bernie Sanders Jews. I'm not talking about the centrists who are, I'm talking about the left wing Jews. Bernie Sanders is going to say vote for Abdul Al Said.

[Clay Travis]

He already, he's already said it.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's already given them the all clear. So he's saying vote for Abdul Al Said. And I'm Telling you that the Jewish Democrats in Michigan are going to be fine with it. So I don't think that that's going to be. If you're looking at who's going to make the difference in Michigan, white working class voters.

[Clay Travis]

I mean they're not voting for Abdul El Sayed. I'm confident of that.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, but that, that would be great news. But I'm just saying that's who's. I'm worried that they're going to get caught up. Clay, when I say they again, guys, please don't say I'm a. I'm a truck driver in Michigan and I listen to you guys every day and I know this is all garbage they're peddling.

[Sean Hannity]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, because you listen to us talking about what you're right by the way. It's going to be a super tight race. It's going to be a very. It's going to be with single digit percentage points between Abdul Syed and Mike Rogers. Mike will be with us in a little bit. Within that you're slicing the onion very thin to know who the difference maker is. I think it's going to be people concerned about cost of living. That's what I think is really going to be the difference. Not some deep ideological divide.

[Clay Travis]

My concern is turnout. Oakland. The reason why I point to Jewish voters. Typically whoever wins Oakland county, that's the more wealthy county north of Wayne county in Detroit, usually ends up winning the state and a lot of Jewish voters are there. But turnout would be my biggest concern. Let me tell you. My also concern is that you don't have enough testosterone in your life. I have been trying to keep up with my 15 year old son. Kid is lifting all the time. He plays sports multiple hours a day. In fact he's at training right now. While I'm sitting here, the fat guy talking to you on the radio. I gotta try. I told my wife, she said are you really competing with your 15 year old son? I said yes. He can't be the strongest man in the house. At 15 years old. He may one day likely will be the strongest man in the house. But not yet because I'm trying to lift every other day. And if you're trying to get a little bit more strength in your life, more testosterone if you're lifting weights, chalk is an amazing supplement to be able to add it can boost your testosterone levels. One of the primary sources of energy. And for the women out there, female vitality stack helps with hormone health as well. There are tons of products you're going to love these guys. Founded by our friend Seton, a Texan. Go check them out today. Chalk.com choq my name clay99 bonus product lit powder chalk.com put some testosterone in your life. Lift heavier and more weights than you have before. Thanks to Chalk.com we love it. You will too. Choq my name Clay to get hooked up today, that's Chalk.com code C L A Y. Level up your brain and balance out your day with the right amount of information and entertainment.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton on the

[Clay Travis]

iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Sean Hannity]

This is Sean Hannity from the Sean Hannity Show. Fox News is streaming live on Fox 1. When it matters most, you want the truth from the voices that you trust. Fox News goes beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you will not hear anywhere else. Live coverage, sharp analysis, real perspective at home or on the go. Stay connected when it counts. Stream Fox News on Fox 1. Just download today.

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void where prohibited by law. 21 +, terms and conditions apply. Welcome back in Clay and Buck. We're gonna come back and I promise we're gonna make you laugh because we got a bunch of different audio clips of people being upset about me trying to put together the most inclusive trans women's basketball team of all time. Men who identify as women. We are going to try to have our own WNBA franchise, and that has upset some people on the left, including a Minneapolis news anchor who delivered a stern dressing down of me on Minneapolis television. And you are going to really enjoy this. Seeing the video is even better. So we will play with that in a minute.

[Buck Sexton]

We'll put it up. We got to put it up at Clay and box everybody, because the video is.

[Clay Travis]

Is.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay feels very Chase. I'm going to tell you. Clay feels chastened by the whole thing.

[Clay Travis]

And you know what? It's funny. I was. I was watching that video and I just thought to myself, one of the most amazing things about making an argument publicly is you think we were talking about this off air. Who are the best people who could respond to your public argument? What arguments could they make? I think about this all the time. The counter argument, the counter punch, if you're a boxer, is often more devastating than the actual punch. And this woman is legitimately, I think the person I would pick to attack me if I had to pick someone to attack me. So you guys will love this. I promise it's going to be a lot of fun. And we will also. Again, newly selected elected Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers scheduled to join us. And this doesn't happen very often. Buck, one of my friends growing up is running for Congress, and we'll find out if he gets in tomorrow. He's going to join us. I've known him legitimately my entire life, so you can ask him if he's got any embarrassing stories he wants to share about me from when we were little kids.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, no, we're definitely going to do that.

[Clay Travis]

That's coming up. A lot of fun next two hours.

[Optum Announcer]

Hang with us.

[Sean Hannity]

This is Sean Hannity from the Sean Hannity Show. Fox News is streaming live on Fox 1. When it matters most. You want the truth from the voices that you trust. Fox News goes beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you will not hear anywhere else. Live coverage, sharp analysis, real perspective at home or on the go. Stay connected when it counts. Stream Fox News on Fox one.

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Just download Today Healthcare can feel complicated. That's why Optum uses technology to connect the people and processes that make healthcare easier, more affordable and more effective. We're making it clearer for you to know exactly what your benefits cover and to help you better manage your health. We're coordinating care between your doctors and your technology. We believe better, simpler healthcare is always possible. That's healthy optimism. That's optim. Visit optim.com to learn more.

[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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