Hour 1 - PC Press Corps

Summary

Summary of "Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" – Episode: Hour 1 - PC Press Corps (Released June 26, 2025)

In this episode of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the contentious issues surrounding a recent military strike on Tehran, the subsequent leak of classified information, and the ensuing media frenzy. The discussion offers a critical examination of media biases, the integrity of the intelligence community, and the interplay between government officials and the press.

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1. Intelligence Leak on Tehran Strike

[02:40] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay opens the episode by addressing a significant leak to major news outlets—CNN and The New York Times—concerning the effectiveness of the recent U.S. military attack on Tehran. The leaked information suggested that the strike was not as effective as presented, leading to a heated response from Pentagon officials.

[02:40] Buck Sexton:
Buck provides context, explaining that the leak appears to be an attempt to undermine President Trump's narrative of strength and effectiveness. He emphasizes the improbability of a single individual within the intelligence community having the authority or credibility to release such classified information without thorough validation.

Buck Sexton [04:31]:
"This was somebody who decided, I'm going to be the one who reigns on Trump's parade here. This was an individual, this was a deep stater... someone who did not have the interests of the United States in mind, but the interests of a very bitter and weak and feckless looking Democrat machine in mind."

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2. Pentagon's Response and Criticism of the Press

[07:41] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay introduces a series of statements from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who vehemently criticizes the press corps for alleged bias against President Trump. Hegseth accuses the media of spreading half-truths and manipulated information to sow doubt about the success of the military operation.

[08:09] Pete Hegseth:

"You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective... So let's take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind of the public."

[10:12] Pete Hegseth:

"Time and time again, classified information is leaked or peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad... This was a historically successful attack and we should celebrate it as Americans."

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3. Media Bias and Press Corps Accountability

[09:36] Buck Sexton:
Buck expands on Hegseth's criticisms, arguing that media outlets, particularly those with a liberal or left-leaning bias, are more interested in attacking the administration than in objective reporting. He compares the situation to past instances where leaks were used to sabotage presidential initiatives.

[13:27] Buck Sexton:

"The ability that the media has to attack them, trip them up, undermine them and then focus on that instead of what's actually happening is, is vastly diminished."

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4. Gender Inclusion in Military Reporting

[11:37] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay and Buck address a specific incident where Hegseth was questioned about not acknowledging female pilots in his statement. Hegseth defends his language, emphasizing that terms like "our boys" are inclusive and not meant to exclude women.

[12:25] Ryan Seacrest:

"Why not acknowledge the female pilots that participated?"

[12:25] Pete Hegseth:

"When I say something like 'our boys and bombers,' this is a common phrase, I'll keep saying things like that, whether they're men or women."

Buck criticizes the media's focus on such linguistic choices, suggesting that it detracts from the primary narrative of military success and unity.

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5. Intelligence Community's Stance on Trump

[29:11] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay poses a thought-provoking question about the loyalty within the intelligence community toward President Trump. He queries whether a significant portion of the intelligence workforce might be rooting for Trump's failure, thereby compromising national security.

[30:05] Buck Sexton:
Buck provides an analysis, breaking down support levels within different segments of the intelligence community. He estimates that active-duty military personnel show approximately 60% support for Trump, with higher support rates among warfighters and special operations members.

Buck Sexton [31:34]:
"Active duty military people are about 60, 40 pro Trump, 60%, 40% Democrat overall. Now, when you hone that down into warfighters... it gets a lot more like 80, 20. But the big military, you're looking at something like 60, 40."

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6. Listener Perspectives and Critique of Media Practices

[36:03] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay shares anecdotes highlighting the media's obsession with gendered language, such as the replacement of "owners" with "governors" in the NBA, arguing that such changes are superficial and divert attention from substantial issues.

[43:31] Unnamed Speaker (Advertisement):
An interruption occurs with a sponsor message for Hyundai, which the hosts synchronize with their ongoing discussion without derailing the main narrative.

[44:32] Buck Sexton:
Buck discusses the broader implications of media narratives, suggesting that the focus on trivial linguistic issues reveals the media's inability to engage with more meaningful topics. He underscores the importance of maintaining focus on national and international security matters over petty language politics.

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7. Language Sensitivities and Media Narratives

[36:23] Ryan Seacrest:
The hosts delve deeper into the absurdity of changing well-established terms to appease perceived sensitivities, mocking the idea that "owner" could be linked to slavery connotations.

[37:12] Buck Sexton:
Buck shares a clip from the NATO summit where a reporter questions Trump about being called "Daddy" by the NATO chief, reflecting on the media's tendency to sensationalize and misinterpret phrases.

Buck Sexton [37:12]:
"Mark Rutter, the NATO chief, who is your friend... He called you daddy earlier."

[37:37] Ryan Seacrest:
Clay humorously suggests that Trump could have embraced familial titles for the U.S., adding levity to the discussion about media reporting practices.

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8. Conclusion and Teasers for Future Discussions

As the episode progresses, Clay and Buck briefly touch upon upcoming topics, including the New York City mayor's race and the rising socialist sentiments within the Democratic Party. They emphasize their commitment to providing in-depth analysis and engaging discussions on pressing political and social issues.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Buck Sexton [04:31]:
  "This was somebody who decided, I'm going to be the one who reigns on Trump's parade here... someone who did not have the interests of the United States in mind."

• Pete Hegseth [08:09]:
  "You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes... So let's take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it in every way we can."

• Buck Sexton [31:34]:
  "Active duty military people are about 60, 40 pro Trump... when you hone that down into warfighters... it gets a lot more like 80, 20."

• Buck Sexton [37:12]:
  "Mark Rutter, the NATO chief, who is your friend... He called you daddy earlier."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of "Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" provides a robust critique of media practices in the context of national security and political narratives. The hosts dissect the implications of intelligence leaks, defend the administration's actions, and challenge the media's focus on language over substance. Through incisive dialogue and strategic use of quotes, Clay and Buck offer listeners a perspective that underscores the tension between government transparency and media objectivity.

Transcript

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[iHeart Podcast Host]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Podcast. Welcome in Thursday edition Clay Travis, Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you rolling with us as we are diving into the biggest stories of the day and beyond, probably, but also gonna have a lot of fun with you as we break down everything going on in the larger universe. And right off the top here, we had a big conversation about this yesterday. The fact that there was a leak to CNN and the New York Times that suggested the attack on Saturday evening here in the United States on Tehran was not actually effective. And that has been pushed back on aggressively. And it started really early this morning at 8:00am Eastern, when Pete Hegseth came out and just went to town on the press and the reporting surrounding this. Now, I want to play some of these cuts. Cause it was a pretty intense press conference. But I'll start with a conversation that we had yesterday, which was about the challenge, the difficulty of finding out who leaked this information, particularly as it appears that it may well not have been accurate. So, Buck, you worked in the intelligence community. When you saw this report was leaked, did you think initially, hey, this is kind of unheard of. Did it totally seem maybe not a positive thing, but not an unexpected thing? And I know we talked about this some yesterday, but what are the difficulties that would be inherent in figuring out who actually leaked to this? Because it is certainly classified information.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, the fact that somebody would take this to the press so early on in the process and that it was already known to be a low confidence assessment, just means somebody wanted to blunt the narrative of Trump is just kicking ass and making excellent decisions as commander in chief. And this war, those who said, it's not even a war, it's a military strike, ok, think of all the countries that we have had military operations in, that we would not consider ourselves to be at war or in the midst of a war. But Clay, this was meant to have a political ramification. Because if you wanted this to have US national security in mind, if you wanted to be somebody who said, hey, guys, hey, I'm worried about the reactors, I'm worried that there could still be a lot more here. We didn't get enough. What you would want is to wait until you pull together all of the best sources, get it rock solid, and then work its way up the chain through the CIA director or the DIA director in this case. And. And then at that point, you know, you would have done your due diligence. This wasn't a due diligence moment. This was somebody who decided, I'm going to be the one who reigns on Trump's parade here. This was an individual, this was a deep stater. This is someone who did not have the interests of the United States in mind, but the interests of a very bitter and weak and feckless looking Democrat machine in mind and hope to take away some of the sense of bullion and some of the congratulations that have been going around, not just for Trump's decision, but for the men and women who flew the airstrikes themselves for the Pentagon pulling this off the intelligence community for having these sites mapped out. Clay, it's a big win. But this would, to me, this is a bit like saying somebody from within the intelligence community after the bin Laden raid is raising, raising concerns that there was really, you know, no, no document exploitation that, that came out of that raid or maybe that we didn't even get bin Laden. Why would you do that? You would only do that if you were trying to hurt. Now, of course, that didn't happen because somehow our team doesn't do those kinds of leaks. That's always a Democrat left wing thing when there's a leak of classified to hurt a commander in chief. But that's what this was. It's very clear there's no way that this person could have had the level of visibility necessary to with a. Remember, it's a low confidence assessment. Clay, I was in the room many times with people from dia, CIA, nsa, go down the list, all of them, and there were squabbling over who's right about very important. And we were at war, right? We were in the midst of a war. And you know, things like, hey, could a surge in Baghdad work to stabilize things? Let me tell you something. A lot of fighting and dissenting voices over that. The notion that one person has the keys to the kingdom on the, on the damage assessment is absurd. It's just a political hit and that's why they should go after the leaker.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, so let me play some of these cuts. This was from the Pentagon earlier today. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. I do give a lot of credit. We've talked about this on the program. They made everybody get there early, 8am Eastern Time. Start for this to dominate the news cycle for the day. Here's Hegseth blasting the press in particular for these leaks. This is cut to because you, and.

[Pete Hegseth]

I mean specifically you, the press, specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard. It's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad. You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective. Maybe the way the Trump administration is represented him isn't true. So let's take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it. Spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind, the public mind, over whether or not our brave pilots were successful. How many stories have been written about how hard it is to, I don't know, fly a plane for 36 hours? Has MSNBC done that story as Fox? Have we done the story, how hard that is? Have we done it two or three times so that American people understand how about how difficult it is to shoot a drone from an F15 or 16 or F22 or F35 or what it's like to man a Patriot battery, or how hard it is to refuel midair, giving the American people an understanding of how complex and sophisticated this mission really was. There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that because of the hatred of this press corps are undermined because people are trying to leak and spin that it wasn't successful.

[Buck Sexton]

It's your response.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay, so that's one. Let's continue. This sounds a little bit like Fox and Friends or a hit that Pete Hegseth is doing on Fox News. And it's one reason, I think, that Trump wanted him in this position, because he is a very talented communicator. And that matters in this world where you are really having to lace on the gloves and go head to head with the press every single day. Here's cut three more on Hegseth saying the classified information, as you said, buck, is leaked to try and harm Trump. Cut 3.

[Pete Hegseth]

Time and time again, classified information is leaked or peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad. And what's really happening is you're undermining the success of incredible B2 pilots and incredible F35 pilots and incredible refuelers and incredible air defenders who accomplished their mission, set back a nuclear program in ways that other presidents would have dreamed. How about we celebrate that? How about we talk about how special America is, that we only we have these capabilities? I think it's too much to ask, unfortunately, for the fake news, so we're used to that. But we also have an opportunity to stand at the podium and read the truth of what's really happening. And the reality is you want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated. Choose your word. This was an historically successful attack and we should celebrate it as Americans. And it gives us a chance to have peace, chance to have a deal and an Opportunity to prevent a nuclear Iran, which is something President Trump talked about for 20 years.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, guns blazing here. I don't think we mentioned the New York Times getting upset about the fact that Hegseth praised our boys. And so he was actually asked, do you. We. We have this cut. And I couldn't believe he was actually asked, why not acknowledge female pilots that participated instead of congratulating the boys? This is cut 4.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Why not acknowledge the female pilots that.

[Buck Sexton]

Also participated in this mission?

[iHeart Podcast Host]

The early messages that you sent out.

[Buck Sexton]

Only congratulated the boys.

[Pete Hegseth]

So when I say something like our boys and bombers. See, this is the kind of thing the press does, right? Of course. The chairman mentioned a female bomber pilot. That's fantastic. She's fantastic. She's a hero. I want more female bomber pilots. I hope the men and women of our country sign up to do such brave and audacious things. But when you spin it as. Because I say our boys and bombers is a common phrase, I'll keep saying things like that, whether they're men or women. Very proud of that female pilot. Like, I'm very proud of those male pilots. And I don't care if it's a male or a female in that cockpit. And the American people don't care. But it's the obsession with race and gender in this department that's changed priorities. And we don't do that anymore. We don't play your little games.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I love this. I mean, I can't believe that's a real question he got asked.

[Buck Sexton]

But it's good that we see that this is what the press still pretends is their job, right. Is to push. They're just asking questions. We'll get to Jake Tapper's latest on that. Really, they're always pushing an agenda. No one thinks that Pete Hegseth was undermining any woman who. This is a bit like saying, hey, when you, when you were talking, you said, hey, you guys, great job. Why didn't you say you guys and girls? I mean, it's absurd. It's, it's childish. It's. It's focused on nothing. But I also think that what this shows you, Clay, is in these, you know, the media, the non Fox media, the Democrat media, the non aligned leftist media, they have been making a lot of jokes about how Fox News essentially has staffed this Trump administration. And what's interesting is, yeah, guess what? Now you've got people who are both qualified to do the job. People like Dan Bongino and Hegseth and others who are also really Good at media and comms themselves.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

And so if you think back to other times, we've had people who are running, you know, Department of Defense and we've had people who were in these kinds of cabinet level positions. Secretary of State, look, look at Secretary of State Rubio. I mean that guy might as well have been a Fox contributor for the last decade he's been on Fox. You know, as much as anybody, they're good at this. And so the ability that the media has to attack them, trip them up, undermine them and then focus on that instead of what's actually happening is, is vastly diminished. I mean it's almost non existent at this point.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Can you imagine being a Pentagon news reporter and we just had the strike that we did on Iran and you get a limited amount of time to ask questions and a limited amount of things that you can even ask about because they're only going to be whatever it is, five, six, seven people called on that. That would be the thing that you went in as a Pentagon reporter to focus on was the fact that one female was there and said when the, when he said the boys in the planes or whatever the heck it used to be, that that would be your focus. It even is stunning to me.

[Buck Sexton]

Still, this, all, this all makes sense though because their job, if you work for the Washington Post and you're in the Pentagon briefing room or if you work for the New York Times and you're in the White House, the only way you're going to get any attention and that your readership, which is hyper partisan is going to like your reporting is if you manage to attack successfully, get them to stumble, get to pull some sound bite. They don't actually care about the information. They don't, they're not there to ask relevant, reasonable questions and get back objective data for the American people. They are there to be partisan attack dogs. And so if they don't do that, they're not actually serving the purposes of their paper.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I get the part is an attack dog thing, but to think that your audience is obsessed because he used the word boys. And did you see, did you see.

[Buck Sexton]

Who asked that question? Did you see who asked that question? She's been wagging her finger at people for saying you guys for the last 20 years.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I guarantee you, I, I just, I can't believe that that is real. And by the way, the New York Times got savaged in their live chat because they had a male reporter who said in real time, hey, well actually, you know, there was a girl, first of all, when the idea that boys and girls, or guys or we all understand the concept, I mean I, I imagine it comes from the boys and the bombers is also a phrase, boys in the boat, which was one of the best selling books, a great book by the way. But I, is there, are there any women that were actually offended by that? I just the fact that that would be a question that's asked of the Secretary of Defense in a limited public availability situation where he doesn't answer a lot of questions is actually even for left wing media, I think a huge embarrassment for them. Look, heads up everybody. Another massive data breach has happened. 16 billion. 16 billion login credentials have been leaked. Apple, Google, Facebook. Passwords stolen using malware. 16 billion of them. Eventually they're going to end up on the dark web. Important to understand how cybercrime and identity theft are affecting our lives. Lots of places can accidentally expose your personal info. That's why Lifelock monitors millions of data points a second for risk to your identity. And remember, when you're a Lifelock member, you can become a victim of identity theft, but you will immediately have a dedicated US based lifelock restoration specialist to fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Join now say 40% off your first year with my name Clay as the promo code. That's 1-800-lifelock to go online to lifelock.com promo code clay for 40% off. That's lifelock.com promo code Clay.

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[Karen Kilgariff]

From My Favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Take a listen. The Montgomery Bus Boycott Success was dependent on the action and dedication of many individuals of course. But today we're going to focus on the work of one of those people in particular. A woman in her 30s and yes, I love her name. It's Georgia Gilmore.

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[iHeart Podcast Host]

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[Buck Sexton]

We were just talking a moment ago about the way the press is covering the nuclear strikes, the strikes on the nuclear facilities. You can tell that there are a lot of anti Trump reporters who aren't happy about this. This is a problem that has bedeviled the American body politic and really the international community, such as it exists, or at least the Western world and our allies in Israel for a long time. And it has been, if not solved, it has certainly been made a whole lot better. But there are people who don't want to see it that way and there are people who also want to find every excuse to try to attack and undermine this administration on this issue. This is a Talk Back listener. Marie, she's a former military pilot. This is what she thinks about the nitpicking that was going on. Play BB As a former military officer.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And a pilot, I actually don't care.

[Buck Sexton]

If they say the boys in the cockpit. And I'm actually glad we're saying cockpit again and not the box.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This is Marie from Florida. Have a great day, guys.

[Buck Sexton]

Love your show. Thank you, Marie. We love it. You listen. She's totally spot on.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Indeed. I forgot that they were trying to do away with the phrase cockpit because they decided that it was too gendered, which is very funny in and of itself. But I, I just, my expectations for media in press conferences are very low.

[Buck Sexton]

They are mascot, the Gamecocks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, yeah. South Carolina Gamecocks. Yeah. Hockey Cocky. The Gamecock is South Carolina Gamecock. Look at you on the sports mascot recall.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what I'm saying? I'm learning. I'm learning as I go here because I've seen hats where people wear them and I realize, oh, that's what they're referring to, South Carolina, the mascot. So there we go. But yes, I don't. This is also clay, the people who actually do this stuff. It's so funny. This is true across a wide range of things. The people who are the ones on the front lines, whether it's military or just whatever it is, they don't have the time to get into this kind of stuff. It's always other people on their behalf whining about it. You know, I do not think any woman in the military who actually flies in combat missions. Look, Pete, Secretary Defense said, great job, guys. I'm upset now. And quite honestly, if anyone did feel that way, I would question their fitness to continue to be in high stress, demanding roles. You should be more focused on other stuff.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I do agree with Pete Hegseth, though, that because I shared one story from the New York Post about how incredible the fact that these guys and the gal. When I say guys, by the way, I mean guys and gals. I don't want to get fact checked here. They were in the plane for 36 straight hours. They refueled in the air. It is a pretty incredible accomplishment that hasn't been talked about enough, what they were able to do.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

We were talking about this off the air, but Pete Hegseth only has one person that he has to be concerned about. And Donald Trump loved, loved that press conference with every fiber of his being. And so it is not a surprise that that would have registered well with Trump. But did you see this morning? I was up early buck, and one of the first things I saw was that the Supreme Leader of Iran is, is sharing tweets about how they won the war. Did you. You saw these tweets?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, I've got. I think he's going to get a contract at MSNBC any moment.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I saw that line, very good line. Do you know our buddy Keith Olbermann, formerly maybe the most influential person on the left on television in America, shared those four tweets uncritically and said Trump is being dishonest. He now is more likely. This is, this is where Trump derangement syndrome really leads you, that you are looking at the Ayatollah Khomeini's tweets and you are considering them to be more accurate than you are what Donald Trump is saying, because that is what Keith Olbermann, he of the totally broken brain, has done. And it led me into the thought process because we were talking about the intelligence leak. What percentage of people that are in the intelligence community do you think are rooting for Donald Trump to be successful? Because in an ideal world, you should want in the intelligence community, I would think, for the President of the United States to be supremely successful because it means the country is doing well. And if you're in the intelligence community, ostensibly, you are rooting for the country to be doing better. You're putting your labor towards it happening. How broken do you think the intelligence community is? Would 50% of people be rooting for Trump to fail? Just because. Even though it would theoretically hurt their, their ability to do the job? Like, how broken internally do you think it is?

[Buck Sexton]

You'd have to slice. You'd have to slice this pie pretty. With pretty clear specificity, I think, to try to get a general sense of it. And here's how I could do it for you. So intelligence community is huge. I think it's 17 agencies now. When I was in, it was 16. I think they've added one or two. I can't. And people say, you were in. Can I name them all? Off the top of my head, if I wrote them out, I probably could. You know, obviously, the big ones I could rattle off, but, you know, there's like, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency there. You know, there's. There's stuff, you know, there's State Department.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Roll back into my head. Even thinking about all these government.

[Buck Sexton]

There's State Department inr. Intell. And research, which is what I mean, there's all this. Like, it really is. You know, you got to get really deep into the bowels of this thing. Okay. You're asking, though, what. What percent of the intel community supports Trump? The first big cleavage, if you will, is.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Got my attention now.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I was gonna say Clay perked up. I mean, separation. The first big separation is between military and civilian, meaning that if you're looking at places like Diagnosis, and then you look within, even places like CIA and others, there are a lot, you know, nsa, there are a lot of active duty mill, and active duty military people are about 60, 40 pro Trump, 60%, 40% Democrat overall. Now, when you hone that down into war fighters, infantry, special operations, it gets a lot more like 80, 20, 90, 10. But the big mill, big military, you're looking at something like 60, 40, and then within these. So. So separate that out. So if you're in a place like dia, Yeah, I would think that you'd probably have a little better than 60, 40 overall support for Trump there, just in a general sense. But I think that 10 to 20% of the people working there really hate Trump and really would want to subvert Trump in some way. I think it's higher at the CIA because it's a civilian agency, and it's really a lot higher. When you get into the analyst cadre, not the case officers, not the paramilitary, but you get into the analyst cadre, which I was a part of. And although when I was first coming in, they're like, you should be a case officer. Like, you're very, you know, you're smooth with people. And I was like, no, I'm. I'm a nerd. I am. I am going to be wearing a jacket with tweed and with the elbow patches.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This is like my argument that we're good looking for radio guys, I would imagine. Yeah. This is a standard that is quite. Inside the intelligence community, being good with people is a very broad, broad universe.

[Buck Sexton]

Category for C. For the average CIA, I think I was probably pretty suave. It doesn't mean I'm suave in the general sense. Yes. It's kind of like we are Clay and I are basically bikini models of the radio world, which, again, is not saying that we are, you know, or Mankinis for.

[Ryan Seacrest]

For sports press box status. I might as well be Fabio. It is a collection of the.

[Buck Sexton]

I saw it and I was even.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You didn't.

[Buck Sexton]

I was taking. I was like, wow, wow, it's quite a scene in here look.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, for people who cover sports, a lot of them look like they haven't ever seen the sun in, like, in like eight years. You know, it is a very pallid room.

[Buck Sexton]

The good news is that they look like they watch a lot of sports and don't do anything else. However, back to the intel and the deep state component of this. So I think that it's really hard to get a. A, you know, a percentage that would be accurate because people obviously aren't filling out surveys and sharing this. So I'm just giving you a snapshot of what I know of the cultures of these different places. And it's been a while since I've been in. So that's basic. Based in large part on how it has always been. And then what I know from friends of mine who are still there, and this is part of the challenge of trying to clean it up, is it's not like it's a little bit like dealing with an insurgency. Yeah, it'd be a lot easier if they wore uniforms and said, we're the bad guys. We're trying to, you know, shoot at your people when they're driving through the streets. Shoot at your soldiers. No, they say, we're. We're not. We're good. We're civilians. We didn't do anything. And the deep state right now is certainly in a period of, if not remission, something, you know, a bit of hiding. And I think that's where you get most of the challenge in trying to root them out. The leak that came out, though, I mean, that's somebody who thinks that he is doing some. Or he or she is doing some great service. You remember, there was. That leak wasn't the first Trump administration. And the name of the woman was Crazy Reality Winner.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Reality winner. She was an NSA translator. And I'm trying to remember the year 2021. Anyway, whatever. The point is, she came out and she shared. She gave some top secret document to a website and she ended up going to prison for a long time for it. And she didn't accomplish anything by it. And people wanted to call her a whistleblower. And it's just like, don't do that. Don't do this thing. Don't betray your oath. Don't. Don't break the law. Not smart. And so you have to be really ideologically kind of a radical. Clay, think about this. You're risking prison time. You're risking prison time because you think you can help shift the conversation. You've got to be a little delusional to believe that.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And also you have to on some level be rooting against your own country. Right. Because I think I'm, I'm old fashioned in this sense, probably. But I would like to think that if you are a government employee, irrespective of whether it's a Democrat or Republican, that you want the president to have success. Because having success probably means less American troops are going to die, more world peace people make more money. Right. I mean, like just the basic things before you get into the policy that helps to make that happen. And I am not at all surprised that the leak came out when it did. And it just feels to me so toxic. And I think that's why Hegseth and I give them credit. Man, these early morning press conferences, it's a little bit like making the media run because you know when you would do a bad job in a, in a team and your coach would be like, all right, get on the line. You're going to run today. When you make the media get there at 8am they hate it. They have to be up at 6am they got a rush. And you control.

[Buck Sexton]

Do you still, as a coach, do you still call that running? We used to call it when I was playing sports, running suicides. I feel like that's probably. Is that still what it said or is it now like running lines?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Suicides. Yeah, probably still called suicides. I mean, I don't think people are like, hey, we want you to kill yourself at the end of these. Right.

[Buck Sexton]

But I'm just saying people are very sensitive about the words now. So, you know, tell kids, I feel like if you're at a school and you tell you're a coach and you blow the whistle, you're like, hey, everybody on the line. We're running suicides.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They replaced disabled list with injured list. I believe in baseball because it was offensive. And this is the craziest one. They replaced the word owner in the NBA with governor because owner, they said, sounded too much like it might be slavery.

[Buck Sexton]

I did not know that. That is truly nuts.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They call, they call the owners of NBA franchises governors now because some players complained and said owner makes it sound like you actually own us. And it's like connotes slavery. And so the NBA was like, you know what, morons. You're right. Let's change it to governors. So now it sounds like you're some sort of, you know, British. British, like head of. Head of a company. Because speaking of words, speaking of words.

[Buck Sexton]

That are used the best words, some people use the best words of all words. This was referring to the NATO summit that Trump was a part of. Sky News reporter, ask Trump about the NATO chief calling him Daddy. This is Cut one. Play it.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

Mark Rutter, the NATO chief, who is your friend.

[Buck Sexton]

He called you daddy earlier. Do you regard your NATO allies as kind of children? No, he likes me. I think he likes me.

[Unnamed Speaker]

If he doesn't, I'll let you know.

[Buck Sexton]

I'll come back and I'll hit him hard. Okay?

[Ryan Seacrest]

He did.

[Buck Sexton]

He did it very affectionately.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Daddy. You're my daddy.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Trump.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, I think Trump could have very easily. Yes, Trump could have very easily said, yes, America is the dad of Europe. We're bigger, badder, bolder than all of you. And so if you had to give us a familial. Familial name, it would be America's Europe's daddy, which would have been very funny, too.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, if Russian tanks did start rolling into the Baltics or start rolling into, you know, Poland, what would be? I mean, the first call from pretty much everybody in Europe, from all the prime ministers, presidents, et cetera, due to Donald Trump. That's a fact. They'd be like, Trump, run to Trump right away. And then they'd run to our military. So. And Trump's trying to prevent that, which is why he wants them to be able to provide for their own security. Think about that, by the way. You know, a lot of people are like, we could have. Socialism is great. Look at these countries in Europe. And actually, they're not socialist countries. They're countries with high taxation, large welfare states, but they don't have government control of industry. Even places like Denmark, for example, have very free markets. It's just a question of how they tax and how they spend. But it's actually not government control of industry, which is really what you have in classical socialism. Putting that aside for a second, it's also a lot easier to have free, you know, to spend money on health care. In the uk the health care is trash, by the way, especially the dentistry. It's bad. It's easy to do that when somebody else has got your back. And it's like if you get invaded or you have a big national security problem. We're going to roll in with the heavy cavalry and take care of you. Europe gets a free ride on us. Trump sees this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I've got a funny email that may get me in trouble, but I'm going to read it anyway. Buck. Karen writes in and says, beware, I no longer have filters, even some of the polite ones, which you got my attention right off the bat. She said, if it's cockpits offensive, should we call where a female pilot is the pussy pit? Moronic, hysterical. Karen, very good email. She doesn't have a filter, Buck. And if you're upset, be mad at Karen. And I got to tell everybody out there, look, we've been dealing with all sorts of chaos, all sorts of challenges, all sorts of ridiculousness all throughout Israel and the people that have been doing the best to help take care of what's going on in Israel from a American perspective, I honestly mean this. With all of the work that you guys are helping to provide, with all of the allies there is the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. I saw for myself what they do on the ground. Free meals for people that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford meals, bomb shelters for people that otherwise wouldn't have access to bomb shelters, bulletproof vehicles for first responders. They are doing incredible work and the fellowship can do so much more if you guys continue to provide the support that you have. And that's what I'm going to encourage you to do today as well. You can do go online to IFCJ.org and make a tremendous difference there. But you can also call if you would rather 888488 ifcj again, ifcj.org I saw the work these guys do for myself when I was in Israel. It's incredible. 888488 ifcj ifcj.org is the website. They could use your help more now than ever. That's IFCJ.org.

[Buck Sexton]

President Trump was right when he said Obamacare sucks. President Trump also said he didn't want to terminate Obamacare, but he wants to replace it with much better health care.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Now you can replace your overpriced Obamacare with Ease for Everyone. The only group plan that any adult in the US Is now eligible to join with a monthly cost as low as $262. You get free unlimited prescriptions with 93% of all drugs covered available at no extra cost, including insulin with huge savings on brand names.

[Buck Sexton]

There's free unlimited virtual primary care and urgent care with just a $30 copay. You get generous cash back reimbursements for doctor's office visits, emergency room visits and ambulance transportation.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You can have affordable health care for as low as $262 a month. Today visit ease for everyone.com clay that's ease for everyone.com forward/clay paid for by Affordable Benefit Choices.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hey, it's Karen and Georgia from My favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Take a listen. The Montgomery Bus Boycott Success was dependent on the action and dedication of many individuals, of course. But today we're going to focus on the way work of one of those people in particular. A woman in her 30s. And yes, I love her name. It's Georgia Gilmore.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

Oh yes. Today's story is centered on a group of courageous women dedicated on taking down Hitler during World War II. They banded together to form an all female ambulance corps which became the first unit of its kind to join an official combat division on the Western front. This is the story of the Rochambeau group best known by their nickname the Rochambells.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

Right? This episode is brought to you by the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5.

[Unnamed Speaker]

We see what's happening with Israel. They are at war for their survival. At war with Iran. Now in a necessary act of self defense, Israel finally has had enough with the hundreds of thousands of rockets being fired into their country and rightly they have struck Iranian nuclear facilities military targets. Top Leadership Right now the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground preparing large scale distributions of life saving food, first aid emergency kits, especially to Israel's most vulnerable people, the sick, the elderly, children, families in great great need. Now the Fellowship is also making sure that hospitals emergency room shelters are fully stocked with critical and life saving medical supplies. But the Fellowship needs your most generous gift today. Now is the time to stand with Israel's most vulnerable. Please call as soon as possible 888488 IFCJ. That's 888488 IFCJ online it's IFCJ.org, that's IFCJ.org today discover the life changing benefits.

Of Meow greens for your cat. Ever see your cat slowing down or having health issues and wonder what can I do to make them better? Well my friend, add meow greens to your cat's food for 90 days and I guarantee you'll see changes that will amaze you. Greetings. I'm Naturopathic doctor Dennis Black, inventor of Meow Greens, and I invite you to take the Meow Greens 90 day challenge. In the first 30 days, you'll see shinier coats and increased energy. By day 60, your cat will have a stronger immune system, less shedding, improved joint function, all due to the live nutrients that you've added to their diet. And at 90 days, they're going to have better digestion, reduced inflammation, improved heart health, and you may even have reduced their cancer risk. Fetch a free Jumpstart trial bag for your cat today. Go to try Meow Greens.com use promo code try Meow. That's try Meow. You discover the shipping. You don't have to change your cat's food to improve your cat's health. Just add a packet of Meow Greens.

[J.R. Martinez]

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

[Unnamed Speaker]

This medal is for the men who.

[Buck Sexton]

Went down that day.

[Unnamed Speaker]

It's for the families of those who didn't make it.

[J.R. Martinez]

I'm J.R. martinez. I'm a U.S. army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart podcast from Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant, and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm sitting here drinking some Crockett coffee. Delicious. You know what I actually did with mine? I mixed a little bit. This is a carry hack for the hot summer days here in Miami. I mixed a little bit of coconut water in with my Crockett coffee. It's actually quite, quite delicioso. Big fan. But Crockett on its own is Fantastic. Go to crockettcoffee.com Please subscribe. 10% of the profits goes to Tunnel Towers. Get yourself some gear. The Crockett camo hat. All the cool kids are wearing it. The mugs are sturdy and made in America. You can get an overmountain mug for yourself Over Mountain Club. And you can also get a signed copy of Clay's American Playbook if you use code book so it is the best coffee anywhere.

[Ryan Seacrest]

The hoodies, my, my teenage boys where they're super comfortable and one of my teenage boys has the hoodie on. Today we're running around in Northern Michigan a little bit chilly up here compared to the rest of the country. That's baking. It's actually great. But he was rocking the hoodie. It's in the 60s for a high up here right now and, and so it's pretty comfortable gear. He was, he was singing its praises and wow, hoodies.

[Buck Sexton]

I haven't thought about hoodies in quite a while down here. It's different vibes in South Florida. Kathy from Oregon, you want to weigh in? What's going on? Well, I wanted to put my 2 cents in on the women being included in the one of the boys. I am an army veteran. I was air traffic control, not a pilot. But I grew up with three brothers and no sisters. And anytime I was called one of the boys, I felt proud included and very exuberant. It made me feel like I counted.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Thank you for the call. Look, I coached, I've mentioned this before. I think I coached a lot of different sports leagues, Buck. One of the leagues was 10 year olds and the best player on our team was a girl. And early on I was like, look, I'm not going to just signal you out every time and say boys and girl names. So I said I'm just going to call all of you guys and that is a general term instead of having to refer to your sexes all the time. She's, by the way, the best player on the team. I think she's going to be a heck of a women's softball player one day. It's probably already is, but I think just using generic terms, we don't really need to take offense. And you're not being excluded in the context. And really again, the idea that that would be the focal point, that you have a limited number of questions that you can ever ask of the, of the defense secretary or the president, United States. The ones that you choose to ask in that context tell us more about you than I think them. And it just showed me how broken the media is. What you got for us? Top of the next hour, Buck. Where are we headed?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, it's going to be a magical journey, my friends. We've got more on the New York City mayor's race, the wave of socialist fervor that is now at least sweeping through the Democrat Party. We will discuss.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hey, it's Karen and Georgia from my favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai, we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special episode featuring some some unforgettable car themed stories.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Take a listen. I'm going to tell you a story today, Karen. It's about a pivotal role that cars played in none other than the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

Okay, well, yes, it's right there in the title, right? This episode is brought to you by the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 oral health.

[Unnamed Speaker]

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Discover the Life changing benefits of Meow Greens for your cat Ever see your cat slowing down or having health issues and wonder what can I do to make them better? Well, my friend, add Meow Greens to your cat's food for 90 days and I guarantee you'll see changes that will amaze you. Greetings. I'm naturopathic doctor Dennis Black, inventor of Meow Greens and I invite you to take the Meow Greens 90 day challenge. In the first 30 days, you'll see shinier coats and increased energy. By day 60, your cat will have a stronger immune system, less shedding, improved joint function, all due to the live nutrients that you've added to their diet. And at 90 days, they're going to have better digestion, reduce inflammation, improved heart health, and you may even have reduced their cancer risk. Fetch a free Jumpstart trial bag for your cat today. Go to try Meow Greens.com use promo code try Meow. That's Try Meow. You just cover the shipping. You don't have to change your cat's food to improve your cat's health. Just add a packet of Meow Green.

[J.R. Martinez]

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.

[Unnamed Speaker]

This medal is for the men who.

[Buck Sexton]

Went down that day.

[J.R. Martinez]

On Medal of Stories of Courage, you'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[iHeart Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast.