Hour 1 - Trump's Tariffs Paying Off

Summary

Summary of "Hour 1 - Trump's Tariffs Paying Off" | The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode: Hour 1 - Trump's Tariffs Paying Off
• Release Date: July 15, 2025

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Introduction

In the first hour of the July 15, 2025 episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the economic landscape shaped by former President Donald Trump's tariff policies. The discussion navigates through the current state of inflation, the housing market, and broader economic indicators, juxtaposed against Democratic policies and potential political contenders for the 2028 election.

Trump’s Tariffs and Their Impact on Inflation

Clay and Buck open the conversation by addressing a pivotal question that has dominated the first half of Trump's second term: the efficacy of Trump's tariffs in controlling inflation.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [02:00]: "One of the big questions that has consumed much of the first six months of the Trump 2.0 regime is what's going to happen with inflation."

They highlight that, contrary to widespread economic predictions, inflation rates have remained relatively stable. Citing recent data, Buck mentions a federal budget surplus for June, attributing this positive outcome to the revenue generated by tariffs.

Notable Quote:

• Clay Travis [03:45]: "We are balancing the budget in June, which is a very impressive marker. We are on track for hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and so far the overall cost of goods has not substantially altered."

The hosts reference Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant's assertion that earlier fears of tariffs causing significant price hikes have not materialized.

Notable Quote:

• Scott Bessant [00:30]: "Wall Street, a lot of economists, market in general got wrong early on was that tariffs were going to cause a substantial price level rise, which just hasn't happened."

Mortgage Rates and the Housing Market

Shifting focus, Clay and Buck discuss the stagnation in the housing market, attributing the high mortgage rates to policies implemented during President Joe Biden's administration in 2021. They argue that elevated interest rates have frozen the housing market, limiting mobility for homeowners and dampening economic growth.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [05:00]: "We're looking around and saying, I just want to rent. This is another part where Trump is 100% right. Our interest rates are too high."

The duo advocates for a reduction in interest rates, suggesting that a two-point decrease could rejuvenate the housing market and bolster overall economic recovery.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [06:15]: "If rates come back by about two points, I think you would see an unfreezing of the housing market, which would accelerate economic recovery and growth in a substantial way."

Economic Strength Under Trump

Despite initial skepticism from various economic sectors, the hosts highlight the robustness of the current economy under Trump's tariff regime. They point to low inflation rates (2.7% in June) and the S&P 500 nearing all-time highs as indicators of economic health.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [04:50]: "The S&P 500 is near an all-time record high. Is it time to actually have that conversation about whether the conventional wisdom was totally wrong about this?"

Clay adds that Trump's approach has yielded positive results without the negative inflationary pressures that were widely anticipated.

Border Security and Crime Reduction

Transitioning to domestic policies, Clay and Buck commend Trump's administration for significant strides in border security and crime reduction. They assert that enhanced immigration enforcement has led to lower violent crime rates and a more secure national border.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [10:30]: "We have never had a more secure border and crime. The number of murders is collapsing all over the country because we now have police that are able to do their jobs."

Clay emphasizes that these achievements are often overlooked by the media and political opponents, despite their tangible benefits to the American populace.

Notable Quote:

• Clay Travis [11:00]: "We're potentially heading in 2025 for the lowest national murder rate that we have seen in a generation."

Critique of Democratic Policies and Messaging

The hosts critique Democratic strategies, particularly criticizing their handling of immigration and economic policies. They argue that Democratic leaders, exemplified by California Governor Gavin Newsom, are out of touch with the average American's concerns, especially regarding issues like illegal immigration and economic management.

Notable Quote:

• Clay Travis [18:00]: "Gavin Newsom is clearly thinking of himself as the Democrat nominee to be going forward. Unless Cuomo pulls off something crazy in New York City, he's not."

Buck further criticizes Newsom's inability to clearly communicate his policies, especially on contentious issues like transgender athletes, suggesting that Newsom's evasive answers undermine his credibility.

Notable Quote:

• Buck Sexton [25:00]: "He tries to acknowledge that there is a legitimate reason that people would care about this and then dodges all actual positions that he's going to take."

Potential Democratic Nominees for 2028

In evaluating future political landscapes, Clay and Buck assess potential Democratic candidates for the 2028 presidential race. They express skepticism towards figures like Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, positioning Gavin Newsom as the most viable Democratic contender despite his perceived shortcomings.

Notable Quote:

• Clay Travis [30:00]: "Bernie is too old, and AOC, I think, really is too dumb. Gavin Newsom is somewhere in the Democrat sweet spot."

Buck concurs, suggesting that Newsom's charisma and superficial appeal may position him as the leading Democratic nominee, despite deeper policy and leadership concerns.

Conclusion

The first hour of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show presents a robust defense of Trump's economic and domestic policies, highlighting their effectiveness in stabilizing inflation, boosting the economy, and enhancing national security. Simultaneously, the hosts offer a critical evaluation of Democratic strategies and potential candidates, underscoring a belief in Trump's continued positive impact on the nation's trajectory. The discussion is peppered with incisive commentary and direct quotes, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current political and economic climate.

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This summary captures the key discussions and insights from the first hour of the episode, omitting advertisements and non-essential segments to provide a coherent and informative overview for those who haven't listened.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome in. We are rolling Tuesday Edition Clay Travis, BUCK Sexton Show I am in Atlanta, Georgia, where there was a pretty phenomenal home run derby last night. For those of you that may have been paying attention, there were not a lot of sports related activities on the program. Tonight is the All Star Game, Buck. And in order to get into our Atlanta affiliate studio, which is right by the Atlanta Braves Stadium, they have a huge red carpet for all of the players to walk. And I think I was able to sneak in because otherwise I don't know how you get into this building. So I had to already begin my day engaging in covert activities to even manage to make it into the studio today. But it is an amazing fun scene in Atlanta as the All Star Game gets closer. Appreciate our affiliate down here hosting me in the Atlanta studios. You are in Miami. And one of the big questions that has, I would say, consumed much of the first six months of the Trump 2.0 regime is what's going to happen with inflation? And Trump barely got any attention at all. June we had a surplus, that is, we brought in the federal government did more money than we spent, which had not happened in years. To a large extent that was occurring because of the tariffs that Trump is bringing to bear. Well, we got inflation related numbers that came out earlier this morning. And yet again, despite the attempts of the media to pretend otherwise, the data does not appear to reflect that there is a massive impact of inflation. We've got Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant on and I think this is an interesting conversation to have. Was Trump right all along so far about the tariffs and the fact that they would not have a major inflationary impact? So far that largely appears to be true. Here is Scott Besant, cut one. But I wouldn't put too much emphasis on one number. I think it's the trend and I think one thing that Wall Street, a lot of economists, market in general got wrong early on was that tariffs were going to cause a substantial price level rise, which just hasn't happened. Okay, Buck, so so far we are balancing the budget in June, which it may be a little bit of a calendar quirk, but it's still a very impressive marker. We are on track for hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. And and so far the overall cost of goods has not substantially altered. Is it time to say, hey, maybe Trump was right? We're also, I think it's worth mentioning near record all time highs in stock prices as we sit here in mid July. We hope that you guys listened to us and stayed pat. The S&P 500 is near an all time record high. Just a little bit back off of it. That was set recently. Was Trump right? Is it, is it time to actually have that conversation about whether the conventional wisdom was totally wrong about this?

[Clay Travis]

You can certainly say Trump wasn't as wrong as they said he would be. And they spoke with certainty on these things. The certainty of the consensus, the certainty of economists, end quote. Right. All economists know Clay, that tariffs are going to be inflationary. All economists know that tariffs are going to rise prices. Maybe we should ask those economists what they really know because that hasn't happened. And to be clear, they said it would happen, it should have happened if they were right right away. And that is not what has occurred here. So once again we have a situation where I think quite clearly Trump, just like on trade with China, decided that he was going to do something that was against not only the anti Trump Democrat, everything Trump does is bad so called consensus. But even some in his own party, even some who are truly Trump voters and supporters were concerned about the trajectory of this. And meanwhile it looks like it's the negative has not been really apparent at all. And the positive is also on the positive side of a ledger bigger than was initially anticipated with $100 billion of revenue coming in via, you know, on the tariffs you've also got right inflation, 2.7% in June, which is in line with expectations. So staying right steady. And I know that they're now looking for formally Scott Besson says the Treasury Secretary, they're looking for a Fed chair to replace the current Fed chair, which I think is long overdue.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, look, if you told me, hey, what is the most bollocks? There's a fun word, the most flummoxed part. There's another fun word of our economy right now, I would say, and I bet most of you would sign off on this, it's mortgage rates. Because as a result of Joe Biden's inflation in 2021, we went from about 2 and a half or 3% mortgage rates to around 7%. And as a result, the housing market's completely frozen in many respects. And as a result of the housing market being frozen, lots of you out there might be interested in moving. But because you have such incredible mortgages, you're not selling, you're not moving. That is the rate many of you out there would be interested in buying. But the housing market is frozen. And at 7% on some of these mortgages, you're looking around and saying, I Just want to rent. This is another part where Trump is 100% right. Our interest rates are too high. They accelerated too rapidly without hardly any parallels historically because everything was wrong. Jerome Powell completely whiffed. Remember, he said inflation was transitory. They didn't raise rates fast enough, then they overly raised rates. And, and right now, the cost of borrowing, particularly as it pertains to the average home, but also if you're buying a car, if you are paying credit card debt, it's all just too high. And we need, I mean, honestly, I think probably our interest rates are about two points too high. And if they would come back by about two points, I think you would see an unfreezing of the housing market, which would accelerate, I think, economic recovery and growth in a substantial way, to say nothing of businesses feeling more able to borrow money because the rate at which you're having to pay it back is not so high. So this all to me is interconnected because the reason why Jerome Powell has said he has not cut rates is he says the tariffs have a substantial inflationary impact. We have not seen that so far. I would just say what has Jerome Powell done? Well, such that we should be trusting his and other Fed governors opinions on this vis a vis Trump. Because it seems to me Trump, if you want to criticize him, you can criticize him for lots of things. The guy understands interest rates and real estate better than maybe any president we have ever had. And I do think that he's right about the fact that our economy is not moving as rapidly as otherwise would if we could get interest rates correct.

[Clay Travis]

Look, the economy is something that unfortunately, I think Trump is almost a victim of his own success with this. There's an expectation based on the first time Trump was in office when he was still learning a lot more on the job and figuring out who his team should be. There was an expectation once again, Trump would have a strong economy because he understands business. He understands what will get things going for all of us. Right at the Democrats always focus on making it seem like there's some class warfare agenda in the Trump economic push. But really it and specifically in the big beautiful bill by the way they look at what does this mean for the average American household's disposable income? What does this mean for small businesses that are the still the economic engine of so much hiring and so much of, of gdp? So I think that this is so far so good with Trump. It's looking really, really strong and it is a moment in time where he's not getting all the credit that I think he should, or that certainly he would if he were a Democrat, but that he should, even for a Republican. Because there have been some other things on the agenda lately in the news. And also I think that Trump is expected to do well on the economy. Right. The part of this that's I think a bit of a break is, or a break from the consensus, or the expectation is when he does the things that they say on his own side are going to backfire and it actually looks like it's working. That's the part of this that's pretty remarkable now.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. And if you want to argue on the flip side, they're going to continue to say, oh, the inflation pressure is coming. The inflation pressure is coming. And, and so that is what Jerome Powell basically is arguing. With that in mind, the, the prognostication markets, the prediction markets, have it fairly likely that in September we're going to get a rate cut. So that would suggest to me that the Fed is not as worried now about inflation somehow skyrocketing based on the tariff decisions. And it remains to be seen what exactly is gonna happen with the tariffs. We've got now an August 1st date. There was a panic on Liberation Day back in early April. Stock market prices sold off substantially. I think Trump is emboldened by the recovery of the stock market prices to hold the line when it comes to trying to put in place good trade deals for the country. And I don't think he's pressured by the trajectory of the stock market like he might have been in April. Now, stock prices go up and down. They adjust constantly based on existing economic data. So there's still much to be seen, but I think it's very hard. We said before the election buck, this was a three prong election. Economy, border crime just focused on those three economy. Stock prices all time record high. Inflation back down. Your paychecks are growing faster than the average inflation rate is, which means you have more money in your pocket. That's a very good thing. Border shut down. Deportation process underway. We've never had a more secure border and crime. I think this is one story that you and I and a lot of people in media have not focused on enough. And I don't want to jinx things because summer is typically when the overall rates of violent crime increase. Kids are out of school, people have more free time. People are out in the streets more. They stay out later because the sun's up longer. We are potentially heading in 2025 for the lowest national murder rate that we have seen in a generation put cops back on the streets, let them do their jobs. The number of murders is collapsing all over the country because we now have police that are able to do their jobs, because we have ICE agents deporting violent predators and criminals. And it's not getting very much attention. And I don't want to jinx it. But as we enter summer, we're staring down potentially a generational decline in violent crime in this country.

[Clay Travis]

Yes, it turns out enforcing the law creates more rule of law. And also on the deportation issue, you're starting to see the ramp up is real. This has been promised all along by the Trump administration. And I think, Clay, part of the panic that we've seen and the really ineptitude of Democrats to get their footing going with any kind of messaging here is that the more they show people these immigration raids, the more clear it becomes that a big majority of the American people, including majorities of forget about political party, black Americans, Latino Americans, Latino Americans, majority want illegals deported. So they keep doing this old playbook of if we just show and we use the usual phrases about, oh, they're just hardworking and no, actually these are people that aren't supposed to be in the country. And the American people have decided that that's not going to be okay anymore.

[Buck Sexton]

And this is real.

[Clay Travis]

And Democrats haven't figured out how they're supposed to message us. The Abrego Garcia thing was a massive own goal for them. I think if we all remember that one, the guy got sent to El Salvador Ms. 13 guy alleged. And sure enough, Clay. Yeah, they're, they're running low on areas to hit the president on, no doubt.

[Buck Sexton]

And, and by the way, the number of Americans, that is American citizens getting jobs, a lot of those Biden jobs, when you go back and look at them, were actually illegal immigrant jobs. The number of American jobs that have skyrocketed under Trump is also substantial. I think you're starting to see that impact. So all of that economy in good place, border in good place, crime in good place. That was the three prongs that, that Trump ran on as his 2024 platform. And so far, he's delivering there in a big way. We'll break all this down for you, continue the, the discussion about what's going on in the border and the drama in the courts, for sure. In the meantime, finding good health care coverage not only difficult, but it can be time consuming. Something this important. You want to feel good about the decision you make. If you're in a full time job with medical benefits. Easy to accept the status quo. But maybe you don't have to settle for just any plan. There's a solution to finding good health care coverage called Ease for Everyone. It offers affordable health care for as low as 262 bucks a month. You can keep your doctor, never pay a deductible. Access over 400 prescription drugs for free. Go online to their website. See what plan is right for you and your family. Ease for Everyone Developed by forward look thinking experts located in my hometown of Nashville. Visit ease for everyone.com Clay to join today. That's ease for everyone.com Clay saving America one thought at a time Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

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[Clay Travis]

All right, welcome back into Clay and Buck. You know, you're starting to see a little bit of, a little bit of scuttlebutt around there. That's a fun word to say, a little bit of scuttlebutt. When it comes to Gavin Newsom, he's on our friend Sean Ryan's podcast for four hours. Apparently, I haven't, I've only seen clips. I haven't been able to listen the whole four hours.

[Buck Sexton]

Who could listen to a four hour interview? I mean, first of all, like, that is a long conversation.

[Clay Travis]

Gavin, Sean Ryan is a great show. I've been a guest on a show I love, I love Sean. But to make me listen to Gavin Newsom for four hours, it would, it would be a large sum of money. I don't know if I can take it because he's just so, he's just gross. But, you know, look, maybe it's important to know what the opposition thinks. And so it's, you know, if you want to, if you want to deep dive into all things Newsom, you can certainly get it. But I bring it up because we'll take a couple of moments here to talk about some of his answers and how I think Gavin Newsom is clearly thinking of himself as the Democrat nominee to be going forward. And I, you know, unless Cuomo pulls off something crazy in New York City and becomes the mayor, he's not. You can't lose the mayor's race after resigning as governor and then think you're going to be the President of the United States. That's not going to happen. So then you start looking at this and you're like Gretchen Whitmer against Gavin Newsom. I don't think Whitmer would play that well nationally. Look, Gavin Newsom's got a big profile and I think he views himself as the one to beat. He's, he's the name. He's the name people know like Jeff Johnson and the distinguished gentleman, the name, you know.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, I also think that this may be another Clyburn special where if they are going to keep South Carolina either first or near the front of the Democrat convince Democrat nomination contest. And if you remember, James Clyburn said, hey, Biden's the guy. We just had Gavin Newsom visiting South Carolina with James Clyburn. I honestly think if you look at Mayor Pete, who has zero percent of support among black voters. If you break this down, I think we could see another anointing of a Democrat nominee. And Gavin Newsom seems like he may be next up to be anointed. And I want to play this cut for you here when we come back in a moment. But you've got an analogy. I'll let you lay it out when we get ready for that, for that cut. But Gavin Newsom is smart enough to talk to all the people he should talk to. But he is diabolical and. And I want to just play a cut and give you a sense for how he's going to completely run from everything he did in California and pretend it didn't happen.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, of course. And use the greatness of California that was built over decades of particularly under Republican leadership. It's so crazy to think of now for a lot of people, California was a red state and really until mass illegal immigration and immigration in general, but illegal immigration in particular. California was a red state. It was the state that gave us Ronald Reagan. And you say that out loud now, it's like that must have been in a different country but illegal immigration flipped it and then some.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, that's where Stephen Miller says he got radicalized was he's a kid who grew up in California and saw as all that started to happen and said we've got to push back.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the program. I go ahead and write it down. What are we sitting at here? July 15, 2025. So this is very much in pencil because it'll be what, about two and a half years? Ish. Until the Democrats will have to have a nominee for 2028. And that presumes that it ends by Super Tuesday, which will be sometime in March of 2028. But Buck's theory on Gavin Newsom I don't think is a bad one at all. That he's just going to power through that he thinks he's the guy, the next man up. Now there will be other people who run J.B. pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore, Josh Shapiro, and we will see whether any of them are able to give Newsom a real run. But it feels like Newsom is already running because he's doing all these conservative in quotation mark podcast. I will point out producer Ali, we invited Gavin Newsom on this program a long time ago, right. And he has never been willing to come on. Is that correct? Okay. So we have had an open invite. Back when I was, when I was sort of enamored of, of Gavin Newsom and I just wanted to have a nice chardonnay with him. We invited him on the program. He has not come on, but he has been doing reach out to non traditional Democrat audiences. And our friend Sean Ryan, who lives just up the road from me in Franklin, Tennessee. Actually, I met him through Buck several years ago right as he was starting his show. He had Gavin Newsom on and he asked Gavin Newsom a question. Hey, what do you think about really young kids? I think he said 8 year old kids having gender transition surgeries. Now this is something that I think 99.9% of parents think is crazy. But it has become Democrat orthodoxy that if your young child tells you, hey, I feel like I'm a girl and you're actually a boy or I feel like a boy and you're actually a girl, that you should treat it as an honest opinion and not as just, hey, young kids believe in lots of things that aren't true and, and they have very fertile imaginations. Now you have to treat it as a very serious thing that even might require medical treatment. And Sean Ryan asked Gavin Newsom about that. That and I want you to listen to his totally disjointed gobbledygook response because it's going to basically be his entire 28 campaign is all the things that I support and my party supports. Well, I'm just going to talk and try to confuse you. Listen, what about for your values?

[Clay Travis]

I mean, is eight years old too young? Yeah, I mean, look, I, I, now that I have a nine year old, just became nine. Come on, man. I get it. So those are legit. You know, it's, it's interesting. Just the issue of age. I haven't as I, and as someone that's been so focused on, on equality, broadly LGBT rights, particularly gay marriage. The trans issue for me is also novel. It's, it's, it's over the last few years, I'm trying to understand as much as anyone else, whole pronoun thing, trying to understand all of that. Well, you know, that was like, the hell, I mean, all that stuff. I get it.

[Buck Sexton]

He gets it. Buck. Evil. Is it evil? Keanu Reeves.

[Clay Travis]

You call Keanu.

[Buck Sexton]

I, I, this is what they're going to do. He's going to say he gets that you guys might not agree with it and, and it makes it sound like he agrees with you. But listen to that whole answer. He just kind of jumps from one hot button topic to another without having to take any sides.

[Clay Travis]

When we were talking about this clip right before we came on, I, I said, clay, he reminds me of the used car salesman who really wants you to like him, is like, hey, handsome. Like, wow, you're a guy who knows his way around cars. Like, you must be, I mean, you must be like, fantastic when you're tracking this thing, right? Like, oh, man. Love a guy who really, you know, sorry, you get what I'm saying, but won't tell you the price of the car. Like, the one thing you want to know, how much do you want for this car? You can't find out how much the car is, but he just wants to keep on talking you and getting his, his, his hooks into you. So he's going to close this deal. He didn't answer the question at all. And this is what, Whenever Gavin Newsom is about to be quartered, he's like, let's just talk about how amazing state of California is. I love my state. I love my state. It's like we asked you what you had for breakfast, buddy. Like, no one cares about how much you love the state of California, but he, his whole thing is going to be, he runs with, you know, he runs on charm and hides the substance or has no substance, but same thing.

[Buck Sexton]

He tries to acknowledge that there is a legitimate reason that people would care about this and then dodges all actual positions that he's going to take. And again, California is a broken, in many ways, left wing kingdom. And in order to run to represent the entire nation, he's going to have to turn his back on a lot of the crazy of California. And the way he's going to do it is just by trying to acknowledge that he understands the concerns and he's going to pivot and say things like, we're all Americans, right? This is a conversation. I guarantee this is where it's headed. This is a real conversation we should have. What do you mean conversation we should have? Do 8 year olds deserve to have their penises chopped off? Is not really a conversation to me. I mean, it's a pretty easy answer question. And he's going to try to dodge all this. We saw it earlier when he went on the Charlie Kirk podcast and he tried to say that being male and competing in women's sports was completely unfair. And then what did he do? State of California is fighting right now the Trump administration for trying to say, hey, this shouldn't be allowed to occur. And there is a dude who won track championships in women's high school in California. So he talks out of both sides of his mouth, which is what traditional politicians do. To me, it feels a bit like Bill Clinton, buck and except he doesn't have like the actual background of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was an Arkansas guy who kind of understood things. Gavin Newsom is a elite left wing, rich California guy who reps a lot of those people and that's his base.

[Clay Travis]

And you've had the major outflow of people from California, which I think is one of the most important data points you can have on whether a state is functioning at a level of governance that attracts people versus repels them. And I think that that number more than anything else speaks to the challenges that California has. And to me, again, it's like people could say, well, the communists, when they took over in the Soviet Union, they had a vast military apparatus and they had all this. Well, yeah, of course, because they took it all. Gavin Newsom didn't build Silicon Valley and Hollywood as the epicenter of the global entertainment industry and as the, the hub for innovation and probably the greatest wealth creation machinery in the modern era, which is Silicon Valley, that just happened to be in the most populous state with the best weather that was built over a period of decades. And that he has take this is a lot like the Bill de Blasio phenomenon in New York. Those you remember Bill De Blasio came in. He's like, what are you talking about? City streets are clean. Crime is low. Cities doing great. Crime is low. We kept saying, yeah, but you're. You're messing it up. It's going in the wrong direction. You're ma. And by the time everybody realized, it was like, oh, look, I guess I screwed the whole thing up. When you take over something that is wealthy and functions well, that iceberg doesn't melt overnight. Gavin's melting the iceberg, though. Or actually, he's filling the iceberg with illegals, but that's what's going on.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, look, I was with a guy from Seattle last night watching the. The Home Run Derby, and I was having the conversation to this on a certain extent. Like, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, along with other west coast cities, are among the most geographically beautiful in the entire country, as we've talked about on this program. And it's as if the luxury that they have for all of those beautiful attributes to their cities, they can otherwise take everything else for granted, and they don't have to worry about trying to have a functional city. And finally, it seems like, at least in San Francisco, for instance, people are fed up. I was reading the interview with the new San Francisco mayor, who seems reasonable for San Francisco mayors. But to your point, you know, the Bloomberg era was a great one, following Giuliani. And now you've got Mom Donnie saying, hey, Bill de Blasio did a great job. We need more of this, which is actually just eradicating all of the progress that you had over a generation in New York City.

[Clay Travis]

It's troubling to see, but it is the reality before us, so we have to call it out. But, yeah, Gavin Newsom, I think, is the. The Democrat right now in the best position to be the voice of that party. You have this other tag team of AOC and Bernie Sanders. And I know that the lunatic base of the Democrat Party gets really riled up about those two. And I've said they're going to try to build AOC out. They're going to try. I don't know if that'll be successful. There are some things that we can't necessarily foresee. The mood of the country is what's going on between now and the 2028 election. But Bernie is too old, and AOC, I think, really is too dumb. Gavin Newsom is somewhere in the. In the Democrat sweet spot of he can talk the game and he can dodge and he can evade and, you know, looks the part. Loves talking, loves the sound of his own voice, loves seeing himself on the screen. So that, that may be enough with this Democrat Party. We'll see. And he does this thing too, of, you know, reaching across to the other side. He never actually reaches across to the other side. One of the big things that was bizarre to me was, was people said when he did the, when he did that, that other podcast, not Sean shows, Charlie show, and he said the thing about trans and how he. No, he didn't agree that trans athletes shouldn't compete against, against transgender, you know, against women. He didn't say that. What he said is basically, I feel your pain. Or this is.

[Buck Sexton]

He said it's unfair. He said it's unfair. And then he didn't follow up on it.

[Clay Travis]

But he left it, he left it open. It's unfair to everybody is the point. It's unfair to the trans athlete, it's unfair to the female athlete, it's unfair to society. And that's just a moral relativism that you're going to see a lot of, I think, as the Democrats try to shore up their support by pretending to be something other than that. Which they are, which is always the game. Clay. Right?

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

Democrats, to win national elections, have to pretend not to be Democrats. Look at Joe Biden. If you, if you were to line up for.

[Buck Sexton]

This is a perfect example of this.

[Clay Travis]

If you lined up what Joe Biden said and was promising in the six months before election day in 2020, and I know it was Covid, everything else, but, you know, healing, bringing the country together, steady, stable hand, all this stuff. And then the truly left wing lunacy, that Biden was actually the biggest open border in our history, you know, the trillions of dollars of completely unnecessary spending, the trans policy stuff, the mask mandates, the, or, you know, the vaccine mandates, and you look up, Trump ran and said, I'm going to do these things. And he is doing those things. Yes, Democrats have to lie to voters to win. Enough voters to be in power. And then they hope we just forget.

[Buck Sexton]

Every four years, no doubt. Economy, border, crime, it's as easy as ebc. That's exactly what Trump has delivered so far in the first six months. That's what we told you the campaign was. And that's where his focus has been.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Couple of regular guys, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back into Clay and Buck. It's that time where I got to go down and do a little refill on my Crockett coffee. Go to Crockett Coffee and join America's great new brand of coffee. Also, the gear is fantastic. Get yourself. We got a camo Crockett coffee trucker hat. We got so many truckers who listen. But you don't have to be a trucker to wear the cool trucker hat. They give you permission. Go to crockettcoffee.com get yourself some gear. Also, get yourself some coffee. Don't buy your coffee from some. Do you want to drink mamdani coffee? Communist nonsense. I don't think so. I don't think you want that communist swill.

[Buck Sexton]

I went this morning, Buck to try to get my coffee. They were out of iced coffee. I don't know how this is possible. I was. I was this morning in Atlanta. I'm on the road. I wanted to have my coffee in here. When I was doing the show, I was in disbelief. I walked into the local coffee shop. I was like, hey, can I get an iced coffee, black, nothing fancy. They're like, sorry, we're out of iced coffee. And I'm like, I don't really even understand how that's possible. But I did that mean your ice machine is broken?

[Clay Travis]

How does that.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I didn't even understand. But I didn't want to argue. I didn't want to create a scene trying to buy coffee. But I was thinking, you know, this is the downside. I own a coffee company. I can't even find coffee for myself in Atlanta this morning. So, yeah, go to crockett coffee.com, some of you, I think on video yesterday, I was signing books and they're being shipped out for everybody who signs [e-mail].

[Clay Travis]

Code hook, code book. We got, I think over a thousand of you have become subscribers and gotten a signed copy of the book. So that's great. And we would love for more of you to join that fun Crockett coffee family. And yes, at the end of the year, 10% of the profits all goes to Tunnel the Towers foundation, too. And we're employing Great Americans, All American company, my friends. So with that clay, I have a question for you because you're at the Major League Baseball All Star Game, which I, I found out was a thing going on because of you. So thank you for that keeping me updated.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes, there you go.

[Clay Travis]

And, and I'm wondering if a major league pitcher, and maybe there's a viral video in this clay, maybe you could ask somebody if a major league pitcher said, I'm going to throw full heat, but I'm going to throw them down the middle. I'm not going to try sliders or any of that stuff. Do you think you could make fair ball contact if you had 10 pitches?

[Buck Sexton]

No, I don't because I think, first of all, I would be so scared.

[Clay Travis]

I think I could. This is an un. This is a rare time when I'm. I'm the arrogant one, apparently, on this.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't think you realize how insanely fast the ball would get to the plate. Even if they're saying they're going to throw strikes.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, I haven't played since Little League, so my version of baseball, in my head, and I was in the eighth grade, grade, I think, so my version of baseball is not, I think, really like a camp.

[Buck Sexton]

Just because they say they're gonna just hum it right down the middle for you, they still might pitch a little bit inside. Like, I think seeing they all throw 100 miles an hour now, I don't think most people know what a hundred miles an hour feels like just to stand.

[Clay Travis]

I don't think I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever been standing at the plate and seen a ball going more than like 50 or 60. I think probably that's. Does that sound about right?

[Buck Sexton]

I'm just telling you it would be the intimidation factor of hearing that. I think the number of people that could be. You basically just have to start swinging as soon as the pitch is thrown.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, I think, Clay, we just get you to ask one of these major league pitchers, hey, can I get into, like, the practice area or whatever? I need 10 pitches on video and if you know what I mean. And like, we. We do something for, like, I don't know, tunnel the tower.

[Buck Sexton]

I'd rather. I'd rather you try it than me, actually. This is one of the rare. Like, I.

[Clay Travis]

All right.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm nervous. I don't want to get hit by 100 mile an hour fastball. I don't even want to. Like, I. I would be terrified, I think.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I. I was pretty wimpy about that, too. Probably why I stopped playing baseball. This is an iheart pod.