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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
Prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply Hi, I'm Leah Palmieri.
Buck Sexton
And I'm Matt Stilo. And you might know us as the host of the hit iHeart podcast Grown Up Stuff. So lately on the show we've been crunching the numbers on tax season and we're learning a whole lot. For instance, Matt, did you know there are more than 33 million small businesses in the U.S. that is way more than I thought. Same. And do you know some of the top cities for small business growth in the us I actually don't know that one. Okay, I'm gonna tell you. We've got Scottsdale, Arizona, Atlanta, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Orlando, Florida and Austin, Texas all over the country. That's why we've been talking with the tax experts at TurboTax Business about the tips and tricks small businesses should keep.
Clay Travis
In mind when navigating tax season to.
Buck Sexton
File with confidence and hopefully save a few bucks. Well, I can definitely tell you the.
Clay Travis
More stuff I've learned about how taxes.
Buck Sexton
Work, the more I think small businesses might want to leave it to the professionals this year. Yes, TurboTax Business has a fleet of experts, especially small business experts who can give you advice throughout the process or just handle the whole thing for you. Get expert help today by visiting Turbo.
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
Switching is easy. Go to PureTalk.com buck and save an additional 50% off your first month PureTalk Wireless by Americans for Americans. You don't get on a boat when it's already sinking and you don't buy gold when the economy lands in the wrong spot. Clearly others are heeding this advice as gold hit all time highs the first part of 2025. It's not too late for you too. Protect your family's future with Gold from Birch Gold held in a tax sheltered IRA. Text BUCK to 989898 to get your free info kit on gold. Let the experts at Birchgold help you secure your future today with gold text buck to 989898 all right, second hour of play and Buck kicks off now. Um, Clay, I want to get to a couple things here. One was the exchange on Bill Maher where he asked. I think he threw. He was. I think he thought he was throwing a fast pitch down the middle and it got absolutely walloped into the upper deck with the question about do you feel bad about voting for Trump? Now to someone who voted for Trump, we'll get to that. First though, I did want to get your take on this. You know, last week, first Last week Trump made a bunch of references to Canada as the 51st state. He does not seem to be budging off of that one. I believe it is Trump trolling. I do not have any real thought that the Canadians are going to become the 51st state. There's no process through which that would happen. But then there's this. And I don't know if this is trolling or a combination of serious and trolling, but it's seems to be a big deal. This is from his Truth Social Donald J. Trump the pardons that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs and many others are hereby declared void, vacant and of no further force or effect because of the fact that they were done by auto pen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but more importantly, he did not know anything about them. The necessary pardoning documents were not explained to or approved by Biden. He knew nothing about them and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those of the Unselect Committee who destroyed and deleted all evidence obtained by their two year witch hunt of me and many other innocent people should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level the fact is they were probably responsible for the documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the worst president in the history of our country, crooked Joe Biden. What. What do you make of this? I don't think that this is one. The Canada thing, I think is Trump just having fun and doing what Trump does and getting a little negotiating leverage maybe. I don't think that he's kidding about this. I think he's quite serious.
Clay Travis
It's super weird. Let's just say that whatever you think about Trump, he has made a very calculated decision to basically sign all of his executive orders directly in front of the media, affix his signature, have people explaining to the assembled media what the orders that he is signing do, and then he's oftentimes held them up, he's passed out pins. He has made it very clear that he is acting on his authority as the President of the United States. What rational basis would there be for an auto pen to be signing executive orders of this level of significance? And, Buck, you'll know this, and I bet a lot of people out there certainly have experienced this. I'm not talking about like, you wrote a letter to your congressman and they like, stamp it or fix an auto pin at the signature, you know, to a letter. I'm talking about when you are acting with the full force of legal authority to have an auto pin doing it as opposed to Biden himself doing it, is extremely strange. And I do think it raises the question, was Biden aware of many of the acts that were being undertaken by the executive branch under his duly elected authority? Why would you. I mean, I. I think it's like, leave aside whether you agree with the decisions that Biden made, because obviously a lot of these we don't agree with. Why would you need to do it via auto pin? I mean, it's actually a super interesting question. I think that demands a real answer. And I don't think it's crazy of Trump to say if Biden wasn't himself sitting, like, he should have to sign the executive authority Act. Like that doesn't seem like a crazy perspective to take. Right.
Buck Sexton
Well, this is where things get interesting here, because Biden was somebody that we all know now, and this is uncontroversial, had cognitive issues, right? I mean, had dementia. Basically, you had a president with dementia. And this is something I used to say about Reagan all the time. They used to always bring up that they would say that Reagan had Alzheimer's. Right? That was just meant to besmirch Reagan's legacy. And this is something that Democrats through the 90s into the 2000s. Look, Reagan had Alzheimer's. But what Trump is going after here is he's saying that you can't, while advisors can push policies to Biden and he can sign off on it. The, the power of pardon comes from the president as a person. And if he does not know of and does not sign off on a pardon, it is not possible for anyone else to do so. So if there was an auto pen, like, if these signatures that were auto pen were also correlated with pardons that Biden did not himself approve, then you could consider it to be void, Essentially, that's the idea. Now, can you hear? I think the challenge with this is how would you prove this? I don't know how you could prove it. And Democrats are going to say that of course Biden knew and of course Biden approved of all of this. And there is no place in the Constitution or in case law that I'm aware of where a pardon can be. The pardon power is considered to be absolute. Right. Pardons can't be undone because then there's no such thing as a pardon power.
Clay Travis
Correct.
Buck Sexton
So I don't really see where this is going. It might just be trolling, but Trump is pretty serious about it.
Clay Travis
Here is where, Buck, I would say, and we said this on the show at the time that it occurred, here is where I do think Trump could challenge many of these Biden pardons. Is it legal to actually preemptively pardon someone? That, to me, is a very valid question that the Supreme Court should have to address because most of the people that Biden pardoned have not actually been charged with any crime. And so to me, the auto pin aspect of this, of this allegation by Trump is. Is intriguing. I would actually layer it, though, with on top of this, which I think is the far more significant argument. Does the president really have the power to preemptively pardon people from being charged with crimes potentially for actions going back a decade? Again, almost all presidential pardons historically have been for duly adjudicated cases. That is the ostensible purpose of the pardon. Right. You have been convicted of a crime. You are, in the president's opinion, worthy of clemency, and therefore you are going to be given it after a duly adjudicated process? Just saying, hey, for a decade of actions, you are unable to be charged with any crime, and I am preemptively pardoning you. To me, that's the angle that they should be going after, because I Don't think that should be legal.
Buck Sexton
It should at least be known what you're being pardoned for.
Clay Travis
Correct.
Buck Sexton
That's the entire purpose also. Right. Because there's reason. There was thinking behind this. Right. That it wasn't just. It didn't just come out of nowhere, that there was this idea that the President should have this very important authority. This is. This goes to decisions made after the Civil War, for example. How do you handle the Confederacy?
Clay Travis
Right.
Buck Sexton
How do you bring. You know, there are people that wanted there to be much more severe punishments for some of. Particularly the leadership, but it was decided, well, no, we're going to bring the country together. And so there was clemency, there were pardons, There were decisions made. You know, you can see how at baseline, there is a need for presidential pardon, or rather why people would think there's a need for presidential pardons. What about if somebody just started saying, you know what? Anybody who works for me, you get a. You get a total get out of jail free card for anything you've done over the last 10 years. You know what I mean?
Clay Travis
Yeah.
Buck Sexton
Is that okay? Can you just. Can you just write something that says, I, Joe Biden, or have somebody else write it and pretend they're Joe Biden? I, Joe Biden, hereby sweep away any crime committed by any member of my administration for the last decade or anyone who worked for me in, you know, in the White House. Is that. Is that the use of pardon power? I mean, there have to be some limits. And I think that when you're talking about preemptive, to your point, preemptive pardoning is. This also goes to. Can the President pardon himself? Legitimate questions that people have been asking.
Clay Travis
For a long time.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Clay Travis
And again, I don't know that very many people have really spent a lot of time on it. You and I talked about it because I think it's such an interesting question. Also, it presumes guilt. That's the other aspect of this. If I said to you. If I said right now, if the President called me up and he was like, clay, do you need a pardon for the last decade of your activities? I would say no. Like, I don't. I don't think that I've done anything that would be criminal in nature. When you pardon the entire penumbra of your family, it suggests that there've been a lot of criminal actions that have occurred when you are doing it preemptively. Again, you and I were not surprised. A lot of the nation was when Hunter Biden got his pardon. But the pardon for the conviction that Hunter Biden got in Delaware and also for his tax related charges is very, very valid in my opinion. Right. You might not agree with it, but the President's authority to pardon in that context seems quite clear. Legally, does the President have the ability to just say to his brother, hey, you're protected from all crimes for the last decade? I don't think so. Does the President have the ability to say for Liz Cheney or Dr. Fauci or any of these other individuals, hey, you're protected for the last decade from any charges that any future administration might try to put on you? No, that's not constitutionally permissible.
Buck Sexton
I don't think it also creates a real sense that some people are above the law because there can't even be any public feeling about what somebody is being pardoned for. If it's a sweeping pardon that, I mean, here's the other thing. Could you be pardoned for any future unyet, future not yet described or committed acts? I don't think so. I don't think anybody would be okay with that. Cuz now you're just saying that somebody has. There's no legal authority of the federal government over an American citizen. So clearly it can't be any future act that you commit. It would have to be a thing already done. And I do think there is grounds to say, you have to at least say what the thing is. Right. Because what happened here was, for example, Hunter Biden was pardoned. It should have, it should have had to say, Hunter Biden is pardoned for tax evasion, for, you know, for bribery, for money laundering, you know, for the following things. And you know, instead the, the system, I mean, maybe that's not how it's generally done, but I think that's how it should be done. You have to, you should have to be pardoned for a thing that people are aware of. It can't just be like, yeah, you're good, nothing, you can do whatever you want. You know, I mean, think, think about that as well. You could find out in the case of Hunter Biden, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Maybe some stuff went on that we didn't even know about that was really bad. And then you can't, you can't charge them for that either.
Clay Travis
It's, it's not, I am confident that this is not permissible and it's why I said I would challenge it. To me, the auto pin thing is a additional layer to it, but to me it feels much more worthy of legal challenge. To try to argue, hey, this is 100% permissible, but do you think Trump.
Buck Sexton
Is going to see this one through? Do you think, do you think he's, he's real deal on this one? He wants to push this?
Clay Travis
I think it actually is less likely to be Trump who is die hard on this. But I do think there are some people in the administration who see this legally as being untenable and want to challenge it going forward. It also, by the way, is the opposite of executive overreach. You know all the people who are saying, oh, Trump's a fascist. Oh, Trump's a dictator. No, the dictator would be the person who's saying, hey, all my whole family is protected from criminal charges for a decade. I'm signing this as I go out. I bet Joe Biden actually signed the Hunter Biden pardon, by the way. Really? Question also on the auto pin, was there something in Joe Biden's ability to hold a pin that made an auto pin necessary? In other words, is it possible that his overall ability to control his signature was an issue and they didn't want that to be revealed as part of his health related issues? Very strange. All of it. Uh, look, 9911 is more than a day in history. It's a day still taking lives. We remember the 2,977 people lost on 9 11, including many first responders. Yet even more have died since that day from their related illnesses. Today there's a whole generation of kids who know little to nothing about 9 11. The tunnel, the towers 911 institute. Righting this wrong by helping teachers educate kids in grades K through 12 with non fiction resources that includes a full curriculum unit with scripted lessons, activities and background for teachers as well non fiction first person accounts told through videos and the Discovering Heroes book series. Plus a 911 speakers bureau for classrooms and a mobile exhibit that's an interactive museum to never forget. We must educate future generations, help our nation keep its vow. Join us in donating $11 a month to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's t the number two t.org making America great again isn't just one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Ryan Seacrest here. When you have a busy schedule, it's important to maximize your downtime. One of the best ways to do that is by going to chumbacasino.com Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino games like spin slots, bingo and solitaire that you can play for free for a chance to redeem some serious prizes. So hop on to chumbacasino.com now and live the Chumba Life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino.
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Clay Travis
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck SEXTON show Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We were just talking about the presidential pardon authority and I think it ties in with one of the big questions that is underway that we're going to talk with Jim Jordan about in the top of the next hour, which is one that we've been debating since the country was founded. What is the scope of executive authority and who has the ability to to rein in that executive authority, particularly as it pertains to the border? Buck I was reading this morning in the New York Times right now Trump is on pace through February. I know we're basically halfway through March for the lowest number of illegal border crossings since 1967. I mean, I want to repeat that again because I think a lot of you out there, I mean, this is in the New York Times this morning. The lowest border crossings since 1967. No one is talking suddenly about the border. Hardly at all. It's buried on page 15, the Darien Gap. You remember when we talked about the Darien Gap and the tens of thousands of people who were coming through that treacherous region In Latin America, almost no one is even attempting to come through the Darien Gap right now. Meaning the overall flow of illegal immigrants to our border has basically stopped. This is important because we were told in a presidential campaign by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden that the problem with the border was Congress wouldn't act. And there were many Republicans who actually signed on and tried to agree with that argument. We still would like to see Congress act because otherwise a new president could come in under executive authority and change this. But all Trump needed to do buck was just enforce the laws that were already on the books.
Buck Sexton
How many Republicans really were going? There was one that I can think of. I think it was from Oklahoma, if I remember correct.
Clay Travis
James Langford from Oklahoma was a clown on this.
Buck Sexton
Yeah, but was there any. Was there anyone else on the Senate side? Republicans, who.
Clay Travis
It's a great. It's a great question. There were certainly some supporters.
Buck Sexton
Yeah. Go back and check when that, when that was. That would have been last summer, around July. Who on the Republican side was willing to go along with the preposterous. Well, now Democrats want to fix the border just before the election. Like, you know, honestly, it was such an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It really was. Even for Democrats who were in on it anyway, they had to know, wow, they're really treating us like a bunch of idiots.
Clay Travis
I do think when there are. Look, there are all sorts of things that people argue about and we still don't know what is the right decision. It's complicated. The data isn't clear. The data is clear here. All Trump had to do was sign these executive actions and enforce the law and the border would have shut down. Biden let 10 million plus illegals into this country, and all he had to do was keep the same policies in place as Trump. Again, we have to celebrate some victories here, and a lot of media is not talking about it. Lowest border crossings since 1967. It's an extraordinary accomplishment in the first 50 days of the Trump administration to have pulled this off.
Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
Do you say to those who claim.
Buck Sexton
You'Re using a 200 year old law to circumvent due process law not as old as Constitution. We still pay attention to that, don't we?
Clay Travis
How many more times do you plan.
Buck Sexton
On supporting El Salvador? I like that it's not as old as the Constitution and we still care about that Clay notice old law like the Logan act to jam up which was never used and is actually probably unconstitutional on its in itself to jam up General Flynn. Media is all about it. This law used to get, you know, rapists, murderers and gang member thugs out of the country. Media is crying about due process for illegals.
Clay Travis
We've had Tom Homan on The show a ton. And obviously his voice is great because he sounds like the guy who should be in charge of the border. This is one of those things that I do think Trump is right about. In a television era. The central casting element of the person who is the communicator in chief of a particular issue and decision. Tom Holman both looks and sounds like the grizzled veteran who should be in charge of making sure that our border is safe. Like if you asked me to, like, central cast, if we were doing a television show or a movie and you said, hey, who's the guy? What does the guy look like who's going to shut down the border? I would say, oh, it's a guy like Tom Holman. And his responses when these questions get yelled out are extraordinary. This is going mega viral. We just played for you. But remember, Buck, for years, Tom Holman came on this show and he said, it's really simple. If President Trump's in office, he will shut down the border just like we shut down the border in the first term and Tom Holman's in office. And again, they have shut down the border. And I do think you will sometimes know when Trump has huge wins because stories just disappear. They don't give him credit, really. They just kind of stop talking about an issue. For instance, the price of eggs. Buck has evidently plummeted in the last 10 days or so and it's back down to a normal level price of eggs. I'm not an expert on egg pricing, but my understanding is that they have essentially come back down to a normal ish price. Story's gonna vanish for years as the price went up, nobody talked about it. Trump's in office 50 days, suddenly he owns the price of eggs. I'll tell you another one. The stock market. I was out last week. Rough week for the stock market. Suddenly Trump is responsible for every day's activity in the stock market. When it comes back up, and it will come back up, the story will just vanish. They only have these short lived little narrative arcs. Suddenly everybody in the Democrat party cares about where the stock prices are. Look, I want the stock market to go up. My advice to you in general is the same advice that I follow. Buy index funds. I buy S&P 500 index funds on average. Historically, every 10 years, they double. The more time you pay attention to stock market prices, the more likely you are to respond emotionally and make decisions to sell low and buy high. Because that's how most people think. Oh, the prices keep going up. Oh, I'm Going to buy. Oh, the prices are going down. Oh, I'm going to sell. What is the great line from Warren Buffett? Be greedy when others are fearful. And, and be fearful when others are greedy. Honestly, emotional aspects of how to judge this. And look, the stock market was a disaster for the first two years of Biden, but the overall American economy is such that even when you have a bad president, and I think Biden was the worst president any of our lives, the stock market didn't completely collapse because there were enough red states out there making great decisions and enough red state governors to help to allow their states to be growing dynamically, even while the federal government policies actually made it more difficult for, in general, companies to succeed. So I do think the way these narratives just vanish, Buck, is super interesting in the context of Trump's successes. You don't hear them trumpet them, they just vanish.
Buck Sexton
Yes. And I had mentioned this before and I did want to play it for everybody so they could hear it, which is when Bill Maher, I was surprised he went in this direction. Look, Bill's a pretty, Bill's a savvy guy and he's realized that. And he knew before the election, too, I think, where the Democrat Party was going, which was off a cliff into a brick wall. Pick your metaphor. He knew this because they went crazy and he was trying to tell them to stop, be so crazy, stop being so crazy, and they wouldn't listen. I was surprised, though, that he went in the. Well, now Trump is, this is the thing with Bill. He, he can, he can be reasonable even if he's wrong, like he's wrong on, on climate change, in my mind. But you can talk to him about it somewhat. Trump, he despises Trump like he, he has, he has Trump derangement syndrome. Truly, he has a Trump derangement syndrome. And he took the approach with one of his guests, who is a former leftist or center left, I should say a former Democrat who has come over to the Trump side as a Trump voter and he's like, well, don't you feel like you shouldn't have voted for Trump? Now that we've seen what's going on? And I was shocked. Here is how she explained this. This is Bhatia Unger Sargan on Bill maher. This is cut 25. Play it. And I'm just wondering what you think now we're approaching two months in. I mean, you must have a feeling in your gut. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't, that this is really going badly. And I Shouldn't have thrown my lot in with this team. Oh, no, I feel the opposite. All right, tell me why. I'm so sorry, Bill.
Clay Travis
No, no, tell me why. No, I feel so proud of.
Buck Sexton
I mean, I was never a Republican or a conservative. I was a leftist and I am still a leftist.
Clay Travis
I'm just a MAGA leftist now because.
Buck Sexton
That makes no sense. Can you explain? Please do.
Clay Travis
Yes, please.
Buck Sexton
When I look at what President Trump.
Clay Travis
Ran on and the agenda that he's.
Buck Sexton
Enacting right now, he took a Republican Party that was built on social conservatism, foreign interventions and wars and free trade.
Clay Travis
And free markets, and he basically took.
Buck Sexton
An ax to all of those during the campaign. He said, look, I mean, he's pretty pro gay. That's pretty obvious. He appointed the highest ranking out gay person, Scott Besant, our Secretary of treasury, which is incredible.
Clay Travis
And he sidelined the pro life wing of his party.
Buck Sexton
He has changed the party for sure. Okay, so he believes abortion should be legal for 12 weeks. That's not actually really where he is on it. But the point here is, Clay, you know, we could talk about the abortion thing in more, in more detail. But the point is the don't you feel badly about how Trump is doing so far for Trump voters is still a total misread of where Trump voters are, which is, I think for most of us who are expecting it to be good or very good, it is excellent. It has actually exceeded the expectations of those who had high expectations. So the notion that anybody would regret it who voted for Trump, I just think this goes to. Democrats aren't paying attention to the mood of the country or they're disconnected from the mood of the country. They just can't tell.
Clay Travis
Look, if Trump were in any way experiencing a backlash or regret, Democrats, as we started off the show talking about, wouldn't be at historic lows of approval in general. The approval rating of the Democrat Party would not have collapsed if the Republican president were wildly unpopular. I don't think anybody, anybody regrets their decision about Trump. And look, I mean, Buck, just quickly, there is a very good chance, I think we're going to get a cease fire in Ukraine and end that war between Russia and Ukraine within the first hundred days of Trump's presidency. We have a ceasefire right now in the Middle East. It's tenuous. Hopefully it holds. That's because of Trump. We have, as we just laid out, potentially the fewest illegal border crossings since 1967 at our southern border. We have inflation hitting a four year low last week. And we have violent crime overall on decline in many different cities across America and bad guys being put behind bars and kicked out of the country when they have no business being here again. The stock market is basically the only thing you can point to right now if you are a Democrat and say, oh, it's not going well, but the stock market is basically right now, as we speak, the exact same level S and P 500 that it was on election day. So really six months. I mean, you have corrections constantly. Stock prices go up and down. And the fact that we're sitting and I saw the clip from you and I watched it over the last week, Buck, where you were laying out, hey, we've had a sugar high in the way that much of the government has been dealt with in terms of the money that's just been the spigot that's been being paid by Democrats. And there may be a little bit of a retrenchment as people recognize that that sugar high is going away.
Buck Sexton
I did say that last week. Thank you for noting it. And the treasury secretary was on TV this morning. This is Cut nine. Scott Besson was saying that's exactly what has happened. Everybody, we need to face reality plain nine. Top 10% of Americans are 40 or 50% of consumption.
Clay Travis
And that is an unstable equilibrium. The bottom 50% of working Americans have gotten killed.
Buck Sexton
We are trying to address that. We're trying to get rates down. And you know, could we be seeing that this economy that we inherited starting to roll a bit? Sure.
Clay Travis
And look, there's going to be a.
Buck Sexton
Natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending. The market and the economy have just become hooked and we become addicted to this government spending and there's going to be a detox period. Detox period. Of course there's going to be a detox period. When you've been spending beyond your means. If you've been running to the mall, I guess. Does anyone really go to the mall anymore to spend a lot of money? But if you've been running to the mall spending ten grand a month on your credit.
Clay Travis
My wife does.
Buck Sexton
Oh, okay.
Clay Travis
My mother. My mother in law does. I think. Yes.
Buck Sexton
I just, I just wonder like at what point they're going to name a chair or something after my wife at Costco? You know, like at what point does she get that honor for spending as much at Costco as she does?
Clay Travis
I'll tell you this, Buck. You know, I went downstairs to get my smoothie for lunch and I looked down and we have a big Costco chili ready for dinner tonight. And I'm already excited about having Costco chili. It's my. I don't shop. I shop at Amazon and I shop at Costco. That's like 99% of where I buy anything. I love every. I'm like your wife. I love every time I get to go into a Costco. It's just always a glorious experience.
Buck Sexton
And it's funny, too. I've said, honey, do you want me.
Clay Travis
To go with you?
Buck Sexton
And she's like, no, it's fine. I'm like, oh. It's like. It's like she doesn't want me to spoil it by asking my. My ignorant Costco questions or anything. Like, this is her place. This is her. This is her field trip that she gets to go on once a week and load up the entire SUV full of things from Costco. So.
Clay Travis
But look, a bundle of money in the process, as one does.
Buck Sexton
She's saving me nothing but money. It's almost like everything she buys is free because of all of the savings. And those of you who are familiar with wife or girl math are familiar with how that actually goes. She's doing me a favor by bringing home those big jars of whatever it is because it's such a good deal.
Clay Travis
That's exactly right. That's how girl math works. It's gone popular on Tik Tok. We've talked about this before, where women will go on and say, look at how much I saved. And then, you know, they sometimes try to talk to the men in their lives. And like, that's not actually. No, but girl math is you don't spend money, you only save money. So if something's half off, you have saved a massive amount in the process. So this is the. Costco is the perfect example of this.
Buck Sexton
Yes. But back to the economy overall, this is not a surprise to the administration that there would be a little bit of a disruption in the market. Because if you're going to cut the spigot off of tremendous spending from the federal government and the expectation that this will just continue, you know, there is. You can pay a lot of people to do nothing, and a lot of people are making money. The point is, we don't want that to continue to happen.
Clay Travis
Yes.
Buck Sexton
So there'll be a little bit of a disruption there.
Clay Travis
And that is the only thing that you can point to. Basically, the stock market, the s and P500, down, like 50, 100 points, I think, in the last six months. The only thing you can point to and be unhappy with, I think. And Certainly that's why Democrats are plummeting in their overall popularity. This is the week the NCAA tournament is underway. Basically starts tomorrow with the play in games. I bet Buck doesn't even know what the play in games are. Yes, this is where we used to only have 64 teams. Now we have 68 teams and so there are four different play in games that take place. Dayton, Ohio, which is a massive college basketball market, they love college basketball in Dayton, Ohio. They will start on Tuesday. Those games, two on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, will then set the official 64 team bracket. You want to get your bracket picks in. You want to sign up right now for prize picks? Nearly 40 states, 13 million people have downloaded it. This is the week that everybody goes crazy for the NCAA tournament. You want to make sure that you make every one of these games as much fun to listen to and watch with your Prize Picks app downloaded on the phone. Prize Picks all about the players, not the teams. On the prizepix app you have easy decisions to make. You can choose more or less make your picks and under a minute using your knowledge on the players. Turn your opinions into real money on Prize Picks. You can win cash even if your lineup isn't perfect. With Prize Picks Flex Play, you can double your money even if one of your picks doesn't hit Price Picks. Make sure your withdrawals are fast, safe and secure. You can get your money in as quickly as 15 minutes and right now they offer MasterCard, Visa and Discover for quick and easy deposits into your account. This sports season you can join over 10 million users. Sign up now on Prize Picks. Download the app today. Use my name Clay as the code to get $50 instantly after you play your first five dollar lineup. Again, code CLAY to get $50 instantly after you Play your first five dollar lineup. Price picks run your game. That's Prize Picks Code Clay for a lot of NCAA tournament fun, get hooked up today. Prize picks 50 bucks when you use code clay2guys walk up to a mic. Anything goes. Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast. Famous Smoke Shop has been the go to for premium cigars since 1939 and somehow it's still the best kept secret in the cigar world. This family owned business has been around for generations, offering a selection that's second to none. With millions of cigars in stock, everything's guaranteed fresh, packed and ready to smoke the minute it lands at your door. Head to famous smoke.com use my name promo code clay and get 20 bucks off your order of 99 or more. They've got the best cigars, from big names like Fuente, Romeo, Monte Cristo and Cohiba to rare high end boutique smokes. And here's the kicker. They're cheaper than your local shop. You know a good deal when you see one. It's time to stop paying full price. Start getting your cigars from the shop that's been trusted by connoisseurs for 85 years. Go to famous smoke.com with code clay at checkout for $20 off. That's famous smoke.com with the promo code Clay my name at checkout. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts, you'll get 10 answers. A bull market, A bear market. Inflation's going up, coming down. Can someone please invent a crystal ball?
Buck Sexton
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
You're providing bomb shelters, armored security vehicles, ambulances and humanitarian assistance at a very high level.
Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
The people of Israel are safe, that.
Buck Sexton
They are secure in the days to come.
Clay Travis
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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: Hour 2 – MAGA Leftists
Release Date: March 17, 2025
In this episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the intricate dynamics of executive authority, presidential pardons, and border security under the Biden administration. The discussion primarily centers around former President Donald Trump's recent statements and actions, examining their implications on current political landscapes and legal frameworks.
[04:15] Buck Sexton:
Buck introduces the topic by referencing Donald Trump's appearance on Bill Maher's show, where Trump addressed his opinion on voting alignment and his portrayal of Joe Biden's actions regarding pardons.
[05:18] Clay Travis:
Clay expresses skepticism about Trump's claim that Joe Biden used an "auto pen" to sign pardons without his direct approval.
"What rational basis would there be for an auto pen to be signing executive orders of this level of significance?"
[07:16] Buck Sexton:
Buck discusses the legal aspects of presidential pardons, emphasizing their absolute nature as per the Constitution.
"The pardon power is considered to be absolute. Right. Pardons can't be undone because then there's no such thing as a pardon power."
[09:00] Clay Travis:
Clay raises critical questions about the legality of preemptively pardoning individuals for potential future crimes, highlighting the unprecedented nature of such actions.
"Does the President really have the power to preemptively pardon people from being charged with crimes potentially for actions going back a decade?"
[10:36] Buck Sexton:
Buck elaborates on the historical context of presidential pardons, referencing post-Civil War clemency, and contrasts it with the current allegations against Biden.
"Can you just write something that says, I, Joe Biden, hereby sweep away any crime committed by any member of my administration for the last decade?"
[12:15] Clay Travis:
Clay asserts that using an auto pen for significant executive actions is questionable and hints at underlying health issues that might have necessitated such measures.
"Is there something in Joe Biden's ability to hold a pen that made an auto pen necessary?"
[14:57] Clay Travis:
Clay reinforces his stance on challenging the legitimacy of Biden's pardons, emphasizing their potential illegality.
"I am confident that this is not permissible and it's why I said I would challenge it."
[21:58] Clay Travis:
Clay shifts the conversation to border security, highlighting the significant reduction in illegal border crossings under Trump's administration.
"We're sitting here with the lowest border crossings since 1967, an extraordinary accomplishment in the first 50 days of the Trump administration."
[24:02] Buck Sexton:
Buck questions the extent of Republican support for Trump's border policies, noting minimal backing from Senate Republicans.
"How many Republicans really were willing to go along with the preposterous immigration policies?"
[25:18] Buck Sexton:
Buck credits Tom Homan for effective border management and criticizes the Biden administration's handling of immigration.
"Tom Homan is doing phenomenal work and he's a patriot who's serving his country incredibly well."
[27:03] Clay Travis:
Clay emphasizes that Trump simply enforced existing laws to achieve border security, contrasting it with Biden's policy changes that led to increased illegal crossings.
"All Trump needed to do was enforce the laws that were already on the books."
[34:37] Clay Travis:
Clay outlines the economic successes under Trump, including potential ceasefires in international conflicts, reduced illegal border crossings, and declining inflation and violent crime rates.
"We have inflation hitting a four-year low, violent crime on the decline, and the stock market remains stable despite political turbulence."
[36:36] Buck Sexton:
Buck discusses the uneven economic impact, highlighting that the top 10% of Americans control a significant portion of consumption and emphasizing efforts to address economic disparities.
"Top 10% of Americans are 40 or 50% of consumption. We are trying to address that."
[39:03] Clay Travis:
Clay touches upon consumer behavior and government spending, suggesting a natural economic adjustment away from excessive public expenditure.
"There's going to be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending."
[31:17] Buck Sexton:
Buck criticizes mainstream media for their selective reporting, especially regarding Trump's achievements, insinuating a deliberate suppression of positive narratives.
"We just played for you. But remember, Buck, for years, Tom Homan came on this show and he said, it's really simple. If President Trump's in office, he will shut down the border just like we shut down the border in the first term."
[33:00] Buck Sexton:
Buck references former leftists aligning with Trump's policies, highlighting a shift in political allegiances and the emergence of "MAGA Leftists."
"I'm just a MAGA leftist now because...
[33:17] Clay Travis:
Clay reinforces the notion that Trump's policies resonate beyond traditional conservative bases, fostering unexpected political identities.
"That makes no sense. Can you explain? Please do."
As the episode concludes, Clay and Buck tease the next hour's focus on Congressman Jim Jordan and the ongoing debates surrounding executive authority and judicial interventions against Trump's promised policies. They also touch upon cultural topics like the NCAA tournament, blending political discourse with relatable, everyday subjects for their audience.
Clay Travis at [05:18]:
"What rational basis would there be for an auto pen to be signing executive orders of this level of significance?"
Buck Sexton at [07:16]:
"The pardon power is considered to be absolute. Right. Pardons can't be undone because then there's no such thing as a pardon power."
Clay Travis at [09:00]:
"Does the President really have the power to preemptively pardon people from being charged with crimes potentially for actions going back a decade?"
Buck Sexton at [10:36]:
"Can you just write something that says, I, Joe Biden, hereby sweep away any crime committed by any member of my administration for the last decade?"
Clay Travis at [21:58]:
"We're sitting here with the lowest border crossings since 1967, an extraordinary accomplishment in the first 50 days of the Trump administration."
This episode provides a critical examination of the Biden administration's use of executive authority, contrasting it with Trump's approach. Through incisive dialogue and pointed questioning, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton aim to uncover the underlying motivations and legalities of recent political maneuvers, offering their audience a perspective that challenges mainstream narratives.