Hour 2 - Mayor Mamdani?

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: Hour 2 - Mayor Mamdani?
Release Date: July 31, 2025
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts

---

1. Introduction to the Second Hour: Economy and Russia Updates

As the show transitions into its second hour, Clay Travis introduces the primary topics, emphasizing the current state of the economy and recent developments concerning Russia. He highlights public demand for accountability regarding alleged collusion and stresses the importance of staying informed with insights from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

2. Analysis of Trump's Economic Performance

Clay Travis and Scott Bessent delve into former President Donald Trump's economic policies and their impact. Travis asserts, "Trump is almost in an unfair situation for him because I think broadly speaking, expectations for the economy under Trump are generally high" (01:05). He argues that Trump's economic maneuvers, particularly on trade, have significantly benefited the U.S. economy, yet he doesn't receive due credit.

A clip from Donald Trump reinforces this perspective:

Donald Trump (02:32): "In the second quarter, we smashed all expectations. They thought it would be maybe a little bit less than 2. And it was 3, a little bit more than 3. Consumer spending is up. Business investment is way up. Domestic manufacturing is way up, real disposable family income is up and personal savings are up. Other than that, we're not doing so great. We have the hottest country and I'll tell you, it's, it's a great, we're having a lot of fun with it."

Scott Bessent builds on this by discussing sustainable growth:

Scott Bessent (04:13): "If we can sustain 3 plus percent growth. And I think we can... The economy is going to truly be firing on all cylinders."

He criticizes Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, suggesting that previous interest rate cuts were poorly timed and that future adjustments could further boost economic growth. Bessent praises Trump's understanding of the interplay between inflation, interest rates, and economic growth.

3. Trade Deals and Prospects with China

The conversation shifts to international trade, highlighting successes in trade agreements with the EU, UK, and Japan. Scott Bessent provides an update on the potential China trade deal:

Treasury Secretary (07:37): "We have the makings of a deal... Ambassador Greer and myself will be speaking to President Trump today about whether we will be doing the roll by the August 12 deadline."

Travis underscores the significance of these deals, stating, "hundreds of billions of dollars is flowing into our country," and emphasizes that American consumers aren't bearing the brunt of tariffs due to competitive market pressures.

Bessent further elaborates on Trump's trade philosophy, likening America to a "jewel property" that deserves premium treatment. He argues that tariffs are essentially fees paid by companies seeking access to the U.S. market, preventing costs from being passed onto consumers.

4. The New York City Mayoral Race: Critique of Candidate Mamdani

A substantial portion of the hour is dedicated to analyzing the New York City mayoral race, focusing on candidate Mamdani. Travis and Bessent express deep concerns about Mamdani's policy proposals, particularly his stance on police funding.

Mamdani's position is clarified through his own words:

Mamdani (23:29): "It is, in fact, to allow those officers to respond to these serious crimes... and we ask mental health professionals to respond to calls of mental health crises."

Travis challenges this by questioning the practicality of replacing police with mental health professionals in active crisis situations, highlighting recent events where such approaches failed:

Clay Travis: "Does anyone want, like a psychiatrist with the tweed jacket with the elbow patches to show up when some maniac is waving a machete saying he wants to kill, kill everybody?"

Bessent critiques Mamdani's authenticity and efficacy:

Scott Bessent: "Mamdani is just, he's an inauthentic yet articulate politician... I just find this guy to be utterly false in a way that is even staggering for politicians."

Travis references polling data indicating Mamdani's strong position in the race, suggesting that his radical policies might pass despite inherent flaws:

Clay Travis: "The latest polling does not look good for anyone who's hoping Mamdani does not win."

5. Audience Interaction and Social Commentary

The show features audience comments, including a notable talkback from "Trucker Steve" regarding gender and preferences:

Trucker Steve (18:35): "Hey, if you're a guy and you don't like boobs, you're not a guy."

Bessent humorously connects this to broader societal trends, linking changing male demographics towards the Republican Party:

Scott Bessent: "It's extraordinary... we have young men swinging in crazy numbers Republican."

He mentions his book, "Balls", which explores how young men, sports fans, and Trump influenced the 2024 election, and teases an upcoming discussion with Ryan Gardusky on related data.

6. Upcoming Segments and Announcements

As the second hour concludes, Travis previews upcoming discussions, including an interview with Dr. Mehmet Oz about his role in the Trump administration and the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) future direction under Commissioner Melissa Hollyoak. He highlights the potential for significant advancements in healthcare, driven by streamlined federal bureaucracy and the integration of AI and technology.

Additional promotions include:

• Crockett Coffee: Emphasizing the importance of hydration and endorsing their products.
• Good Ranchers: A promotion for organic American meats, highlighting their participation in events like the Indy 500.
• Chalk Supplements: Advertising testosterone supplements designed to boost energy and testosterone levels naturally.

Conclusion

The episode provides a critical analysis of current economic policies under Trump, scrutinizes the New York City mayoral race with a focus on Mamdani's controversial policies, and engages with audience feedback to discuss broader societal shifts. Upcoming segments promise further in-depth conversations on healthcare and regulatory changes, maintaining the show's commitment to addressing pressing news, politics, and current events with intelligence and humor.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Clay Travis (01:05): "Trump is almost in an unfair situation for him because I think broadly speaking, expectations for the economy under Trump are generally high."

• Donald Trump (02:32): "In the second quarter, we smashed all expectations... We're having a lot of fun with it."

• Scott Bessent (04:13): "I really think if we start to get those interest rate cuts in conjunction with everything else, I think as we enter 2026. This economy is going to truly be firing on all cylinders."

• Scott Bessent (12:46): "Trump sees America as a jewel property in the overall global economy."

• Mamdani (23:29): "It is, in fact, to allow those officers to respond to these serious crimes..."

• Trucker Steve (18:35): "Hey, if you're a guy and you don't like boobs, you're not a guy."

---

Timestamps Reference

For clarity, the notable quotes above reference the following timestamps from the transcript:

• [01:05] Introduction to economic discussion
• [02:32] Donald Trump's Q2 GDP statement
• [04:13] Scott Bessent on sustained economic growth
• [12:46] Scott Bessent on Trump's view of America
• [23:29] Mamdani on public safety and police funding
• [18:35] Audience talkback from Trucker Steve

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

Time for a sofa upgrade. Visit washablesofas.com and discover Annabe where designer style meets budget friendly prices. With sofas starting at $699, Annabe brings you the ultimate in furniture innovation with a modular design that allows you to rearrange your space effortlessly. Perfect for both small and large spaces. Anime is the only machine washable sofa inside and out. Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain resistant fabrics that that make cleaning easy. Liquid simply slides right off. Designed for custom comfort, our high resilience foam lets you choose between a sink in feel or a supportive memory foam blend. Plus our pet friendly stain resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years. Don't compromise quality for price. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your living space today with no risk returns and a 30 day money back guarantee. Get up to 60% off plus free shipping and free returns. Shop now at washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions. Restrictions may apply.

[Clay Travis]

Second hour of play and buck kicks off. Now let's talk a little bit about the economy, shall we? We'll also get into some of the updates on Russia. Collusion, transparency. A lot of people I'm seeing at least online want consequences for the conspirators in that we discuss whether that is likely to happen or not. But we should certainly stay up to speed with all of the revelations coming out from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. But first up on the economy and on this, I've, I've said it all along, Clay, and I firmly believe it, that, that Trump is almost a, it, it's a unfair situation for him because I think broadly speaking, expectations for the economy under Trump are generally high. So he doesn't get the credit that he would if he were a different president with what we're seeing, especially given some of the moves he's made, like on trade, because everyone goes, yeah, of course, Trump, the economy, economy's going to be great. Like this is just what I think that we are almost, almost lacking a little gratitude at this point for all of the things that Trump is doing that are helping the economy go. And he spoke about the Q2 GDP numbers, the second quarter gross domestic product. This is cut 8. Here he is laying out what's going on. Play it.

[Donald Trump]

In the second quarter, we smashed all expectations. They thought it would be maybe a little bit less than 2. And it was 3, a little bit more than 3. Consumer spending is up. Business investment is way up. Domestic manufacturing is way up, real disposable family income is up and personal savings are up. Other than that, we're not doing so great. We have the hottest country and I'll tell you, it's, it's a great, we're having a lot of fun with it.

[Clay Travis]

You know, Clay, it's going very well, I would say even exceeding high expectations at this point, this early on, basically six months into his presidency and he's saying not only that, not only is GDP higher, this is cut 9, but on the trade deals, look at all this money. Hundreds of billions flown into the country.

[Donald Trump]

Plain nine today you saw GDP was much higher than anticipated. And Scott, good job. Scott Bessant's been working, just got back from a little excursion and a meeting with China in Europe and that went well. We've done very well with the EU deal. It's a very big deal. I guess they say the biggest trade deal ever made by far probably is just completed Japan and many other countries. And hundreds of billions of dollars is flowing into our country. We've never seen anything even close. And that's not me saying it, that's everybody saying it.

[Clay Travis]

He's right, Clay. It's money that wouldn't be in the Treasury. Hundreds of billions of dollars that matters.

[Scott Bessent]

If we can sustain 3 plus percent growth. And I think we can. I think the, and many of you out there are way smarter at this than I am. But I think the business expensing being accelerated is going to lead also with a lot of certainty now on tariffs and pricing and everything else. I think it's going to lead to a massive investment in, from, in and from American business. And that is going to accelerate in the third quarter and then if we can get those rates finally coming back down, if we can get Jerome Powell to agree to come down in September. I don't think we talk enough about the fact that Jerome Powell cut interest rates for Democrats, I believe right before the election. I know everybody just kind of fades and doesn't think about that a great deal. The guy cut interest rates twice right before the election to try to juice and make people think, oh, the inflation battle is over. He cut interest rates when inflation was still far higher. This guy's been wrong on everything and I think he's late now. And Trump gets and understands inflation and interest rates and the interplay there and growth rates and how all of that becomes the core of, of a natural economy. I think if we start to get those interest rate cuts in conjunction with everything else, I think as we enter 2026. This economy is going to truly be firing on all cylinders. And I don't even know, I think you're starting to see this from the, from the left and from the Democrat side. They are focused on things that are not paramount. And I know people out there are still fired up about Epstein, but understand that Democrats were in power for four years and did nothing about Epstein. When they attack Trump on Epstein, it's because they can't go after him on the economy because it's starting to fire on all cylinders. Can't go after him on the border and when they do go after him on deportations, his base actually supports that. Can't go after him on crime. I really, I mean, Trump is delivering on a level that I don't think any, any of us have ever seen in the first six months of a presidency. I really don't. And so they're going to go after him on what I would say are these secondary, tertiary, related, related fields.

[Clay Travis]

So we have the possibility, Clay, also of a China trade deal. Now that China, that would be big if Trump got that done. It's already big. What's happened. The eu, uk, Japan, I mean, these are the major economies that getting a trade deal with sets the rules of the road advantages, US Manufacturing and the US Economy in general, but creates expectations going forward with these trading partners for what we, what we get, what they get. China, of course, has been all along the, the hardest nut to crack. Right. This is the one that everybody has said is going to be a real challenge for him. And here is Scott Bessen, the Treasury Secretary who Trump seems to have a lot of confidence in saying that, look, it's not a done deal, but it's getting close. This is cut 10, I believe that.

[Treasury Secretary]

We have the makings of a deal. They announced that we would have a 90 day roll, which was a bit premature. Ambassador Greer and myself will be speaking to President Trump today about whether we will be doing the role by the August 12 deadline. There are still a few technical details to be worked out on the Chinese side between us, I'm confident that it will be done, but it's not 100% done.

[Clay Travis]

If he gets a China trade deal done and the economy is still humming, doing great, I think a lot of people honestly just owe the President an apology for attacking him so much over his stance on tariffs and trade. As we said all along, somehow the consensus of economists and not really trade experts actually, because you talk to them, they are much more pro Trump than people would realize. But on just General economists, the consensus was it's terrible for America to have tariffs and self defeating and there's no upside. But all the countries that America does business with have tariffs. So they can't figure out, you know, they can't figure out this basic truth. America can't have tariffs, but everybody else has tariffs because they don't want to make money or, you know, they're doing something dumb. There's a problem with that. You know, they should have thought more about that reality, I think, Clay, than they did.

[Scott Bessent]

I think also this ties in with Trump's recognition of premium products. And I don't know that people talk enough about this from a real estate perspective. Trump gets jewel properties. I mean, he just came back from Scotland. If you are a golfer, leave aside all of the politics. The guy owns unbelievable golf courses all over the world. And if you are a golfer and you just go around his course, they're phenomenal. I'm telling you. Doral, go play Doral, go play the Trump Palm beach course. Go play if you're ever fortunate enough. I've never gotten to do it. I'm an awful golfer. Some of you have seen my swing. But I do like, I love all sports. I've never gotten to go play in Ireland. I've never gotten to go play in Scotland. I've never gotten to go play some of the old courses in England. I'm sure some of you have made those trips. They put them together for American golfers, guys, buddies, they go over, they make these tours. I guarantee you, if you just play those courses, whatever you think about Trump, you're going to say, man, this guy's courses are spectacular. And the reason why I bring this up, you and I have been to Mar A Lago several times. One of the funniest things of the entire Letitia James attacks on Trump were that Mar A Lago was only worth $18 million. Do you remember that, Buck? I mean, it's one of the true jewel properties in all of Palm Beach. There's a big article in New York Times this morning about how valuable Palm beach real estate is when they're tearing down houses. This is true. Now. They're tearing down $30 million houses because people who are billionaires don't think the $30 million house is nice enough for what they want to build. Mar A Lago, that property, it may be worth a billion dollars. Some of you are like, this is, it's. I don't think that's crazy. When you look at the physical asset, how many acres it is the location there. My point on it is Trump sees America as a jewel property in the overall global economy. And you don't allow people access to your jewel properties for cheap rates. You charge a premium for a premium property. If you're going to play a great golf course, it's going to cost you way more to get on that course than it is to get elsewhere. If you're going to have the Fifth Avenue Trump Tower address, your real estate rates are going to be way higher because that's a premium product. He sees America as a premium product. And letting other countries come and have direct access to our premium product is a bad deal. And I think that at its essence is what he's gotten. Now people can say, well, tariffs are taxes. What if the taxes are borne primarily by the companies that are trying to get into the marketplace and they still have to be competitive price wise in the marketplace, meaning their ability to raise prices is actually not as true as most economists thought. That buck, seems to me to be the reality of what's going on here. Basically, the companies are paying a price to have access to our market. And so far, American consumers are not having that cost passed along to them because in a competitive marketplace, rising prices is tough to do. Does that make sense? I think Trump innately got all of what I just laid out and I think it's connected to the way that he sees the world in general. America is a jewel, much like his individual properties in America and around the world are also jewels. A of bunch. That makes sense.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Scott Bessent]

Even in the criticism when he said the s hole countries kind of. Right, right. There are lots of countries where it's awful and that's why people are so desperate to get here where it's amazing.

[Clay Travis]

Yes, it would be better for crappy countries to accept that things should be improved there instead of living in the delusion that they're not crappy. Because there are crappy countries. I've been to some of them and spent way too much time in some of them.

[Scott Bessent]

And.

[Clay Travis]

And the people that live there should figure things out. All right, let's talk about preborn. It's the name of a very important nonprofit that is saving the lives of unborn babies day in and day out. The individual actions of each team member and the combined efforts of preborn this year have saved 37,000 babies. Preborn clinics provide pregnant mothers with support and assistance as they're making that decision about life or abortion for for the baby in their womb. And preborn achieves this goal by providing a free ultrasound it's not a trick, it's not a gimmick. It's an honest experience where the mom gets to meet that baby in her womb. With science, it allows the mother to meet that unborn child, hear the heartbeat, see the movements of the tiny baby within her. And so often that is the turning point and the path forward of life for that baby becomes clear. Preborn accomplishes this with just a $28 expense per ultrasound. They operate clinics in communities across our country where abortion rates are the highest so that they can be on the front lines, saving lives. To donate Securely, just dial 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound250 say baby or visit preborn.com buck that's preborn.com buck Sponsored by Preborn.

[Podcast Announcer]

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

[Buck Sexton]

Let's be real. Life happens. Kids spill, pets shed and accidents are inevitable. Find a sofa that can keep [e-mail] starting at just $699. Our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out so you can say goodbye to stains and hello to worry free living. Made with liquid and stain resistant fabrics, they're kid proof, pet friendly and built for everyday life. Plus changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want. Neat flexibility. Our modular design design lets you rearrange your sofa anytime to fit your space whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment. Plus they're earth friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers. It's time to upgrade to a stress free mess proof sofa. Visit washablesofas.com today and save that's washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Scott Bessent]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. By the way, next hour Dr. Oz gonna be with us top of the third working in the Trump administration. Then the head of the Federal Trade Commission Commission, Melissa Hollyoak. She's going to be with us at 2:30. Those are Eastern Times. In the next hour, Kamala Harris announced she will not be running for governor of California. And we've had some fun with some flashbacks of the best of Kamala Harris. Here is a great montage of Kamala Harris accents all delivered in the past year.

[Kamala Harris]

Cut 28 we campaign with the plan uppercase T uppercase P the plan. Tell everybody you know to vote tomorrow. Nothing like Saying, you want to meet me tomorrow?

[Clay Travis]

What.

[Kamala Harris]

What you doing tomorrow? Oh, the possibilities are immense. Whatever you want to do, you can do as far as I'm concerned. Georgia Columbus, 2020 ain't over until January 5th.

[Scott Bessent]

All right? Not quite Hillary Clinton level, but still. The desire to particularly try to talk Southern. There's no. We talked about this on the show before, Buck. There is nothing like people who are not from the south deciding that they need to try to have a Southern accent when they talk to Southerners. I mean, you guys love that, right?

[Clay Travis]

You, you, you Southerners. When. When Yankees show up, we're like, hey, y', all, how you doing? Down by the. You love that, right?

[Scott Bessent]

I mean, if I went to Maine and started talking like I was a longshoreman, you know, or a lobster man, like, it would be.

[Clay Travis]

Not everybody in Maine is a lobster man.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, they all. Everybody in Maine makes a living getting lobsters. Everybody knows that. But if I. If I went up to Maine and I started talking like I was from, you know, New England, like I was a. Like I was a.

[Clay Travis]

You know. Yeah, we get it. You know, ikbin ein bolina. We get it.

[Scott Bessent]

Remember when Kevin Costner did the JFK accents? One of the worst accents of all time. Kevin Costner, pretty good actor. Not good.

[Clay Travis]

You know why I may not like the J. I don't get as excited about the JFK story as everybody else. I never saw the JFK movie.

[Scott Bessent]

The Oliver Stone movie.

[Clay Travis]

Never saw it? Nope.

[Scott Bessent]

So maybe that's why it's pretty good. I mean, it's crazy. Oliver Stone is crazy. I have no idea how much legitimacy there is to anything that that is in that movie. But it. Purely from a conspiratorial, hey, you know, it's hard to not be looking over your shoulder aspect. Joe Pesci's great in it. It's a very good movie. I think it's historically woefully inaccurate, by the way. Let's take some of your talkbacks. Trucker Steve from Toledo, Ohio. Aa.

[Clay Travis]

Hey, guys, Trucker Steve here. Hey, if you're a guy and you don't like boobs, you're not a guy.

[Scott Bessent]

I don't know what you are.

[Clay Travis]

You're not a guy.

[Scott Bessent]

Even some girls like boobs.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, they're more guys than some of the guys that don't like boobs are. It's crazy.

[Scott Bessent]

The Atlantic has said. If you're wondering where that came from, yesterday's show, the Atlantic now says that if you like boobs, you are a Republican in the wake of the Sydney Sweeney stuff.

[Clay Travis]

The left has also decided that working out is a right wing thing at different times. So so trying to be strong, liking the female form. And they wonder why men under 50 have swung in crazy numbers Republican or Maybe it's under 40 but crazy numbers towards the Republicans from the in the last two years from 2023 to 2025.

[Scott Bessent]

Yeah, it's extraordinary and we're going to talk with Ryan Gardusky about some of that data tomorrow on the program. But it is true and this is my whole new book that I wrote called Balls very subtly about how young men, sports fans and Trump saved America in 2024 election. It's really quite extraordinary to see and but we'll be talking about that with Ryan Gardusky when he joins the Progan Mar. You can find him in the podcast network. Search out Clay Travis. Search out Buck Sexton. You can also find some incredible offers right now with Good Ranchers. I went up to the Indy 500 with Ben and his wife Corley. They are the founders of Good Ranchers and I absolutely love this product. But I really am impressed by the business that they're building. They love this show and the reason they're on this show is because they are fans of the program and what they started to do, what they set out to do and what they have done is provide fresh organic from America meats instead of all the preservative laden overseas products that so many people are buying every day. Whatever you like, whether it's steaks, burgers, chicken nuggets, whatever your kids like, they have packs that will come straight to your home. It's extraordinary. We have steak night in the Travis household from Good Ranchers all the time. We love it. You're going to love it too. Right now you can get $40 off. Parents of four Ben and Corly are who founded Good Ranchers. They are going to give you great product. Go to goodranchers.com my name Clay for $40 off. That's good ranchers.com promo code Clay for 40 bucks off.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Some new data has come out on the New York City mayor's race and if anyone's wondering why should you care, you live in the Midwest or the south or the west coast or the Sun Belt or the Ohio River Valley or wherever. Well, because this is going to be I think a test case for the Democrat Party nationwide. Can they win in the biggest city in America with really the furthest left wing candidate that we've Seen at this level, at least, of a mayor's race in New York for a very long time. Uh, this guy is more radical than de Blasio, certainly more left wing than Mayor Eric Adams. And this is a. A moment in time where the Democrats are going to have to start to choose. Remember, it was Sly of Biden during the whole BLM anti cop mess in 2020. Biden never said defund police. I do think he knew enough. He had been in the game long enough to know that that was going to be a big problem for him in the general election if he did it, which he didn't do. So whenever people talk about the Democrats defund police. That. That became a. Oh, it's AOC and it's. It's the. The squad. And it was not associated with Biden specifically, even though Kamala Harris, I know, you know, wanted to. She put out a tweet about the raising money for people in Minneapolis or something, or the bail fund. Right.

[Scott Bessent]

I mean, it's still up.

[Clay Travis]

Kamala. Yeah. Kamla was more defund police for sure than Joe Biden was. But Mamdani has got. Had to show up and speak in the aftermath of an NYPD officer gave his life in the line of duty trying to defend innocent people in that building, that office building on Park Avenue during that mass shooting a few days ago. And he's being asked. He's like, hold on. You were a disband police guy. You want to be the mayor. Now you're showing up after a cop died in the line of duty trying to stop a deranged gunman. Where do you really stand on disbanding, for example, an elite NYPD unit that would respond to shootings just like this? This is what Mamdani said. Play 15.

[Mamdani]

Over the course of this race.

[Scott Bessent]

I've.

[Mamdani]

Been very clear about my view of public safety and the critical role that police have in creating that officers are tasked with delivering. While we ask them to respond to nearly every failure of the social safety net, and the vision that we've put forward in this campaign, despite what others may say, is not to defund the police. It is, in fact, to allow those officers to respond to these serious crimes that many of them signed up to address and to do so by ensuring that we ask them to focus on those crimes, and we ask mental health professionals to respond to calls of mental health crises.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, Mental health professionals. How many mental health professionals are they going to have on speed dial to deal with what the NYPD terms an edp, Emotionally disturbed person, A Lunatic. Like, if you're running around the streets at 3am naked, barking like a dog, and this stuff, that stuff happens in New York, okay, that this is reality for the cops there. They say, oh, we got an EDP we got to do. They will eventually take you to a mental health facility. But even this idea that you're going to have mental health, people respond, what does that even mean? All they're going to try to do is get somebody to that facility. And by the way, if they don't have cops there, they may be attacked, bludgeoned, stabbed. Does anyone want, like a psychiatrist with the, you know, the tweed jacket with the elbow patches to show up when some maniac is waving a machete saying he wants to kill, kill everybody? Like, what, What. What world does Mamdani and the people who support him, what world do they live in?

[Scott Bessent]

Not the real one is the answer. And the scary thing. And look, this is the argument I made a couple of weeks ago on the show. I think at some point, Democrats have to have to deal with the choices that they are going to make. It's almost like being a parent. And a lot of you out there know what I'm talking about. If your kid keeps making the wrong decisions and you do your best to steer them away from it, you steer them away from it, you steer them away from it. Sooner or later, experience becomes the best teacher where you do something that is moronic and your parents or your grandparents told you not to do it, you do it, and then you're like, boy, that was really dumb. And part of parenting is trying to keep kids from doing things that are so stupid that they ruin their future life or unfortunately, even lose it. And I feel like for Democrats, they have to wear it. They picked mom, dummy. Mom. And I get it. People out there wor many of you are listening in the Manhattan area and you're looking around, you're saying, clay, you're just going to throw us to the wolves. This guy's a moron. Why should Republicans have to save Democrats from the awful choices that they're trying to make? If you want to put a communist in charge of New York City, deal with it. New York, deal with it. Why should all of us have to cobble together votes from Andrew Cuomo, who's awful, or Eric Adams, who's mediocre, or Curtis Sliwa, who's otherwise not going to be able to win because the idiots of New York City are otherwise going to endorse a guy who was sharing videos and tweets saying, Defund the police. I saw a new clip that he shared where it's like somebody, a police officer was crying in a car and he's celebrating it. I just, I find this guy to be utterly false in a way that is even staggering for politicians. And I. My concern, Buck, is you heard that answer right there. My concern is he's just going to try to glide because he is glib and he is good at talking. He's just going to glide away from all the crazy opinions he had and say, well, that's not what I really meant. That's not really the way that I want it applied.

[Clay Travis]

Here's a perfect example. This is cut 16. He is asked straight up if he wished that he hadn't said he wanted to defund the police. Play 16. Do you wish you hadn't said some.

[Mamdani]

Of those things a few years back? My statements in 20 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd and the inability to deliver on what Eric Adams, of all people described as the right for all of us to be able to enjoy safety and justice, that we need not choose between the two.

[Clay Travis]

And it's just a non answer, which.

[Scott Bessent]

Is what this guy's really doing, which is what he's gonna do. And you're right about Joe Biden wasn't crazy enough to go fully down the defund the police BLM train. Cuz I think at that point in time he had enough sanity to recognize that that was a poor decision. And we've said on this program, probably the only thing Joe Biden got right in his whole career was the 1994 crime bill, which helped to put violent criminals behind bars, kept them off the streets, and has led to, at that point, a decline in the overall rate of violence. Mamdani is just, he's an inauthentic yet articulate politician. And that means that he is going to be able to avoid consequences for anything that, that he has said. I think, and I think, unfortunately, he's going to be elected the next mayor of New York City.

[Clay Travis]

The latest, the latest polling on this. Yeah, the latest polling does not look good for anyone who's hoping Momdani does not win. Because however you split it, even if Cuomo drops, he wins. If Adams drops, he wins. If a combination drops, he win. It's, it's not looking good. And it's, it's, I think, disproportionately the. Well, I know it is disproportionately the under 40 vote in New York that He is counting on. And there are people who live in New York City and I understand this. One of the great frustrations and this is true in a lot of cities in America right now. Certainly true in San Francisco, it's true in la. I'm sure people complain even about the price of housing in downtown Nashville now. Right. I mean, you know, people say it's expensive or it's gotten a lot more expensive, not compared to New York. But you know, prices can rise in these areas pretty rapidly. But in New York the housing supply is artificially constrained in a number of ways by the regulations, by the super tenant friendly and landlord hostile laws that are in place, the massive welfare programs for housing that, you know, I think it's a NYHA or whatever is New York City Housing Authority.

[Scott Bessent]

There's a lot.

[Clay Travis]

And there's rent control. There's all these things that the government has done. Oh, and there's all the illegals. I mean you go through this whole list, there's all these things that are government decisions that have made housing substantially more expensive than it would otherwise be in New York. And here comes a guy whose entire ideology is in line with all of those decisions who's saying, oh, but I'm going to make things cheaper for you and it's not going to work. The people who are sitting around saying, oh but I'll be able to afford to live here if Mamdani is the mayor are guaranteed to be very disappointed. But they're still going to vote for him. And you know, this is like real communism has never been tried. You know, real Mamdaniism, you're going to see, they're going to, they're going to come up with some reason why someone else stopped. And whatever the things that he is saying he's going to do are guaranteed to fail. Bringing social workers instead, not even in addition to police, instead of police to emotionally disturb calls. Imagine if that cop in Virginia Clay who responded it was a wellness check on somebody who was having a mental breakdown.

[Scott Bessent]

Imagine it wasn't a cop, it was a social worker.

[Clay Travis]

That social worker by the former Georgetown player would have been stabbed to death with a butcher knife in that hallway in that building we all saw in the body cam. So what the heck is going on here?

[Scott Bessent]

It's not even. You can every. He's wrong on everything but the one that I look at and I really. It's not even BLM because that was such a defund the police. Any moron that you knew on social media in 2020 oftentimes highly educated was making that argument in 2020. That one doesn't even surprise me as much. The fact that he's arguing that we should have city owned grocery stores is so dumb. Like that by itself is so profoundly dumb. And he's making that argument right now. He's not even trying to backtrack on that. He's saying, oh, grocery stores are making too much money. The profit margin on a grocery store is 2% at best. It is one of the most difficult businesses to do well in all of American commerce. And if you just look at all these socialist countries that decide, hey, we're going to have government funded grocery store, you can't go buy anything. People stand in line for hours. There's never any food there. You can't. Price control. And suddenly he thinks in New York City, where it's hard to bring things into anyway, right? The expensive for trucks and refrigeration and everything else that's required. And he's arguing, hey, I'm going to save people money on groceries by taking it over and doing city funded grocery stores is so transparently unable to understand basic economics that that by itself is disqualifying to me.

[Clay Travis]

Well, this is, what I mean is it's not like there's a trade off here. And this is, I think also exactly what you're getting at. It's not that there's a trade off here of oh, well, people want the following things from Mamdani and even if he's bad on some things that you and I and others care about, he will deliver on things that they want. He's going to fail on the things that they think they're getting as well.

[Scott Bessent]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

It's just going to be a disaster across the board.

[Scott Bessent]

And, and he doesn't even have. He's articulate. What has he ever done that is any level of success? One rule that I wish was in place is in order to be running for politics, you have to have been profoundly successful in some other aspect of your life, right? Hey, I had success here and now I'm going to try politics. What has mom, Donnie ever done that he's been successful at? I mean, look, he's very articulate.

[Clay Travis]

He wasn't even successful at faking being black so he could get into Columbia University, which is.

[Scott Bessent]

That's right.

[Clay Travis]

A quite a feat.

[Scott Bessent]

I mean, he's good at communication, I guess, but he's never been successful to my knowledge in the communication fields anyway. I just, I think New York City is going to make this choice. I think he's going to be elected mayor and maybe he's just going to completely change all of his opinions. There's that possibility. But if he actually tries to implement the things that he's arguing for, it's going to be one of the biggest disasters the city has seen in any of our lives in terms of elected political officials. Set yourself up to have more energy with our friends at chalk spelled C H O Q. You do not want to have Joe Biden energy. You want to have Donald Trump energy. You don't want to have the energy of some beta loser male out there who's offended because Sydney Sweeney is too good looking in her gene commercial. And and you don't want to have test so little testosterone that you're not even looking at attractive women anymore and noticing them. If that's you, that's fine. You can listen to other shows. You can go after, try to lower your testosterone level even, even more. You can go listen to npr, you can go watch msnbc. I'm betting that's not you though. I'm betting you'd like to have a higher testosterone level and it's all natural and it can increase your testosterone level by 20% in three months, while also again, all naturally giving you way more energy. What do you have to lose? Why not check it out chalk.com My name Clay for a massive discount on any subscription for life. You can cancel anytime. No penalties, no worries. All you have to do is go to choq.com my name Clay that choq.com my name Clay. For a massive discount on any subscription for life.

[Podcast Announcer]

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

[Buck Sexton]

Let's be real. Life happens. Kids spill, pets shed and accidents are inevitable. Find a sofa that can keep [e-mail] Starting at just $699, our sofas are fully machine washable inside and out so you can say goodbye to stains and hello to to worry free living. Made with liquid and stain resistant fabrics, they're kid proof, pet friendly and built for everyday life. Plus changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want. Neat flexibility. Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa anytime to fit your space whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment. Plus they're earth friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers. It's time to upgrade to a stress free mess proof sofa. Visit washablesofas.com today and save that's washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Coming up in a few minutes, we're going to be talking to Dr. Oz, Dr. Mehmet Oz, about what he's up to running Medicare, Medicaid Services, US and for the Trump administration and also Maha, the Make America Healthy Again agenda. I would love to see one thing that I'm really holding out for given the improvements, I think of the streamlining of the federal bureaucracy, especially about research and development of drugs. Wouldn't it be amazing to see some really fantastic cures over the next few years? You add AI and technology. We spoke to, I spoke to Dr. Marty McCary, the FDA commissioner about this. But it seems like things are aligning so that you could have real breakthroughs. I mean there, I think there are a few things that everybody can feel pos there are a few things that everyone can feel more positive about across the board than curing nasty disease or finding treatments for previously untreatable diseases. So we'll talk to him a bit about what's going on with the health agenda and you know what keeps me healthy? Well, hydration for sure because you need that to survive. But Crockett Coffee, Crockett coffee. Go to crockettcoffee.com and please subscribe. I got my cool Crockett mug here. We have fantastic [e-mail] if you see on the YouTube and you can join, subscribe. Get yourself an Over Mountain Club mug. Celebrate American history. Remember, 10% of our profits goes to our friends at the Tunnel at the Towers Foundation. And we are going to be taking a bunch of your talkbacks and calls in the next hour. We also going to be joined by the one of the, by the FTC commissioner rather, what does the FTC do and what does Trump want it to be doing under this newly refocused government? We'll talk to her about that. So we got a lot of, a lot of agenda items to check off here in the third hour of the program. And like I said, talk back emails and more. And if you missed it last, I think it was last. No, it was first, first hour at baby speed. My son, he showed up on the YouTube. So go to YouTube.com and subscribe at Clay and Buck at Clay and [e-mail] let's get that number over a hundred thousand. And yes, we have important things, important business to take care of coming up here. Shortly, and I'll even be able to ask Dr. Oz some of the key questions, like, hey, what do we think about almond milk versus regular milk? Which one is healthier? Discuss stuff like that.

[Scott Bessent]

This is an iHeart podcast.