Hour 2 - Michael Whatley

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Hour 2 with Guest Michael Whatley

Date: September 10, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Episode Theme: Public Safety, Crime Policy, and the North Carolina Senate Race

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Episode Overview

Hour 2 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focuses on recent high-profile violent crimes—and the political and policy implications these cases have, particularly in North Carolina. The hosts interview Michael Whatley, former Chair of the RNC and current GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. They discuss public outrage over the murder of Irina Zarutska, systemic failures in the justice system, criticisms of Democratic “soft on crime” policies, and Whatley’s campaign platform. Additional commentary addresses national crime trends, Kamala Harris’s new book, and the state of American masculinity, interspersed with the show’s signature banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Murder of Irina Zarutska and Criminal Justice Failures

• Introduction to the Case

  • [02:50] Clay summarizes the shocking murder of Irina Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, emphasizing the released video and public response.
  • Points blame for the suspect’s release on North Carolina’s former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper and “soft on crime” policies.

• Michael Whatley’s Reaction and Broader Context

  • [04:36] Michael Whatley:
    • Cites initial local coverage versus the impact of the video’s publication.
    • “Before that, it was really just a statistic. And the fact is, you know, that this guy should not have been on that car. He should not have been walking around the city.”
      — Michael Whatley [04:45]
    • Expresses statewide shock and disgust that a suspect arrested 14 times was free; draws connections to Democratic policy.
    • “Democratic leadership absolutely lost their mind when President Trump sent federal troops in to quell the riots…everywhere you look, the Democrats are fighting harder for violent criminal repeat offenders like this than they are the victims.”
      — Michael Whatley [07:22]

2. Policy Solutions and Judicial Accountability

• What Should Change in North Carolina?

  • [05:47] Buck prompts Whatley for specific reforms.
  • [06:25] Whatley calls for:
    • Keeping repeat offenders off the streets.
    • Supporting law enforcement with resources.
    • Actual enforcement rather than “reimagining” laws.
    • Real prosecution with consequences for violent acts.
    • Condemns Roy Cooper for policies “fostering that revolving door.”

• Judges, Magistrates, and Accountability

  • [08:01] Clay raises issue of judicial complicity.
  • [08:45] Whatley touts successful fundraising to elect conservative judges and underscores the power of the ballot box:
    • “When we see judges who are acting against the interests of their communities, they need to be voted out.”
      — Michael Whatley [09:11]
  • [09:48] Buck critiques magistrates without law credentials.
  • [10:17] Whatley: “It starts at the top… [Cooper] put these executive orders in place and he set a tone for the rest of the judicial system all the way down to this particular magistrate. And that is just inexcusable. It’s a complete failure of leadership at the top.”

3. Campaign Strategy and the Broader Crime Issue

• Victims Beyond Viral Cases

  • [11:02] Clay points out 100+ murder victims per year in Charlotte, not just those who gain public attention through video.
  • [11:57] Whatley emphasizes:
    • The centrality of public safety in his campaign.
    • The need to highlight all victims.
    • Criticizes Democratic leaders for “marching with rioters” (referring to Cooper during 2020 protests).

• Federal and Disaster Response

  • [12:46] Clay pivots to Hurricane Helene’s aftermath.
  • [13:03] Whatley insists Biden/Cooper administrations failed in disaster recovery and contrasts with Trump’s response and federal aid.

• The Cost of the Upcoming Senate Race

  • [14:48] Buck asks about Democratic spending in North Carolina.
  • [14:53] Whatley estimates Democrats will spend $250M–$300M from outside the state:
    • “It is absolutely staggering the amount of money that the Democrats are throwing at this…But the fact is we need a senator who is going to fight for every family in every community in the state. And President Trump needs an ally in the Senate. And I’m going to be that voice.” — Michael Whatley [15:09]

4. Broader National Crime Issues & Commentary

• NYC Double Homicide Case

  • [21:25] Play of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s statement on an active murder investigation:
    • Warns the public against letting in strangers; describes horrific violence.

• Buck & Clay: Dems and Crime Perception

  • [22:47] Clay: “Democrats’ argument that violent crime is actually not a problem is not in any way an honest take on what most people in America are dealing with, and it just feels supremely tone deaf for their response…”
  • [23:56] Buck: “They would rather people keep dying than admit that they were wrong and we were right this whole time.”

5. Kamala Harris’s Book Excerpts – Political Fallout

• [25:29] Clay introduces Kamala Harris book excerpts obtained by The Atlantic, focusing on her reflections about Biden’s run for office.

  • Quotes Harris:
    • “If I advised him not to run, he would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty. Even if my only message was don’t let the other guy win. It’s Joe and Jill’s decision. We all said that like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.” — Read by Clay, citing Kamala Harris [26:18]
  • [27:36] Buck: “She comes across as weak, ineffective, and vindictive in this. No matter what…She is marked as a loser in this whole thing.”
  • [29:02] Buck further opines that Harris was a DEI pick (“picked her because Biden wanted a Black woman to be his vice president”) and that her political weaknesses forced Biden’s hand to run again.

• [31:11] Buck: “Even for Democrats, the Biden administration is going to be something they wish to forget. And I think Kamala is going to have to carry the burden of being a reminder…”

• [32:34] Clay links Harris’s “hypnotized” admission to historical political gaffes, like George Romney’s infamous “brainwashing” claim.

6. Humor and Personal Anecdotes

• Bachelor Couch Stories
  • [41:34] Clay and Buck exchange nostalgic tales about their old bachelor couches—“Old Blue” for Clay (“I had that couch for 24 years. $424 years. Great return.”), “Old Gray” for Buck.
  • Humorously discuss the transition from bachelor life to married adulthood—no pots, pans, or headboards, and the heartbreak of spouses garage-selling “the guy couch.”

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Notable Quotes by Segment and Speaker

• On Policy and Crime:

  • “The fact is, you know, that this guy should not have been on that car. He should not have been walking around the city.”
    — Michael Whatley [04:45]

  • “When Roy Cooper signs an executive order that says, I want to reimagine law enforcement in North Carolina, the laws do not need to be reimagined. They need to be enforced.”
    — Michael Whatley [06:57]

  • “When we see judges who are acting against the interests of their communities, they need to be voted out.”
    — Michael Whatley [09:11]

• On Political Stakes:

  • “It is absolutely staggering the amount of money that the Democrats are throwing at this. And of course, it’s coming from Chicago, it’s coming from St. Louis, it’s coming from San Francisco, it’s coming from New York and everywhere else other than North Carolina.”
    — Michael Whatley [15:01]

• On Kamala Harris’s New Book:

  • “We all said that like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.” — Kamala Harris excerpt (read by Clay Travis) [26:18]
  • “She comes across as weak, ineffective and vindictive in this. No matter what…She is marked as a loser in this whole thing.” — Buck Sexton [27:36]

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Timeline / Timestamps for Major Topics

• [02:50] – Introduction to Irina Zarutska murder case and Democratic policies’ role
• [04:36] – Michael Whatley on public outrage and leadership failures
• [06:25] – Policy steps for keeping communities safe
• [08:01] – Holding judges and magistrates accountable
• [10:17] – Structural failure in the judicial system; the role of magistrates
• [11:02] – Broader violent crime stats in Charlotte; campaign messaging
• [13:03] – Hurricane Helene recovery and government response
• [14:53] – Senate campaign fundraising and national stakes
• [21:25] – NYPD Commissioner Tisch on NYC double homicide (audio clip)
• [22:47] – Clay and Buck on Democrats’ disconnect with public on violent crime
• [25:29] – Kamala Harris’s book excerpts and intra-party fallout
• [41:34] – Humorous segment: “Old Blue” and “Old Gray” (couch stories)

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Overall Tone and Style

The conversation is politically charged, direct, and adversarial toward Democratic policies, especially relating to crime and public safety. The hosts blend serious discussion of tragic events and policy with campaign strategy, national political analysis, and moments of levity and personal storytelling, maintaining a fast pace throughout. There's a mix of earnest calls for reform and sharp partisan critique, interspersed with sarcastic, self-deprecating humor.

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Who Should Listen to This Summary

This summary is ideal for listeners who:

• Are interested in North Carolina and national politics, especially on crime and justice reform.
• Want up-to-date commentary on the intersection of policy, elections, and current events.
• Are following Senate races and the roles of state and national Democratic versus Republican agendas.
• Appreciate pointed political banter and the mix of serious debate with lighter personal asides.

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Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox one app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to FOX one for complete terms and conditions. FOX one we live for live streaming now.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in hour number two, Wednesday Edition, Clay travis BUCK SEXTON SHOW we are talking about a variety of subjects, inflation under expert expectations. Kamala Harris's book excerpts are out and and more. But the biggest story continues to be the brutal murder of Irina Zarutska and the video in full totality being released yesterday afternoon after we got off the show. And one of the people that is responsible sadly for the fact that this individual was allowed to be back, back out onto the streets is the former governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, who was instrumental in putting in place the soft on crime policies that allowed this guy to be arrested 14 times and then to brutally attack and murder an innocent 23 year old sitting on Charlotte public transit. And one of the individuals running to try to ensure that the Republican Senate seat currently held by Thom Tillis remains in the hands of Republicans and that soft on crime Democrats are not allowed to advance to Washington, D.C. is Michael Whatley, former chair of the RNC. He is running in North Carolina. He is going to be the Republican nominee and he joins us now. And so let's start with the very basics on this story. When did you become aware, Chairman Whatley, about this video and this murder and what is the reaction like as you travel around the state of North Carolina to it's now being released in full totality?

[Michael Whatley]

Sure. You know, I write about the murder the day after it happened. There was there was a little bit of local coverage down in North Carolina, but really only when the video came out did you get the visuals and understand, you know, how depraved this guy was and how horrific this attack was. You know, before that it was really just a statistic. And the fact is, you know, that this guy should not have been on that car. He should not have been walking around the city. He should not have been a threat to the people of North Carolina. And so every conversation that I'm having across North Carolina, people are just in shock that this guy was was allowed, you know, on the streets after having been arrested 14 different times and let out through a revolving door. And I think a lot of people are very disgusted with the leadership from the Democratic Party, which really starts at the top with Roy Cooper and that they wanted to put in place policies that we're going to foster that revolving door and let these guys out rather than have to pay the punishment to society when they committed crimes.

[Buck Sexton]

Chairman Whatley, it's Buck. Thanks for being here with us. You alluded to this just a moment ago. I'm wondering if you could give us a little bit more detail, because we do like to try to focus on the action items, you know, what could be done differently in the future, what needs to be changed to make these situations far less common than, unfortunately, they are, where there's a repeat offender commits a heinous murder. And then finally the system says, oh, I guess we have to do something about this. What could be different? Whether it's in the city of Charlotte specifically or in North Carolina state law? What would you like to see changed in the system that would make it function better to protect all North Carolinians?

[Michael Whatley]

Yeah. Well, you need to keep repeat offenders off the streets. I think that's the first place that you've got to start. You know, you look at a city like Charlotte, but it's not just Charlotte. I mean, you can look at every single community across North Carolina and you worry about this type of a safety issue. You could go out to California, you can go to New York, you know, and I think that having a system in place where we're going to one back the blue and make sure that they have the resources that they need, all the men and women in uniform to keep our kids and our communities safe, we need to make sure that we're going to do that. But then secondly, they have to be prosecuted and there have to be real consequences. You know, when Roy Cooper signs an executive order that says, I want to reimagine law enforcement in North Carolina, the laws do not need to be reimagined. They need to be enforced. You know, and so that is something that President Trump, thank God, and Pam Bondi, our great attorney general, are working on every single day in every single one of these communities. And I find it amazing that the Democratic leadership absolutely lost their mind when President Trump sent federal troops in to quell the riots out in Los Angeles. And then they absolutely are horrified that he said he was going to clean up Washington, D.C. by sending an assistance, which even the mayor, Muriel Bowser, says is a great thing. You know, but everywhere you look, the Democrats are fighting harder for violent criminal repeat offenders like this than they are the victims. And the carnage that those guys are sowing in our communities.

[Clay Travis]

We get asked this question a lot. What should happen to the judges and the magistrates who are consistently letting violent criminals back out on the streets? The DA's, obviously, who are taking soft on crime deals to allow this to occur are not beyond reproach. We talk about the elected officials. What about the judges themselves? For North Carolinians and frankly, for Americans all over the country who are outraged by what they've seen in this video, it was eminently predictable that a violent predator would act in violent and predatory fashion. And unfortunately, this young woman was the victim. But it could have been many different young women, young men all over the state of North Carolina. How do we stop this from happening from a judicial perspective?

[Michael Whatley]

Yeah, I think it's a very important note, you know, because in North Carolina, judges are elected. You know, when I took over as the state party chair in North Carolina, Democrats had a 6:1 advantage on the supreme court and they had a majority on the court of appeals. I created a judicial victory fund where we raised money specifically to put it into those judicial races. And today we have a conservative supreme court, we have a conservative court of appeals. But that needs to be the case in every one of these localities. You know, that when we see judges who are acting against the interests of their communities, they need to be voted out. Obviously, that's different on a federal level where we have to go through the impeachments. But the judges in all of these different cases were elected, you know, in Charlotte, North Carolina. And really, truly there do need to be ramifications when people are going to continually put the interest of criminals ahead of, you know, the community at large. But, you know, Chairman Whatley.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, sorry, sir. Go ahead, go ahead.

[Michael Whatley]

No, go ahead.

[Buck Sexton]

I was going to ask about this. The status of this. This special. What do they call. There wasn't really a judge. It was a magistrate, right. That let this individual out the most recent time, a magistrate that didn't pass the bar exam. How can somebody who hasn't proven any ability in the law be entrusted with dispensing justice based on the law? I think a lot of people look at this and say, what is going on?

[Michael Whatley]

Well, I think they should say that. Right. This is really. This is really appalling. And I think it is something structurally that we need to take a look at in North Carolina. Clearly, every state is going to have different laws in terms of how they're dealing with this, but it starts at the top. You know, Roy Cooper was the attorney general and then the governor of North Carolina, and he said very clearly, I want to have a soft on crime policy. I want to reimagine law enforcement in North Carolina. He put these executive orders in place and he set a tone for the rest of the judicial system all the way down to this particular magistrate. And that is just inexcusable. It's a complete failure of leadership at the top.

[Clay Travis]

The campaign is going to be a grueling, arduous undertaking. And I know you're traveling all over North Carolina and I know the answer. Anytime you say how do elections get? One is all over a state, all over a community, people have to come out and vote. But I saw this morning, I was watching the press conference of a lot of different Charlotte leaders. Over 100 people, I think are murdered every year in Charlotte. And so while Irina Zurutzka the video is captivating in an awful and eerie and horrific way, there are at least 99 other plus people who are often innocent victims of violent crime in Charlotte. What is a reasonable thing that a Senate campaign can do over the next year? Plus to try to shine a light on everybody who is dying, unfortunately, in our large cities often run by Democrats to try to change that story.

[Michael Whatley]

Yeah, look, the safety of our kids and communities is an absolute top tier issue for our campaign. And President Trump ran on this in 2024. It is an issue set that really, truly resonates all across North Carolina. You know, for us to think about the leadership in this state. You know, I go back to 2020 when Antifa riots, they're burning down Raleigh and Roy Cooper, the governor is out there marching with him. Right. This is not the type of leadership that we need. You know, in Democratic leadership, whether it's aoc, Zoran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders or anybody else, you know, they're out there fighting aggressively for criminals. They're not fighting for families and communities. And I think that is a spotlight we're going to be shining from one end of the state to the other.

[Clay Travis]

It's been almost exactly one year since the Hurricane Helene awfulness happened in western North Carolina. We traveled in there. We have a great affiliate in Nashville. What are you seeing of western North Carolina? How is the recovery going from your perspective?

[Michael Whatley]

Well, look, the people in the communities of western North Carolina are so strong and so resilient. But you know, FEMA and the Cooper administration really failed them when hurricane came through. And so President Trump, when he was put in office, won this election and he was sworn in. His very first trip was to western North Carolina and took me along with him and I'm grateful for that. And we saw that the devastation that was still in place because Governor Cooper and President Biden had completely failed that region. And since then, the administration has put hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars of resources. And it's been, it's not just fema, but it has been a whole of government. Right. Just last week we saw USDA with $220 million of support there. We've seen $1.4 billion coming in in housing assistance from HUD. We've also seen hundreds of millions of dollars that have come in from the Small Business Administration to help the 45,000 small businesses that were affected by that storm. But, you know, obviously the FEMA role is tremendously important. I appreciate President asking me to be on the FEMA Review Council to take a look at what happened coming out of Hurricane Helene and make sure that we don't ever have a response like that again.

[Buck Sexton]

Chairman Whatley, where can folks go to help out? Learn more about all of the above for your campaign.

[Michael Whatley]

Wadley4senate.com and we certainly need a movement all across North Carolina. It is going to be the marquee Senate race in the entire country. You know, we go back, can I.

[Buck Sexton]

Ask you, sorry, what kind of money are the Democrats going to throw into this race? Would you guess just put the like if you were to ballpark it for.

[Michael Whatley]

Me, I fully expect the Democrats will spend 250 to $300 million in this race in North Carolina. And they are not going to have it is, it is absolutely staggering the amount of money that the Democrats are throwing at this. And of course, it's coming from Chicago, it's coming from St. Louis, it's coming from San Francisco, it's coming from New York and everywhere else other than North Carolina. But the fact is we need a senator who is going to fight for every family in every community in the state. And President Trump needs an ally in the Senate. And I'm going to be that voice.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you, Chairman Whatley. Good luck. We'll have you on, I'm sure again soon to talk about the North Carolina Senate campaign, which is going to be one of the biggest battlegrounds in all of the midterms next year. Thank you.

[Michael Whatley]

Yeah, thank you, guys.

[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox one app. Stay on Top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the FOX voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to FOX one for complete terms and conditions. FOX one we live for live streaming now.

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[Clay Travis]

That's right. And you can pre order both of them right now and be book nerds just like us.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

And mine is Manufacturing Delusion how the Left Uses Brainwashing in. All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. We had spoken about this in the first hour and I just want to remind everyone that there's another heinous crime that I think is being overshadowed right now because of the video of the also heinous crime. I don't know how you can just running out of words to describe how awful these things are. But this, this crime in New York City where elderly couples tied up, tortured, stabbed, lit on fire and yet again is an interracial crime from what I understand from the reporting. And the individual is out and he is, he is, you know, currently they're trying to find him. And here is Jessica Tisch who is the commissioner of the nypd. And as you all know, I many years ago worked with her at the nypd, and she was just making her way up the ranks. Here she is. Cut eight. Play it.

[Jessica Tisch]

The NYPD is searching for the suspect in a horrific double homicide, robbery, and arson. The person responsible for this crime should be considered armed and dangerous. The suspect's M.O. is to go door to door, asking for some kind of assistance until he can gain entry. So do not allow anyone you don't know or who you are not expecting into your home. Mr. Alton was found in the basement tied to a pole with multiple stab wounds. Mrs. Olten was found on the first floor, severely burned. At this time, there is no known connection between Mr. McGriff, our suspect, and our victims beyond this chance encounter.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay, you know, it's also. You know, I remember when there was this whole thing about trying to ruin people's lives by videotaping them. If they ask somebody, hey, you know, are you. If somebody tried to walk in behind you in a building, which is, you know, kind of a security violation, and if it's a minority, then all of a sudden it's, oh, my gosh, you're so racist, or whatever. Well, here we're being told that this guy who's a. Who's a predator, who's a sexual predator, a violent maniac, his whole thing is using the kindness and consideration of human beings to gain access to their homes, to light them on fire and murder them.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. And I think what you are seeing is Democrats argument that violent crime is actually not a problem is not in any way an honest take on what most people in America are dealing with, and it just feels supremely tone deaf for their response to, hey, we got to lock up more violent criminals. Hey, we should drive down violent crime. Hey, more police officers. Let's call out the National Guard as needed in some cities for their response to be. Nuh, Things aren't actually that bad. This is what a dictator would do. I watched Trump. Maybe we can talk about this a little bit. I'm sure. Go out to dinner last night at a steakhouse in D.C. and he got confronted by people who were chanting and calling him Hitler. Was Hitler really a guy that was committed to ending murders? I. I'm just tossing it out there. It doesn't seem to me that Hitler was a overall committed to nonviolence kind of guy. It's just evidence, I think, of the brokenness of their arguments. Leave aside politics. Everybody should be in favor of fewer violent acts and fewer victims of violence.

[Buck Sexton]

But, Clay, the problem here, and this is where the Democrats have very little, Very little leeway which is why some of them are getting even crazier. We played some Mamdani for you, yet Mamdani wants to let more people out of prison. Mamdani, if he becomes mayor of New York, wants to make things worse. But if Democrats admit that if they have a change of course here on criminal justice based on reality, it will be an admission that they've been wrong all along. And they won't do that. You know, that's the thing. They would rather people keep dying than admit that they were wrong and we were right this whole time. And that's where the. I think the impasse is. Look, this is a program. We talk a lot about what's going on in the country and why it matters. But I've launched something new in addition to it that I want to tell you about. An online newsletter that capitalizes on our wisdom, our access, and our ability to get the most actionable information called Money and Power with Buck Sexton. And I'm turning all those things together, access to the top decision makers on Wall street and politics, into a newsletter that you need to read. You need to check this out. And this is the kind of access that people have been using to make great decisions in the market for a very long time. Think of it as your invitation behind Washington and Wall Street's velvet rope into the highest corridors of power. It's really cool. We're doing great articles, fantastic stuff. I partnered with my brother on it to make amazing stock picks. He's a Ivy League trained and Wall street, many years stock analyst. Go to offair25.com to check out the presentation at. Subscribe. Go check it out today offair25.com paid for by Paradigm Press.

[Clay Travis]

Our good friend. We're going to have some fun in the third hour. Good friend Kamala Harris has had her first excerpts of. What is it? 109 days or 107 days. I can't remember how long the. 107 days, how long her campaign was. Um, and we mentioned this off the top, she has decided to throw Joe Biden under the bus. And there are. Here, let me read you the quotes, Buck. This is from the Atlantic, which has gotten the first excerpt rights of Kamala's magisterial work of political brilliance.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm sure she was up late at night typing out all the words herself. Grinding, grinding.

[Clay Travis]

No telling how many bottles of wine she went through late at night as she contemplated such complex stories. And of all the people in the White House, this is Kamala. I was in the worst position to make the case that he should drop out. I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self serving. If I advised him not to run, he would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty. Even if my only message was don't let the other guy win. It's Joe and Jill's decision. We all said that like a mantra, as if we'd all been hypnotized. Was it grace or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn't a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego, an individual's ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision. Okay, takes her like a year or coming up in almost a year of the election.

[Buck Sexton]

Takes her ghostwriter a year.

[Clay Travis]

But yes, to say that it was reckless for Joe Biden to run. Now there's going to be a battle over this. I'm sure the Biden people are fuming over these comments that Kamala Harris is making to me, Buck. It reignites my belief that she is trying to set the table to run in 2028.

[Buck Sexton]

Because she may be trying. I think she may be trying, but this is. This is part of the problem that she has, Clay, is that she comes across as. As weak, ineffective and vindictive in this. No matter. No matter what.

[Michael Whatley]

Right.

[Buck Sexton]

She was unable to stop him until it was too late, and then she got destroyed. And now she's trying to, after the fact, justify it. She is marked as a loser, a loser in this whole thing. And the other thing, the other part of it that I believe. Well, certainly we will talk about here. The only reason she, of course, doesn't address this in the book. I don't have to read the book to know this. Or she doesn't say this. The only reason that Joe Biden was so reckless and pushed along, and this is why I thought he would take it to the end. The only reason this was even possible is because Kamala was such a disaster as a candidate in waiting. And they knew it. They picked her for DEI reasons. They picked her because Biden wanted a black woman to be his vice president. They did not pick her based upon political talent and her ability to be the next President of the United States. And they knew that, which is why Biden was able to steamroll her. The dementia patient was able to say to the White House, clay, credibly, I'm a better option than she is, even though you all know I'm not up for this.

[Clay Travis]

What about this? Line. And I come back to this because usually political books are really boring because they're basically written by big mishmash of, of political advisors. And they go through with their red pen and they're like, oh, gotta be careful here. The gay lobby is going to be offended by this paragraph. Oh, are we sure we want to say this? The unions are going to be unhappy with this. And so it comes across as a poll tested mishmash of uninteresting glop glob. And when she says we all said that like a mantra, as if we'd been hypnotized, I the only. There are two jobs for a president. Really. This is the job of any politician. One is decision making, two is communication. That's basically the whole job. When you tell me that you can be hypnotized by a dementia patient, it doesn't make me think, oh, this is someone who's gonna be able to handle actually difficult decisions. So when I saw that hypnotized, everybody's focused on the recklessness. That's a lie. We all know. But her trying to say I was hypnotized reminds me of, was it Mitt Romney's dad, George, I believe, who said he was brainwashed on. I think it was George Romney who said he was brainwashed to support the Vietnam War. And. And somebody said, well, that's not true. All it would take is a light rinsing, which is one of the. Which is one of the, you know, best kind of counters ever team look that up. But that basically is letting everybody know, hey, it's waving your hand as if we needed more evidence you're not a leader. And also your decision making is not very good. And so when I saw the hypnotized line, the fact that they said it was reckless, yeah, of course it was reckless. We all know that. It took her a year to get to that poll tested word choice and answer it. But the hypnotized thing kind of slipped in. Did I get that wrong?

[Buck Sexton]

No, no, no. I was just going to say that I think the Biden, even for Democrats, the Biden administration is going to be something they wish to forget. And I think Kamala is going to have to carry the burden of being a reminder of the deeply flawed and disastrous for Democrats. I'm not even forget about what we think as Republicans. I think Democrats recognize that Biden was a. Yeah, he stopped Trump for four years, but what he really did was like, send Trump along with Rocky to go train in Siberia and come back as Super Trump. You know, it didn't. Yeah. It didn't actually have the intended effect. That's one of the greatest montages of all time. And that's all. You guys all know what I'm talking about. Sylvester Stallone's up to his knees in the snow and it's like, you know, hearts on fire, you know. Anyway, you get what I'm saying. That's what happened to Trump. He was doing the push ups in the snow and he came back better than ever. And so I think that Kamala Biden, for all of his failures, Clay, or rather for all of his shortcomings, was a reminder for Democrats of the golden age of eight years of Obama. And that was a huge asset. It was a huge asset for him with the black community. Huge asset for him with the Democrats in general. Kamala is a reminder of the Biden administration. I think that could be politically endgame. I think she. Or it could be all over.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I think that's an interesting angle. By the way, it was George Romney, 1967, who claimed that he had been brainwashed and on Vietnam. But to say, you've been hypnotized, to me it had an evocation of that comment which haunted George Romney and even his son to a certain extent for years into the future. To your point, I think that's one of the great unanswered questions going forward, will the cabinet members of Biden be held accountable by voters for not speaking out? That could be. Mayor PETE These are the people who think they have a political career going forward. Mayor PETE Kamala Harris. I'm not sure how many of the others are as connected to Biden as those two would be as potential runners in 20:28. But this. And I'm not going to read the whole book, although I will go see Kamala Harris in my future is female Rachel Maddow specs T shirt. And are you going? Have we.

[Buck Sexton]

Is this happening? You're going. I love this.

[Clay Travis]

I bought the most expensive tickets to Kamala Harris's book event at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. So I almost think I could probably not talk about it anymore because I can see myself getting. Getting disallowed to enter the event. So maybe I should keep quiet and just give us a full book report when I actually go. But reading some of these excerpts from the Atlantic because I'm certainly not going to read the whole book because it sounds like the worst, worst punishment out there. I saw some guys joking about this is the ultimate. Sometimes guys set up and gals in your fantasy football league if you lose, you try to come up with an awful punishment for the guy who comes in last place. And I think having to read Kamala Harris's book and do a full book report on it would be phenomenal punishment for somebody out there in a fantasy football league. Like, you have to read the whole thing and write up like you're a kid. You know, a seven page review of the Kamala Harris book I think would be really, really funny.

[Buck Sexton]

Just promise me that if you get the opportunity, if anyone confronts you at the Kamala book reading in it with any hostility, that you will accuse them of misgendering you because they're. I'm telling you, the wires will cross. They will have no idea. They won't know what to say. Just be like, I'm sorry, are you assuming my. Are you misgendering me? All you have to say. And they will. It's like throwing, you know, water on the gremlins. Or I guess that's bad because then there's more gremlins. But you know what I mean? It's.

[Clay Travis]

It's crypto nervous buck. Because I was doing a Google search the other day for the future is female. And the T shirt that I'm gonna buy, I'm trying to find the perfect future is female T shirt. And the number of Google Ads that I'm gonna get funneled is gonna be so tough that I'm gonna think, you know what? I need some more testosterone in my life, which means I need chalk. And if that sounds like an incredible transition, it's because it is. This is what radio professionals do. They help you become more testosterone laden than you otherwise would while making fun of the people that do not have testosterone. Like anybody who voted for Kamala Harris. The white dudes for Harris. Very low T group, though I do for Harris. And chalk can help you have more energy. If you are out there right now and you got a busy schedule as we move into the fall and as there are so many different activities underway that you are trying to keep up with. I've got a ninth grade football game tomorrow. I've got all sorts of events, like many of the parents out there that I'm running around for. I'm going up to Knoxville this weekend to watch the Georgia Tennessee game, do big noon Fox's kickoff college football show. I'm gonna need some energy. And if I'm gonna need some energy, you may also need some energy in your life. You're chasing around the kids or grandkids. Why not go check out chalk? It's a male vitality stack all natural that has been proven to increase your testosterone level by up to 20% in just three months time. You can get the best possible deal on a subscription for life when you go to chalk.com right now. C h o q.com my name clay that's chalk.com, my name clay to get hooked up with the best possible subscription discount for life and also to ensure that you don't have the energy and the wimpy masculinity of a white dude for Harris or black dude for Harris or Hispanic dude for Harris or an Asian dude for Harris. Basically put some testosterone back in your life with chalk. Choq.com My name Clay get hooked up today. News and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

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[Clay Travis]

Free.

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the FOX One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the FOX voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox One for complete terms and conditions. Fox One we live for live streaming now.

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[Buck Sexton]

All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. We're going to get some calls here momentarily. But first up, Crockett coffee. My friends drink America's most delicious coffee. Code book. You get a lot. One of the last signed copies of Clay's old book, American Playbook. So they're collector's items now. Even more so the signed copy.

[Clay Travis]

Let me say this too on that Buck. Laura Travis wants these books gone. We are moving into a new house. The lovely Katie is about to have her second baby. These things need to be gone. So the new book's gonna be out in November. You got a new book coming out in January. My wife is like the. She sold the couch out of my. Out of my office book.

[Buck Sexton]

You don't want. You don't want Clay to be in trouble with Laura. All right, I'm Just telling you it's bad. It's bad. You got to help Clay out here.

[Clay Travis]

I bought a. I bought a couch buck. First of all, go to crockettcoffee.com Go subscribe, use code book. Get these things out of here. I think I told you this off air. I bought a blue leather couch. Old Blue.

[Michael Whatley]

Wow.

[Clay Travis]

Amazing couch.

[Michael Whatley]

Wow.

[Clay Travis]

Blue leather, 2001. When I started law school, I went out to rooms to go, I think, and I bought a $400. I remember $400 couch. I was like, this is the most amazing thing. Old Blue. Blue leather couch. I have had it now for 24 years.

[Buck Sexton]

Did you really call your couch all blue? Because Carrie may. I had a couch that I called Old Gray. It was big and comfy and overstuffed. And Carrie, when we got married, it was like taking Old Yeller out back. I had to, like, put a bullet in Old Gray and take my couch and give it away to, like, you know, one of the giveaway places. Very sad.

[Clay Travis]

I walked up into my office and Old Blue was gone. There was no discussion about the couch being removed. I don't even know who took it out. I sat down. Literally where I sit.

[Buck Sexton]

You don't even get to say goodbye to Old Blue.

[Clay Travis]

I didn't get to say, well, oh, Blue was on the front. Oh, Blue was on the front porch. Laura had another garage sale buck over the. Over the weekend.

[Michael Whatley]

I.

[Clay Travis]

My wife, I think if she could be a professional garage sale person, this is like the. The dream of all dreams for her. Old Blue was on the front porch. Somebody, I don't know who, bought it. I had that couch for 24 years. $424 years. Great return. And Laura sold it for 100 bucks. She sold Old Blue for a hundred bucks.

[Buck Sexton]

Old Gray was like a brother to me, man. Old Gray was there for me for years. You know, it was. That couch was way too big for the apart. The tiny apartment I had in New York. It was like I had to move everything just to make room for the couch. And you could pretty much touch both, like, walls front and back from it. But man, that couch, it was. It was always there for me. Rough day at work. Old Gray was there, all blue. I bet. Same thing is. Mine was like a fabric, though. Yours was leather. That's some real man cave stuff. Oh, yeah.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, it's like. Remember the movie Boiler Room back in the day where those guys were wealthy traders and they underrated.

[Buck Sexton]

I think that's an underrated movie. It's a good film.

[Clay Travis]

They had awesome places. I you probably some of you women who have dated, you know, guys in their 20s or probably early 30s have been in this situation where you walk in, in the apartment or the house or the condo or whatever is kind of nice, but there's nothing on the walls. There is basically a big comfortable couch, a huge flat screen television, right? And that. And then make maybe a bed on like not even with a stand, but like a big king sized bed.

[Buck Sexton]

Maybe some Chinese takeout or pizza boxes in a corner. Not even necessarily stacked just in a corner.

[Clay Travis]

When Laura started dating me, Buck, she came to the place where I was living, where old Blue and I were, were bachelor padding it. And she said, where are your pots and pans? I've been this place for like a year. So where do you keep your pots and pans? I was like, I don't think I have pots. I don't think I have pots and pans. Not only did I not have them, I had never thought to myself, you know what I'm really missing here is pots and pans. When she asked, it was. I'd never even had the thought that I should have pots and pans.

[Buck Sexton]

How old were you when you bought your first? Well, so you've been married, so this is different. But I didn't, I didn't buy a headboard for a bed until I think I was 4, like 40 years old. I just had a bed with pillows on it that I slept on. I never had.

[Clay Travis]

I mean most guys don't have me. You just have like a big mattress and like something to put the mattress on, some sort of box springs. But even the larger construct of the bed, most guys don't have that. The first thing I bought that I was super proud to buy was a flat screen television. Oh, Blue was close, but a flat screen television. I really thought I had made it.

[Buck Sexton]

All Blue and old Gray would have been good friends. I didn't know this was, this was a thing, you know, Gerard, Ali's husband, kind of a mallusion. Very handsome man. He had a black leather couch that she made him. We're just, we're just finding out. They got married and black leather couch got sent, sent to the, the.

[Clay Travis]

The glue Factory.

[Buck Sexton]

So. To Speaker 2 speak.

[Clay Travis]

I. I hope that couch has a good life from here because I feel like 24 years we've made a good, made a good team. And then I just walked into my office and the point is everything is, is getting taken out because we're moving into a new house and I just walk in and things are disappearing. Go get all the [e-mail] before who knows where those books end up. You can use code book and just pour one out for old Blue if you would as we finish off the hour Old Blue and I had a.

[Buck Sexton]

Disappointed that I missed I missed out on the clay Clay Travis tag sale. I mean I feel like I could have gotten some great stuff, some good deals.

[Clay Travis]

I yeah I think Laura made a $68. I mean there's no telling I'm going to be able to buy one half of a stain.

[Buck Sexton]

Not that the IRS knows about my friend. You know what I'm saying? All cash baby.

[Clay Travis]

I got it. I got to be careful. Yeah, 68 $1 bills. So look out world. We had a weekend here. When we come back we'll dive into more what's going on Gen Z We'll tell you.

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[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News Live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox One we live for live streaming now.

[Clay Travis]

America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

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I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Clay Travis]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

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Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Clay Travis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I Heart podcast.