Hour 2 - Protect College Sports Act - The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

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[00:00]
Clay
This is an I Heart podcast.
[00:02]
Buck
Guaranteed human the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. God's plans for you are for good. Be inspired. Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine. Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
[00:35]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. At Navy Federal, they want you to know that if you need a positive sign towards achieving your goal of home ownership, this is it. Because even though today's housing market may seem discouraging, the Home Buyer's Choice Loan offers members down payment options as low as 0% with no required private mortgage insurance. Look for your sign today. Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal is insured by NCUA Equal Housing Lender Terms and conditions apply. Loans subject to approval and eligibility requirements. Learn more@navy federal.org 0down brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union.
[01:12]
Buck
Welcome back in Clay and Buck. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the Thursday edition of the program. Hello YouTube. Some big numbers coming out of the YouTube audience as we continue to grow there. We love all of you on the nearly 600am FM stations. We also are big fans of all of you listening on satellite radio podcast. We want to be where you are coast to coast. And Buck, we go out to Seattle, a city as you and I have talked about before, that used to be kind of the Emerald City, right? Jeff Bezos decides that he wants to travel all the way across the country to found Amazon in Seattle. Bill Gates, obviously, before we found out a bit more about Bill Gates than I think a lot of us would have liked to have known, decides to build Microsoft there. Boeing is there. It was and still is a place filled with a lot of sane and rational people. But the crazies have taken it over and we talk a lot about culture on this show and there was a story that happened that I am still flabbergasted by that I want to share with all of you. So we talked on this program about the fact that Sophie Cunningham, who is a women's basketball player for the Indiana Fever, became the first real pro athlete with any kind of substantial platform to come out and say, hey, men shouldn't be able to compete in women's sports. And this is something that I don't know. Buck, what do you think 99% of people listening to us right now, 99.9%. Basically everyone with a functional brain that is listening to this program or lives in the United States and is any kind of sports fan at all, knows that it is crazy to allow boys or men to compete in girls or women's sports. Vast majorities of Democrats agree with this. Independence Republicans. This is total same town take. So Sophie Cunningham said. Actually struck many, including me and Bacchus, bravery, because it's so rare, because the trans community has taken over this issue to a large extent and intimidated many athletes from speaking out against it. So bravo to Sophie Cunningham for saying this. Okay, so Sophie Cunningham played a game in Seattle. A couple of teenage girls, Buck. Wore pro Sophie Cunningham gear, xxxy, which says that there's difference in chromosomes, right? Xx, female, xy, male. Um, and they also made pro Sophie Cunningham signs to take to the game to say, thank you, Sophie, for being outspoken on this. We are big fans. We've got some audio of this. I want to play for you, Buck. This is staggering. One of the owners of the WNBA franchise cursed these teenage girls to their face, insulted them. And there's no dispute on this. Now, the WNBA investigated. They've had to suspend one of the owners for five games. She happens to be, by the way, an obese lesbian. Just FYI. Maybe some of you are saying that's exactly who I would expect to be an owner of a WNBA franchise. Fat lesbians, kind of their. Their thing. Um, here is one of the. I believe this is the girls telling their story. Cut 22. These are teenage girls going to a women's basketball game to say, thank you, Sophie Cunningham, for being outspoken and saying, hey, let's let girls and women's sports just be played by girls and women. Listen to what happened to them in their own words. Cut 22.
[05:10]
Teenage Girl
This lady, older lady, comes up to us, and she comes up to us, and at first, I think she's going to be nice. Nice. And she asked, like, what are you guys doing? Something like that.
[05:18]
Clay
Yeah.
[05:19]
Teenage Girl
And then it was like, Jesus loves everyone. That's what she told us. And I was like, oh, I know. Like, I'm religious. Like, I know. Like, I know. Yeah. And she's like, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done. And, like, something like that. And then she told us that we were effing insane. And she went like that. Insane. Yeah. Yeah. And stop pulling this. Yeah. And for you guys, I hope God can save you. Yeah. She said for you to come here and Pull this. She said the word and nobody around you spoke up for you. No, no, I will say, Annelie, when I came over, you were in tears. Yeah, I've never been yelled at like that. I mean I've had people hate on me on the Internet, but like it doesn't really affect me as much because it's just people online. But that just took me side surprise cuz I thought she was going to be nice and then she started like screaming at us.
[06:04]
Buck
So buck teenage girls go to a basketball game, make signs for Sophie Cunningham, saying thank you for speaking out for us. One of the owners of a WNBA franchise insults them, says Jesus is not going to be on their side. I'm paraphrasing. And then curses them out. This is undisputed that it happened. There's also other videos. I just shared one from Fox News of grown men and women screaming at young girls who are carrying signs supporting Sophie Cunningham. Culturally, these people in Seattle think that they are the heroes. They think that they are the good people. And I just feel and know that this now is starting to resonate. Those girls, those teenage girls, good spokespeople for what happened to them, unfortunately. But I do think it's important to understand what is happening here where the left is seeing its cultural hegemony challenged and these people still think it's 2020 and they can just show up and scream and curse at people and they're going to be the good people. You hadn't seen this story. It's now starting to go mega viral. Because I think a lot of people connect with these young teenage girls and can't believe that an owner of a team would come up at the game and hurl invectives at them as occurred here.
[07:35]
Clay
Yeah. Well, especially in the environment that we all know we operate in now where everybody has cameras out.
[07:40]
Buck
Yeah.
[07:41]
Clay
You know, you have to assume that, you know, the same way all guns are always loaded, all mics are always hot, all cameras are always on. I mean, you have to just assume that there could be somebody there who has a camera out, like as we see here, and is going to be able to capture this kind of a moment. What, what do you think this person does? The. You know, it's one thing if you're the owner of like, I don't know, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys can get away with a lot. You know what I mean? Because like, it's very, very rich. What's with Dallas Cowboys? One of the most.
[08:15]
Buck
Jerry Jones. Yeah. $20 billion company, if you actually sold
[08:20]
Clay
it so he could kind of do whatever he wants. Realistically. I'm not saying he doesn't care about his public image. I'm sure he does. But you get what I'm saying. Owner of a WNBA team.
[08:31]
Buck
I think what it speaks to Buck is she thinks that what she's doing is courageous and heroic. I mean, these people, I really do think that she saw this. And by the way, one of the Seattle Storm players showed up in like a protect trans because they were playing against Sophie Cunningham, but protect trans athletes or something such as that. This woman has had her brain so broken, she's obviously somewhat successful if she's a partial owner and sitting courtside of a franchise. Right. I'm not saying, to your point, it's not a $20 billion franchise, but if you. Presumably she had to have hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions, small millions, to be able to be a part owner of this franchise.
[09:17]
Teenage Girl
And.
[09:17]
Buck
And she's insulting people there. And she thinks this is the key, Buck. She really thinks I'm the good person here when she's cursing at teenage girls.
[09:27]
Clay
Well, that just goes to. What a manufactured delusion.
[09:31]
Buck
Yes.
[09:32]
Clay
People that believe men should play in women's sports are under that they. There is an irrational component, or really the central component of their thinking is inherently irrational. And so when you're starting from a place of irrationality, your follow on decision making is also going to be poor. And that's what you see here. This is somebody who does believe. It would seem in the crusade to convince people. And I would just note, you really could have. You might have to run something of a. Of a. Of a test here where you just have some guy who was like, let's say a D1 level basketball player who says, you know what? I'm actually a woman and I want to play in the NBA and make a whole thing of it. Because if you had a D1 guy, and I don't care, point guard, center or whatever, he could score 80 points a game. Okay. Basically every time he touches the ball, he could score. And then they'd have to explain how this looks. I almost think that maybe this is the only way. It's kind of like Fauci's diary being exposed now. Now he's a narcissist. He was a fraud, the whole thing. We know, maybe we need to have some guy who's 6, 8 and can dunk and his best days are maybe behind him, say, I'm a woman now. I want to be a star player in the WNBA so that women like this will have to explain how that seems normal to them. I don't know a way around it.
[10:58]
Buck
I agree with you. And this is why, Buck, I came out and some of you remember this. I put a million dollars on the table and I said I will pick any state champion boys basketball team. Any, any state. Wyoming, Montana, certainly big states. New York, California, Texas, Florida. They will obliterate the WNBA champions. I will put a billion dollars down.
[11:22]
Clay
Yeah, this is why this is different. Because under their ideology, you, Clay, are saying, I could find 16, 17 year old, you know, boys, soon to be men who could defeat Wm. WNBA players. They will say, well of course men can beat women. We're not saying men can't be a lot of.
[11:46]
Buck
Wouldn't even say that though, to be fair. That's a different crazy, that's a different crazy argument. They would say that. I mean, if, when I put that out there, a lot of people say, clay, you're crazy. Which is why I put a million dollars on it. But yes, I know where you're going. So continue your argument. Because this is important too.
[12:01]
Clay
Because their argument is if we got like Chris Weber, who was an amazing
[12:07]
Buck
NBA player by the way, is 55 now and could score a hundred points in a WNBA game right now.
[12:15]
Clay
If we got Chris weber in his 50s, just suit up and say his name is Christina Weber, he would score a hundred points a game. But their whole thing is, oh well, he's really a woman if he says he's a woman. Right. A trans athlete isn't a trans woman, It's a woman. And so that's why the whole thing is so insane. Because we look at this and we go, it's not a woman. Guys there you can talk about other things. This is not a woman. We'd be Chris Weber. Not sorry Chris Weber's gonna be like, I'm gonna kick your ass. But you know, some random NBA player, even a D1 college player, even a D3 college player, if they were still playing, let's say right now, could completely run amok in the WNBA and score endless points and make the whole thing look foolish. If he says he's a woman, he's a woman. That's where we are.
[13:07]
Buck
I'm, I'm going to go, my 15 year old son would be the best WNBA player in the league if he played in the WNBA right now. He's a solid basketball player. He can, you know, he can play at the rim, which is rare for almost any woman. I think he would be the best WNBA player right now, by the way, Laura Travis, my wife, points this out. Now, do you remember the Donald Sterling situation, Buck, where the WNBA owner of the LA Clippers was forced to sell the team because his mistress recorded him, Right? Yeah, like talking negatively about black NBA players and the league. Adam Silver demanded that he sell the team. Now, I didn't support that because I don't like the idea personally of someone can secretly record something that you said, edit it, put it out, and we're going to all. I just don't like that idea. But under that premise, how does this WNBA owner not. It's Laura's argument. My wife's argument's a good one. How does she not get forced to sell her stake in the team? If you can be recorded by your mistress saying something inappropriate outside of the arena, how can cursing fans who are in your arena not rise to the level of we need to force you to sell your stake in the team? The W. The NBA is already, which, you know, basically runs. The wnba, has already established that comments can force you to sell a team. Isn't this worse? He didn't do something at an arena. He didn't insult fans. He certainly didn't insult minors. I think there's probably an argument it's worse. Now, again, I don't like the idea of forcing people to sell things based on what they said because who the hell knows what I might say when I'm 80 one day? I don't want somebody to be like, you gotta sell.
[14:58]
Clay
I kinda wanna know. I kind of want 81 year old Clay would be quite a scene, I'll tell you.
[15:02]
Buck
If I don't have a filter now, you can imagine what an 80 I will have. And let me say this too, by the way, Buck, before we go to break back to the Fauci thing. He was 80, still behaving like that in his diary. Aren't you supposed to, by the time you're 80 years old, be like, screw it, I don't care what anybody else thinks about me. Fauci was such a megalomaniac that even at advanced age, he was still obsessively monitoring what people thought about him. I thought, that's one of the best things about aging. You don't give a blank the older you get. This guy, imagine what he was like in his 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. He's awful. Look, there's so much going on these days, creating a very full news cycle. Countries, conflicts, man, it's hard to even keep up. But don't forget about what's going on in Israel. Relatively small population of just 11 million people. Nine million of those people are of the Jewish faith by the way, people who are Muslim in Israel, they actually have more basic human rights than anybody else almost in the entirety of the Middle east, certainly those in Iran, just FYI. But the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, they're a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the vulnerable parts of that population. For over 40 years now they have been helping to unite Christians and Jews just to do good work, deliver food on the ground, medical supplies, build bomb shelters. This is a US based group that is trying to help the people of Israel. I've seen the work, all good, great, significant work that is just being done to help the people on the ground. Your donations help to provide resources. Remind them they haven't been forgotten. You can help with prayer, donations and advocacy. Visit this website to help pray. IFCJ.org that's pray IFCJ.org it's like having your house at the perfect temperature all the time. Preset Clay and buck on the iHeart app, the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. God's plans for you are for good. Being inspired. Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine. Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
[17:33]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. At Navy Federal, they want you to know that if you need positive sign towards achieving your goal of home ownership, this is it. Because even though today's housing market may seem discouraging, the Homebuyer's Choice loan offers members down payment options as low as 0% with no required private mortgage insurance. Look for your sign today. Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal is insured by NCUA Equal Housing Lender. Terms and conditions apply. Loans subject to approval and eligibility requirements. Learn more at Navy Federal Credit Brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union.
[18:09]
Clay
Welcome back to Clay and Buck. We got Senator Eric Schmidt coming up here in just a few minutes. You want to stick around for that? For sure. I figured we could use a couple moments here to hear from you via our Talkbacks. Remember the iHeart app, which you should all have. It's a fantastic app for all your audio needs, including listening to Clay and Buck. But you press a little microphone at the Clay and Buck page sent us a talkback a Esther from Staten island who listens on w o r Hit it. Listening to all the talk about Fauci, how he cannot be held accountable, how it's not worth it to sue because he's not going to go to jail. I don't care if he goes to jail. I need him to go down in history. I want trials. I want him to be exposed. I want him to be shamed. I want this never to happen again. And if we are going to make sure this never happens again, we need him to go on trial. I agree with the sort of public reckoning Clay, but I don't think there's going to be a Fauci trial. And I will not. I cannot tell a lie to all of you. I don't think it's going to happen.
[19:13]
Buck
I think the best that we can take again, I'd love to be wrong. The best we can take from this is Fauci having basically his entire Persona, his entire historic legacy be now a joke. I think that pains him immensely at 85 years old. I think that he has lived and will live long enough to see himself be mocked and ridiculed on a level that will destroy him psychologically. I do think that's likely true.
[19:46]
Clay
Yeah. You know, I feel like if you, you know, open your car door at the wrong moment and a car goes by and rips off your car door, it should be, man, I really fouche that situation. You know what I'm saying? It's got to be like that.
[19:58]
Buck
And I think everybody, you should all mock. I mean, I think again, that defensive coordinator coming out and making fun of Fauci. I think you should try to take the fifth and make fun of Foushee every chance that you get. And I think the number of people that will claim that they are Fauci fans in the years ahead will diminish rapidly.
[20:16]
Clay
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[21:16]
Buck
bundle welcome back in we are joined by Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt. We got a lot we can get into you with Senator Smith. But I know you're a big sports fan. I don't know how much attention you have paid. Buck and I were just talking about Sophie Cunningham coming out and saying men shouldn't be in women's sports. I know she plays in Indiana, but she was and is, I think one of the best women's basketball players ever from the state of Missouri. So I know a lot of your constituents are big fans of hers. Did you see that a WNBA owner, you know, minority owner, but not the head owner, but one of the owners sitting courtside ripped two teenage girls. Curse them out for showing up and supporting Sophie Cunningham stance on men and women's sports. What's your reaction to that?
[22:07]
Senator Eric Schmidt
It's very bizarre. Yeah. And Sophie Cunningham, the pride of Mizzou, right? She's the all time leading scorer in women's basketball there. But. And it's reached new levels of fame recently. But I don't understand it. You think a sports league would want to be growing their audience and they have a very marketable person in Sophie Cunningham and they just can't get out of their own way on stuff like this. I don't get it. The wnba, you know, it just, it feels like a league that could have a bigger audience if, if they just got out of their own way. And when you have a co owner of a team, I mean this isn't just some like you know, drunk person at the game. I mean this is. The co owner of the team felt so compelled to, to yell at these young girls who show up to the game. It's just very strange.
[22:51]
Buck
It's, it's absolutely bonkers. Okay, we got a bunch of stuff we can get into with, with you. I know there is an ongoing negotiation surrounding the College Sports Act. You have co sponsored this along with Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Cantwell. You've been going back and forth with the SEC and the Big Ten. What's the absolute latest on this bill? Have you gotten A response from the SEC and the Big Ten yet. Is this bill going to be able to get on the floor? What can you tell us?
[23:21]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Yeah, I mean, we're. This is very timely right now. The Big Ten is, is meeting right now or soon we'll be meeting about this. The sec, they have a call with their presidents later on this afternoon. I was on the phone with Tony Petiti, the commissioner of Big Ten, late last night and with Greg Sankey this morning. You know, we want to, we want to have their support. I mean, we've worked really hard, I think, to build a coalition not just with those two conferences, but with the, you know, the Big 12 and the ACC and these conferences. But beyond that, too, there's a lot in here for the student athletes, and a lot has gone into this thing to try to address all the major issues, Clay, that you and I have talked about before. You've got this, you know, you got these eligibility issues, you've got the governance issue, you got the one time transfer. All those sorts of things need to get taken care of. The ability to pool media rights if they want to. Making sure that's purely voluntary and never forced. That was a big part of what these negotiations have been about. So I would say today is a very important day because in order for us to do this next week, which a very important week, theoretically, it could be one of the last weeks we're up here. I don't know. I mean, we could stay into August. I support that. But next week's a very important week. And if that's the case, we got to get it kind of teed up today. And so these meetings are really important and why these conversations have been very timely and intense.
[24:35]
Buck
Okay, I follow up on. I'll follow up on that. I don't want to get you into Petiti or Sankey private conversations, but in general, are you optimistic that you're going to be able to get their sign on at this point? I know you still got to wait on the meetings, but how would you assess your optimism level to right now at this exact moment?
[24:58]
Senator Eric Schmidt
This is very much like real time. I've been hopeful all along. I think that this is. Look, there are things in this with something that this is this complex and, you know, literally impacts, you know, 500,000 student athletes in all these institutions that people love and root for and all these kind of issues at play. This bill is an effort to try to reach a compromise of all the various and competing positions on it. So it's not perfect. Like there's things in here that I wish were a little bit different. And I'm sure that the conferences, the smaller conferences, the bigger conference is the same thing. But I do think this, it's at a place right now where we need to move because it's not going to get any better. And another year or two of this madness we see right now, it's just not sustainable. Even the schools that are choosing to compete and have rosters that are 55 or 60 million for football alone, which even though there's a cap of 20 and a half million, they will freely admit to you that this is not a good situation. The constant movement's not good for graduation rates if you're transferring four or five times. So I think we need to provide some stability. And I think this bill, as it stands, not right now, is the best effort to do it. So I am hopeful, but we're going to find out real soon in the next few hours.
[26:14]
Clay
Senator Schmidt, appreciate you being with us. I wanted to move our attention if I could do another aspect of the Senate. And that has to do with the Judiciary Committee postponing this, postponing a scheduled vote to advance Todd Blanche's nomination. So we know there are a couple of Republican senators, Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who are, let's just say, iffy at this stage of the game. What do you think is going to happen here and what are those two guys thinking?
[26:45]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, they're both on the Judiciary Committee. So am I. And you know, they've raised each one of them kind of a separate issue. I think Senator Tillis wants Todd Blanche to meet with some of the, the victims. I've seen victims. I think that was his sort of his ask and I think that's gone relatively well. I have not spoken directly with Tom about that, but I feel like that's moving along. Senator Cornyn has an issue with this. Some of the legal matters that have been before the Department of Justice related to President Trump. And so, you know, I'm hopeful that they can work that out to the extent that it can be worked out. I think Todd is eminently qualified. Todd Blanche is eminently qualified. He's done a very good job, I think, of refocusing the department from the Biden years to taking on violent crime. And you look at this anti fraud effort that they have across the country, Minneapolis and California, those are really important things for the Department of Justice to be focused on and have an attorney general who's serious. So he's the acting AG I mean, no matter what happens he's going to remain the attorney general, the acting attorney general. I just think it would be an important thing for us to do to move him forward and have him confirmed in front of the full Senate.
[27:56]
Clay
So. I know. Sorry, go ahead.
[27:58]
Buck
No, I was just going to say, building on that question with Buck, President Trump said, hey, if these guys won't get on board, we'll just wait. You probably know this. I don't know the answer off the top of my head. Let's say that the nomination doesn't get confirmed and we wait for the election, and then, God forbid we end up in a situation where Democrats take back control of the Senate. Getting anyone confirmed then, as you know, becomes very, very difficult. How long could Todd Blanch serve as acting attorney general? Is there a limit on that? How would that play out?
[28:34]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, according to recent precedent, I'm going to. I'm going to blank on the cabinet member that Biden had that served is acting throughout the term. I mean, he can basically be the acting attorney general, I think, for almost all of the remaining Trump term. But I think, you know, it's always better to have a position like that confirmed by the United States Senate. I think that's an important thing for us to do because we're in that personnel business and he's imminently qualified. No one disputes that. I think, you know, a couple of these issues that senators are addressing are kind of one offs from that, not related to his qualifications. And my hope is that they can figure all that out and we can move forward on Todd Blanch next week. As I mentioned, next week's a very important week because September, guys, is going to be, I think it's going to be very messy. The Democrats want to shut the government down. That is on September 30th. I think they view it as a political effort for them to shut it down.
[29:27]
Clay
Is this going to be for open border center? They're going to want, you know, no more ice.
[29:30]
Senator Eric Schmidt
No, I don't know what it's going to be yet. Yeah. Oh, it'll be something. I mean, I'm guessing it may be the whole thing. It may be the whole thing. It may be all of government. It may be TSA again. It may, you know, I don't know what it's going to be, but I think it's going to be something. I just. That's just sort of how I see it. Some people are more optimistic, but I've seen what the Democrats the game plan is. They're obstructionists and they want chaos. They think Chaos helps them, and I hope the American people view it differently. But we got to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen by September 30th.
[29:59]
Clay
I know if you're not from New York City, maybe Missouri doesn't think of itself as like, right next door to Michigan. But I do, because I'm from New York. What do you think about the mission? What do you think about the mission?
[30:11]
Senator Eric Schmidt
You're a flyover guy. Come on.
[30:14]
Clay
I mean, you guys are close enough, right? You probably have college teams that travel
[30:17]
Senator Eric Schmidt
to play each other hundreds of miles, hundreds of miles away.
[30:20]
Buck
But yes, that is a perfect. That's a perfect lead in for a New York City guy. You know what I mean?
[30:25]
Clay
At least I'm self aware. At least I'm self aware about it. So Michigan Senate race, super important. Maine Senate race, super important. Can you just weigh in on how you feel about Republicans holding the majority and what you think the key issues are going to be in some of those places?
[30:42]
Senator Eric Schmidt
I see now why you did. There's some symmetry. They're all states that start with M. There you go. So I feel pretty good about the Senate, the map, Susan Collins, I mean, they had the Graham Platner experiment that totally was as disastrous. Him in a porta potty, I suppose. So that's gone. I think she's much better positioned now than where things were a month and a half or so ago. I mean, if they elect this, the guy, the El, said, guys in the lead in Michigan, that is very much in play. Where a year ago, I don't think a lot of people would have thought we were going to have a chance, be competitive and maybe win Michigan. So I do think that is probably by way of contrast for us, these radical sort of DSA members is good for us electorally. I think it's terrible for the country that the Democrats are actually electing these people to be their nominees in a general election, you know, because eventually these people are going to. They're going to start winning general elections and it won't be limited to, you know, New York, where you're from, right. Where the craziness and the hammer and sickle wave we saw a month ago. So I do think it improves our chances if that person's the nominee. But I don't think it's good for the country. I think we win Maine, New Hampshire's in play for us, which is good. North Carolina is going to be tough, and Michigan could be in play as well. Ohio, I think we're going to be Fine in Ohio, Sherrod Brown is kind of a retread career politician and John Husted should be okay there.
[32:06]
Buck
I know that you as Attorney general of Missouri helped to hold Fauci and the Biden administration more accountable than almost any attorney general did in the country. I'm curious what you thought of Foushee taking Fifth Amendment 111 times during that hearing yesterday. How you would assess any legality of pursuing Fauci might look going forward in the wake of that. And just as a general context, I know it's been six years. Buck and I are still furious. Almost everybody out there listening to us right now is still furious over what left wingers Fauci led did to us during that time. How would you assess where we are right now, what your thoughts were on that hearing and where we might go going forward?
[32:52]
Senator Eric Schmidt
I'm with you guys. I think for me, when I was attorney general at that time, it was a, it opened up my eyes to what the left was capable of if they had a little bit of power or just an excuse like that. Bulldozing sand, you know, into these skate parks, police tape around playgrounds, forcing the masking of five year olds in school. It's why we sued the school districts. That's why we sued the Biden administration over the shot and all those sorts of things. I think we should never forget what that looked like and what that actually was. And Fauci was the crown prince of all but with his candles and his bobbleheads. Right. I think it reminded me, I took his deposition in the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit. He sat across the table as smug as could be, kind of like he was yesterday. He had less to say yesterday because he was taking the fifth amendment. But I think in our deposition of him he said, I don't recall like 170 times as well. So this guy who proclaimed to be the science and this all knowing, you know, expert suddenly doesn't have a whole lot to say now because I think he knows he's been exposed to some legal jeopardy regardless of the auto pin pardon. There could be state issues out there we're going to see, but this guy needs to be held accountable. This is what abuse looks like. This is what the othering of our minute or you know, fellow countrymen was alike. In that era you couldn't question anything. The government was coming after you to censor you with big tech giants. This was Orwellian and it happened and we can't memory hole it. I'm with you like a normal person is still pissed about this thing and should be. And Fauci was the face of it. So I hope there's, there, there's some accountability. We did our best in my time as AG. Hopefully some other AGs or other people can, can take up the charge here because it was just insulting to see him sit there yesterday and take the fifth on everything.
[34:35]
Clay
Senator Schmidt, great stuff, sir. Thank you so much.
[34:38]
Senator Eric Schmidt
All right, guys, take care.
[34:41]
Clay
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[35:54]
Buck
Miss the show While you're on the go, wind down your day with the daily Review podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay and Buck. Thanks to Senator Eric Schmidt. We're going to be joined by our buddy Ryan Garduski, part of the podcast network, the Clay and Buck Podcast network. Might I say Buck, the highly successful Clay and Buck Podcast Network because a lot of people doing a lot of good work every single day as a part of that podcast and we'll allow Ryan Gardesky to tell you all about it. Top of the next hour, wlac, a big Nashville area station that carries our program. Appreciate John in Nashville listening. We're Also on in Nashville, by the way, my hometown. 98.3. Buck, you in Miami. The numbers have shown that you being in Miami, I think our audience, just because you're there, you can talk about life in Miami. It's grown a lot. This 98, 3 and 1510 audience in Nashville has also skyrocketed. I like to think that's partly because I happen to live in Nashville, which is a phenomenal city. But John's got a funny take. Fire away. Cut out.
[37:01]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Hey, Clay and Buck. I don't know about Chris Weber joining the wnba, but if Dennis Rodman changed his name to Denise and joined the wnba, I would probably actually watch a game.
[37:13]
Buck
I mean, Buck, a dude pretending to be a chick calling out the WNBA on their absurd position of men being able to play in women's sports. Dennis Rodman playing in a WNBA game or anyone of Dennis Rodman's era. Right. Carl Malone, anybody? John Stockton from back in that era. Michael frickin Jordan. Buck. It would be the most. That game would be must see television.
[37:43]
Clay
It would be funny if we could get like for charity. Real, real charity. Not just like the WNBA being a charity. We could raise money by having like a bunch of right wing radio and podcast host guys play a W18.
[38:00]
Buck
I bet we could put together a team of. Right.
[38:05]
Clay
Hold on. Pete Hegseth, if he was still at Fox, he played at Princeton.
[38:09]
Buck
Oh, yeah.
[38:10]
Clay
So he's got game. He's. He's a baller. Dave Rubin has a basketball court at his house.
[38:15]
Buck
Yes.
[38:15]
Clay
He also has a pool in the shape of a D, by the way. Just saying. So Dave Rubin is a baller. He would play. You know, I played some hoops back in the day. I mean, I think it would be. Remember, some of these ladies have pretty good jump shots, but I think down low, I could box out.
[38:30]
Buck
I could box them out. They also get to play with a smaller ball, which makes making shots easier. Nobody ever talks about that. Like a smaller ball, the same size hoop. It's way easier to make shots when you play with a smaller ball. That's what she said. I would also. I would also add in. This is a great idea. They would never play us. I think, Buck. We would wreck them. I think we would crush.
[38:55]
Clay
We would get Ted Cruz in on the mix.
[38:59]
Buck
19ft tall.
[39:00]
Teenage Girl
Yeah.
[39:00]
Clay
Jesse Kelly. Well, I mean, is he coordinated? That remains to be seen. But Ted Cruz throws sky hooks. He's like, he's like old school Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
[39:09]
Buck
Oh, that's awesome. We'll ask her Dusky what he thinks about this, that's next.

Summary7 min read

Episode Overview

Main Theme:
The July 30, 2026 episode (Hour 2) of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show centers on two main topics: the uproar over a WNBA team co-owner berating teenage girls for supporting athlete Sophie Cunningham’s views on women’s sports, and an in-depth discussion with Senator Eric Schmidt about his Protect College Sports Act and other pressing political issues.

Clay and Buck use their trademark blend of sharp commentary and humor to dissect the cultural and political implications of the incident in Seattle, the debate over trans athletes in women's sports, and the evolving legal framework for college athletics. The hour also covers Senate-related news and ongoing fallout from the Anthony Fauci hearings.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. WNBA Owner Incident – Culture Clash in Seattle

(01:11 – 15:02)

Context:
Clay revisits a viral incident at a WNBA game in Seattle, where two teenage girls—supporting Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham’s stance that men shouldn't compete in women’s sports—were confronted by a co-owner of the Seattle Storm, who cursed at and insulted them.
Clay’s Take:
- Highlights Sophie Cunningham’s “bravery” for voicing opinions that most Americans support, but few athletes express, due to fear of backlash from trans rights activists.
- “Bravo to Sophie Cunningham for saying this. … It struck many, including me and Buck, as bravery, because it’s so rare, because the trans community has taken over this issue to a large extent and intimidated many athletes from speaking out against it.” (04:05, Clay)
Audio from the Teenage Girls:
- The girls recount the confrontation, describing the co-owner approaching them, implying their stance was sinful, and saying, “I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you’ve done… You are effing insane.” (05:18 – 06:04, Teenage Girl)
Cultural Critique:
- Clay and Buck argue that culturally, the left in urban enclaves like Seattle feels justified—even “heroic”—in their aggression, but the situation is backfiring as these stories “go mega viral” and the majority of people sympathize with the girls.
- “Culturally, these people in Seattle think that they are the heroes. They think they are the good people. … I think a lot of people connect with these young teenage girls and can’t believe that an owner of a team would … hurl invectives at them.” (07:06, Buck)
Sports/Transgender Ideology Tensions:
- The hosts satirize the logic underpinning trans inclusion in women's sports, suggesting it would take a D1 male basketball player dominating the WNBA for the absurdities to be widely acknowledged.
- “If we got Chris Weber in his 50s, just suit up and say his name is Christina Weber, he would score a hundred points a game. But their whole thing is, oh well, he’s really a woman if he says he’s a woman.” (12:14, Clay)

Notable Quotes

“People that believe men should play in women’s sports … there is an irrational component, or really the central component of their thinking is inherently irrational.” (09:31, Clay)
“I think we need to have some guy who’s 6'8 and can dunk ... say, I’m a woman now, I want to be a star player in the WNBA so women like this will have to explain how that seems normal to them.” (10:22, Buck)

2. Protect College Sports Act – Interview with Senator Eric Schmidt

(21:15 – 34:38)

Intro:
Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt joins to discuss the “Protect College Sports Act,” recent negotiations with major athletic conferences, and other hot-button Senate issues.

WNBA Incident Reaction (22:06 – 22:51)

Schmidt, a sports fan and Missourian (home of Sophie Cunningham), calls the Seattle co-owner’s behavior “very bizarre” and emphasizes that such actions by a team’s co-owner (not just a fan) show how “the WNBA just can’t get out of their own way on stuff like this.”

Legislative Update: Protect College Sports Act (22:51 – 26:13)

Purpose: To stabilize college sports amid changes in NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), player movement, governance, and media rights pooling.
Status: The Big Ten and SEC are holding pivotal meetings that day; the bill’s fate hinges on their support.
Schmidt’s Outlook:
- “There are things in this… it’s not perfect… but it’s at a place right now where we need to move, because another year or two of this madness is just not sustainable… Even schools … will freely admit … this is not a good situation.”
- The aim is to protect athlete stability, control spending, and reduce excessive player transfers.

Senate Judiciary & AG Nomination Drama (26:13 – 29:26)

Senator Schmidt recounts the postponement of a key Judiciary Committee vote on Todd Blanche’s Attorney General nomination, due to concerns raised by Senators Tillis and Cornyn—one focused on victim outreach, the other on past DOJ decisions.
If the nomination stalls, Blanche can serve as acting AG for most of the Trump term, but confirmation is preferable.

Senate Election Landscape (Maine, Michigan, etc.) (29:58 – 32:05)

Schmidt gives his take on upcoming “M” states Senate races (Maine, Michigan, Missouri, etc.), noting Republican optimism, especially if far-left Democrats keep winning primaries.
“Eventually these people are going to start winning general elections and it won’t be limited to New York… But I don’t think it’s good for the country.”

Fauci Hearings (32:05 – 34:34)

Schmidt, former Missouri AG, expresses continued anger over COVID responses and lauds efforts to hold Dr. Fauci accountable after he “took the Fifth Amendment 111 times.”
Schmidt: “Fauci was the crown prince of all [the abuses]… He had less to say yesterday because he was taking the Fifth, but … who proclaimed to be the science … suddenly doesn’t have a whole lot to say now.”

Memorable Moment

Fierce agreement that the COVID era wasn’t just bureaucratic hysteria but demonstrated “what the left was capable of if they had a little bit of power or just an excuse like that.” (32:51, Schmidt)

3. Humor & Listener Feedback

(37:01 – 39:09)

Listener John from Nashville jokes about former NBA stars like Dennis Rodman joining the WNBA (“If Dennis Rodman changed his name to Denise and joined the WNBA, I would probably actually watch a game.” (37:01, John)). Hosts riff on putting together a right-wing hosts’ basketball team to challenge the WNBA, poking fun at themselves and the league.
Satirical Suggestions:
- “It would be funny if … we could raise money by having a bunch of right wing radio and podcast host guys play a WNBA team.” (37:42, Clay)
Light Tone:
- The hour closes with banter about radio personalities’ basketball skills, small WNBA basketballs, and imagined head-to-head contests with Ted Cruz throwing sky hooks.

Timestamps of Important Segments

| Segment | Timeframe | Content | | --- | --- | --- | | WNBA Owner Incident & Sophie Cunningham | 01:11 – 15:02 | Breakdown of the Seattle incident, audio from teenage girls, and culture war analysis. | | Satirical Debate over Trans Ideology in Sports | 09:31 – 13:06 | Clay and Buck’s what-if scenarios with male athletes in women’s leagues. | | Interview: Sen. Eric Schmidt | 21:15 – 34:38 | College Sports Act update, Senate drama, 2026 election outlook, Fauci’s legal fallout. | | WNBA Right-Wing Basketball Team Riff | 37:01 – 39:09 | Listener feedback and jokes about challenging the WNBA. |

Memorable Quotes by Timestamps

“Bravo to Sophie Cunningham for saying this… it struck many, including me and Buck, as bravery.” (04:05, Clay)
“She told us that we were effing insane. … I’ve never been yelled at like that.” (05:18, Teenage Girl)
“Culturally, these people in Seattle think they are the heroes… I think a lot of people connect with these young teenage girls.” (07:06, Buck)
“If Dennis Rodman changed his name to Denise and joined the WNBA, I would probably actually watch a game.” (37:01, Listener John)
“Fauci was the crown prince of all… He had less to say yesterday because he was taking the Fifth…” (32:51, Sen. Schmidt)

Tone, Language, & Structure

Clay and Buck’s conversation is fast-paced, irreverent, and pointedly critical, with a strong undercurrent of humor—even when covering heavy cultural and political disputes. Their guest, Sen. Schmidt, brings a policy wonk’s specificity to legislative news without losing connection to the show’s energetic flow.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This hour delivers all the red-hot talking points and viral culture-war moments fans expect. If you want to know why gender in sports is at the crosshairs of American politics, how college sports regulations are evolving, or why hosts and their guest think Silicon Valley, Seattle, and the Senate are all battlegrounds for common sense—this episode covers it, and then some.

Loading summary

Transcript75 lines

[00:00]
Clay
This is an I Heart podcast.
[00:02]
Buck
Guaranteed human the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. God's plans for you are for good. Be inspired. Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine. Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
[00:35]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
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[01:12]
Buck
Welcome back in Clay and Buck. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are rolling through the Thursday edition of the program. Hello YouTube. Some big numbers coming out of the YouTube audience as we continue to grow there. We love all of you on the nearly 600am FM stations. We also are big fans of all of you listening on satellite radio podcast. We want to be where you are coast to coast. And Buck, we go out to Seattle, a city as you and I have talked about before, that used to be kind of the Emerald City, right? Jeff Bezos decides that he wants to travel all the way across the country to found Amazon in Seattle. Bill Gates, obviously, before we found out a bit more about Bill Gates than I think a lot of us would have liked to have known, decides to build Microsoft there. Boeing is there. It was and still is a place filled with a lot of sane and rational people. But the crazies have taken it over and we talk a lot about culture on this show and there was a story that happened that I am still flabbergasted by that I want to share with all of you. So we talked on this program about the fact that Sophie Cunningham, who is a women's basketball player for the Indiana Fever, became the first real pro athlete with any kind of substantial platform to come out and say, hey, men shouldn't be able to compete in women's sports. And this is something that I don't know. Buck, what do you think 99% of people listening to us right now, 99.9%. Basically everyone with a functional brain that is listening to this program or lives in the United States and is any kind of sports fan at all, knows that it is crazy to allow boys or men to compete in girls or women's sports. Vast majorities of Democrats agree with this. Independence Republicans. This is total same town take. So Sophie Cunningham said. Actually struck many, including me and Bacchus, bravery, because it's so rare, because the trans community has taken over this issue to a large extent and intimidated many athletes from speaking out against it. So bravo to Sophie Cunningham for saying this. Okay, so Sophie Cunningham played a game in Seattle. A couple of teenage girls, Buck. Wore pro Sophie Cunningham gear, xxxy, which says that there's difference in chromosomes, right? Xx, female, xy, male. Um, and they also made pro Sophie Cunningham signs to take to the game to say, thank you, Sophie, for being outspoken on this. We are big fans. We've got some audio of this. I want to play for you, Buck. This is staggering. One of the owners of the WNBA franchise cursed these teenage girls to their face, insulted them. And there's no dispute on this. Now, the WNBA investigated. They've had to suspend one of the owners for five games. She happens to be, by the way, an obese lesbian. Just FYI. Maybe some of you are saying that's exactly who I would expect to be an owner of a WNBA franchise. Fat lesbians, kind of their. Their thing. Um, here is one of the. I believe this is the girls telling their story. Cut 22. These are teenage girls going to a women's basketball game to say, thank you, Sophie Cunningham, for being outspoken and saying, hey, let's let girls and women's sports just be played by girls and women. Listen to what happened to them in their own words. Cut 22.
[05:10]
Teenage Girl
This lady, older lady, comes up to us, and she comes up to us, and at first, I think she's going to be nice. Nice. And she asked, like, what are you guys doing? Something like that.
[05:18]
Clay
Yeah.
[05:19]
Teenage Girl
And then it was like, Jesus loves everyone. That's what she told us. And I was like, oh, I know. Like, I'm religious. Like, I know. Like, I know. Yeah. And she's like, I hope Jesus can forgive you for what sin you've done. And, like, something like that. And then she told us that we were effing insane. And she went like that. Insane. Yeah. Yeah. And stop pulling this. Yeah. And for you guys, I hope God can save you. Yeah. She said for you to come here and Pull this. She said the word and nobody around you spoke up for you. No, no, I will say, Annelie, when I came over, you were in tears. Yeah, I've never been yelled at like that. I mean I've had people hate on me on the Internet, but like it doesn't really affect me as much because it's just people online. But that just took me side surprise cuz I thought she was going to be nice and then she started like screaming at us.
[06:04]
Buck
So buck teenage girls go to a basketball game, make signs for Sophie Cunningham, saying thank you for speaking out for us. One of the owners of a WNBA franchise insults them, says Jesus is not going to be on their side. I'm paraphrasing. And then curses them out. This is undisputed that it happened. There's also other videos. I just shared one from Fox News of grown men and women screaming at young girls who are carrying signs supporting Sophie Cunningham. Culturally, these people in Seattle think that they are the heroes. They think that they are the good people. And I just feel and know that this now is starting to resonate. Those girls, those teenage girls, good spokespeople for what happened to them, unfortunately. But I do think it's important to understand what is happening here where the left is seeing its cultural hegemony challenged and these people still think it's 2020 and they can just show up and scream and curse at people and they're going to be the good people. You hadn't seen this story. It's now starting to go mega viral. Because I think a lot of people connect with these young teenage girls and can't believe that an owner of a team would come up at the game and hurl invectives at them as occurred here.
[07:35]
Clay
Yeah. Well, especially in the environment that we all know we operate in now where everybody has cameras out.
[07:40]
Buck
Yeah.
[07:41]
Clay
You know, you have to assume that, you know, the same way all guns are always loaded, all mics are always hot, all cameras are always on. I mean, you have to just assume that there could be somebody there who has a camera out, like as we see here, and is going to be able to capture this kind of a moment. What, what do you think this person does? The. You know, it's one thing if you're the owner of like, I don't know, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys can get away with a lot. You know what I mean? Because like, it's very, very rich. What's with Dallas Cowboys? One of the most.
[08:15]
Buck
Jerry Jones. Yeah. $20 billion company, if you actually sold
[08:20]
Clay
it so he could kind of do whatever he wants. Realistically. I'm not saying he doesn't care about his public image. I'm sure he does. But you get what I'm saying. Owner of a WNBA team.
[08:31]
Buck
I think what it speaks to Buck is she thinks that what she's doing is courageous and heroic. I mean, these people, I really do think that she saw this. And by the way, one of the Seattle Storm players showed up in like a protect trans because they were playing against Sophie Cunningham, but protect trans athletes or something such as that. This woman has had her brain so broken, she's obviously somewhat successful if she's a partial owner and sitting courtside of a franchise. Right. I'm not saying, to your point, it's not a $20 billion franchise, but if you. Presumably she had to have hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions, small millions, to be able to be a part owner of this franchise.
[09:17]
Teenage Girl
And.
[09:17]
Buck
And she's insulting people there. And she thinks this is the key, Buck. She really thinks I'm the good person here when she's cursing at teenage girls.
[09:27]
Clay
Well, that just goes to. What a manufactured delusion.
[09:31]
Buck
Yes.
[09:32]
Clay
People that believe men should play in women's sports are under that they. There is an irrational component, or really the central component of their thinking is inherently irrational. And so when you're starting from a place of irrationality, your follow on decision making is also going to be poor. And that's what you see here. This is somebody who does believe. It would seem in the crusade to convince people. And I would just note, you really could have. You might have to run something of a. Of a. Of a test here where you just have some guy who was like, let's say a D1 level basketball player who says, you know what? I'm actually a woman and I want to play in the NBA and make a whole thing of it. Because if you had a D1 guy, and I don't care, point guard, center or whatever, he could score 80 points a game. Okay. Basically every time he touches the ball, he could score. And then they'd have to explain how this looks. I almost think that maybe this is the only way. It's kind of like Fauci's diary being exposed now. Now he's a narcissist. He was a fraud, the whole thing. We know, maybe we need to have some guy who's 6, 8 and can dunk and his best days are maybe behind him, say, I'm a woman now. I want to be a star player in the WNBA so that women like this will have to explain how that seems normal to them. I don't know a way around it.
[10:58]
Buck
I agree with you. And this is why, Buck, I came out and some of you remember this. I put a million dollars on the table and I said I will pick any state champion boys basketball team. Any, any state. Wyoming, Montana, certainly big states. New York, California, Texas, Florida. They will obliterate the WNBA champions. I will put a billion dollars down.
[11:22]
Clay
Yeah, this is why this is different. Because under their ideology, you, Clay, are saying, I could find 16, 17 year old, you know, boys, soon to be men who could defeat Wm. WNBA players. They will say, well of course men can beat women. We're not saying men can't be a lot of.
[11:46]
Buck
Wouldn't even say that though, to be fair. That's a different crazy, that's a different crazy argument. They would say that. I mean, if, when I put that out there, a lot of people say, clay, you're crazy. Which is why I put a million dollars on it. But yes, I know where you're going. So continue your argument. Because this is important too.
[12:01]
Clay
Because their argument is if we got like Chris Weber, who was an amazing
[12:07]
Buck
NBA player by the way, is 55 now and could score a hundred points in a WNBA game right now.
[12:15]
Clay
If we got Chris weber in his 50s, just suit up and say his name is Christina Weber, he would score a hundred points a game. But their whole thing is, oh well, he's really a woman if he says he's a woman. Right. A trans athlete isn't a trans woman, It's a woman. And so that's why the whole thing is so insane. Because we look at this and we go, it's not a woman. Guys there you can talk about other things. This is not a woman. We'd be Chris Weber. Not sorry Chris Weber's gonna be like, I'm gonna kick your ass. But you know, some random NBA player, even a D1 college player, even a D3 college player, if they were still playing, let's say right now, could completely run amok in the WNBA and score endless points and make the whole thing look foolish. If he says he's a woman, he's a woman. That's where we are.
[13:07]
Buck
I'm, I'm going to go, my 15 year old son would be the best WNBA player in the league if he played in the WNBA right now. He's a solid basketball player. He can, you know, he can play at the rim, which is rare for almost any woman. I think he would be the best WNBA player right now, by the way, Laura Travis, my wife, points this out. Now, do you remember the Donald Sterling situation, Buck, where the WNBA owner of the LA Clippers was forced to sell the team because his mistress recorded him, Right? Yeah, like talking negatively about black NBA players and the league. Adam Silver demanded that he sell the team. Now, I didn't support that because I don't like the idea personally of someone can secretly record something that you said, edit it, put it out, and we're going to all. I just don't like that idea. But under that premise, how does this WNBA owner not. It's Laura's argument. My wife's argument's a good one. How does she not get forced to sell her stake in the team? If you can be recorded by your mistress saying something inappropriate outside of the arena, how can cursing fans who are in your arena not rise to the level of we need to force you to sell your stake in the team? The W. The NBA is already, which, you know, basically runs. The wnba, has already established that comments can force you to sell a team. Isn't this worse? He didn't do something at an arena. He didn't insult fans. He certainly didn't insult minors. I think there's probably an argument it's worse. Now, again, I don't like the idea of forcing people to sell things based on what they said because who the hell knows what I might say when I'm 80 one day? I don't want somebody to be like, you gotta sell.
[14:58]
Clay
I kinda wanna know. I kind of want 81 year old Clay would be quite a scene, I'll tell you.
[15:02]
Buck
If I don't have a filter now, you can imagine what an 80 I will have. And let me say this too, by the way, Buck, before we go to break back to the Fauci thing. He was 80, still behaving like that in his diary. Aren't you supposed to, by the time you're 80 years old, be like, screw it, I don't care what anybody else thinks about me. Fauci was such a megalomaniac that even at advanced age, he was still obsessively monitoring what people thought about him. I thought, that's one of the best things about aging. You don't give a blank the older you get. This guy, imagine what he was like in his 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. He's awful. Look, there's so much going on these days, creating a very full news cycle. Countries, conflicts, man, it's hard to even keep up. But don't forget about what's going on in Israel. Relatively small population of just 11 million people. Nine million of those people are of the Jewish faith by the way, people who are Muslim in Israel, they actually have more basic human rights than anybody else almost in the entirety of the Middle east, certainly those in Iran, just FYI. But the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, they're a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the vulnerable parts of that population. For over 40 years now they have been helping to unite Christians and Jews just to do good work, deliver food on the ground, medical supplies, build bomb shelters. This is a US based group that is trying to help the people of Israel. I've seen the work, all good, great, significant work that is just being done to help the people on the ground. Your donations help to provide resources. Remind them they haven't been forgotten. You can help with prayer, donations and advocacy. Visit this website to help pray. IFCJ.org that's pray IFCJ.org it's like having your house at the perfect temperature all the time. Preset Clay and buck on the iHeart app, the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. God's plans for you are for good. Being inspired. Get ready. God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. You are coming out of that dry place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger than you can imagine. Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
[17:33]
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[18:09]
Clay
Welcome back to Clay and Buck. We got Senator Eric Schmidt coming up here in just a few minutes. You want to stick around for that? For sure. I figured we could use a couple moments here to hear from you via our Talkbacks. Remember the iHeart app, which you should all have. It's a fantastic app for all your audio needs, including listening to Clay and Buck. But you press a little microphone at the Clay and Buck page sent us a talkback a Esther from Staten island who listens on w o r Hit it. Listening to all the talk about Fauci, how he cannot be held accountable, how it's not worth it to sue because he's not going to go to jail. I don't care if he goes to jail. I need him to go down in history. I want trials. I want him to be exposed. I want him to be shamed. I want this never to happen again. And if we are going to make sure this never happens again, we need him to go on trial. I agree with the sort of public reckoning Clay, but I don't think there's going to be a Fauci trial. And I will not. I cannot tell a lie to all of you. I don't think it's going to happen.
[19:13]
Buck
I think the best that we can take again, I'd love to be wrong. The best we can take from this is Fauci having basically his entire Persona, his entire historic legacy be now a joke. I think that pains him immensely at 85 years old. I think that he has lived and will live long enough to see himself be mocked and ridiculed on a level that will destroy him psychologically. I do think that's likely true.
[19:46]
Clay
Yeah. You know, I feel like if you, you know, open your car door at the wrong moment and a car goes by and rips off your car door, it should be, man, I really fouche that situation. You know what I'm saying? It's got to be like that.
[19:58]
Buck
And I think everybody, you should all mock. I mean, I think again, that defensive coordinator coming out and making fun of Fauci. I think you should try to take the fifth and make fun of Foushee every chance that you get. And I think the number of people that will claim that they are Fauci fans in the years ahead will diminish rapidly.
[20:16]
Clay
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[21:16]
Buck
bundle welcome back in we are joined by Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt. We got a lot we can get into you with Senator Smith. But I know you're a big sports fan. I don't know how much attention you have paid. Buck and I were just talking about Sophie Cunningham coming out and saying men shouldn't be in women's sports. I know she plays in Indiana, but she was and is, I think one of the best women's basketball players ever from the state of Missouri. So I know a lot of your constituents are big fans of hers. Did you see that a WNBA owner, you know, minority owner, but not the head owner, but one of the owners sitting courtside ripped two teenage girls. Curse them out for showing up and supporting Sophie Cunningham stance on men and women's sports. What's your reaction to that?
[22:07]
Senator Eric Schmidt
It's very bizarre. Yeah. And Sophie Cunningham, the pride of Mizzou, right? She's the all time leading scorer in women's basketball there. But. And it's reached new levels of fame recently. But I don't understand it. You think a sports league would want to be growing their audience and they have a very marketable person in Sophie Cunningham and they just can't get out of their own way on stuff like this. I don't get it. The wnba, you know, it just, it feels like a league that could have a bigger audience if, if they just got out of their own way. And when you have a co owner of a team, I mean this isn't just some like you know, drunk person at the game. I mean this is. The co owner of the team felt so compelled to, to yell at these young girls who show up to the game. It's just very strange.
[22:51]
Buck
It's, it's absolutely bonkers. Okay, we got a bunch of stuff we can get into with, with you. I know there is an ongoing negotiation surrounding the College Sports Act. You have co sponsored this along with Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Cantwell. You've been going back and forth with the SEC and the Big Ten. What's the absolute latest on this bill? Have you gotten A response from the SEC and the Big Ten yet. Is this bill going to be able to get on the floor? What can you tell us?
[23:21]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Yeah, I mean, we're. This is very timely right now. The Big Ten is, is meeting right now or soon we'll be meeting about this. The sec, they have a call with their presidents later on this afternoon. I was on the phone with Tony Petiti, the commissioner of Big Ten, late last night and with Greg Sankey this morning. You know, we want to, we want to have their support. I mean, we've worked really hard, I think, to build a coalition not just with those two conferences, but with the, you know, the Big 12 and the ACC and these conferences. But beyond that, too, there's a lot in here for the student athletes, and a lot has gone into this thing to try to address all the major issues, Clay, that you and I have talked about before. You've got this, you know, you got these eligibility issues, you've got the governance issue, you got the one time transfer. All those sorts of things need to get taken care of. The ability to pool media rights if they want to. Making sure that's purely voluntary and never forced. That was a big part of what these negotiations have been about. So I would say today is a very important day because in order for us to do this next week, which a very important week, theoretically, it could be one of the last weeks we're up here. I don't know. I mean, we could stay into August. I support that. But next week's a very important week. And if that's the case, we got to get it kind of teed up today. And so these meetings are really important and why these conversations have been very timely and intense.
[24:35]
Buck
Okay, I follow up on. I'll follow up on that. I don't want to get you into Petiti or Sankey private conversations, but in general, are you optimistic that you're going to be able to get their sign on at this point? I know you still got to wait on the meetings, but how would you assess your optimism level to right now at this exact moment?
[24:58]
Senator Eric Schmidt
This is very much like real time. I've been hopeful all along. I think that this is. Look, there are things in this with something that this is this complex and, you know, literally impacts, you know, 500,000 student athletes in all these institutions that people love and root for and all these kind of issues at play. This bill is an effort to try to reach a compromise of all the various and competing positions on it. So it's not perfect. Like there's things in here that I wish were a little bit different. And I'm sure that the conferences, the smaller conferences, the bigger conference is the same thing. But I do think this, it's at a place right now where we need to move because it's not going to get any better. And another year or two of this madness we see right now, it's just not sustainable. Even the schools that are choosing to compete and have rosters that are 55 or 60 million for football alone, which even though there's a cap of 20 and a half million, they will freely admit to you that this is not a good situation. The constant movement's not good for graduation rates if you're transferring four or five times. So I think we need to provide some stability. And I think this bill, as it stands, not right now, is the best effort to do it. So I am hopeful, but we're going to find out real soon in the next few hours.
[26:14]
Clay
Senator Schmidt, appreciate you being with us. I wanted to move our attention if I could do another aspect of the Senate. And that has to do with the Judiciary Committee postponing this, postponing a scheduled vote to advance Todd Blanche's nomination. So we know there are a couple of Republican senators, Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who are, let's just say, iffy at this stage of the game. What do you think is going to happen here and what are those two guys thinking?
[26:45]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, they're both on the Judiciary Committee. So am I. And you know, they've raised each one of them kind of a separate issue. I think Senator Tillis wants Todd Blanche to meet with some of the, the victims. I've seen victims. I think that was his sort of his ask and I think that's gone relatively well. I have not spoken directly with Tom about that, but I feel like that's moving along. Senator Cornyn has an issue with this. Some of the legal matters that have been before the Department of Justice related to President Trump. And so, you know, I'm hopeful that they can work that out to the extent that it can be worked out. I think Todd is eminently qualified. Todd Blanche is eminently qualified. He's done a very good job, I think, of refocusing the department from the Biden years to taking on violent crime. And you look at this anti fraud effort that they have across the country, Minneapolis and California, those are really important things for the Department of Justice to be focused on and have an attorney general who's serious. So he's the acting AG I mean, no matter what happens he's going to remain the attorney general, the acting attorney general. I just think it would be an important thing for us to do to move him forward and have him confirmed in front of the full Senate.
[27:56]
Clay
So. I know. Sorry, go ahead.
[27:58]
Buck
No, I was just going to say, building on that question with Buck, President Trump said, hey, if these guys won't get on board, we'll just wait. You probably know this. I don't know the answer off the top of my head. Let's say that the nomination doesn't get confirmed and we wait for the election, and then, God forbid we end up in a situation where Democrats take back control of the Senate. Getting anyone confirmed then, as you know, becomes very, very difficult. How long could Todd Blanch serve as acting attorney general? Is there a limit on that? How would that play out?
[28:34]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Well, according to recent precedent, I'm going to. I'm going to blank on the cabinet member that Biden had that served is acting throughout the term. I mean, he can basically be the acting attorney general, I think, for almost all of the remaining Trump term. But I think, you know, it's always better to have a position like that confirmed by the United States Senate. I think that's an important thing for us to do because we're in that personnel business and he's imminently qualified. No one disputes that. I think, you know, a couple of these issues that senators are addressing are kind of one offs from that, not related to his qualifications. And my hope is that they can figure all that out and we can move forward on Todd Blanch next week. As I mentioned, next week's a very important week because September, guys, is going to be, I think it's going to be very messy. The Democrats want to shut the government down. That is on September 30th. I think they view it as a political effort for them to shut it down.
[29:27]
Clay
Is this going to be for open border center? They're going to want, you know, no more ice.
[29:30]
Senator Eric Schmidt
No, I don't know what it's going to be yet. Yeah. Oh, it'll be something. I mean, I'm guessing it may be the whole thing. It may be the whole thing. It may be all of government. It may be TSA again. It may, you know, I don't know what it's going to be, but I think it's going to be something. I just. That's just sort of how I see it. Some people are more optimistic, but I've seen what the Democrats the game plan is. They're obstructionists and they want chaos. They think Chaos helps them, and I hope the American people view it differently. But we got to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen by September 30th.
[29:59]
Clay
I know if you're not from New York City, maybe Missouri doesn't think of itself as like, right next door to Michigan. But I do, because I'm from New York. What do you think about the mission? What do you think about the mission?
[30:11]
Senator Eric Schmidt
You're a flyover guy. Come on.
[30:14]
Clay
I mean, you guys are close enough, right? You probably have college teams that travel
[30:17]
Senator Eric Schmidt
to play each other hundreds of miles, hundreds of miles away.
[30:20]
Buck
But yes, that is a perfect. That's a perfect lead in for a New York City guy. You know what I mean?
[30:25]
Clay
At least I'm self aware. At least I'm self aware about it. So Michigan Senate race, super important. Maine Senate race, super important. Can you just weigh in on how you feel about Republicans holding the majority and what you think the key issues are going to be in some of those places?
[30:42]
Senator Eric Schmidt
I see now why you did. There's some symmetry. They're all states that start with M. There you go. So I feel pretty good about the Senate, the map, Susan Collins, I mean, they had the Graham Platner experiment that totally was as disastrous. Him in a porta potty, I suppose. So that's gone. I think she's much better positioned now than where things were a month and a half or so ago. I mean, if they elect this, the guy, the El, said, guys in the lead in Michigan, that is very much in play. Where a year ago, I don't think a lot of people would have thought we were going to have a chance, be competitive and maybe win Michigan. So I do think that is probably by way of contrast for us, these radical sort of DSA members is good for us electorally. I think it's terrible for the country that the Democrats are actually electing these people to be their nominees in a general election, you know, because eventually these people are going to. They're going to start winning general elections and it won't be limited to, you know, New York, where you're from, right. Where the craziness and the hammer and sickle wave we saw a month ago. So I do think it improves our chances if that person's the nominee. But I don't think it's good for the country. I think we win Maine, New Hampshire's in play for us, which is good. North Carolina is going to be tough, and Michigan could be in play as well. Ohio, I think we're going to be Fine in Ohio, Sherrod Brown is kind of a retread career politician and John Husted should be okay there.
[32:06]
Buck
I know that you as Attorney general of Missouri helped to hold Fauci and the Biden administration more accountable than almost any attorney general did in the country. I'm curious what you thought of Foushee taking Fifth Amendment 111 times during that hearing yesterday. How you would assess any legality of pursuing Fauci might look going forward in the wake of that. And just as a general context, I know it's been six years. Buck and I are still furious. Almost everybody out there listening to us right now is still furious over what left wingers Fauci led did to us during that time. How would you assess where we are right now, what your thoughts were on that hearing and where we might go going forward?
[32:52]
Senator Eric Schmidt
I'm with you guys. I think for me, when I was attorney general at that time, it was a, it opened up my eyes to what the left was capable of if they had a little bit of power or just an excuse like that. Bulldozing sand, you know, into these skate parks, police tape around playgrounds, forcing the masking of five year olds in school. It's why we sued the school districts. That's why we sued the Biden administration over the shot and all those sorts of things. I think we should never forget what that looked like and what that actually was. And Fauci was the crown prince of all but with his candles and his bobbleheads. Right. I think it reminded me, I took his deposition in the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit. He sat across the table as smug as could be, kind of like he was yesterday. He had less to say yesterday because he was taking the fifth amendment. But I think in our deposition of him he said, I don't recall like 170 times as well. So this guy who proclaimed to be the science and this all knowing, you know, expert suddenly doesn't have a whole lot to say now because I think he knows he's been exposed to some legal jeopardy regardless of the auto pin pardon. There could be state issues out there we're going to see, but this guy needs to be held accountable. This is what abuse looks like. This is what the othering of our minute or you know, fellow countrymen was alike. In that era you couldn't question anything. The government was coming after you to censor you with big tech giants. This was Orwellian and it happened and we can't memory hole it. I'm with you like a normal person is still pissed about this thing and should be. And Fauci was the face of it. So I hope there's, there, there's some accountability. We did our best in my time as AG. Hopefully some other AGs or other people can, can take up the charge here because it was just insulting to see him sit there yesterday and take the fifth on everything.
[34:35]
Clay
Senator Schmidt, great stuff, sir. Thank you so much.
[34:38]
Senator Eric Schmidt
All right, guys, take care.
[34:41]
Clay
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[35:54]
Buck
Miss the show While you're on the go, wind down your day with the daily Review podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay and Buck. Thanks to Senator Eric Schmidt. We're going to be joined by our buddy Ryan Garduski, part of the podcast network, the Clay and Buck Podcast network. Might I say Buck, the highly successful Clay and Buck Podcast Network because a lot of people doing a lot of good work every single day as a part of that podcast and we'll allow Ryan Gardesky to tell you all about it. Top of the next hour, wlac, a big Nashville area station that carries our program. Appreciate John in Nashville listening. We're Also on in Nashville, by the way, my hometown. 98.3. Buck, you in Miami. The numbers have shown that you being in Miami, I think our audience, just because you're there, you can talk about life in Miami. It's grown a lot. This 98, 3 and 1510 audience in Nashville has also skyrocketed. I like to think that's partly because I happen to live in Nashville, which is a phenomenal city. But John's got a funny take. Fire away. Cut out.
[37:01]
Senator Eric Schmidt
Hey, Clay and Buck. I don't know about Chris Weber joining the wnba, but if Dennis Rodman changed his name to Denise and joined the wnba, I would probably actually watch a game.
[37:13]
Buck
I mean, Buck, a dude pretending to be a chick calling out the WNBA on their absurd position of men being able to play in women's sports. Dennis Rodman playing in a WNBA game or anyone of Dennis Rodman's era. Right. Carl Malone, anybody? John Stockton from back in that era. Michael frickin Jordan. Buck. It would be the most. That game would be must see television.
[37:43]
Clay
It would be funny if we could get like for charity. Real, real charity. Not just like the WNBA being a charity. We could raise money by having like a bunch of right wing radio and podcast host guys play a W18.
[38:00]
Buck
I bet we could put together a team of. Right.
[38:05]
Clay
Hold on. Pete Hegseth, if he was still at Fox, he played at Princeton.
[38:09]
Buck
Oh, yeah.
[38:10]
Clay
So he's got game. He's. He's a baller. Dave Rubin has a basketball court at his house.
[38:15]
Buck
Yes.
[38:15]
Clay
He also has a pool in the shape of a D, by the way. Just saying. So Dave Rubin is a baller. He would play. You know, I played some hoops back in the day. I mean, I think it would be. Remember, some of these ladies have pretty good jump shots, but I think down low, I could box out.
[38:30]
Buck
I could box them out. They also get to play with a smaller ball, which makes making shots easier. Nobody ever talks about that. Like a smaller ball, the same size hoop. It's way easier to make shots when you play with a smaller ball. That's what she said. I would also. I would also add in. This is a great idea. They would never play us. I think, Buck. We would wreck them. I think we would crush.
[38:55]
Clay
We would get Ted Cruz in on the mix.
[38:59]
Buck
19ft tall.
[39:00]
Teenage Girl
Yeah.
[39:00]
Clay
Jesse Kelly. Well, I mean, is he coordinated? That remains to be seen. But Ted Cruz throws sky hooks. He's like, he's like old school Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
[39:09]
Buck
Oh, that's awesome. We'll ask her Dusky what he thinks about this, that's next.