Hour 2 - Speaker Johnson & Matt Van Epps

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Hour 2 – Speaker Johnson & Matt Van Epps
Date: December 1, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dive into the high-stakes Tennessee 7th Congressional District special election, speaking directly with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and GOP candidate Matt Van Epps as they campaign across Tennessee. The conversation explores local and national significance of the race, the strategies and stakes for Republicans, critiques of Democratic opponents, and segues into broader debates on immigration, welfare fraud (with a focus on Minnesota’s Somali community), and American cultural values. The show closes with a lighter note on family, sports, and Thanksgiving reflections.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tennessee 7th Congressional District Special Election

(02:37 – 15:39)

a. Campaign Trail Check-in

• Speaker Mike Johnson and Matt Van Epps join from their campaign tour of Tennessee, underscoring the energy on the ground, the importance of turnout, and national attention on the race.
  • "We started with a big rally with hundreds of people. There's a lot of enthusiasm. This is deep red country." — Mike Johnson (03:15)
• President Trump’s active involvement by calling into the campaign is highlighted as proof of the race's importance.

b. Why the Race Matters

• The hosts discuss how every House seat matters due to slim GOP majority.
  • "This district...really does count for the whole country. I've presided over some of the slimmest majority delivered huge wins for the American people...every single seat matters." — Mike Johnson (05:29)
• Van Epps emphasizes the seat as a referendum on national ideological divides, describing it as a fight between "America First" priorities and progressive/socialist policies.

c. Turnout, Awareness, and District Details

• Van Epps pushes voters to check their polling place via his website, noting district lines are new, and the importance of Republican turnout, especially with inclement weather expected. (06:17, 13:29)
• District includes parts of Nashville, Clarksville, and 14 counties—all detailed as a blend of urban and rural communities with a strong military and agricultural presence. (10:24)

d. Democratic Opposition

• Matt Van Epps and the hosts characterize opponent Afton Bain as radically progressive, focusing on policies they argue are out-of-step with the district:
  • "She wants transgender surgery for minors without parental consent... wants to raise our taxes... defund the police, abolish prisons... wild, socialist agenda." — Matt Van Epps (07:17, 11:58)
• High-profile Democratic surrogates (AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Democratic Socialists of America) are cited as being heavily involved.

e. Army-Navy Game & SEC Football

• A friendly exchange over the Army-Navy game, with Johnson rooting for Navy (his son attends the Naval Academy) and Van Epps, an Army Ranger and West Point grad, rooting for Army. (08:35)
  • "I'm going to say, go Navy, beat Army." — Mike Johnson (08:35)
  • "And I'm going to say, go Army, beat Navy." — Matt Van Epps (08:50)
• Johnson comments on Lane Kiffin’s headline-grabbing move to LSU and the pressure of major college football, blending sports and politics in local color. (09:20)

f. Media Attention

• Hosts note that MSNBC and CNN are leading with coverage on the special election, underscoring its national profile and the stakes for both parties. (14:25)

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2. Immigration, Welfare Fraud, and American Identity

(19:58 – 37:13)

a. Somalian Social Services Fraud in Minnesota

• Clay and Buck discuss recent revelations (citing the NYT) about massive welfare fraud committed by members of the Somali community in Minnesota, critiquing the state government and Governor Tim Walz for failures in oversight and fraud prevention.
  • "They were doing it ruthlessly, remorselessly, continuously." — Buck Sexton (24:08)
• The conversation sharply questions the wisdom of importing communities with little to no tradition of Western values, focusing on fraud as symptomatic of broader assimilation issues.

b. Critique of U.S. Immigration System

• Both hosts argue for a more selective, “merit-based” immigration policy, favoring high-skill, Westernized immigrants and expressing deep skepticism about low-skill migration from non-Western countries.
  • "If you're not embracing Western civilization, why should we have you here… I want the lottery picks. I want the first round draft picks of the world." — Clay Travis (27:17)
  • Buck notes that, historically, immigrants who couldn't make it either didn't stay or returned home; today's welfare state and chain migration make this impossible.
    • "We have become the world's soup kitchen. Increasingly, we are like an economic zone for people who just want to live at the expense of everybody else." — Buck Sexton (29:47)
  • Claims of “diversity as strength” are challenged, with Clay declaring: "Diversity of thought is the only diversity that matters." (36:46)

c. Enforcement and Law

• Buck points out welfare as a "non-starter" for admitting immigrants, asserting that current law prohibits immigrants becoming a “public charge,” but that this is widely ignored at state and federal levels. (31:51)
• Both call for policies that would run immigration with the discipline and rigor of a company: only admit “net positive” contributors, not those likely to become wards of the state. (32:16)

d. American Culture as Destiny

• Clay posits that culture is the prime determinant of national outcomes, arguing the U.S. is “recruiting its problems” through immigration policy that undervalues assimilation to Western norms.
  • "If you go out and you bring in people with bad culture and bad backgrounds, they're not going to be net benefits to the country." — Clay Travis (34:46)

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3. Lighter Segment: Thanksgiving, Family, and Sports

(41:22 – 44:41)

• Buck appears on video with his 7-month-old son, reflecting on his first Thanksgiving as a father and joking about family, overeating, and “bribing” listeners to subscribe to their YouTube with cute baby content.
  • "He's, he's a thick fellow. His mom, great job. He's not missing meals." — Buck Sexton (42:14)
• Brief sports banter regarding the Lane Kiffin football coaching saga and its emotional impact in the SEC, especially for Florida Gator fans. (44:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the importance of the special election:
  • “Every single seat matters and that’s why we’re so happy to be here.” — Mike Johnson (05:29)
• On opponent's radical policies:
  • “She was out as a sitting state legislator filming herself bullying and harassing ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is just unbelievable. It’s disqualifying.” — Matt Van Epps (11:58)
• On immigration and assimilation:
  • “If you are coming in and you are immediately going on welfare and support, you shouldn’t be admitted to this country.” — Clay Travis (31:39)
• On American generosity and exploitation:
  • “Our generosity as a people... has been exploited and mocked by the actions of people who have come here claiming fake asylum in huge numbers.” — Buck Sexton (29:47)
• On cultural cohesion:
  • “If you bring in toxic employees, you create a toxic culture... the United States is recruiting our problems.” — Clay Travis (34:46)
• On diversity:
  • “Diversity of thought can be a strength if you apply it and the best ideas win. But just diversity itself as somehow a positive outcome or goal—diversity of thought is the only diversity that matters.” — Clay Travis (36:46)
• Family banter:
  • “He’s, he’s a thick fellow. His mom, great job. He’s not missing meals.” — Buck Sexton (42:14)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 02:37 | Segment start: Speaker Johnson & Van Epps join | | 03:15 | Johnson describes campaign energy in Tennessee 7th | | 05:29 | Why every seat matters; national stakes | | 06:17 | Matt Van Epps on district info and voting details | | 08:35 | Army-Navy rivalry banter with Johnson & Van Epps | | 09:20 | Johnson on Lane Kiffin & SEC football stress | | 11:58 | Top 3 criticisms of opponent Afton Bain (Van Epps) | | 13:29 | Early voting data and turnout concerns | | 14:25 | Media’s national focus on the race | | 19:58 | Immigration/fraud segment begins — Minnesota Somali case| | 24:08 | Buck’s analysis: cultural assimilation, fraud | | 31:39 | Travis: Immigration & welfare as a non-starter | | 34:46 | Cultural arguments — “recruiting our problems” | | 36:46 | “Diversity of thought is the only diversity that matters”| | 41:22 | Thanksgiving/family segment with Buck’s son | | 44:04 | SEC football and Lane Kiffin banter |

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Tone and Style

The conversation maintains the show’s trademark blend of serious political analysis with humor, impassioned argument, sports banter, and occasional irreverence. Both hosts emphasize urgency, use vivid and sometimes hyperbolic language, and intersperse personal anecdotes to keep listeners engaged.

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Summary

This episode is a dynamic window into grassroots campaigning and the broader ideological battle lines in American politics. By hosting Speaker Johnson and Matt Van Epps, Clay and Buck spotlight the hands-on effort required in special elections and the importance of turnout, especially in a time of closely divided government. The discussion pivots seamlessly from local politics to sharp critiques of progressive opponents and the left, before broadening into a hard-hitting conversation on immigration, welfare fraud, and American identity—always returning to the theme of national cohesion versus division. The latter part brings some levity, as the hosts reflect on family and sports—offering a well-rounded, engaging hour for listeners whether politically or personally invested.

Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the.

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome in, everybody. Second hour of play and Buck kicks off right now. And we're joined by Matt Van Epps and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. We got a two for one special here today. Thank you so much, gentlemen, for, for making the time for us. Appreciate you both.

[Mike Johnson]

Hey, guys, great to be with you. This is Mike and Matt Van Epps is with me. We are traveling through Tennessee. He's got a big special election tomorrow, as you'll know. And we're going to win this for the country.

[Buck Sexton]

We absolutely have to. Mr. Speaker, tell us what you're seeing, what you're hearing, how the early turnout is looking.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, I won't speak for Matt here, but I'll tell you, it looks great to me. I landed here early this morning and we are going to do a dozen events today. We started with a big rally with hundreds of people. There's a lot of enthusiasm. This is deep red country. I mean, Tennessee is a red state. It's in a red district. It takes in parts of Nashville and then 14 counties overall. We're going to make our way through all of that today. And people are excited. They know.

[Clay Travis]

We'Re talking with speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They are right now in a car touring the district. Matt van Epps, Tennessee 7th congressional district and Speaker Mike Johnson with us right now. And then we will talk with Matt Van Epps there together. For people out there nationwide, I know President Trump called in this morning. I believe he's going to call in later this evening as well. I will be voting. This is my district in the Nashville area. So we will be there. Why does this race matter so much? I think we have the speaker. Tell him to call back. Tell him to call back. They're on the road campaigning. They wanted to call in together. So we will get him back. But you heard speaker of the House Mike Johnson there. And again, the fact that we have the president calling in this morning, calling in this evening, getting awareness out that this race is taking place, it is a non traditional time. Again, Election day is tomorrow in this district and they've got the president, they've got the speaker in the district, going all over the place today. Awareness is probably the most important part here. Sometimes you have to worry about getting out the undecided voters. That's often how you win swing districts. This is a Republican district. We just have to make people aware that this election is taking place and that they need to get out there and vote. And that's a challenge that's a little bit different. And Democrats are gambling on their crazy cat lady contingent to continue to show up. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson back with us now. Big picture, I'm in this district, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to get out and vote. I want everybody in Tennessee 7 to get out and support Matt Van Epps. Why is the President involved? Why are you involved? Why is this district so important?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, this district is really does count for the whole country. You know, I presided over some of the slimmest majority delivered huge wins for the American despite that. But it illustrates the importance. I mean every single seat matters and that's why we're so happy to be here.

[Clay Travis]

Let's, let's bring in the future Congressman. I believe he'll be elected tomorrow. Matt Van Epps, what are you seeing in terms of turnout and if people are not aware, if they're in this district, Matt, what would you tell them they need to do? How do you find out? Because it's still a new district. How do you find out if you, like me, are in Tennessee 7?

[Matt Van Epps]

The information is on our website. Matt4tn.com Matt F O R T N.com We've got all the election information. Folks can find out where their polling location is, links to the Secretary of State's website. So if they go to map4.com they'll get that information. We are up right now and we're going to win. When everybody gets out tomorrow. The weather could be an issue and we ask people just to be safe but to get out, have a plan, get to the poll and be a part of this victory because it is for our country and we're going to get it done.

[Buck Sexton]

Matt, why is it that whenever I am perusing as one does, not just online, but occasionally I'll even go and see what they're in the crazier corners of the television world, like ms, now formerly known as msnbc, they seem very focused on this race and really want to sneak this one, sneak this one out and take this seat from you. What's going on? It's, it's like this is the biggest thing that they've seen since election day.

[Matt Van Epps]

Well, it's the only country, it's the only race going right now in the country and the Democrats are throwing everything they have at it. They're spending a lot of money. They have Jasmine Crockett and a bunch of the far left folks that are rallying aoc and it's an Ideology that we have to reject. And we'll do that when folks get out and vote for us tomorrow. I mean, you know, my opponent has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, wants transgender surgery for minors without parental consent. Wants to raise our taxes, new taxes that will skyrocket our inflation. And that's to pay for the socialist agenda. We cannot let that happen. And when folks join our team, when all of the Republicans, all of the freedom loving Americans get out in the Tennessee 7th congressional district tomorrow and vote for us, will ensure that we win and we drive America first forward.

[Clay Travis]

They were telling me, guys, that you guys have a unique connection to the Army Navy game, which is coming up soon. I know the President I saw will be there, speaker of the House, Mike Johnson and all. Also, I believe the next Congressman from the 7th district of Tennessee, my Congressman, Matt Van Epps, starting tomorrow, I hope. What is, what is that connection in Army Navy? What's your, what's your bet here?

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, look, I'm going to be with the President in the suite. My son is a sophomore at the Naval Academy, but Matt here is an Army Ranger and he's a West Point grad. So this is the one thing that he and I are going to disagree on, guys. I'm going to say, go Navy, beat Army.

[Matt Van Epps]

And I'm going to say, go army, beat Navy.

[Clay Travis]

Well, that's going to be an awesome event. I'm excited. The President's going to be there. Speaking of which, I don't know if you've weighed in on this. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, Lane Kiffin. I bet Buck has even seen this. It swept the nation. Lane Kiffin has left the Ole Miss Rebels. He is now the LSU head football coach. He's being introduced this afternoon. Huge story there. What's your take on that? As one of the most pressing issues in the state of Louisiana, for sure.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, you know, I'm a double alum from LSU undergrad and law school, so I bleed purple and gold. And I, I told my governor and the president of the Board of Supervisors down there, do I need to lobby Kiffin? Do I need to lobby Kiffin? And they said, no, we think we got it, but we'll, we'll call you in if necessary. It's a good choice for him. Lsu, as you know, is a premier program. We should be in the national championship every year, guys. I used to think speaker of the House is the most stressful job in the world, but it's really SEC football coach, you know, that you got to win every Saturday every Saturday it's on the line. So best wishes to him. It's going to be great. And go Tigers.

[Clay Travis]

We've got let's come back to the Tennessee 7th there. And I know we had you on last week. Matt Van Apps, can you tell everybody out there give us a rough idea of the communities in this district because again, a lot of people may not know and Republicans have to battle Democrats who are going to show up no matter what the race is. They show up in these special elections in big numbers. And we've got to make sure our people know about this race tomorrow and also know if they're in the district.

[Matt Van Epps]

Absolutely. And so we've got, we've got 14 counties and it stretches. We've got downtown Nashville. I love Nashville, by the way. Love country music and you know, and it stretches up to Fort or Fort Campbell is Clarksville. I lived in Clarksville for, for five years when I served in the 160A Special Operations Aviation regiment. Montgomery county is a great county. We've got part of Williamson down to Franklin and then our western border, Benton Indicator, Stuart Montgomery and Robertson. On the north we have Houston Humphreys, Perry and Wayne Hickman, Dixon Cheatham. And it's just a bunch of amazing locations. We've got great rural farmers are so important to us. We're just leaving an event in Robertson County. We're going to one in Cheatham county and that, that will be top of our list. Hardworking families, military veterans, folks that are active duty, National Guard law enforcement. Just, just amazing communities across our 14 counties. And we're going to be working hard every single day for every one of those communities.

[Buck Sexton]

What is the craziest stuff that people should know in your district about your opponent Afton Bain? I, I know you have a lot to draw on here. Some of the quotes alone are particularly memorable. That's one that you could say. But in terms of positions, in terms of what she represents, if you were to give me a top three Afton Bain hit list, what would be on it? Because it's pretty extraordinary from what I can just pull off the top of my head.

[Matt Van Epps]

Sure. Well, in the, you know, I alluded to the fact that, you know, she's saying that she hates Nashville, the, you know, part of the district that she wants to represent. But it goes much further than that. She wants to defund the police. There's a whole anti law enforcement bucket. She wants to defund the police. She wants to abolish prisons. She was out as a sitting state legislator filming herself bullying and harassing ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is just unbelievable. It's disqualifying. So there's a whole bucket there. She wants transgender surgery for minors without parental consent, believes that men can get pregnant and just, just, you know, crazy. And I think the other piece too is she wants a new and higher taxes to fund her socialist agenda that will skyrocket our cost of living. They're just policies that are not good and don't make sense for the Tennessee 7th congressional district. They don't make sense for Tennessee or America.

[Clay Travis]

Do you have a sense, you mentioned that I don't know how good a data you guys get on who's turning out. For instance, you can join me tomorrow and go vote on election day. Do you have a sense on how the numbers look on the early voting? You mentioned that you feel confident. What kind of data do you have out there? Obviously we want everybody showing up on election day in huge numbers, making sure this crazy chick Afton Bain isn't elected in Tennessee 7. But what kind of data have you seen on early turnout so far? Do you have access to that info?

[Mike Johnson]

We do.

[Matt Van Epps]

We've got some, some polling data and we're up, but we want to be up by a lot. And that's what happens when people put on the jersey, get on the field tomorrow and go and vote and we'll win decisively when, when that happens, we had, we had a really good early voting outcome and that's great. But we want to leave nothing to chance. We want every single person to get out tomorrow and vote if they haven't voted again. Our website's matt4tn.com for more information. Matt F O R T N.com they can find out their polling location, the times the polls will be open. Most are 7am to 7pm but that varies in a few locations. And you know, we just need, we need fights that folks to fight through the any cold or weather tomorrow because every single vote matters in this and it's for the direction of our country. And so we need every vote and folks to be safe, have a plan, get out there and vote.

[Clay Travis]

As I'm watching Buck, MSNBC is leading with this race. They're telling their people to go out and vote if they're watching msnbc. CNN has been talking about it in time a ton. Buck, anything else you want to hit the duo with?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, I just hope that you guys pull home, bring home rather the W because this is an important one and I don't want to see anything but tears among the MSNB. I'm sorry, Ms. Now commentary. So it's all in your hands, gentlemen.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, no pressure, right? The peril of a special election, especially in a deep red district like this, is that everybody just assumes that a Republican like Matt is going to win. But it is not guaranteed. You have to get out and vote. We're expecting a little inclement weather here tomorrow. It may be cold, maybe rainy, I don't know, sleet. But you got to go out and do that patriotic duty to ensure that we keep this majority in the House. We can keep moving the Trump agenda and the America first agenda forward. So thanks to everybody. The former member here was Mark Green. So if you lived in Mark Green's congressional district, we need you out tomorrow and we're counting on you.

[Clay Travis]

I'll be there, Congressman. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be celebrating that. And Speaker Mike Johnson, we appreciate the time. Good luck with Lane Kiffin. For all the Louisianans out there listening.

[Mike Johnson]

To us, Go Tigers. Appreciate you guys. Thanks for all the help.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you. Speaking of, of Lane Kiffin, I mean, that story was everywhere. It's all people wanted to talk about. Down on 30 a price picks I watched games Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Maybe the best weekend. I think it was the best weekend of football of the year. But we've got the SEC title, ACC title game, Big Ten, Big 12, and many smaller conference games going on this weekend. You just heard the speaker of the House and Mad Van Epps talking about Army Navy. That's in a couple of weeks. For those of you out there that are interested there, if you like sports, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, college and pro football, you need to be signed up right now for prize picks. Prize picks. You play $5, you get $50 deposited in your account. You can play in California, you can play in Texas, you can play in Georgia, a bunch of states. If you're feeling left out and not able to play along, you will love it. All you have to do is pick more or less for any of these different offerings and you will be hooked up and well on your way to having a really great time. This app is easy to use, it's fun and it just makes sports a little bit more fun than it otherwise would be. $50 when you play. $5 on Thursday. I'll have a pick for you headed into the weekend as we always do. That's prizepix.com Code Clay go check it out. Pricepix.com Code Clay stories of freedom, Stories of America. Inspirational stories that unite us all. Each day, spend time with Clay and Buck Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Bottom of the ocean.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. You just heard from speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Tennessee 7th congressional district candidate Matt Van Epps about the fact that they are right now campaigning all over the Tennessee 7th District. You just heard where that race is taking place and the fact that frankly, Democrats are trying to steal this race. President Trump called in earlier today to their rally. And over the weekend, President Trump was asked, Buck, whether he stood by calling Minnesota Governor Tim Walls retarded. And this is cut three. Listen, Walls. And you called him what many Americans do find an offensive word, retarded. Do you stand by that claim of.

[Washington Post Advertiser]

Calling Tim Walls retarded?

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I think there's something wrong with him. Absolutely. Sure.

[Clay Travis]

Have a problem with.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what? I think there's something wrong with him.

[Matt Van Epps]

Anybody that would do what he did.

[Buck Sexton]

Anybody that would allow those people into a state, billions of dollars out to Somalia. We give billions of dollars to Somalia.

[Matt Van Epps]

It's not even a country because it.

[Buck Sexton]

Doesn'T function like a country. It's got a name, but it doesn't function like a country.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, there's something wrong with Walls. So this has turned into a big story. And even the New York Times, I was reading over the weekend, Buck has decided that it's impossible to actually avoid this story. Now. There have been billions of dollars in fraud perpetrated by Somalian immigrants on the state of Minnesota and also the federal government since a lot of the money that Minnesota is using for health care goes through the state of Minnesota. It's being provided by taxpayers all over the country. And it's leading to a conversation which I think is a worthy one of wait, what in the world is going on that suddenly Minneapolis has this big of a Somalian population? And is this actually benefiting the people of Minnesota to have this population which is engaging in massive acts of fraud?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, yes, and it's, it's also a population that in many cases came here under a refugee status because Somalia is, look, I'll just tell you one of the conversations that we used to have regularly with particularly like long time serving special operations guys, CIA guys who have been in for a long time is what is the worst country you've ever been to? This is just a conversation that comes up in intel community and in the military. Somalia is always top three. I mean, for a lot of people, it's the single worst country in the world just in terms of lack of governance, violence, infrastructure. Just you go down the list. And now we have at some level imported a series of habits, a culture, a approach by bringing in so many Somalis into one place.

[Clay Travis]

We'll talk about this more when we come back because I think it's a part of a bigger conversation coming out of what was a Thanksgiving message from President Trump. You heard him quizzed about it there. Look, I encourage all of you, if you need a little bit more energy, vim, vigor, vitality. Do you see this, Buck? They tried to attack President Trump for actually not having enough energy and not doing enough public events. New York Times did front page story. Trump is slowing down. He doesn't have the same energy that he used to. The same people that covered up Joe Biden not doing anything for years. They've suddenly decided Trump, despite the fact that he's jetting all over the world, he doesn't have the energy that he did in his first term. Well, do you need the energy that maybe you felt when Trump was in his first term? Do you need the energy that frankly, a lot of white dudes for Harris don't have? You can get hooked up right now at CH Chalk All Natural testosterone supplement will increase your T levels by 20% in three months time. My name Clay. For the best subscription for life. That's choq.com My name Clay. Get hooked up today. Choq, my name C L A Y.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. This is a really interesting story and it's gotten a lot of attention because not just the immigration implications of it all, but also because Tim Walls, who President Trump just doubled down on calling retarded. That is what the president called him. Just saying that Tim Walls was, what a shock. Asleep at the wheel. Or actually maybe even worse than that, complicit with his inaction when he was governor of Minnesota. This guy's a buffoon. And Minnesota has unfortunately been going in a very bad direction as a state for a long time now. It's getting more and more left wing, more and more radical. And a part of that radicalization is the Somali community, which is now approaching 100,000 people in Minneapolis. Minnesota is not that big as a state, so that's a pretty considerable voting block. And what we have here, Mr. Clay, New York Times piece how fraud swamped Minnesota's social services system on Tim Walls Watch. This was just published a couple of days ago over the weekend. And the fraud is. Is staggering in its scope Over a billion dollars in taxpayer money. Scores of people involved, almost all of them Somali. And some are naturalized, some were born here, but all from the Somali community in Minnesota. And they were doing things like setting up fraudulent companies and saying that they that were feeding. It was a lot of it was charity. They're sort of bilking the system by pretending to be running charities, feeding hungry children. They pretended to feed hungry children so they could buy houses and cars and things like that. Just the most egregious fraud, most egregious theft from the government. It's a whole scheme, Clay. They detail where a, another Somali, in this case a doctor, was having parents claim that their kids were autistic and getting kickbacks from that. I mean, just whatever they could do to steal from the system, they were doing. They were doing it ruthlessly, remorselessly, continuously. In some individual cases, you're talking about just tens of millions of dollars. And people are asking a lot of questions like, first of all, how is it, Clay, that the state of Minnesota could have this happen and not figure it out sooner? Part of it, I think, is that the Somali community there is an important voting bloc now for Democrats. And there's also this, oh, anything that you're going like, you can't prosecute all the fraud in the Somali community because it's racist, because it's all Somalis doing the fraud. That's another thing that comes up here. It's a mess. And, you know, Tim Walls was the VP candidate for Democrats Alaska round. I don't think he's going to be the VP this time around, I can tell you that.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I, I, I think the biggest thing to me that stands out is if the government's being defrauded by billions of dollars and doesn't have any idea it's going on, we're failing. I mean, the, the government and, and again, this is not gonna shock people, but the healthcare in this country is such a corrupt mess that this is likely not the only fraud that is going on anywhere near its size, probably happening all over the place. But this idea that we have been told, and, and I do think it's a real national debate, that we should have this idea that we've been told that all of these, what is it, 53 million immigrants in the United States, I think, was the number that Trump had in his, in his tweet that 53 million people who live in this country now, and I'm talking about legal, not illegal, that all of them enrich this country in a substantial way and are Not a drain on resources. I, I think is just a lie. And I believe in immigration. I believe in treating immigration. The analogy that I would use is I want the lottery picks. I want the first round draft picks of the world. I want the most brilliant, the most highly educated, the smartest people of other countries. I think bringing them here and allowing American ingenuity to combine with their hard work and their meritocracy, that's a good thing for the country. I buy into that. But the idea that we have low skilled, low wage people from countries that don't have any sort of connection at all, I think this is really what this is about, Buck. Western civilization in general that don't have any commitment to shared civilizational aspects that have basically dragged us out of a desolate history into modern wealth and prominence. If you're not embracing Western civilization, why should we have you here? And I think that's a real question that's getting asked. And I think the difference is people say, well, what happened with Ellis island and all those things? Most of the people who came in through Ellis island, they were from Italy, they were from Germany, they were from Ireland. They had a commitment to the ideals of Western civilization in a way that a lot of the people we're bringing in today do not. In fact, many of them reject Western civilization as a good thing.

[Buck Sexton]

And also, 30% of the people who came through Ellis island went home because there was no welfare state, because there was no office to go to, where you could say, hey, just start giving me my free stuff. Where's my free housing? Where's my free food and health care? Where's all my free stuff? There was no office of free stuff back then. And so some people realize that it's actually really hard to make it in this country. Yes, there's opportunity, but opportunity comes with risk and cost. And they went home. They went back to their country of origin at a time when the journey here was arduous, expensive and difficult. We don't have that anymore because we've become the world's soup kitchen. And effectively, increasingly, we are like an economic zone for people who just want to live at the expense of everybody else. And that's a huge problem. And this is what has really turned, I think, the mindset of the American people right now, clay against so much of this. Our generosity as a people, as Americans, has been exploited and mocked by the actions of people who have come here claiming fake asylum in huge numbers when they cross our border, illegally, scamming our immigration system in every way possible. Playing all these different games to get access to resources, resources that are taken from all of you and taken out of your paycheck. If you are an American listening to this, who pays taxes, which I know most of you are, that money is taken from you and given to others. And the scams need to stop. Other countries would not put up with this at all. And we just have to be at a place where we can have honest conversations like, ok, if we're going to have a big problem with the Somali community stealing from Americans, we need to look at how many more Somalis you want in the American family through our immigration system. This is just the way it has to be.

[Clay Travis]

I just, I look at it and say, if you are coming in and you are immediately going on welfare and support, you shouldn't be admitted to this country. I mean, it's actually a violation of immigration.

[Buck Sexton]

That's a violation of immigration law, Clay. It's just not enforced. You are not allowed to immigrate to this country and become a public charge and get any public benefits. But states like California and New York, they do it at the state level. They commingle federal funds. So it's a lot like the whole thing is a lie. We're told, oh, don't worry, we won't have people who are welfare cases coming here. Tons of welfare cases. 55% of immigrant households get welfare.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, I mean, that to me should be a non starter on space. And I'm sure most of you out there listening are nodding along. We take care of people as best we can who are citizens of this country. But people who are not citizens of this country are coming in and they are taking away benefits that would otherwise be going to citizens. They're frankly, we're $38 trillion in debt. They are helping to run up the national debt in a significant way. I, I just, I don't even look at this as a remotely partisan related question. If you told me right now I run a company, hey, if you're going to hire these people, they're going to cost you money and they're not going to make you any money, would you bring them into your company? My answer would be no. I don't see this as a difficult call. We should run the country like a company. When it comes to immigration, are we bringing in people who are net benefits to the country that are going to be huge job creators that are going to be huge assets to this country? The answer is yes, I want them here. Right. That's a meritocratic system. If we get the most brilliant minds around the world and they want to come here and create jobs and, and, and have better outcomes than they could in their country. That's what we should be doing. I mean, the intellectual first round draft picks of the world, I want them here. But people who are going to steal and people who are going to be wards of the state and people with no substantial educational background and value, I just, I don't see in any way how this is beneficial to the United States. And again, I go back to culture. The older I get, Buck, the more I'm convinced that culture determines everything. The culture that you create, whether it's in your company, whether it's in your state, whether it's in your country, dictates the outcome that you're going to get. One of my favorite quotes from a coach is we recruit our problems. United States is recruiting our problems. If you go out and you bring in people with bad culture and bad backgrounds, they're not going to be net benefits to the country. I mean, this is just very basic stuff for anybody who's ever been involved in management at all. If you bring in toxic employees, you create a toxic culture inside of your company, inside of your workplace. If we're bringing in toxicity, we're creating a more toxic environment than would otherwise exist in the United States. Particularly when it's not committed to basic Western values of civilization that have propelled us to the success that we have today.

[Buck Sexton]

We actually have the opposite of what you're talking about, which is we have a system where we take as many people from the third world, from poor countries, through chain migration, through asylum scams, through all of this. That's a huge portion of our immigration system, legal and illegal. And one of the challenges that I think now the country is willing to finally look at and be honest about is there are going to be some countries that are predominantly non white countries where you're not going to take a lot of immigrants because the objective criteria that you have set for immigrants will not be met by people from those countries. And that has not been the case in America for a long time. We've been taking to whatever bring us your war torn, you're impoverished, you're illiterate, and you're culturally backwards. That has become the American immigration policy de facto for decades now.

[Clay Travis]

And the consequences are becoming clear. And I think President Trump saying, hey, let's pause. And this is not new. This, you know, if you're a student of history, 100 years ago people said, hey, I think we've had too Much immigration in the United States. We need to pause and allow what's already happened to occur, to allow that sort of melting pot to occur. The problem is, again, I come back to culture. If you don't have similar cultural values to someone else and you try to come to this country, you're going to import the culture of the third world as opposed to the, the culture of Western civilization. And I don't think that's good. I mean, I'm sorry, I, I just, I look around and I say, you know, I think one of the great lies that many of us were taught was diversity is our strength. I actually don't think diversity is, is, is a strength. Diversity of thought can be a strength if you apply it and the best ideas win. But just diversity itself as somehow a positive outcome or goal. Diversity of thought is the only diversity that matters.

[Buck Sexton]

There's also zero historical precedent or basis to believe that having a huge number of people in a country, not from that country speaking 300 different languages of all different religions, of all different, you know, political belief systems is going to result in a cohesive nation state.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Over the long run there's, there's just zero. In fact, there's a lot of evidence. All of the historical evidence is in the other direction.

[Clay Travis]

It doesn't work.

[Buck Sexton]

Which is, it doesn't work. This is not a good idea. So now we're starting to have to face up to this as a country. All right, look, you want to be able to defend your home and that's critical. And to do that right. I want to tell you about these products from Sabre. They manufacture the best non lethal self protection tools. Some are so easy to use, you'll be ready to go pretty much right out of the box. Others, with just a little bit of training, you'll feel like you are really set to stop the threat. Sabre is the number one pepper spray brand trusted by law enforcement, spelled Sabre. Clay and I both have Saber products in our homes. Their Saber pepper gel projectile launcher in particular is a real standout product. I think you should check it out yourself. Saber's been at this for 50 years. Family owned. Their products are reliable and trusted, can help protect you and your family. And their pepper gel projectile launcher. That's what I would really start with. I think that's something that you're going to really want to have for your self protection tools. For a lot of you it's going to be an addition to your two way firearm self protection, but you want to have forced escalation. Maybe people in your household. Some of them are more comfortable with non lethal. You want to have that option. Decide what you're most most comfortable with when you go to the website and see for yourself. Go to sabre radio.com that's s a b r e radio.com youm'll say 15% there. Saber radio.com or call 844-824 safe 844-824 safe Two guys walk up to a mic.

[Clay Travis]

Anything goes. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show and Speed Sexton. If you are watching on video, go subscribe to YouTube if you want to see a super cute, chubby 7 month old baby boy who is playing with the microphone right now and sitting in his dad's lap. First Thanksgiving. In all honesty, Buck was it. Did you have a moment where you, you've been to a lot of Thanksgivings in your life. This is the first one you've been to where you actually had a son, a family, a baby of your own. Did it feel different to be a dad at Thanksgiving than it did to be a son?

[Buck Sexton]

Oh yeah. I got to wear, I got to wear drawstring sweatpants without thinking twice about it. Put on my New Balances. This guy though, I think, oh, there he is.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, he's making noise.

[Buck Sexton]

He's starting to look a little bit like maybe. I don't know if there's an American sumo wrestling team, but he's headed for it right now. Man, he's, he's a thick fellow. His mom. Great job.

[Clay Travis]

He's not missing meals. He's not missing meals.

[Buck Sexton]

Nope.

[Clay Travis]

He's a good. And by the way, coming out of Thanksgiving, there's probably quite a few of you that didn't miss meals.

[Buck Sexton]

Put on five pounds. I'm a little, I'm a little disappointed in myself.

[Clay Travis]

It is a, it is a lot to be, to be recovering from, but super oh, super cute happy baby. And you can go see the super cute happy baby at our YouTube channel. Does that sound like bribery? Yes, of course that's what it is. If you like happy baby, smiling, gurgling and chubby happy babies, then you will check it out on our YouTube channel. Search out my name, Clay Travis. You can search out Buck Sexton. By the way, we had Caroline Levitt is right now doing a White House press briefing and we will update you on everything having to do with, with that coming up soon. Taking questions a wide variety of topics. And again we come back at the top of the next hour. We'll dive into the Thanksgiving weekend that was and the upcoming 7th congressional district race as well buck as Venezuela, Ukraine and Russia. But and, and I don't know about you, I've got a big, big evening plans here. I'm watching Stranger Things Season 5. It's out. I don't know what percentage of our audience out there has kids. Wife has already got the meals set up. Boys are excited. So when this guy gets a little bit older, I bet he's going to like Stranger Things like most young kids have all over the country. Throw back to the 1980s.

[Buck Sexton]

He's, he's very impressed with the Lane Kiffin contract, by the way.

[Clay Travis]

Told me over the weekend, by the way, yeah, your wife graduate of the University of Florida, Lane Kiffin gave him the highest point. He said no to the Gators, didn't want to be their coach. So this is a tough, this is a tough hit for the University of Florida. Go subscribe to the podcast, to the podcast, of course, but also the YouTube channel. We love all of you guys. We will be back. We're going to talk about craziness around Thanksgiving with Jonathan Alpert, Trump derangement syndrome and more. Third hour of the program next Come.

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[Mike Johnson]

Shh.

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