Hour 2 - What is Curtis Doing?

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Hour 2 - What is Curtis Doing?
Date: October 17, 2025
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this lively and politically charged hour, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the shifting dynamics in New York City’s mayoral race, the broader implications for national politics, and provide an in-depth analysis of the escalating situation in Venezuela with military expert David Rutherford. The hosts bring their trademark humor, insight, and skepticism, exploring intra-party drama, the realities of far-left politics, and the consequences of U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. New York City Mayoral Race: The "Curtis Sliwa Situation"

(01:35-12:30, 21:39-22:52)

• The Dilemma:
  Clay and Buck critique Curtis Sliwa’s continued candidacy, arguing that his refusal to drop out splits the anti-Mamdani vote, effectively handing victory to far-left candidate Zoran Mamdani.
• Polling Reality:
  Clay references Harry Enten’s analysis:

  "Mamdani leads by 18 points right now... the largest polling miss since 1989 was 11 points." (04:46)

• Clay’s Take:
  Clay bluntly suggests that New Yorkers might need to accept defeat for the greater national good:

  "Sometimes you just got to toss New York City in... let the rest of us live to see a happier day." (06:04)

• Buck’s Retort:
  Buck pushes back, channeling his New Yorker pride:

  "I'm rowing my lifeboat over to you New Yorkers. I want you to be okay." (05:41)

• Who's Worse—Cuomo or Mamdani?
  Both agree Cuomo is "awful," possibly only marginally better than Mamdani, drawing a dark analogy:

  "Oh, that Hitler guy's awful. Thank God we've got Stalin on our side." (08:29, Buck)

• Strategic Opportunity?:
  Clay speculates that a Mamdani win could bolster Republican Elise Stefanik’s chances against Governor Hochul in 2026.

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Notable Quote

• "Mamdani is a jihadist... he supports Hamas terrorists... he is Kathy Hochul's endorsed jihadist communist who she has empowered to destroy New York City."
  — Clay summarizing Elise Stefanik’s statement (10:36)

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2. Public Safety and NYPD Apology

(13:11-15:05)

• Mamdani's Hollow Apology:
  Play of Mamdani apologizing to NYPD:

  "I apologize for the language that I used... I want to work with them to deliver public safety." (13:36, Zoran Mamdani)

• Buck's Skepticism:

  "It's a hollow apology... He's not apologizing for jumping on the bandwagon of 'cops are racist'..." (14:14)

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3. Far-Left Governance Ideas in NYC

(15:35-16:53)

• Free Public Transit Debate:
  Mamdani proposes raising taxes to make transit free.
  Clay is dismissive:

  "Anybody really think that it's safety and it's cleanliness. That's what everybody wants." (16:38)

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4. Venezuela: Chaos, U.S. Policy, and Cartel Wars

(24:34-37:23)

• David Rutherford’s Expert Analysis
  Former Navy SEAL David Rutherford breaks down:
  • China’s $60 billion investment in Venezuela
  • Collusion between Venezuelan officials and Mexican cartels
  • Rising possibility for U.S. intervention
• Maduro’s Stability:
  The group discusses whether Maduro’s regime is near collapse and the role of China as his lifeline.
• Oil & Geopolitics:
  Questions about whether the Trump administration (with Marco Rubio as Secretary of State) can negotiate with Maduro or if regime change is the only option.

  "If the Trump team had... a magic wand, what would they like to see happen in Venezuela? ...Is it any kind of negotiation with him or do you think he has to be gone?" (32:02, Clay Travis)

Notable Moments

• Rutherford on Popular Will:

  "...the population is ripe for some influence... but the military really coalesced around [Maduro] to go after... the opposition after those elections." (36:08)

• Call-in from Sean in Minneapolis:
  Sean, Venezuelan culture expert, adds that Madura’s removal alone won’t fix problems—other narco-lords like Diaz du Cabello hold power and are deeply entwined in drug trafficking. (43:27-44:42)

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5. National Politics & Oil Prices

(45:00-45:28)

• Oil Price Plunging:
  Brief note on falling oil and gas prices, linking it back to global politics and U.S. interests.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Clay: "I actually think a Momdani win is beneficial to the nation because it forces a far left wing..." (05:40)
• Buck: "I think there's room for Jack on that door. And Rose needs to just, you know, suck it in a little bit here and make some space." (Titanic analogy, 11:46)
• Clay: "New Yorkers have put themselves in quite the pickle here, because every option they pick is basically an awful one." (22:52)
• David Rutherford: "Things are heating up for sure." (27:07)
• Sean (caller): "Maduro is only a small part of the problem... you have to kill Diaz du Cabello... he's as bad as they come." (43:27)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Details | |-----------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:35 | NYC Mayoral Race | Curtis Sliwa’s role, Mamdani polling lead | | 04:46 | Polling Analysis | Polling history and implications for Cuomo vs. Mamdani | | 05:41 | Lifeboat Metaphor | Buck's Titanic analogy championing New Yorkers | | 10:36 | Elise Stefanik’s Statement | Stefanik labels Mamdani a “jihadist,” national implications discussed | | 13:36 | Zoran Mamdani NYPD Apology | Mamdani issues apology; Buck deconstructs it | | 16:19 | Free Transit Proposal | Mamdani on MTA funding, Clay's skepticism about priorities | | 24:34 | Venezuela Segment Begins | Intro to David Rutherford, recap of regional geopolitics and U.S. involvement | | 27:07 | Venezuela Regime’s Military Maneuvers | Maduro’s military posturing, regime stability | | 35:11 | U.S. Policy & Regime Change Discussion | Will Trump admin negotiate or demand ouster of Maduro? | | 43:27 | Call-In: Venezuelan Context | Sean details narco power structure | | 45:00 | Oil & Gas Market | Drop in oil prices, national economic implications |

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a blend of intelligence, sharp political analysis, and irreverent humor. Clay and Buck are frank, often tongue-in-cheek, and unafraid to challenge even their own side—especially when it comes to the futility of politics in deep-blue cities like New York. Guest David Rutherford adds a boots-on-the-ground perspective with military and national security expertise.

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Summary for New Listeners

• If you’re interested in how race dynamics in NYC mayoral politics intertwine with national partisan strategy, this episode offers sharp, fact-based–yet highly opinionated–analysis.
• The hosts argue over the realpolitik of letting liberal cities "fail" to teach a lesson, while still showing genuine concern for residents caught in the ideological crossfire.
• The Venezuela segment significantly educates listeners on how U.S. foreign policy, drug cartels, and major geopolitical players like China are shaping events in the Western Hemisphere.
• The show is filled with punchy analogies (Titanic!), memorable political jabs, and expert guest commentary.

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For additional analysis and daily updates, subscribe to The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

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[Buck Sexton]

Jim started advertising with iHeartRadio way back in April, and now I have customers out the door.

[Clay Travis]

And this is Sarah.

[Leon Neyfak]

Hi.

[Buck Sexton]

She started putting a portion of her.

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[Buck Sexton]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfak]

From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Fiasco Benghazi Clip Voice]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Leon Neyfak]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in hour number two, Friday edition, Clay and Buck. I am down on the north side of Florida on the beautiful Panhandle. Buck is down on the south side of Florida in Miami. We are covering both sides of the state and all sides of the country as we take you into the weekend. And I want to play a cut for you to kind of put a bow on the discussion that we had surrounding the John Bolton 18 felony counts that he has been charged with, even on msnbc. When the indictment came out and they reviewed the charges against him, they said, oh, this is not very good for, for John bolton. Here is MSNBC's guest cut 33. Listen, it doesn't look good for him.

[David Rutherford]

There's no way to slice it.

[Buck Sexton]

The details of this indictment do not look good.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, that's former White House Deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews. And so if CNN and MSNBC are actually saying, oh, that is a huge mess, it probably is a huge mess for John Bolton. And we've talked about that a lot in our One would encourage you go download the podcast. You can dive in and keep up with us, even if you happen to just be getting in your car or just turning us on wherever you may be. Across the whole first hour, much of the discussion about John Bolton. Now, there were two different debates last night. Uh, for those of you who have been following this closely, this is an off year and there are not a ton of races going on. But the New Jersey governor's race, the Virginia governor's race, and now the Virginia Attorney General's race in conjunction with the New York City mayor's race will give you some sense maybe of the political environment in general. Now, to be fair, Kamala won New Jersey by five or six points. She won Virginia by five or six points. And obviously New York City, even though it moved in Trump's direction, these are all Democrat bases. So I'm not sure how much you can tell what the impact is going to be going forward. So all of that in mind, but within the context of these debates, I just gotta be honest, Buck, you're a lifelong New York City resident who moved to Miami. What is Curtis Lewa doing? Momdani is going to win this race as long as he stays in. And I get it. If some of you say, well, Andrew Cuomo is no better, I'm going to vote for Curtis Sliwa. I get it. But whenever there is an anti Mom Donnie vote that is being split, it means Mom Donnie is going to win. And so I just, I don't understand at all what, what is going on here. And Momdani just went aggressively after Andrew Cuomo. We'll play a couple of those, A couple of those cuts. But I do want to play this from Harry Enten, who just lays out the math on Mamdani is going to win. This is cut 31. Momdani leads by 18 points right now, look at the largest polling average mission since 1989. You know what it was?

[Buck Sexton]

It was 11 points.

[Clay Travis]

You don't have to be a mathematical genius to know 11 points is less than 18 points. So if Andrew Cuomo is going to come back and win, either something like Curtis Lewis has to drop out of the race, or you need a polling miss that is nearly twice as large as the largest miss on record. So you're going to probably need something historically unprecedented or for Andrew Cuomo to win this race if the polling average holds through election Day. Okay, Buck, what am I missing here? Now, I have previously said, and I'm sorry to the W O R listeners, I'm sorry to all of you in New York City, I have previously said, I actually Think Momdani win. A mom Donnie win is beneficial to the nation because it forces a far left wing. Buck shaking his head. He's already, he's already getting rueful look on his face. You know what I mean?

[David Rutherford]

I thought we were all, I thought.

[Buck Sexton]

All we conservatives were on this lifeboat together. And Clay is taking New York and the tri state area conservatives. And he's saying just like, just like Jack, there was no room for him on the door with Rose. He's letting New Yorkers just slide into the icy depths after the Titanic has gone down. And I'm not okay with that. I would. I'm rowing my lifeboat over to you New Yorkers. I want you to be okay.

[Clay Travis]

Water's cold. There's no room for the rest of us. Sometimes you just got to toss New York City in. Let it much like Buck island as another island, go underneath the waves of left wing insanity and, and let the rest of us live to see a happier day. So I actually don't know that this is a bad result for the national picture as it pertains to the House of Representatives, as it pertains to all of the senate races, governor's races in the midterms coming up in 2026. But, but there is no other result here for New Yorkers. Momdani is going to win as long as Curtis Sliwa stays in the race. Buck, you're a lifelong New York City guy. Until a couple of years ago. What's going on here? What is the calculus other than I want the attention and I want the, the. I think it's just attention because you're not going to win for Curtis Sliwa, who I like. We've had him on the show a bunch. I just don't understand what he's doing.

[Buck Sexton]

Look, I, you know, I, I appreciate where Curtis is coming from. This. I don't know him. I don't know him.

[Clay Travis]

But we've had him on the show before and I like him. I mean, he's a. And would he be, would he be a great mayor?

[Jim (iHeartRadio Advertiser)]

Yeah, sure.

[Buck Sexton]

He would really. He'd be so much better. But we got to look at the political reality as it is here. And you said, you know, I'm a former New Yorker. Was the, the, the Gertrude Stein thing. America is my country, but Paris is my hometown. It feels like Florida is my state, but New York City is my hometown. You know, that's, that's. I feel like a Floridian at the state level, but I still have much more of a connection to New York City than I do to Miami specifically. That may change in time, but so maybe I'm a New Yorker in exile in some way. I think a lot of people down here are actually. Clay, I think what you need to do is have Cuomo offer. I was going to say Mom Donnie. That's not good. Gonna have Cuomo offer Sliwa, maybe a deputy mayor role with the portfolio of public safety, which would also go toward the fact that Cuomo is the jailbreak. I mean, the problem here is Cuomo is awful, too. I'm actually not getting the fact that.

[Clay Travis]

He'S considered in any way to be the savior is how bad of a position that New York has put itself in.

[Buck Sexton]

I am not that convinced that Cuomo would be a lot better than Mom. D do. I think he'd be better than Mom Donnie? Yeah, I'm not convinced he'd be a lot better than Mom Donnie. So that's why it's very hard for me to even. I think the mentality is, oh, my gosh, I'm not going to do what the left does with, like, a Hitler thing, but, like, oh, that Hitler guy's awful. Thank God we've got Stalin on our side. You know, like, there's a little bit of that going on here. Stalin was really bad, too. So I think that Cuomo is Stalin in this analogy. And I think that it's very hard for. For Sliwa to see this as anything other than maybe a miracle happens. But I can't let this be left to Cuomo either. But if you. If you want it to not be Mamdani, he's got to get some deal going, and he's got to drop out. And why he won't drop out, I don't know. He's not going to be mayor unless a meteor hits the world and. And something completely unforeseeable happens.

[Clay Travis]

Now, let me give you a positive side of this, because Mamdani's gonna win. I want all of you to be prepared for this. What are. The guy we had call in who was all angry at me for telling you this. This is not the polls trying to tell you a story. This is Momdani is gonna win because the Momdani opposition is going to be split between Sliwa and Cuomo. Could be beneficial. Let me give you a positive New York angle. Could be beneficial for Elise Stefanik, who is running to try to beat Kathy Hochul in 2026. In fact, this is what Elise Stefanik just put out. The New York Times was upset that Elise Stefanik said that. That Mamdani is a jihadist. They said that this is Islamophobic of. Of Elise Stefanik. And this is her response, which I like. I called Zoran Mamdani a jihadist because he is. Mamdani is a raging anti Semite. Mamdani is the definition of a jihadist, as he supports Hamas terrorists, which he did as recently as yesterday when he refused to call for Hamas terrorists to put down their arms. The same Hamas terrorist group that slaughtered civilians, including New Yorkers, on October 7, 2023. He is Kathy Hochul's endorsed jihadist communist who she has empowered to destroy New York City. It's why the New York State Democratic Party chair refuses to support him. It's why multiple Democrat members of Congress refused to support him. It's why Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have still not endorsed him because Zoran is a jihadist who will destroy New York.

[Leon Neyfak]

Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

Now that's a pretty good response from Elise Stefanik. I think that not only could it benefit her in the governor's race if Mom Donnie is in, certainly I think it's massively beneficial to her point. There's a reason Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, who are also New York City guys, have not come on board with Mom Donnie. So I am circling back to. I'm going to look at this as a positive, as a glass half full situation. Yes, New York is going to drown, but the rest of us are going to be in much better position. So kiss two New Yorkers, and I'm just going to continue to float away on my life vest while you guys go under the water in the icy waters off.

[Buck Sexton]

I just think.

[Clay Travis]

I think there's room.

[Buck Sexton]

I think there's room for Jack on that door. And Rose needs to just, you know, suck it in a little bit here and make some space. So New York, I'm not. I'm not letting you just go down into the icy depths of communism without a fight. All right, Mr. Nashville over here. A little bit of a Nashville New York rivalry. He has no problem with New York turning into something.

[Clay Travis]

We're gonna be fine. Tennessee's fine. Florida's fine. Where I am right now. New York, I'm going to be up there with you on Monday. But, yeah, you're kind of screwed.

[Buck Sexton]

I think it's. It's all going to be okay. But maybe this is finally the. The sanity that needs to happen, unfortunately, through a degree of pain that will allow Elise Stefanik to be not Just competitive, but maybe win against Kathy Hochul.

[Clay Travis]

That's a positive.

[Buck Sexton]

I do think. I think someone like Hochul, what the thing that she would have relied on in previous elections to stay in office would have been the abortion issue in New York. I think that's going to be largely off the. It's not off the table. They're going to try to make a thing of it, but people don't care that much. It doesn't move the needle the way that they would need it to. So I think at least a phonic will be very competitive on. On the economy and on public safety statewide and just also running a saner, better government in New York, which it could certainly have, as we love to. Love to say New York has fewer people than Florida and double the budget and worse public services.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

So someone has to explain how that's not the clearest indicator imaginable of the misappropriation or mis. Misallocation of funds that's going on in New York on a regular basis. Momdani. I also want to know. Play said this was cut 14. He apologized to NYPD officers. But I want you to listen very closely to the. To the way that he says it. Play 14.

[Zoran Mamdani]

I apologize for the language that I used and I spoke to them about the fact that I want to work with them to deliver public safety. Because what we're seeing in the city right now is we're asking officers to do nearly everything we can think of.

[Clay Travis]

Police officers that I spoke to, they don't want a behind closed doors apostle.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

They want a broad public apology for.

[Clay Travis]

The things that you suggested about them.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

Will you do that right now?

[Zoran Mamdani]

Absolutely. I'll apologize to police officers right here because this is the apology that I've been sharing with many rank and file officers. And I apologize because of the fact that I'm looking to work with these officers. And I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the nypd, they put their lives on the line every single day.

[Buck Sexton]

I apologize for the language I used to. I apologize because the cops are great. He's saying here. But what he's not doing is apologizing for jumping on the bandwagon of cops are racist and cause all of the problems in our cities because of that racism. And therefore we need to pull funding from them, which makes everybody less safe, including and specifically minority residents. Right. Like, it's a, it's, it's a hollow apology, Clay, is my point. It feels like, yeah, apologize. It's almost like when. And you know where I'm going with this one with your wife. I'm sorry if that upset you. Oh, not good. Or rather, I'm sorry you took it that way. No. You know what I mean.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm sorry if you were offended by that. Like, that's not really what they want to hear.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. The tone of your voice. Tone of your. It's not what you said. It's the tone of your voice. Why are you yelling? I'm not yelling. This is how I talk. Every husband out there slowly nodding.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm having flashbacks right now. I'm a little traumatized just hearing you say this.

[Clay Travis]

This is. Let's play a little bit more of these. Let me play this as we go to break and then let's talk about this because Public Transit producer Ali I think some of the other crew rides public transit in New York and they now are going to try to make public transit free for everybody. Here's the problem. The issue is safety and cleanliness. It's not cost cut. And making it free for everybody, to me, is not going to make safety better and it's not going to make the. The cleanliness of the experience better. Cut 11. Just going to raise tax rates and everything's going to be free. This is what he's going to do. It's again, New York, you're going to sink underneath the waters. But the rest of us, we're going to be great. We got nice life rafts. Cut 11.

[Buck Sexton]

The question is how you'll make them free.

[Zoran Mamdani]

We will fund the revenue that would have otherwise been brought in from fares. And that's something that we would do in partnership with Albany. And I put forward two proposals. The first is to raise taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers by 2%. That would raise $4 billion. The second is to raise the state's top corporate tax rate to match that of New Jersey, which would raise $5 billion.

[Clay Travis]

There you go. Just going to tax everybody. It's buses. But how many people out there think to themselves, hey, what buses need? The cost is too high. We just need to have cheaper busing. Anybody really think that it's safety and it's cleanliness. That's what everybody wants.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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 podcast.

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[Jim (iHeartRadio Advertiser)]

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[Leon Neyfak]

When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked, why Benghazi?

[Buck Sexton]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfak]

It's almost a dirty word, one that connotes conspiracy theory.

[David Rutherford]

Will we ever get the truth about the Benghazi massacre?

[Leon Neyfak]

Bad faith, political warfare, and, frankly, bullshit.

[David Rutherford]

We kill the ambassador just to cover something up. You put two and two together.

[Leon Neyfak]

Was it an overblown distraction or a sinister conspiracy?

[Clay Travis]

Benghazi is a Rosetta Stone for everything that's been going on for the last 20 years.

[Leon Neyfak]

I'm Leon Neyfak from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Fiasco Benghazi Clip Voice]

What difference at this point does it make?

[David Rutherford]

Yeah, that's right. Lock her up.

[Leon Neyfak]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. We got more on the Mamdani Kami Mamdani. Is Trump gonna be able to help send him home to mommy by making fun of him? I don't know. We'll see. We've got him saying, oh, wow. Oh, Mom, Donnie's throwing some. He's getting a little saucy over here. He says this is cut 12. What? Andrew. Okay, let's just hear him. He's going after Cuomo. Play 12. Got 12.

[Zoran Mamdani]

If we have a health pandemic, then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes? That's the kind of experience that's on offer here today. What? I don't have an experience? I make up for an integrity. And what, you don't have an integrity you could never make up for in experience?

[Buck Sexton]

Now here's the problem. When he lands a good line against Cuomo, I kind of like it, because Cuomo's awful. Clay, this is the problem. Cuomo is Very, very bad. Cuomo is not a good. This isn't like the, the Chicago mayor's race where you had like a reasonable guy running against Brandon Johnson. They're both awful.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, New Yorkers have put themselves in quite the pickle here because every option they pick is basically an awful one. And that's why we have to let you go under the waters, metaphorically speaking speaking, of course. And the rest of us have to rise up like the phoenix from the ashes of New York's poor decisions politically to benefit the rest of us. New sense of peace in Israel this week. Hostages returned, ceasefire in effect, the sense of moving forward. A good week in Israel, the first in more than two years. Still a large segment of the population, however, rebuilding their lives, their homes, dealing with the after effects of being targeted by missile attacks and worse. You should know our partners at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews still on the ground in Israel providing valuable assistance to the part of the population desperately needs help. They've been doing it for 40 years now. The Fellowship has brought Christians and Jews together to solve big problems. I've seen it for myself on the ground in Israel nearly every day. IFCJ teams in Israel, they're making hand delivered boxes of healthy food to feed and comfort the poor, particularly the elderly. Put your faith into [e-mail] that's ifcj.org welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show David Rutherford, part of the Clay and Buck Podcast Network. We're going to get in to the situation in Venezuela with him momentarily. Just updating you on the news in the last couple of moments, Zelensky of Ukraine has arrived at the White House for a meeting with President With President Trump question yelled out, does he believe he can convince Putin to end the war in Ukraine? Trump nods yes as he is welcoming Zelensky clad in a black suit. For those of you who are sartorially inclined, not in his green fatigues and T shirt, just FYI. So they have begun that meeting. We will see what news, if any, emerges from that discussion. We bring in now David Rutherford, excited to have him as a part of the Clay and Buck Podcast network. He's doing fabulous work. You should go subscribe to his podcast. Make sure that you're on top of everything in sort of military and door kicking badass worldview and he is with us now. Okay. We've seen all of the blown up boats that are happening off the coast, in the Caribbean area, off the coast of Venezuela. There has been talk, Trump has talked about it. CIA may be covertly attempting to attack the regime of Maduro there, the person who stole power, according to most analysis of the election there. What should we know about Venezuela? Where do you think it's headed? Are we gonna have boots on the ground? Is the Maduro regime in your mind, in danger? David Rutherford.

[David Rutherford]

Hey, thank you guys so much for having me on. That was a hell of an intro. I appreciate that. I believe where. What we need to do is look at the nexuses of power that are emerging through the Venezuelan developments, right? You've got China, who's invested over $60 billion into loans, infrastructure, everything you can think of. You've got coordinated relationships potentially with Mexican cartels. Just recently we had a Mexican cartels issue basically head hunting fees on certain BOR patrols. And then I also think you have probably a large portion of the population after the last election fiasco with Machado that is probably primed and wants a change. So all of these things converging into, I think the posture that we're representing right now, I mean, what, three B52s? We've got 10,000 troops. We've got soft guys. There's definitely agency folks working down there. So what happens next I think is going to be dependent upon Maduro's actions. I mean, the funniest thing I saw in the last few hours was one of their naval ships ran aground and sunk. So I'm not sure anybody's not good, right? So all of that, you know, I think we're.

[Zoran Mamdani]

We're.

[David Rutherford]

Things are heating up for sure.

[Zoran Mamdani]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Venezuela's Maduro regime has just ordered military exercises, by the way. Which I got to say, I guess if you are the. You're the tin pot dictator of Venezuela now, Rut, you got to make it seem like you got muscles to flex. But if I were this guy, if I were Maduro, I might. Well, I'm sure he already has stash cash in where. Where are the places people do it? Like the Cook Islands or the Channel Islands or whatever. But if I were him, I would have my. I. If I were Maduro, I would have my go bag ready and an exit plan.

[David Rutherford]

Maybe he could go get an apartment next door to Assad playing video games over in Russia, you know.

[Buck Sexton]

Wait, can I just jump in there? When I read that, Rut, all I wanted to know in that article, just so everyone understands the longtime dictator of Syria, there was a report that came out that he's just hanging out in a luxury Moscow apartment playing video games all day. Is it Call of Duty? Like what I Want to know what the video game is?

[Clay Travis]

FIFA, maybe?

[Zoran Mamdani]

Yeah.

[David Rutherford]

Roadblocks.

[Jim (iHeartRadio Advertiser)]

Yeah.

[David Rutherford]

I don't know. You know, I think what's interesting is you have people that capture power in the way they did. And, you know, I don't know if either of you saw the deposition from the gentleman relative. Tina Peters was putting it out, relative to his work at smartmatic and the specific development of that operating system to capture the elections 30 years ago or whatever it was. And. And, you know, I think when you have somebody that Dr. Drives a country into the ground, eventually what happens? The people begin to rise up. And we certainly saw that in the last election and then the crackdown that came over, you know. Yes. This idea of citizen warfare. We saw the. What was a couple months ago, they were showing some promo stuff of, you know, tractor Bob and, you know, and the little lady holding the AK learning how to fight, and that's absurd. I just don't believe that this hunch is willing to endure any more of what's been taking place, because, you know, they're. Look at their inflation, look at their production, look at their output. The only thing that saves them, obviously, is illegal drug traffic and probably some human trafficking as well as, you know, probably some arms traffic. And. But it's oil. And so, you know, before putting boots on the ground, I'd love to see maybe a blockade or something a little bit more giving them time to negotiate or alter or come out with a position before we start sending, you know, young American women into fight in Venezuela.

[Buck Sexton]

We're speaking to David Rutherford, former Navy seal, host of the David Rutherford show on the Clay and Buck Podcast network, which you should all be catching up on listening to this weekend. If you. If you missed this week's episode and. And Rut, you mentioned the cartels and how they've put out bounties on members of U.S. border Patrol. We've had multiple strikes now on narco terrorist boats in the Caribbean. Lethal strikes. Right. Kinetic strike missiles, basically blowing up ships. And we're moving more military assets into the region to do this. When Joint Special Operations gets involved here, when our operators are doing more against these cartels, do you think the likelihood is they're gonna go on, go. Go to ground and try to ride it out, or are they gonna try to escalate the violence in response to change the political calculation here at home?

[David Rutherford]

You know, that's the great question, right? Ironclad has had. There's a woman who's a Mexican reporter who's talking about. She's doing. On the Ground interviews, you know, blacked out faces, and they're saying we're just gonna wait it out. But think about the magnitude of the impact of shutting that border down. What does it cause? Right, It's a lot of people. There's a guy named Oscar Ramirez that's been reporting that there's a small civil war amongst the cartels grouping building. So, you know, I think everybody's looking for, you know, how do we recapture those revenue streams that we lost from human trafficking and probably a significant portion of trafficking across the border. And so what, what do they have to lose other than, you know, going kinetic? So as a result of that. Yeah, there's a distinct possibility that the, you know, J Sock, I don't know about typical soft units, the lower tier 3 units, but I definitely think, you know, JSOC combined with, you know, maybe some of the agencies assets or some of the, you know, counter narco assets within Homeland. Yeah, they're, they're going to be ramping up their, their mission profiles for sure.

[Clay Travis]

Where does this go? All right, so we're, and I know you're trying to analyze this in general, but what do you think the true end goal? Marco Rubio is very, very well informed with what's been going on in Venezuela. Former senator, obviously, now he's Secretary of State. So I would imagine that he's driving a large degree of this inside of the White House. If the Trump team had their, their ability to sort of wave their magic wand, what would they like to see happen in Venezuela? We know they have unbelievable. I think it's Chevron, primarily oil and gas assets that used to be American owned. There have been reports that Maduro basically is bending the knee and saying, whatever you guys need, I'll give back to you. In terms of oil and gas assets, is it any kind of negotiation with him or do you think he has to be gone in order for there to be any sort of reconciliation between the United States and Venezuela?

[Zoran Mamdani]

Play.

[David Rutherford]

That is the thousand dollar question right there.

[Buck Sexton]

Right.

[David Rutherford]

And I think Mark Rubio is a great guy to be doing this. You know, he's been so integrated into the central South American political landscape, as you know, his Cuban ancestry and just where he positions himself and has been for years. So I think he's a great guy. I think they're riding this incredible high of negotiations right now. Obviously the Ukraine, Russia one is the one that escapes them, but I think there might be a real willingness to come in and try and negotiate some type of deal to put the fires out. So to speak. And that would be relative to regaining some considerable leverage on the oil industry, because that's the heartbeat of their whole country. However, you've got a very staunch influence coming from China. Again, you know, I was looking up the numbers just, you know, this morning, and it's pretty staggering what they've been doing. So if they feel like they, their exports can be maintained through their China relationship or the BRICS relationship or whatever that might be, I think they're, you know, Maduro might be willing to stave off any of the economic pressures that he's already been doing so far. But I just think there's such a momentum, I mean, that, that peace deal in Israel, I mean, that is more significant than anything I think we've seen in a long, long time. And the fact that, you know, Machado wanted to give her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, you know, there's this unique relationship that's been formed there. So I think it's some kind of either deal with, with, like you said, with the oil industry or some of those, but it's also, I would imagine, pressure to hold new elections with some, perhaps some UN oversight. That, that would be something that would be truly a monumental feat for Rubio and his team of, you know, the newly found ability to have diplomacy in our State Department, which is a pretty awesome thing to see.

[Buck Sexton]

Rudd, just promise me that you're not going to do a air quotes guy weekend in air quotes Colombia or like. Don't get any ideas, buddy. Okay? We need you to keep doing the podcast.

[David Rutherford]

Buck, you saw what happened the last time the Green Beret guy went down there and tried to do it, right? And, you know, it was kind of funny, which is kind of this hidden story a lot of people don't talk about is, you know, they, the last administration tried to pin that on a bunch of Trump loyalists, right? FBI investigations. They tried to really connect some true Trump loyalists, people that are, you know, involved in the government now, to participating and kind of that, you know, random like kamikaze we're going to take down. It was almost like a Bush League Bay of Pigs fiasco for, for the group.

[Buck Sexton]

It was like an 80s action movie plot, but it was real.

[David Rutherford]

It was totally real. And I have a lot of friends that had to go talk to the Bureau as a result of that. And so, I don't know, I mean, I, I, I think the population is ripe for some influence, but I don't, I don't know, man. It seemed like the military really coalesced around him to go after, you know, the opposition or whatever you want to call it after those elections, you know, and we saw Brazil was able to do that. You know, a lot of these other kind of socialist countries were able to do that. And so what I think it is is how are they so confident that they can, you know, repeat press those uprisings? And I think it's about a money issue. So where is Venezuela getting the money to pay for their soldiers at scale in support of knocking down these, these, you know, organic uprisings, internal and organic, with quotations.

[Buck Sexton]

Obviously, you're just getting a little, a little taste here, everybody, of the David Rutherford show. So go check it out of the Clay and Buck Podcast network this weekend, Ruth. I'm shooting tomorrow so that when I finally get you back out on the range, you'll be, you'll be proud of your students. So thank you for joining us here and we'll hang out soon.

[David Rutherford]

I'm always proud of you guys. Keep it up.

[Buck Sexton]

Take care, guys. Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

Keep up the good work.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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 podcast.

[Fiasco Benghazi Clip Voice]

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[Jim (iHeartRadio Advertiser)]

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[iHeartRadio Announcer]

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[Leon Neyfak]

What? I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi. Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist or rolled their eyes or just asked, why Benghazi?

[Buck Sexton]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfak]

It's almost a dirty word, one that connotes conspiracy theory.

[David Rutherford]

Will we ever get the truth about the Benghazi massacre?

[Leon Neyfak]

Bad faith, political warfare, and frankly, bullshit.

[David Rutherford]

We kill the ambassador just to cover something up. You put two and two together.

[Leon Neyfak]

Was it an overblown distraction or a sinister conspiracy?

[Clay Travis]

Benghazi is a Rosetta Stone for everything that's been going on for the last 20 years.

[Leon Neyfak]

I'm Leon Neyfak from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Fiasco Benghazi Clip Voice]

What difference at this point does it make?

[David Rutherford]

Yes, that's right. Lock her up.

[Leon Neyfak]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back into Clay Ann Buck Crockett Coffee. I got my Overmountain club mug here. It's fantastic. Look, if you subscribe to CL Crockett Coffee, you're gonna get delicious coffee. You're also gonna get cool book deal offers coming right to your inbox for Clay's upcoming magnum opus, Balls, and mine in January, Manufacturing Delusion. Not the same punch as balls, but yeah, you will. You will enjoy those things and you'll have delicious coffee. I drink rocket every morning. 10% of our profits go to Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Clay's playing golf at Tunnelton Towers Monday, by the way. Great organization. We love Tunnel to Towers. So, Crockett Coffee.com, if you're so many of your coffee drinkers, why are you not drinking Crockett? There's no good reason. It's better coffee, and it's aligned with your values. Go to Crockett Coffee dot com. Let's take a call here from Sean in Minneapolis. What's going on, Sean?

[David Rutherford]

Hey, guys.

[Buck Sexton]

How are you doing?

[David Rutherford]

Thanks for taking my call. Hey, I've been immersed in the Venezuelan culture here for over 20 years, and I can tell you that Maduro is only a small part of the problem. You're still there?

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, yeah. Everyone's listening. Go ahead.

[David Rutherford]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, It's. It's not only Maduro, it's also a guy by the name of Diaz du Cabello, who's the big narco king there. He's kind of a lieutenant to Maduro. So if you take out Maduro, you have to kill Diazado Cavallo. It's just he's a he's a narco as bad as they come. The other thing is they are. You were talking about night I bleed the same blood as Rutherford, so I kind of know a little here about decades prior to him. But the money that Maduro stole is in gold. It's been transported to Britain. This is a well known fact. It's been transported to Spain, but it's also been in the hands of Hugo Chavez's daughter who lives in New York City. So, you know, Maduro's been robbing this country blind as long as he's been in office there. So if you take care of him, you got to take care of Diaz out of Cabello and all his soldiers as well. And I'm sure. Alrighty, Rubio.

[Buck Sexton]

Thanks. Thank you, Sean. Yep, we hear you on. We hear you on that. Look, Clay, it's really. Is the Trump administration going to go full clear and present danger on the Maduro regime and the narco terrorists there? You know, they're in and it could get interesting and we're already blowing up boats, which they didn't even do.

[Clay Travis]

In clear and present danger, no doubt. And this all ties into a large extent, not only on the drug front, but on the price of oil and gas. Has anybody noticed that the price of oil and gas continues to plummet and that it is cheapest that it has been since 2021 when we were coming out of COVID and people were not traveling very much? That's a big win. That doesn't get very much discussion. And we'll talk about that and more. Final hour of the week. Next.

[Buck Sexton]

This is Jim.

[Jim (iHeartRadio Advertiser)]

Hello.

[Buck Sexton]

Jim started advertising with iHeartRadio way back.

[Clay Travis]

In April, and now I have customers out the door. And this is Sarah.

[Buck Sexton]

Hi. She started putting a portion of her marketing dollars in podcasting back in June. Business is booming. That's why I'm working on a Saturday. Want to be like Jim and Sarah? It's easy. All you have to do is own or manage a business and reach out to iHeart. Get started today at 844-844-IHeart or iHeartadvertising.com.

[Leon Neyfak]

When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked why Benghazi.

[Buck Sexton]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfak]

From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Fiasco Benghazi Clip Voice]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Leon Neyfak]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[iHeartRadio Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.