Hour 2 - Why the NYC Primary Matters

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Episode: Hour 2 - Why the NYC Primary Matters Release Date: June 24, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into the significance of the New York City mayoral primary. Joined by their guest, Mark Simone from WOR 710 AM New York, the discussion navigates the complexities of the race, the emergence of a far-left candidate, and the broader implications for the Democratic Party and American politics.

1. The Battleground: NYC Mayoral Race

Mark Simone provides an in-depth analysis of the current mayoral race in New York City. He introduces the primary contenders, highlighting the unconventional rise of a candidate he refers to as "mom Donnie," an actual socialist, contrasting him with former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Mark Simone [04:01]: "This is the first election. We have to pray nobody wins this election today."

2. Scrutinizing Andrew Cuomo's Tenure

The hosts critically examine Andrew Cuomo's previous tenure as governor, outlining his controversial policies and their repercussions on New York State. Simone lists Cuomo's actions such as abolishing bail, altering the parole board, implementing congestion pricing, and handling the pandemic, which he argues led to significant outmigration and loss of congressional seats.

Mark Simone [05:54]: "He changed the parole board, put a bunch of left-wing kooks on there that let all the prisoners out. They've let out 43 cop killers."

3. The Rise of "Mom Donnie": A Socialist Candidate

"Mom Donnie" is portrayed as a charismatic and strategic candidate who has capitalized on Cuomo's perceived weaknesses. Simone discusses his early voting success, smooth campaigning, and appearances on platforms like The Colbert Report, positioning him as a formidable contender despite his far-left stance.

Mark Simone [05:54]: "He's very slick, he's very smooth talking, he's charming, great campaigner."

4. The Mechanics and Impact of Ranked Choice Voting

The conversation shifts to the implications of ranked choice voting (RCV) in the primary. Simone explains how RCV could prolong the vote-counting process and potentially favor "mom Donnie" by allowing strategic alliances and vote transfers across multiple rounds.

Mark Simone [09:23]: "Under ranked choice voting, no matter what the voters decided, they can go into these charts and graphs. It goes many, many rounds."

5. Broader Implications for the Democratic Party and National Politics

Travis and Simone explore how the outcome of the NYC primary serves as a barometer for the Democratic Party's trajectory. They express concern that the party's shift towards more extreme candidates could mirror national trends, potentially leading to broader electoral challenges in upcoming midterms and future elections.

Mark Simone [12:19]: "New York City is the barometer where you see how crazy they're gonna go. If they go this crazy here, actually voting in a socialist, then you know the party's gonna go even more nuts, which will kill them in the midterms next year."

6. Perspectives from New Yorkers

Listener Jacqueline shares her skepticism about the viability of Democratic candidates other than Curtis Lewa, a Republican, emphasizing concerns over rising crime and ineffective leadership.

Jacqueline [23:09]: "I don't think there is a viable Democratic candidate among all of them, except possibly for Adams. But really, as a New Yorker... Curtis Lewa, in my opinion, is really the only viable candidate."

7. Predictions and Future Outlook

The hosts and Simone discuss possible outcomes, including the potential for Cuomo to run as an independent if defeated in the Democratic primary. They also touch upon the possibility of Curtis Lewa, a Republican candidate, making a significant impact if given a fair platform.

Mark Simone [13:37]: "Curtis Sliwa is the Republican candidate. There is nobody else, and he's a nobody. Better."

Conclusion

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show offers a critical examination of the New York City mayoral primary, highlighting the tensions within the Democratic Party and the emergence of unconventional candidates. The discussion underscores the broader implications for national politics, suggesting that the NYC primary could signal future electoral challenges for Democrats if the trend towards more extreme candidates continues.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mark Simone [05:54]: "He's very slick, he's very smooth talking, he's charming, great campaigner."
• Mark Simone [09:23]: "Under ranked choice voting, no matter what the voters decided, they can go into these charts and graphs. It goes many, many rounds."
• Jacqueline [23:09]: "Curtis Lewa, in my opinion, is really the only viable candidate."

Transcript

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[Unknown Speaker]

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[Mark Simone]

Paid for by Built For America. Hey, Buck. One of my kids called me an unk the other day. An unk? Yep. Slaying, evidently. For not being hip, being an old dude.

[Clay Travis]

So how do we un unk you?

[Mark Simone]

Get more people to subscribe to our YouTube channel. At least that's what my kids tell me.

[Clay Travis]

That's simple enough. Just search the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show and hit the subscribe button.

[Mark Simone]

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[Clay Travis]

Do it for clay, do it for freedom. And get great content while you're there. The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show YouTube channel. Hour two of Clay and Buck kicks off now. We're joined by our friend Mr. New York, Marc Simone on at 10am Eastern on 7. 10. W O R and N Y C. Mark, you know, you and I have known each other a while and you've been saying to me, just give it time, you'll eventually go back to New York. And I gotta say, sometimes I start to miss the food options. And obviously I got family still there. New York still has its allure, no question about it. But this wacky socialist guy, after what the city's been through with de Blasio and then with Mayor Adams and now the can this guy really win? I mean, bring us into what's going on here because a lot of people looking at this saying, how could someone who's so far left wing be possibly the next mayor of America's largest city?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, you could also be talking about Andrew Cuomo, who governed as the most left wing kook in the world. But you're talking about this mom Donnie, who's an actual socialist. And Cuomo was pretty bad. So this is the first election. We have to pray nobody wins this election today. Yeah, this mom Donnie apparently did very well in the early voting. They allowed people to vote for two weeks before the election day and that was about 38% of the vote. And he seems to be leading that by 10% now. He's turned off some immigrants, believe it or not, Russians, Cuban immigrants. Cuz he's talking about having government run grocery stores. And they say we grew up with socialist government. Grocery stores, they're a nightmare. We don't want to see them again. He's very slick, he's very smooth talking, he's charming, great campaigner. Problem with Cuomo, he's running a campaign from like 1986, you know, with these old endorsements. Senator Clyburn, he had Bill Clinton making robocalls, you know, to voters in their 30s. Bill Clinton is way in the past. It's like getting a call from Harry Truman, you know? You know, it doesn't mean anything to you. He was bragging, thinking about the Daily News. The New York Daily News newspaper endorsed him. Most people didn't. Don't even know they still print that thing, so. And he's an old, tired looking guy, Cuomo. So it was pretty easy for mom dummy to get ahead of him. And mom dummy's doing all these shows. He was on Colbert last night. And Cuomo has had to hide from reporters because of the terrible things he's done in the past, the baggage he has to cover up. So he's, he's runs from reporters. He's actually gotten something like 10 speeding tickets in the last few weeks, and three or four of them were getting away from reporters who were trying to ask him a question. I'm very anti momdami, but Cuomo is no bargain either.

[Clay Travis]

Wait, can you remind everybody why Cuomo? Because Cuomo is sort of positioning himself, Mark, as the, you know, I'm not the insane candidate. The other guy is. There's some stuff that Cuomo did at the state level that affected New York, affected all of New York state that I think people need to be reminded of.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, he gets. He ran for governor as a moderate, but they have the list right here. This is the guy that gave us no bail, no jail. He pushed that like crazy. There's video of him pushing it. He closed prisons, let the prisoners out, and there's video of him bragging about it. He changed the parole board, put a bunch of left wing kooks on there that let all the prisoners out. They've let out 43 cop killers. He took away the qualified immunity for policemen. That's the protection from being sued. That's why we can't hire any more cops. He's the guy that gave us congestion pricing. He was going to ban ICE from New York State. He threatened to sue them. He called them thugs. He closed Indian Point. That's the nuclear plant. That's 25% of our electricity. Drove everybody's electricity up. He raised taxes. We lost four congressional seats under Cuomo because so many people moved out of the state. So if anybody loves him, it's Florida. He really did more for Florida than New York. I didn't even get to killing 10,000 senior citizens in the nursing homes in the dumbest decision ever made by an elected official. Sending people the virus into nursing homes.

[Mark Simone]

Okay, all of that, Mark. And we appreciate you hanging out with us WOR listeners. This is the first major election since Trump. And so people are looking and saying, okay, what's going to be the outcome here? Trump made a pretty significant improvement in the state of New York. There are lots of people obviously that feel like New Jersey could flip red. I mean Trump only lost New Jersey by about five points. When you look at this decision that the Democrats are making such that Andrew Friggin Cuomo can look like the reasonable rational choice for Democrats, what does this tell us about the party as a whole? And also is this primary happening today? Is this it? Or let's say that Mamdani wins. Could Cuomo run as an independent? Like what could happen going forward? Is there already scuttlebutt about the larger race this fall and what might happen if mom Donnie is the Democrat nominee?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, Momdani has in the, in the real polls, the internal polls pulled ahead of Cuomo, which is why Cuomo has registered as an independent. He will be on the ticket ticket as an independent. The current mayor Eric Adams is also on the independent ticket. So you're going to have it. Let's say mom Donnie wins. You're going to have Donnie Cuomo, Adams and Curtis Sliwa as the Republican and there's another guy on some party. So it'll be the first five way race. Last time that happened was John Lindsay, which was like early 70s. Lindsay ran as an independent and won as an independent. So it is possible to win that way.

[Mark Simone]

Okay, so ranked choice voting also factors in here. And look, I know Alaskans have had major issues with this. There are relatively few places that do rank choice voting. It's actually complicated. There's talk that it's going to take a week or 10 days to even figure out what the totals are. What can you tell us about how the tallying will work and how ranked choice voting factors in here?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, it's a great system. Democrats came up with this system so that at the end of the night tonight, nine o' clock, when we see who voted for who, it doesn't count anymore. So under ranked choice voting, no matter what the voters decided, they can go into these charts and graphs. You could, you could have this ranked choice explained you a thousand times and still not figure it out. It goes many, many rounds. In fact, in this polling it shows nobody could win the first seven rounds, which is absolutely ridiculous. It's, it's the way mom Donnie will probably win. He's been more clever understanding it and teaming up with other candidates. It's, it's kind of like on Survivor when you form teams and the secret.

[Mark Simone]

Plots because basically they're telling people, if you hate Cuomo, just don't rank him in any way and try to get him in the second, third, fourth, or as you just mentioned, seventh round of the ranked choice.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. So with this ranked choice, Cuomo could lose and then he would run as an independent. I just don't see Mamdani winning. Curtis Sliwa is the Republican candidate. There is nobody else, and he's a nobody. Better. On the subject of crime fighting, and.

[Clay Travis]

I think, how is crime going in New York City? Mayor Eric Adams, former cop. Right. That's, we were all told, is supposed to handle this. Doesn't sound like it's been handled.

[Unknown Speaker]

No. And it's been bad for three years. But great improvement by Eric Adams this year. He brought in a police commissioner, Jessica.

[Clay Travis]

Tisch, who I used to work with. Jesse. I know Jesse.

[Mark Simone]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And you know, she's absolutely incorruptible, very wealthy woman. So she's totally incorruptible. And there were some bad elements in the nypd. She fired them all. Fired a lot of people the first week. It needed to be done. She's put in some. Some of the best people on. On. She's created task forces to go after this stuff. So that's a big improvement. Adams also brought in Randy Mastro, who was the top Giuliani deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani. So he's in City hall now running things. So great improvement. And I know Adams is going to start campaigning. He's been very quiet. The current mayor will start campaigning like crazy tomorrow and who knows, may rise up as an independent, might even beat Cuomo on the independent line.

[Clay Travis]

Who do you think is going to win this mayor's race when all said and done, Mark?

[Unknown Speaker]

Curtis Sliwa, I think in the end, if he gets a fair debate. Boy, they really rigged the debates last time and did.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, I love Mark's optimism, Clay. I love optimism. Via Mark here.

[Mark Simone]

Okay, so, Mark, let's say that you are listening to us. And obviously w o R this is going to factor in in a big way. New York City area listeners, if you are nationwide, let's say you're listening in Phoenix or Salt Lake City or Houston, one of these cities that doesn't really have a deep connection to New York City. Why should people tonight be paying attention to what happens in New York City in this race in your mind, not only for what it means to New York City itself, but for the larger American political universe?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well. Cause the problem is the Democratic Party has gone nuts and instead of the old Bill Clinton, Democrats, jfk, they've gone completely crazy. And New York City is the barometer where you see how crazy they're gonna go. We gave you aoc, all the real crazy. So if they go this crazy here, actually voting in a socialist, then you know the party's gonna go even more nuts, which will kill them in the midterms next year.

[Clay Travis]

Do you agree with Clay, our buddy here? Clay likes to make the long term predictions. He likes to point to the, the upper deck and then, you know, switch sides and bad left handed. You know, it's never, never enough of a, of a crazy call for Clay. He thinks Cuomo wins the. If Cuomo wins the mayor's race, I should say, which I believe. You believe he will, right, Clay? Still.

[Mark Simone]

Yeah, I'm going to stick to that prediction, although I may end up being wrong on that.

[Clay Travis]

Cuomo wins the mayor's race. Next stop for him is running as a Democrat nominee. Do you see that, too? Because that would obviously affect everybody listening across the country.

[Unknown Speaker]

Happened.

No. Zero chance. One thing about Cuomo, he's a very New York urban guy from Queens. I, I know you could say that about Trump, but Trump had incredible talent as a campaigner, which Cuomo does not have.

[Mark Simone]

Not to win, but to run as a candidate in 2028. Like, I think this is about setting the foundation for him to be able to argue he has a comeback and throw his hat in the Democrat ring.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, he was a total outcast here. You know, I forgot to mention he left office in disgrace. There was also, besides the sex scandal, Ethics Committee ruled against him for Prof. The pandemic. But by running for mayor, he's made himself legitimate again, at least that he's a legitimate candidate. I don't think he could ever get the nomination in 28. I don't think anybody who does would put him on the ticket because they figure they're winning New York. They don't need him for that. They'd have to pick another state. And he's got a lot of baggage.

[Mark Simone]

Okay, Mom, Donnie wins. Let's say that happens. You got people like Buck Sexton with money who are like New York. I'm done. I'm going to Florida. Ron DeSantis made a joke. He said the best thing that could happen for Palm beach property values is Mom, Donnie winning the New York City mayoral race. Do you hear? Because you've been doing New York City radio for a long time. You know, a lot of people. Do you hear wealthy New Yorkers say, if Mom, Donnie wins. This is it. Like they're just fed up and done. Do you buy that? That will have a major tax revenue, for lack of a better way to describe it, impact. Because the number of rich guys and gals bailing on New York City. I mean, they're the ones who are failing, who are funding to a large extent what they see as a failed city.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, yeah, No, a lot of them have said they'll leave. In fact, one went public. John Katsimatidis owns 100 supermarkets in New York. He said, I will close them. He said, I'll move my business into New Jersey.

[Clay Travis]

Wait, Katz said that he would bounce on New York City if Mamdani wins. I didn't know that. That's wild.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, he owns a lot of supermarkets. He said, I'm not gonna compete with. Yeah, I will not compete with the government. And he's not the only way. He just went public and said it. But a lot of others have said it privately. And again, about 3 million people left under Cuomo as governor. In fact, we had a crisis. You couldn't get a moving van for almost a year. There was a shortage of moving vans under Cuomo and we did lose four congressional seats because of it.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, man. Well, let's hope Curtis Lewa pulls off the greatest, a Trump level political come from behind victory here. The greatest comeback of all time. Otherwise New York could be in for some rough stuff. 7:10 W O R 10:00am Eastern. Mark Simone, Mr. New York sir. Appreciate you. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks.

[Unknown Speaker]

Love listening to you guys.

[Clay Travis]

Same. Same Mark. Also, have you ever listened to Mark's. Mark's callers, by the way, represent, when they call into a show, all the different accents of all the different boroughs and counties around New York perfectly. You get the Long island guys calling in the Staten Island.

[Mark Simone]

When I did my last book, I went in into our new year because he's in the same building. For people who don't know where we can use in New York City if we happen to be there. I think this is a big. I mean, I understand people say, oh, New York City Mayor, why do I care? I think if mom Donnie wins, it's a holy crap moment for the Democrats.

[Clay Travis]

It's an indicator for Democrats nationwide. All right, thanks, Mark. Thank you so much. All right. Rapid Radios makes modern day walkie talkies. It's such a uniquely created communication device and so easy to use. Remember those kids toys we used to have? Walkie talkies. Yeah, imagine that. But with the latest tech and all kinds of bells and whistles that you couldn't have dreamed of when you were a kid. With the push of a button you can talk with this radio nationwide on an LTE network you can connect with somebody. It's like a walkie talkie but you can talk to somebody anywhere who was also carrying a rapid radio. No setup required. You just pull them out of the box, press a button and talk. One touch connection. Perfect for busy families. Rapid Radios combines the simplicity of walkie talkies with today's technology and it is something to have as part of your preparation plan. Get some Rapid Radios and give them to your family that you want to be able to stay in contact with friends, neighbors, anybody. Because if things go haywire you want to be ready with your Rapid Radios. A lot of cell towers can go down. Rapid Radios can be there for you. Go to Rapidradios.com save up to 60% off get free UPS shipping from Michigan and use code radio for an extra 5% off. Again, the website to go to is Rapidradios.com youm'll save up to 60%, use code radio and get an extra 5% off. Go to Rapidradios.Com.

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[Mark Simone]

So far, the ceasefire is holding in Israel and Iran's conflict in the Middle east after Trump. Trump, frankly, does deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. If this thing holds he'll never get it. But they gave it to Obama before he had done anything. If a Democrat president had managed to bring peace to the Middle east, we know that he would have gotten it, to say nothing of all of the other things Trump has done. But we were just talking about the I see this as the first referendum on how the Democrat Party is going to respond to Trump 2.0. This, the new York City mayoral race. And I think that's the storyline for anybody out there who wants to see this vote. This is the first real vote we've had in the first six months of the Trump presidency. You're going to have Virginia and New Jersey governorship races come November, so that will give you a little bit of an indication. But those are both blue states, so there's not necessarily a major impact there. And we've got a caller who wants to weigh in, just listening to us, Jacqueline and Brooklyn. Jacqueline, the Democrat primary going on today, it's going to take him a while to count the votes. But as a New Yorker and you're listening to this show on WOR as you sit back and watch, what are you thinking?

[Jacqueline]

Well, I tell you the truth, I think ranked choice voting, first of all is the worst thing that ever happened to New York. And as far as the polls are concerned, I actually, I was looking for my notes and I couldn't find it. But one of the major newspapers, I don't remember if it was the Times, so don't hold me to that. But the sample size, when they do these surveys, they take a very small sample size and they weigh it toward the outcome that they want to achieve. So personally, I don't snip these polls seriously. I don't care that they showed Cuomo or Mandani leading. As far as the Democratic candidates, I don't think there is a viable Democratic candidate among all of them, except possibly for Adams. But really, as a New Yorker, with seeing the crime that has gone on and increased, Curtis Lewa, in my opinion, is really the only viable candidate. I think he's the only one that really cares about the people of the city of New York.

[Clay Travis]

So, you know, Jacqueline, I was a New Yorker for, for almost 40 years. And what is going on with our people? You know, like, how is it? It used to be we could disagree on the national stuff, but everybody wanted cleaner streets and less crime, at least for a while, I think because Giuliani showed people what was possible. What happened? Like, where did these communists just lose their minds?

[Jacqueline]

I think they're just being brainwashed quite honestly. They're listening to the lamestream media. They are drinking the Kool Aid, so to speak. They are just buying and swallowing whatever they are being said. They don't have the ability to think critically for themselves and those that are. I think the recent presidential election where Trump made a clean sweep, as he did all across the country, sent a very clear message that the people, not only in cities like New York and New York State, are fed up with what has happened, but people around the country are fed up in their discussion. And I hope that's reflected in the New York City mayoral race.

[Clay Travis]

Jacqueline, great call. Thank you. Some investment opportunities take quite a while to reveal themselves, but having access to information in advance makes all the difference. I want to talk to you about somebody who's working on a huge opportunity he sees that is a result of history of D.C. and Wall Street. Jim Rickards is his name. He's one of those in the know kind of people with incredible insight on forthcoming opportunities that could have huge benefit to our nation and to you as an individual. Jim Rickards thinks that there's the possibility of a first ever national sovereign wealth fund under this Trump administration. He says that this could be worth as much as $150 trillion as an asset class, and it has been buried under American soil. There's some really interesting options and opportunities that Jim wants to present you with. Hear more of his [e-mail] A lot of this conversation is a result of President Trump's instigation. Go to birthright2025.com to get the details free of charge, paid for by Paradigm Press. Got a bunch of VIP emails and some calls and talkbacks coming in, hearing from all of you, the ongoing conversation, the back and forth. One of the great things about doing this program every day, it's like we all get to hang out for, you know, I don't know, 30 minutes, three hours, whatever you got time for. Let's start with Jersey John. Thank you. He writes having Mark on as a guest. He's extremely articulate, knows his New York stuff. And Curtis Lewa has to win New York, Jersey John. Appreciate you, buddy. Yeah. Mark's a friend of the program, friend of mine and Clay's great guy, fantastic radio host and knows New York backwards and forwards. So I will say I think he knows, too. I would, you know, Curtis is a long shot, okay, He's a long shot for New York, but he's the only shot. That's the, that's the problem. The other op the other options are the city just gets worse. And we all know that. And Cuomo, I think that's so important for everybody to know. Clay Cuomo is not a moderate. Cuomo did really bad stuff as governor. And this is the thing. In these blue states, people screw every, these politicians screw everything up and then they're like promoted by the voters. You know, you see this time and time again, you turn on, you know, they're reelected. You look at Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, you look at Gavin Newsom, crushed the recall effort against him. How do you let that snake oil salesman sell more snake oil? I don't. You know, this is. What do people need to see to understand. You know, if the people in Florida, Clay, all of a sudden, if we had a governor who was jacking up taxes and crime was out of control and there's all kinds of disorder, they wouldn't, they would say, get, throw the bum out, let's get somebody else. I don't know why this corrective mechanism just has just gone completely haywire in Democrat controlled states.

[Mark Simone]

I think it's because, and this is like kind of a deep psychological analysis, we've talked about it a little bit, but I just keep coming back to means. If they were to change direction, it would mean acknowledging that all of the people that they consider to be the wrong people were right. It's not just that they were wrong, because if you're wrong and, and somebody else out there is right that you don't consider to be some awful human being that's a moron compared to you, then I think it's easier to adjust your worldview. It's as if they are willing to light their lives on fire rather than acknowledge, hey, maybe we should have kept schools open and maybe we should have.

[Clay Travis]

Just the red states. Yeah, to understand the Democrat mind. Yeah, they're brainwashed sheep and all that. Of course, that's all true. But to really understand the Democrat mindset, it was people who think they are so much smarter than, you know, quote, unquote, red state Billy Bob's or whatever, they're so much more sophisticated, so much smarter than they are, could not bring themselves to look at again, so called Billy Bob and say, you were right, I was wrong, you were smarter than me on this. They just won't do it. They want, doesn't matter what, doesn't matter what. The reality is they cannot do that.

[Mark Simone]

And I think it's partly when you really dive into the psychology of it. I think it's partly because they may not have the income that they hoped they may not live in, the house that they had hoped they lived in. All these other things in their life may not be what they had hoped, but their degree or their graduate degree. It is their self worth. And that self worth is wrapped up in, well, I'm smarter. I'm smarter than all these other people. And they can't acknowledge that they were wrong. Look, one of the great tests of intelligence and I, I challenge all of you to do this. I try to do this myself every day. Presume that you might be wrong. Just be open to the idea, because I think the most successful people out there, if you run a business, everybody out there who has ever run a business has done something. You were convinced, hey, this is going to be brilliant. This is going to revolutionize my business. You did it and it failed field. And you looked at the data and you said, you know what, I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I should go back to doing something else. But you're willing to take the chance and you're willing to acknowledge what the data reflects. Otherwise, you just ride off the edge of a cliff and end up bankrupt. And most business people are rational. Be rational in your life. Be willing to adjust well.

[Clay Travis]

And, and this is when people ask me for advice, which happens, you know, we do live events and talk to people or just people come up to me.

[Mark Simone]

You know, also, we're getting, we're getting older. When you're younger, you don't give as much advice. When you get a little bit older, there's younger people coming up that are like, hey, you know, you've got a little bit more wisdom, mister. I start calling you mister a lot more.

[Clay Travis]

I had some American fans of the show in France come up to me, and particularly when my voice was really bad, I felt so badly because it was almost like I was blowing people off. Thank you for, you know, I couldn't really respond. They were trying to be so nice. I said, let's see. I was giving the selfie hand signal. Let's just do selfie because I cannot talk to you. It's not physically possible for me right now, but it was really, really nice to see some of them over there. And I think that that's just indicative of how widespread the audience has become. Speaking of people weighing in on all this stuff, Clay, we got a listener here, Brett. I haven't heard any discussion about the similarities of the plot of Maverick, Clay's almost favorite movie. He really loves that movie.

[Mark Simone]

Yeah, I do.

[Clay Travis]

And the Iran bombing mission, naval fighter jets have to bomb an underground bunker for an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant of an evil rogue nation. Potentially a suicide mission, but worth it to save the world from nuclear disaster. No casualties ever involved. Are now heroes. It is very similar. It is a bit of life imitating art. And I think that's a good call by. I have thought of this myself. I will say I've thought of this too.

[Mark Simone]

Have. Am I correct? And I may be forgetting, but I think they tried to not really have any nation associated with Maverick.

[Clay Travis]

Same thing with the original Top Gun. I've. Everyone always. Everyone argues with me on this and they're always wrong. They never indicate you neck. It's a red star, which is kind of like a. Roughly a communism thing, I think. But yeah, there's no. I don't know what country. You don't hear the guys talking in the. In any language. They're just faceless, black, you know, fighter pilots on the. On the mask and so you can't see in. And. And, you know, you don't know. You don't know who these people are. You have no idea. In a sense, it's kind of brilliant because it gives a little more timelessness to it. I, you know, I always like the old. I like the Rocky 4, we're fighting the Soviet stuff personally, but I can see arguments for both ways.

[Mark Simone]

Well, it's super smart too, because theoretically it creates a much bigger international box office. Right. Because nobody's like, oh, we're the bad guys. And the bad guy would have to be a decent sized country.

[Clay Travis]

Do you remember the. There was a James Bond movie with Back in the Pierce Brosnan days, who I think is an underrated James Bond. I'm just gonna say it. I actually thought Pierce Brosnan was pretty good even though he's Irish, not English. Whole other thing. But there was one where like China is involved and there's a Chinese agent who. But he teams up with. You know, it's like China actually is the good guy and it's a British guy who runs a media empire. You know, kind of like a Rupert Murdoch like figure.

[Mark Simone]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Who's really. The Carver Media Network. I remember. Who's really the bad guy to start a war between the US And China? We have had no movies that I'm aware of. Are you aware. Are you aware of a movie where China is our adversary? I can't even think of one Buck.

[Mark Simone]

There is a. This. There's a fantastic book that dives into this and they did a really great excerpt of it inside of the Wall Street Journal. They remade Red Dawn. Red Dawn. For those of you, spoiler alert. Remember this story, Red Dawn. Eric Stengel, I think team in New York. Look up the title of this book because I want to give him credit. I read it, it was so good. But it's about the rise of China in a movie making context. And Red dawn, the bad guy is Russia. Right. If I'm remembering correctly, like the Russians suddenly land.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, yeah, is the Soviets and the Cubans of all Soviets and Cubans helping them out.

[Mark Simone]

So it comes out in 1984 and it's in the middle of the Cold War. And they said, okay, we're going to remake it. China has to be the bad guy in the remake. They made the whole movie buck. China got so powerful, the movie got held up, wasn't released. They went back in and digitally altered the movie to make North Korea the bad guy because they were afraid of having China as the bad guy in this movie because of geopolitical tensions relating to what movies even get in the. In the Chinese theaters.

[Clay Travis]

And making North Korea the bad guy, I might add, is not without consequence of its own. Because the Sony hack where they got into the Sony internal email servers and then released the most embarrassing stuff about executives that they could was because of that kind of silly movie, the interview about a North Korean dictator. Interview with Seth. It's like a comedy, but sort of a dark comedy. And it made Kim Jong Un look silly.

[Mark Simone]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

So then they hacked, and that's the North Korean hackers I know everyone says, do they even have Internet over there? First of all, they operate in conjunction with and with the blessing of China. So yeah, they actually have really sophisticated hacking capabilities. But they, they hacked into the Sony thing. That was wild that people don't even remember that, that they targeted a private US company for making fun of them and did real PR damage to Sony at the time. I think some people got fired.

[Mark Simone]

Oh, yeah. North Korea has some of the most talented hackers in the world. They've actually been some of the top crypto bandits. One of the ways that they finance the country is by all of the scams that they run on the Internet.

[Clay Travis]

The North Korean intelligence services, such as they are, there are units within it that effectively operate as just global mercenaries to bring hard currency into North Korea. It's kind of a fascinating. I thought this would be a great kind of plot line for a show or even if you want to do a documentary or something about it, you could. But yeah, they're not. Imagine if the CIA instead of what it is, which has some cool stuff, but also has some lame stuff. But imagine if the CIA, there was a unit where it's like, hey, you can go sell drugs, you can go overthrow. I know people think this is what the CIA does, but actually doesn't. Okay, Trust me, this stuff actually they don't do this certainly anymore. I don't know what they used to do. But you can sell drugs, you can be involved in overthrowing a country. You can set up private mercenary armies, you can break into like national banks or crypto funds. As long as you are making money for us, meaning North Korea, the home country, you know, you have immunity. Just come back here and we'll never, we'll never extradite you. Obviously that, that's kind of how they operate. So whatever, think about that. I mean they'll, they'll do, oh, they'll sell, you know, they'll sell military technology. They'll do anything. As long as it's making money for the North Korean regime, they're fine with it. It's pretty crazy.

[Mark Simone]

No doubt. It's, it's really one of the really staggering, staggering stories that hasn't been told. But to your point, there aren't very many Asian bad guys and that's a sign of China's growing power. They basically have decided everybody's going to have like a sort of Russian ish American accent. And that's the bad guys in any movie that actually goes through with the process of having bad guys. Let me tell you about Sabre. Number one pepper spray brand trusted by law enforcement, spelled S A b r e website saberradio.com you want products you're comfortable using that your spouse would be too. This is a family owned business manufacturing self protection tools for 50 years. We have them all inside of the Travis household. Whether it is pepper spray, whether it's the pepper spray projectile launcher, which is a tremendous gift for anybody inside of your family that wants to have a non lethal protection opportunity in the house. You've also got all different sorts of things that makes it harder and to break into your home again. If you got a teenage daughter, somebody going off to college, you want to give them pepper spray. Get hooked up right now, you'll be blown away by the quality and quantity of the product. At Saber Radio.com you'll save 15% there. If you go to Saber Radio, that's S-A-B-R E radio.com you can also call 844-824-SAFE. That's 844-824. Safe saberradio.com for 15 off today.

[Buck Sexton]

And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform.

[Mark Simone]

Please don't touch the exhibit folks.

[Buck Sexton]

It could crash. Ready to step out of the Financial history [e-mail] you can invest in almost everything stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and find fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full disclosures at public.com disclosures Grand Canyon.

[Mark Simone]

University, a private Christian university in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona, believes we're endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. GCU believes in equal opportunity and the American Dream. Starts with purpose. GCU equips you to serve others in ways that promote human flourishing and create a ripple effect of transformation for generations to come. By honoring your career, calling you impact your family, your friends and your community. You can change the world for good by putting others before yourself to glorify God. Whether your pursuit involves a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, GCU's online, on campus and hybrid learning environments are designed to help you achieve your unique academic, personal and professional goals. With over 340 academic programs as of September 2024, GCU meets you where you are and provides a path to help you fulfill your dreams. The pursuit to serve others is yours. Let it flourish. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University Private Christian affordable visit GCU.edu zero waste.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Mark Simone]

By the way, book that I was referencing, it's really a good read. If you are interested in the battle between Hollywood, China and how movies were made and it ties in with what we were just talking about. I mean think about how crazy that is. They re they remade Red dawn and then they completely redid the entirety of the film and replaced China as the villain because they didn't want to offend China. Red Carpet is the name of that book, easy to remember and the author is a guy named Eric Schwartzel. Really, really well done. If you're interested in cultural battles through film, we've made fun of the fact, Buck, that I took Chinese, sorry Russian and German cinema classes when I was in college back in the day. As one does, by the way, Trump has landed in the Netherlands for the NATO summit. He is presently headed towards a car shaking hands in a not surprisingly big white USA cap. Which is great. You know, I don't know. We talked about the photos that they took inside of the situation room. Trump at the top of the, at the top of the table in his red MAGA hat presiding over the, over the attack was, was pretty fantastic. But he has landed in a white big bold USA baseball cap and, and his suit, as is usually the case and is in the, the beast there. The, the vehicle that he rides in to. To take him to the NATO meetings.

[Clay Travis]

I wish he was wearing a Crockett coffee hat because that would be helpful for Crockett knowledge across the country. I love USA the most, but cr. Oh, Clay's wearing his crock, everybody. That's what I like to see. Go to crockettcoffee.com my friends, and subscribe. It is the best coffee you'll get anywhere, plus 10% of the profits goes to Tunnel the Towers Foundation. You got a great deal with Clay. If you subscribe and use code book, he'll send you a signed copy of American Playbook. Mushroom coffee. Have you tried mushroom coffee? You should at least try it. We've got it. It's delicious. It's [e-mail] plus we've got all the usual stuff, you know, the cake cups, whole bean, ground bean. If you're drinking coffee from somewhere else, ask yourself, why are you supporting that communist swill? It makes no sense. Put your dollars where your heart is. Crockettcoffee.com have it sent right to your door. Please subscribe and tell a friend about it. You know, Clay's rocking the gear. I rock the gear. In the spirit of Davy Crockett, a great American. You can even get an overmountain club mug. Great conversation starter. People go, oh, what's overmountain? Ooh, ooh. Very interesting, isn't it? You know, you'll know when you're an overmountain club member. So there you go. Go.

[Mark Simone]

Plus, you should have some money because the stock market is nearing an all time high. We'll talk about that a bit more when we come back. Let's also dive in.

[Clay Travis]

Do we keep buying? Clay, you're the, you're the, you know, are you still. You're a believer in this market still or is things getting a little too frothy?

[Mark Simone]

I just hate buying anything at the top of the market. This is just me. I understand. You should buy and hold. And I'm going to hold all my assets until I'm dead. Hopefully my kids get them. But I do want to talk about that also. We come back as the. As the ceasefire is continuing to hold in Iran and Israel that Trump has put together. How about. A lot of people so far have been atrociously wrong on what was going to happen. Not this program, but a lot of people tried to convince you World War III was going to happen if we hit Iran. We said, no, that's not going to happen. And let's actually go through and look at some ideas of what was said versus reality. And I would just say for everybody out there listening, if you are constantly finding yourself being terrified, sometimes it's the media that you might consume that is convincing you that every day, the next day is going to be the apocalypse. We were joking off air. Some of these guys and gals out there, it's like they woke up the day after they said the world was gonna end and then they're like, okay, well, it's just moving along. Yeah, the prediction didn't happen. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Mark Simone]

And so not that we're flawless on this show.

[Clay Travis]

We don't do his. We don't do hysteria on this show. Hysteria, a cheap way to get attention, but it's a bad way to do it. And we do insight analysis and clay. You know what else we like being.

[Buck Sexton]

Right and having fun.

[Mark Simone]

It's a good combo.

[Buck Sexton]

And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform.

[Mark Simone]

Please don't touch the exhibit folks.

[Buck Sexton]

It could crash. Ready to step out of the financial history [e-mail] you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full [e-mail] disclosures hey, it's Karen and.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Georgia from My favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai, we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five.

[Unknown Speaker]

We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special event episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Take a listen. So I'm going to tell you a story today, Karen. It's about a pivotal role that cars played in none other than the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay, well, yes, it's right there in the title, right? This episode is brought to you by the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Zero Waste.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Camping isn't always easy. You've got to find the right gear that's durable, sustainable and won't actually end up in a landfill once it's worn out. That's why Little Camper makes it Easy to choose Zero Waste Propane for your next camping trip. Pick the exchangeable Zero Waste 1 pound propane cylinder. Find a retailer at Little camper with a K.com outdoor that's littlecamper with a K.com Outdoor little camper what fuels you?

[Clay Travis]

The following heartwarming yet informative scene is.

[Mark Simone]

Brought to you by Trust and will.

[Unknown Speaker]

Son, your grandpa and I used to.

[Clay Travis]

Work on this car together and when I'm gone, I want you to have it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

Thanks dad.

[Clay Travis]

Doesn't count. What you need is a will.

[Mark Simone]

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[Clay Travis]

For details, see trustandwill.com Stuck in the.

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Same day to day routine. Wake up, go to work, eat, sleep, repeat. Break through the boredom this summer and download Call of Duty Mobile for free. Enjoy Fan favorite maps, modes and operators from classic Call of Duty titles plus new mobile exclusive content Today doesn't have to suck. Cure your boredom for free with Call of Duty Duty almost anywhere anytime. Call of Duty Mobile is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for free today. Rated M for Mature, this is an I Heart podcast.