Hour 2 - Working for the Man

Summary

Summary of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" – Hour 2: Working for the Man (Released July 23, 2025)

Introduction In the second hour of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into pressing political and economic issues shaping the United States. The conversation is enriched by insights from Victor Davis Hanson, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Producer Ali, who provides additional commentary and handles listener feedback.

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1. Sentencing of Brian Kohberger

Timestamp: [41:40] - [42:16]

The episode opens with a somber discussion on the sentencing of Brian Kohberger, convicted of the brutal murders of four college students in Idaho. Victor Davis Hanson delivers a scathing critique of Kohberger's actions and the legal proceedings:

Victor Davis Hanson ([41:40]): "His grotesque acts of evil have buried and hidden anything that might have been good or intrinsically human about him... he is the worst of the worst."

Clay Travis echoes this sentiment, expressing disapproval of the decision to allow Kohberger to plead guilty without providing detailed explanations to the victims' families:

Clay Travis ([42:16]): "I don't agree with the decision to not require him to explain in full detail why he did what he did and tell the family so they can have some form of peace."

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2. Russia Collusion Accountability and Trump Administration

Timestamp: [05:20] - [07:03]

Clay Travis addresses the ongoing debate surrounding allegations of Russia collusion with former President Trump. New documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have reignited discussions about accountability, much to the frustration of Republicans.

One listener, Jeff, expresses his concern over perceived double standards:

Listener Jeff ([05:22]): "If the parties were reversed and it was a Republican that did the things Obama and the others did, guarantee the Democrats would go for jail time, but we Republicans can't do it."

Clay and Hanson discuss the challenges Republicans face in holding Democrats accountable, emphasizing the difficulties in obtaining convictions based on federal law:

Clay Travis ([07:03]): "But I could be wrong."

Victor Davis Hanson reinforces the notion of systemic bias:

Victor Davis Hanson ([13:16]): "They are all caught. Irrefutable evidence. They should all go to jail or it will never stop."

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3. Trade Agreements and Tariff Updates

Timestamp: [23:31] - [35:56]

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Trump administration's trade policies and their positive impact on the U.S. economy. Highlights include the landmark trade deal with Japan:

Victor Davis Hanson ([25:09]): "They just signed the largest trade deal in history... $550 billion will be invested in the United States."

Clay Travis examines the immediate effects of these agreements, noting the resilience of the stock market amidst initial concerns:

Clay Travis ([25:43]): "All these things that a lot of people said that Trump was wrong on doesn't look wrong yet."

Producer Ali adds that the trade deals are contributing to a balanced budget and increased tariffs revenue:

Producer Ali ([27:06]): "We're on track to bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs."

The hosts also discuss the anticipation of a favorable trade deal with the European Union and commend Marjorie Taylor Greene for her efforts to eliminate capital gains taxes on primary residences, which they believe would invigorate the housing market.

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4. Housing Market Challenges and Proposed Solutions

Timestamp: [27:06] - [36:57]

Clay Travis and Producer Ali delve into the complexities of the current housing market. With the national median home price at approximately $435,000 and average household incomes around $75,000, the affordability crisis is stark.

Key Points Discussed:

• Capital Gains Tax on Primary Residences: Marjorie Taylor Greene's proposal to eliminate capital gains taxes to encourage homeowners to sell and make housing more accessible for younger generations.

  Clay Travis ([30:28]): "The best thing we could do for the economy is fix it."

• Mortgage Rates: The necessity to reduce mortgage rates from current highs (~7%) to more manageable levels (~5%) to stimulate home buying and selling.

  Clay Travis ([34:48]): "The government gets every dollar that you make on Monday and Tuesday too... I think we need to be dialing that back."

• Multigenerational Housing: Exploring European models where extended families live together to alleviate housing shortages.

  Clay Travis ([34:48]): "Maybe Trump changes that. Now that is possible."

Producer Ali emphasizes the importance of indexing capital gains for inflation to prevent excessive taxation on long-term home appreciation.

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5. Economic Growth and Stock Market Performance

Timestamp: [23:31] - [35:56]

The hosts highlight the robust performance of the U.S. stock market, reaching new all-time highs fueled by optimistic economic indicators and strategic trade agreements. They attribute this growth to Trump's economic policies, which have successfully countered predictions of trade wars and market crashes.

Victor Davis Hanson ([25:09]): "But we're doing really well. As a country, we're strong. We have a lot of money flowing in."

Producer Ali mentions that in June, the U.S. achieved one of the first balanced budgets in years, further underscoring the administration's economic success.

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6. Media Lawsuits and Comparisons to Watergate

Timestamp: [07:03] - [14:09]

Clay Travis and Victor Davis Hanson draw parallels between the alleged media bias against Trump and historical political scandals like Watergate. They argue that the consistent legal actions taken by Trump against major media outlets exemplify an unprecedented level of media retaliation.

Victor Davis Hanson ([13:16]): "Make America Great Again. That is from Trump's Truth Social... that makes Watergate look like small potatoes."

Clay agrees, stating:

Clay Travis ([14:00]): "It's all true. It's all correct. I just to be clear, I agree with 100% of what Victor Davis Hansen just said."

Producer Ali adds that the 2020 election rigging was more significant than the 2016 allegations, exacerbated by the handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

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7. Handling Anger vs. Strategic Action

Timestamp: [07:03] - [36:57]

The conversation shifts to the emotional responses to political frustrations. Producer Ali emphasizes the importance of channeling anger into constructive strategies rather than simply venting:

Producer Ali ([07:03]): "Anger is an emotion. You need a plan that channels the anger in a rational way."

Clay responds by highlighting Trump's executive actions, such as his controversial decision to exclude men from women's sports in the Olympics, as examples of proactive measures taken to address contentious issues.

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8. Cybercrime and Identity Theft

Timestamp: [07:03] - [36:57]

Producer Ali briefly touches upon the growing threat of cybercrime and identity theft, stressing the need for robust protection measures. Although not deeply explored, it underscores the broader theme of national security concerns in the digital age.

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9. Investment in Gold as a Hedge Against Inflation

Timestamp: [37:12] - [38:05]

Clay Travis discusses the merits of investing in gold amidst rising national debt and persistent inflation. He advocates for converting traditional retirement accounts into gold-backed assets to preserve wealth.

Clay Travis ([34:48]): "Gold just makes sense. Look at gold up 40% in the past year."

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10. Conclusion and Call to Action

Timestamp: [40:15] - [42:42]

Wrapping up, the hosts encourage listeners to subscribe to their YouTube channel to access full episodes and additional content. They reiterate their commitment to uncovering truths and holding those in power accountable, regardless of political affiliation.

Clay Travis ([42:42]): "We can also do the View saying the Constitution is in trouble because Colbert got fired because you know, less intense stuff too."

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Key Takeaways:

• Accountability: The show emphasizes the necessity for political accountability, particularly concerning allegations of Russia collusion against Trump.
• Economic Policies: Positive impact of Trump's trade agreements and tariffs on the U.S. economy and stock market.
• Housing Market Reforms: Proposed elimination of capital gains tax on primary residences to revitalize the housing sector.
• Strategic Action Over Emotion: Advocating for constructive strategies to address political frustrations rather than mere expressions of anger.
• National Security: Awareness of cyber threats and the importance of securing personal and national data.
• Wealth Preservation: Encouragement to invest in gold as a safeguard against economic instability.

This comprehensive discussion provides listeners with a critical analysis of current political and economic landscapes, offering both critique and solutions aligned with conservative viewpoints.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Football is back.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Let's go baby.

[Clay Travis]

On July 26th and 27th, teams across the league take the field for Back Together weekend presented by YouTube TV.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Let's do this for the fan.

[Clay Travis]

With two full days of practices, player interviews and behind the scenes access, it's a can't miss NFL reunion. Back Together Weekend presented by YouTube TV July 26th and 27th. Go to NFL.comBackTogether Together Weekend for more information.

[Producer Ali]

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[Clay Travis]

Visit puretalk.com buck to get your free phone today and to switch to my wireless company. That's PureTalk.com Buck, America's wireless company. Pure Talk. Second hour of clay and Buck kicks off right now and we've got a couple of things we're following. One is today is the sentencing day for Brian Kohberger who is convicted of those four horrific murders of those college students in Idaho and in Moscow, Idaho. And that is right now. Victim impact statements are being rattled out of the court and we are at the end of that legal process. He is going to serve four consecutive life sentences. He did not get the death penalty, which I think for a lot of people feels like if there's ever somebody who deserves it. But here we are so that's that situation. But if we have anything from that trial, it's been covered live by a lot of news organizations out there. We have an eye on that, to be sure. We've also got, oh, boy. A whole bunch of emails coming in on the Russia collusion. Russia collusion accountability situation. Right. President Trump. And we can just go right to this. This has become now, because of some new documents that have been released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, there are people focusing in on this who perhaps haven't in quite some time. Meanwhile, just to say, you know, there's some tariff stuff happening we can update you on as well, some good things on the economy, which is, you know, there's a trade agreement now with Japan, created a trade agreement with Indonesia. Trump says he just signed the largest trade deal in history with Japan. So that looks like a very good deal. $550 billion will be invested in the United States, which will receive 90% of the profits. Hundreds of thousands of jobs. Never been anything like it. Trump's very happy about that. So there's, there's a lot going on. And I think one challenge, Clay, to when you're, when you're covering the Trump administration and trying to pick what you're focusing on, you've got many different departments that are making big moves and that are doing things that are worthy of public attention and in some cases, acclaim here as well, some very good things that we see happening. So the trade agreements that have gone through are certainly a good thing. Trump's also talked about the lawsuits against 60 Minutes, CBS and Paramount, ABC. George Stephanopoulos. That is something that he spent some time on. But here we go back to this makes Watergate look like small potatoes. Victor Davis Hansen, senior Fellow, Hoover Institution. They are all caught. Irrefutable evidence. They should all go to jail or it will never stop. Nobody will believe the evidence, which is overwhelming. Make America Great Again. That is from Trump's Truth Social, and that is on his. That is just from the last 24 hours. Clay. Let's. Let' swe should remind everybody. I don't think we played this yesterday. I think it's worth playing today. Just how dedicated the media was to propagating this, this lie of Russia collusion back during.

[Producer Ali]

We played this in the first hour.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, I'm sorry. We played in the first hour. Sorry. But we have been following up on this one and we're looking more closely, I think, at the possibility of, of some kind of accountability maybe happening. But we got a lot of These emails coming in, like Jeff, he writes, so you're saying that all these crooks will face no consequences because everybody does bad stuff. If the parties were reversed and it was a Republican that did the things Obama and the others did, guarantee the Democrats would go for jail time, but we Republicans can't do it. This is ridiculous. Love the show. Otherwise, Jeff, we're not saying it's because everybody does bad stuff and so stuff just happens. And we're not saying we disagree with you that Democrats are much more willing to go for the jugular, especially weaponizing the system to go for the jugular, than Republicans are, or just saying, based on what's been laid out, it's going to be a challenge to get any actual consequences for any of the people involved in Russia collusion. That's it. This isn't a. I'm not saying I don't want them to be charged. I'm saying it will be difficult to charge them and even harder to convict them based on federal law. And I just think that's where this is. Because the other side of this, we could say, oh, yeah, Brennan, you're gonna frog march him out of his house and he's gonna end up spending years in prison. And people would say to us, in a couple months, Clay, well, maybe people will just forget that this conversation even happened, but they'd be saying in a couple of months. Why did you guys say that? Why do you say that there's going to be justice and there's no justice. We're not saying that because I don't see it. But I could be wrong.

[Producer Ali]

Anger is not a strategy. So most people will only play on anger, and that's fine. That is a strategy that works on social media. I'm mad. And then you say, okay, what's your plan? I always say anger is an emotion. You need a plan that channels the anger in a rational way. So I step back dispassionately and say, as an attorney, okay, what are the methods by which you could channel this anger into charges that lead to a significant punishment? Because I think for most people, the strategy should not be anger. Toddlers are angry. They throw tantrums. Buck, you're going to find out about this quite a lot. But their tantrums often have no tangible direction. So I don't want to be a toddler. I don't want to be just walking around throwing a tantrum. Here's a tangible action that happened yesterday. Trump ended men competing in women's sports in the Olympics based on his executive order they looked at the issue. We don't think men should be competing in women's sports. They analyzed, thanks to the talented people he has around him, the relevant statutes, the executive order powers that he had, and he basically ended it. Now, we're still going to have court cases surrounding it because anytime the president does anything, somebody challenges it, they don't like it and the court cases transpire. But the reality is men competing in women's sports was ended. They found they were angry about it, as you are, as many of us are, and they said, we're going to solve it. So if you are angry about what you saw, I look at this because I can make the arguments in both directions, as I think a criminal defense attorney would. And based on all the documents that I have read, and I've read a lot of them, what the clear argument is going to be is, look, there were differing interpretations about exactly what the impact of Russia's attempt to influence the 2016 election were. Right? What were the impacts? One hand, virtually nothing. I think that that's the reality. I think you can go back and look and say Russia did not in any way, I don't believe impact that Trump won in 2016. I think most of you probably agree with that. The other is, hey, they changed election totals. I don't think anybody's arguing that they hacked and changed election totals. But Democrats are smart. They use the phrase hacked much like they said 51 intelligence agents remember the way it has all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. They know the media are morons and will carry their water. So they are very strategic in what they put out there. How quickly did has all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation for the Hunter Biden laptop get laundered into this is Russian disinformation almost immediately because they skipped right over the language. Hacked can mean many things. They did hack Hillary Clinton's emails, by the way. Didn't Russia hack or China hack a lot of Trump's emails and Trump's team in the 2024 election? You could speak to this better than anybody. How much of the time do foreign adversaries spend trying to get access to voicemails to emails? Like it's all they do, right? They hacked, if I remember correctly, J.D. vance's cell phone, China did, and he even came out and said all they got were a couple of information messages that were text because everything else was on the cloud. And Apple actually has pretty good protective mechanisms as long as your phone remains in your possession, such that it's hard to actually see what those text messages are. My point on this is I just, I think we have laid it out and I think there are people out there who are going to tell you the opposite because they just want to play on your anger and, and they're not going to the next step of how does it happen. I just, I think it's important for the historical record. I think that everyone should understand what they did. But I think the odds of them being arrested and charged with crimes are low. Part of this is because they have a kangaroo court in their favor. D.C. is the best possible venue if you are a Democrat to try to hold a Republican accountable because 95% on people on any jury pool are going to be voting Democrat and they don't like Republicans and they will hold you accountable. If Washington D.C. were located in, in somewhere like, I don't know, south Alabama, in a rural district. Yeah. The grand jury would indict Obama. I, this is forum shopping. There are lots of places. If I could find the county that voted 9010 for Donald Trump, would they indict Obama on this evidence? Yes. Obama would then argue it's within presidential powers. And I think the Supreme Court would come down on his side just like they came down on Trump's side. I think it's going to be very hard here now leaking classified documents. I think based on all the evidence I've seen, that's the best case. Buck, how does that go?

[Clay Travis]

It's super hard to prove that. It's incredibly hard to prove that. It really. And the Obama administration went after people very, very aggressively on that front and had limited success, to be clear. So, and trying to go after senior level officials for that stuff is, you know, it can be a challenge. So I don't see that talking to the press about different things because they're going to say, yeah, I talked to the press. A lot of people talk to that, that, you know, unless you have a recording of somebody or they were dumb enough to put it in text or email, you're not going to get them. I mean, that's again, this is just the way it works. Right. People can be frustrated by it. They can be. But just having a conversation, if you're the CIA director with the head of the Washington Post, you know, national security desk or whatever, that's not going to get, that's not going to get you a conviction and probably wouldn't get you a charge. So there's, there's challenges with this. I wish it were not so. And I think that Trump talking about it is getting everybody on the same page about just how egregious it was. But I mean, I've been. Here's Victor Davis Hansen, but I mentioned this, this is top five play it.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

They wanted Donald Trump's administration to fail and they wanted to destroy him. Career wise, presidential wise, psychologically, they wanted to destroy him. And so they went through the collusion false narrative in 2015 and 16 that failed. They took a little breath. Then they ate up 22 months and $40 million of his administration to destroy it. Then they took a little breath and they went into the first impeachment phony Zelensky phone call and Venman and the quote, unquote whistleblower. And so this was a three year project to overturn the will of the American people and to destroy administration makes Watergate, as people have remarked on, look like small potatoes.

[Clay Travis]

It's all true. It's all correct. I just to be clear, I agree with 100% of what Victor Davis Hansen just said and I've agreed with it all along. And I've been saying it all along.

[Producer Ali]

I actually.

[Clay Travis]

Now what do we do about it? Is the question or what's going, what's going to be done about it is actually the question we're addressing today.

[Producer Ali]

I may be in the minority here too. This is all very significant. I think the 2020 election rigging was far more significant than the 2016 allegations because I don't think anything in 2016 changed the outcome. I think the decision to, to argue the New York Post Hunter Biden laptop wasn't real. Uh, I think the 51 intelligence agents there, I think that actually swung the election. Right. If you told me right now, Clay, what are you angrier about? The fallout of 2016 or what happened in 2020? By far, I am angrier about 2020. Now we're going all the way back to 2016. But remember, the FBI had Hunter Biden's laptop in their possession, Knew it was 100% real, and yet allowed the New York Post story to be treated as if it were Russian disinformation. Now, what they were smart about, and they're smart about the way they seed narratives, man, they already had put out there. Russia wants Trump to win. So 2020, their protective cloak for anything that was negative about Biden was what? Buck, this is just Russia disinformation. We're not going to let them hack 2020 like they did 2016. They are just diabolical, man.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Producer Ali]

And a part of it. You have to step back and just say, man, the stories they tell and the narratives they build are so compelling and they act on them and they're nastier and they're willing to do things, frankly, that I think in general, Republicans are not. I think that's the reality.

[Clay Travis]

Maybe Trump changes that. Now that is possible. Maybe Trump decides the gloves are off. That could happen. Hasn't happened yet with this kind of legal, let's be honest, counter lawfare. That's really what we're talking about, counter lawfare. Maybe that changes. We shall see. You know, there's more than one name for people who steal online identities and make money off of them. The polite name is cyber thieves. Well, the less polite terms you can think of what those are, call them what you will. These criminals crack into company databases and create phony identities with the info they steal. These are, these are the modern day bank robbers, my friends. Cops have a hard time finding them. A lot of the time they're offshore. It's important to understand how cybercrime and identity theft are affecting all of our lives. And you need to protect yourself with Lifelock. Lifelock detects and alerts you to potential identity threats you may not spot on your own, like loans taken out in your name or unwanted credit card charges. And if you do become a victim of identity theft and you're a Lifelock member, you can rely on a dedicated US based restoration specialist at Lifelock who will work with you to fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. I've got Lifelock. You should have Lifelock join now. Save 40% off your first year with promo code BUCK. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK or head to lifelock.com use My Name Buck as your promo code for 40% off terms apply.

[Producer Ali]

You don't know what you don't know, right? But you could. On the Sunday, hang with Clay and.

[Buck Sexton]

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[J.R. Martinez]

I'm J.R. martinez and on the Medal of Honor podcast we tell stories of the service members who went beyond the call of duty and lived to tell the tale. Like Bud Day, who endured almost six years at the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison in the Vietnam War.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

I just said to myself I'd come this far to surrender to these bastards. So I took off. Run.

[J.R. Martinez]

Or Alvin York, the most famous soldier of World War I.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

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[J.R. Martinez]

These are more than battlefield stories. They're about the people who showed extraordinary courage when it mattered most. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Producer Ali]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. I love you all for what you are doing for the YouTube page of the show. Many reasons not just because of what you're doing for the YouTube page show, but you guys have been signing up in the thousands. We want to get this thing over a hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube. Soon we will be able to put up all three hours of the show and you will be able to watch at your heart's content. I'm assuming we'll probably break it down by hour, but you'll be able to watch the show in addition to listening on the 555 stations nationwide, which we love and all of you who listen audio podcast including, including my wife who listens at one and a half or two speed so that she can get through our show faster. And I know a lot of you out there do that as well. I'm not a huge podcast guy, but I've heard that you can speed up the shows, get through them even faster. Here are all the topics conversations but we are at 87,000 subscribers. Thousands of you signed up yesterday. Can you take us over 90,000 today? Over 90,000 today on the Clay and Buck show we are posting links. Again kids, grandkids out there. If you hear a topic on this show like yesterday we talked with sergeant Mattingly from Louisville about the Brianna Taylor case that's up on YouTube. It's out there for everybody to be able to see, easy to share, happened.

[Clay Travis]

To be listening as we talked about Grace, which is pretty amazing.

[Producer Ali]

Yeah, no, that was fantastic. So that's up from yesterday. Every day, different clips going up. You can share and we would like for you to go subscribe. Search out Clay Travis. Search out Buck Sexton. Take us over 90k subscribers today. Jerry from New York. W O R. He's got a feedback. Hey, Clay and Buck, this is Jerry from New York.

[Clay Travis]

Love you guys. You're the best duo since Tango and Cash, probably. Yeah. I think you guys are looking at this whole Obama thing and Russia collusion the wrong way. They have to be brought out in the daylight whether there's consequences or not. It's too easy for Democrats to do whatever they want and know the Republicans will never retaliate. Maybe they'll think twice in the future. Well, that's what we agree with question. We actually agree with you. We're saying, yes, you need this. Dni Gabbard needs to get this stuff out there. The people need to know the truth. We're just saying that those who are claiming that, you know, Barack Obama is going to go to prison over this or something and there are people out there making those kinds of claims, I think they're very likely to be wrong about that. These are, those are different things though, 100%.

[Producer Ali]

And look, we're widely and want this to be widely distributed, all of it. For the historic record. I think it's fabulously important. But there's a difference between that and somebody being walked out in handcuffs. And we're trying to analyze that distinction between political and legal. Your cell phone meant to last for years, not forever. And how about time to change? You can get right now a Samsung Galaxy A36 for free with a $35 a month qualifying plan from our friends at PureTalk. That low monthly cost will provide unlimited talk, text, plenty of data and a free Samsung phone with scratch resistant Gorilla glass and a battery that'll last all day. All in America's most dependable 5G network, supporting companies like PureTalk. It's a good thing. You win by cutting your cell phone bill in half. They win by hiring more Americans, helping veterans out make the switch in as little as 10 minutes. I rely on Pure Talk to stay in touch with my 17 and 14 year old. You can as well dial £250, say the keywords Clay and Buck to get your free phone today. That's £250, say clay and Buck for Pure Talk.

[Clay Travis]

All right, welcome back into Clay and Bach. We are about to dive into the economy, but first, producer Ali's birthday is tomorrow. Everybody so send in some nice birthday thoughts. Producer Ally, our executive producer, keeps all the clay and buck trains running on time. Keeps the boys on the, keeps the boys on the, on the track. Make sure we don't get too crazy, make sure the guests are calling in when they're supposed to and all the other things. So happy early bird. I won't be here tomorrow, so I want to say it, Happy early birthday to producer Alley. And we also have some good things to talk about on the economy clay. So I was going to do stock.

[Producer Ali]

Market new record highs. As you know, I pretty much check the stock market constantly during the course of, of the day and we're at new all time highs because of very positive economic news out there.

[Clay Travis]

I just think it's worth taking a moment to review some of the Trump economic decisions from this past six months or so. Trump says we are getting shafted by the trade deals that we currently have. Everybody says, I say everybody in quotes. But you know what I mean, the consensus, the consensus including a lot of people in the right say, oh no, you can't do this. It's going to, it's going to create trade wars and there's going to be a huge drop in the stock market and all these terrible things will happen. There's a momentary blip, if you will, in the stock market, drops a bit, comes back roaring back and now it's higher than it's ever been. And on top of that, you've got some big trade deals that have gotten done that are going to affect the economy, are going to do things that I think will be really beneficial for the American people. You know, Trump, there's a lot, a lot of talk around some of these issues of, let's say, transparency and fighting back against the deep state. And that's all very important. But let's not lose sight of the fact that a fantastic Trump economy is one of the core promises. You know, we voted for this, right? We voted for a fantastic economy. And here you go, here he is announcing this is cut 17, the trade deal that just got done with Japan, obviously a major economic powerhouse. Play 17.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

They just signed the largest trade deal in history, I think maybe the largest deal in history with Japan. And that was done with Japan. They had their top people here and we worked on it long and hard and it's a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It's a great deal. A lot different from the deals in the past, I can tell you that. But we're doing really well. As a country, we're strong. We have a lot of money flowing in. The tariffs are kicked in better than anybody other than me and a few of the people in the room thought could happen.

[Clay Travis]

So, Clay, it sets tariffs, reciprocal tariffs at 15%, $550 billion Japan's going to invest in the United States. Auto tariffs on Tokyo, 15%. Like I said, a few other parts of this that you can look at more specifically, but basically overall looks like a very good deal. Trump's certainly really excited about it, and I think it could have some positive impact on the economy. In addition to this, one of the things that the consensus kept saying was, it's going to raise your prices. And here's Scott Besant. He was on MSNBC this morning. Is that where this clip is from, guys? Because I was actually watching this in real time. I think that I just out that I was watching some Morning Joe this morning. I think I did. I think, I think I just let that slip on the air. I was, I was. I'm sorry. It happens. It's a habit. It's hard to break that habit. Here it is. 19 Play Scott Bessant.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Who pays the tariffs is a choice. And what we've seen thus far is that the manufacturers are eating a substantial portion of the tariff and taking it into their profit margins. So you might see, for instance, Toyota hasn't raised prices and they may choose to go for market share rather than raising prices.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, all these things that a lot of people said that Trump was wrong on doesn't look wrong yet.

[Producer Ali]

Also reports that we're close to a trade deal with the EU that would be very favorable to the United States as well. I think one of the great stories that just kind of slid under the radar was that we actually had one of the first balanced budgets in years in June, the month that just passed. And we're on track to bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. And right now there appears to be zero significant inflationary pressure related to it. And I saw a story this morning. Let me give you, Let me give a positive shout out again, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Not going to agree with everybody on everything, but she has introduced a bill and team in New York. Make sure that I'm getting this 100% correct. That would eliminate capital gains taxes on the sell of your primary residence. One of the big challenges that the Trump team has recognized is the housing market is completely frozen in many respects because Biden's economic stewardship took us from two and a half, 3% mortgages almost overnight to 7%, a rapid raise the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time. And I come back to it all the time because I think it's foundational in the economy right now that until rates back up to around 5%. A lot of you out there, in fact, you can flood my mentions right now and let me know. If you bought a home and you have a 2 1/2% mortgage rate out there, you're never going to give it up, even if you've added kids, even if your kids have gone away to college. Because in order to sell your home, you have to pay capital gains tax and you would have to trade in potentially one low rate mortgage for a 7% mortgage. And Marjorie Taylor Greene, I think this is a really good idea. They're talking about eliminating capital gains taxes on your primary residence. Let me give another shout out. Ron DeSantis is asking a question that I think is a really good question. Why should you have to pay property taxes every year when you buy a home? A lot of our taxes are just embedded and nobody goes back and ever looks at them and says, boy, does that really make sense. I mentioned yesterday on the program, I do the show Monday to Friday. The government gets every dollar I make Monday and Tuesday. I work for the United States government on Monday and Tuesday every day on this program, they get every dollar that I make. And a lot of you out there, whatever you do for a living, the government gets every dollar that you make on Monday and Tuesday too. Does that make sense like that? That's a lot. I'm working really hard for the federal government out there to take all the money that I make on Monday and Tuesday all year round the rest of my life. And a lot of you are paying 14% state income taxes in California or New York or Illinois. And a lot of you are paying huge property tax bills such that over half of your money goes to the government every year. I think we need to be dialing that back. The Trump tax cuts are helping, but we've also embedded a huge percentage of this. And if we could take away the capital gains tax on homes, I think it would help to free the housing market and make that more lubricated, easier to trade.

[Clay Travis]

There are some challenges in the housing market and specifically homeownership and first time homeowners and the barriers to homes, to buying homes. $435,000 according to the Wall Street Journal is the national median existing home price. $435,000. Now, if you look at the average household income, which I think in the US is, was like 660.

[Producer Ali]

I think it's up to like 70, 77. I mean again, household, how you define it, but an average household is about 77, 75k I think now.

[Clay Travis]

But you look at 70, let's say, let's say 70 ish thousand dollars a year average household income and you look at a $435,000 median price house with a interest rate of close to 7, 6, 6.6 or something 6.8, depends on your credit score obviously and all that. It's really tough to buy a home. It's really tough for the average American right now to buy a, and for the average American family. To buy an average priced American home is a big challenge. Stephen Moore, well known economist, Wall Street Journal guy, friend of the Trump administration, he said something about this that I think is getting some attention. He's saying that there are a lot of boomers sitting on very expensive housing that they should sell. I'm just telling you what Stephen Moore is saying. Cut 18, 18, play it.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

The one thing probably everybody at this table can agree on is we do have a housing problem in this country and we need, you know, especially for people like I have two sons that are in their early 30s. That's about the time when people start talking about buying a house. They can't, they can't afford a house right now. Housing is so expensive. So this is one way you could maybe make housing more affordable, encourage older people to sell out. By the way, what I would do is I would index capital gains for inflation. Somebody who bought a house in the 70s for 100,000, that house probably worth what, $500,000 today. And most of that gain was just due to inflation. So we want to encourage people to sell their homes as they get older and free up housing for younger people.

[Producer Ali]

Okay, this is important and I know it sounds like we're going into some nerd talk here when it comes to the economy, but I think Trump gets this.

[Clay Travis]

Housing cost matters to everybody. I think Clay, I think everyone sees this as a big challenge, a big, a big concern.

[Producer Ali]

If you can, he said index capital gains when you sell your home. A lot of people, because this is the reality and I'm sure some of you have thought through this. He mentioned you buy a home in the 1970s for 100k. Let's say that house is worth 700k now, which is not crazy. You would owe capital gains tax if you sold it on some of that income in the middle. I think there's a $500,000 wipeout. Right. But so if you die, your heirs take the home at the value that it is on that day. So instead of having to pay capital gains tax, they take it at let's say that hundred thousand dollar house. Now we're 700k. Your heirs take it at 700k. Well you out there living in that house might have thought, hey you know what, it's time to sell. But I don't want to have to give the government capital gains tax on this. We should wipe out capital gains on primary residents. I think it would drastically improve the overall housing market. I think that people would buy and sell homes more freely and I think it's a no brainer. I give credit to Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think it would help a lot of people. And by the way, we also need to get mortgage rates back down to around 5%. I was looking at my mentions right after I said that, a bunch of you reached out, sent me messages, hopped in and said, clay, you just nailed me. I got a 2 1/2% mortgage. I just had another kid. Hey, my kid just left for college. Your family, circumstances change. I need to be in a new school district. I can't afford to sell my home, potentially pay capital gains tax on it and take on a 7% mortgage. It's broken the housing market. The best thing we could do for the economy is fix it. This is where Trump is right about the Jerome Powell. We need to bring back down rates and start to balance out that crazy increase that we saw from around two and a half percent to seven or.

[Clay Travis]

The other option is to. And I'm actually in favor of this in a lot of ways, especially in a lot of cities or in expensive suburbs. Around cities you go for multi generational housing setup where if you have the space, you know, you get the grandparents living with the parents living with the kids or you know, if you can, it depends on how much space we're talking about here. That's very common in some places in Europe. Now Europe is far less wealthy per capita than America is, which I think people often forget about. Their fancy baguettes and espressos do not make up for the fact that Americans are far wealthier on average than all, really all major European countries. I should say. You know, if you places don't have.

[Producer Ali]

Air conditioning, this was an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning that how hot it is. They don't even have air conditioning.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, well now did you see there's, they're trying to say something about there's A like thermal shock, but cold shock from air conditioning is bad for you. They're trying to say, oh, they said.

[Producer Ali]

Yeah, 15 degree difference.

[Clay Travis]

I'm like, we don't even want your stupid air conditioning. It is not necessary for us. No, no, no, Jacques, I'm sorry. You want the air conditioning, my man, Take the beret off, let the air conditioning flow.

[Producer Ali]

I don't hear very many Southerners who say, you know what, it's 100 degrees outside in July and August. You know what I'd really like? I like to feel it inside of my home. No, I'll take the, I'll take the air conditioning. I would argue air conditioning. Where does air? Is a good question. Is a fun debate. You're about to go off on vacation. We could save this sometime. Where does air conditioning rank on greatest inventions of all time just in terms of improving the overall quality of life. You wouldn't live in Miami if air conditioning didn't exist. Zero percent chance.

[Clay Travis]

Zero chance. Well, this is why it wasn't. Miami wasn't a year round town until pretty recently. Yes, right. I mean it's got, it was really post World War II, before that it was a place where people would go in the winter.

[Producer Ali]

The whole south was revolutionized by air conditioning because otherwise it was too brutal. I know everybody's like, climate change, climate change. Yeah. Talk to your, my parents talk about how hot it was in the summer and you had to sleep outside in Tennessee. You know, it was, it didn't cool off very much.

[Clay Travis]

Trump administration is working hard to make our economy grow. We're just talking about it. Great things are happening, but you still have to make the right choices for you as an individual and your wealth and your family and the hard earned dollars that you are accumulating is where gold comes in. Gold just makes sense. Look at gold up 40% in the past year. And you just check that for yourself. Look at gold over the last 10 years, you'll notice something, right? Gold maintains value and grows in value historically over time. With $37 trillion of debt still accumulating, guess what? You're going to have inflation. It's going to eat away at your savings. A portion of what you have in gold just makes sense. And here's another idea for you. You can convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA and physical gold. Birch Gold Group is the company I trust for this Birch Gold Group. They're the best in the business. Tax my name, buck to 98, 98, 98. And Birch Gold will send you a 4 free info kit on gold A plus rating with a Better Business Bureau. Tens of thousands of happy customers take control of your savings today. Text the word buck to 989898.

[Producer Ali]

News.

[J.R. Martinez]

And politics but also a little comic.

[Producer Ali]

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

[Buck Sexton]

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[J.R. Martinez]

I'm J.R. martinez and on the Medal of Honor podcast we tell stories of the service members who went beyond the call of duty and live to tell the tale. Like Bud Day, who endured almost six years at the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison in the Vietnam War.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

I just said to myself, I've come this far to surrender to these bastards. So I took our front.

[J.R. Martinez]

Or Alvin York, the most famous soldier of World War I.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

It's not your creed or your high nor the color of your eyes that makes an American. It's our freedom and equality over the Constitution and our Bill of Rights that makes an American an almighty fighter.

[J.R. Martinez]

These are more than battlefield stories. They're about the people who showed extraordinary courage when it mattered most. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Producer Ali]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. I appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We've got so many different feedbacks, talkbacks rolling in. Want to encourage you go subscribe to the Clay and Buck podcast. So yeah, certainly the podcast, but now YouTube. It's crazy. More people watch video of podcasts than actually listen to podcasts. Now I I this stat like, kind of blew me away. I was reading about it and I said, well, man, we need to be on top of this. So we want to take this Clay and buck show, the YouTube channel. Take me to 90K. Today. We're at 88,000 subscribers. I sound like an auctioneer. Buck is going to leave for Thursday and Friday. I want to hit 100, a hundred thousand next week. But before he leaves to go celebrate with his dad the birthday, I want us to hit 90,000 subscribers. You can do it. All you have to do is go to YouTube.YouTube.com type in clay travis. Type in Buck Sexton. Click, subscribe. We're going to be responding to questions that you guys post in there. In News Coburger, this awful killer of four innocent college kids has declined to address the courtroom as part of his guilty plea that will avoid a death penalty. Here is cut 30. Just giving you a sense of what it sounded like in that Boise, Idaho courtroom.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Listen, truth be told, I'm unable to come up with anything redeeming about Mr. Kohberger because his grotesque acts of evil have buried and hidden anything that might have been good or intrinsically human about him. His actions have made him the worst of the worst. Even in pleading guilty, he is giving nothing hinting of remorse or redemption, nothing suggesting even a recognition or understanding, let alone regret for the pain that he has caused. And therefore, I will not attempt to speak about him further other than to simply sentence him so that he is forever removed from civilized states society.

[Producer Ali]

We'll talk about this maybe a little bit in the third hour because I think the decision to allow him to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty might make sense. I don't agree with the decision to not require him to explain in full detail why he did what he did and tell the family so they can have some form of peace exactly what went down. I don't understand that aspect of it, but Bach, can we come back?

[Clay Travis]

We can also do the View saying the Constitution is in trouble because Colbert got fired because you know, less intense stuff too.

[Producer Ali]

Yeah, Red Paul.

[Clay Travis]

Next football is back.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Let's go, baby.

[Clay Travis]

On July 26th and 27th, teams across the league take the field for Back Together weekend presented by YouTube TV. With two full days of practices, player interviews and behind the scenes access, it's a can't miss NFL reunion. Back Together Weekend presented by YouTube TV. July 26th and 27th. Go to NFL.com back together weekend for more information. This is an iHeart podcast.