Hour 3 - Christmas Music and Gifts are Overrated

Summary

Podcast Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Episode: Hour 3 – Christmas Music and Gifts are Overrated
Date: December 9, 2025
Host: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton

Overview

This lively episode blends commentary on current events, immigration, media consolidation, and—most notably for this hour—a spirited debate over Christmas music, gift-giving traditions, and the cultural meaning of the holidays. The hosts employ their signature banter and wit to tackle issues ranging from media mergers and Somali migration to Minnesota, to the questionable merits of holiday rituals. Listeners are treated to both serious analysis and playful, sometimes grinchy, grumbling as the holidays approach.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Mergers and Political Influence

(02:52–06:57)

• Buck Sexton notes Clay's deep interest in major media corporate intrigue, likening him to a character from Succession.
• Clay Travis underscores the significant impact of media ownership on American public discourse and democracy.
  • "Who is in control of some of these primary media assets really dictates to a large degree the direction the country goes." (05:10, Clay)
• Both reflect on Rupert Murdoch’s unique role in offering alternatives to mainstream narratives, worrying that further consolidation could limit diverse perspectives.
• The importance of who controls CNN is debated as potentially more impactful than many political offices.

2. Somali Immigration and Welfare Fraud in Minnesota

(06:57–16:47)

• After playing controversial Trump soundbites about Somali-American Representative Ilhan Omar, Buck and Clay address Minnesota’s Somali community and allegations of welfare fraud.
• Clay Travis relays anecdotes from national security professionals naming Somalia as one of the most troubled countries.
  • "80, 90% of them said Somalia was the worst country in the world that they had ever been to." (09:00, Buck)
• The hosts criticize investigations into fraud being hampered by accusations of racism and express concern about importing large numbers of low-skilled immigrants from troubled nations.
  • "The idea that Minnesota is benefiting from bringing in low-educated people from the other side of the world...is absurd beyond belief." (10:06, Clay)
• Buck introduces a viral social media clip from a Vietnamese-American contrasting his community’s contributions with those of Somali immigrants, spotlighting differences in household income and integration:
  • Average Vietnamese-American household income: $86,000
  • Average Somali-American household income: $43,000
• They stress Nigerian-American financial success as proof that "it's not about race, it's about culture," and deride accusations of systemic racism as excuses.
  • "It's actually not skin color holding people back. Something else is going on culturally." (15:15, Clay)

3. Immigration Volume and Social Assimilation

(16:47–18:44)

• Buck muses on the unchecked appetite for immigration in the U.S. and Democrats' refusal to state what might constitute "too many" newcomers.
  • "Should we take the other 7.7 billion people from around the world and try to integrate them into American life? That seems crazy." (16:57, Buck)

4. Teachers’ Unions and COVID-19 School Closures

(21:19–22:49)

• The hosts criticize Randi Weingarten, head of the teachers' union, for blaming Trump for prolonged school closures during the pandemic.
  • "She was the problem...it was Randy Weingarten and the lazy ass teachers unions. That is obvious to all of us." (22:32, Clay)

5. Annual Christmas Rant: Music and Gifts

(24:13–32:35)

• Buck Sexton confesses he’s "the Grinch" when it comes to Christmas music, calling it overplayed and omnipresent:
  • "There's too much Christmas Music in all facets of life. I don't need to hear it everywhere." (25:58, Buck)
• The hosts reminisce about Toys R Us, old-school toy stores, and the pressure of finding holiday presents.
• Both advocate for limiting gifts to children under 18, abolishing adult gift exchanges, and focusing on experiences or meaningful contributions (like college fund gifts instead of material things).
  • "You get gifts for kids under 18 in your family...my little nieces and nephews, we give them gifts too." (27:27, Clay)
  • "I am sold on only kids should get Christmas gifts. I think it would be a revolutionary thing...super beneficial." (31:45, Buck)
• Clay shares a personal anecdote about his father repeatedly gifting him belts, prompting his push for family policy changes.
• Both joke about the uselessness of last-minute adult gifts (“Mom’s responsible for buying gifts for everyone, and then every year she gets a coffee mug or a robe”).

6. Presidential Greatness Debate: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson

(32:35–36:41)

• A call from Steve in North Carolina sparks a debate: Is George Washington the greatest U.S. president?
  • Buck provocatively ranks Lincoln and Jefferson above Washington, citing the Louisiana Purchase and Civil War leadership.
  • Clay defends Washington’s integrity and foundational role.
  • "Big G Dubs, G Dubs, kept the army together..." (34:44, Clay)
  • Buck quips about Washington’s lavish expense account, hinting at historical nuance.

7. More on Christmas Presents: Listener Calls

(37:33–44:28)

• Jim from Florida shares his family’s solution: an app for name draws and a “bottle swap” among adults.
• Buck admits to failed efforts at meaningful gifting, recounting how nobody appreciated rare books he gave as presents.
• Clay laments his family’s lack of enthusiasm when he shares articles with them—“All they think is Dad just gives us homework.”

8. Listener Feedback: Are They Just Grinches?

(43:42–44:28)

• Email from “Guy/Ghee” suggests renaming the show to “Grinch and Grinch.” Buck reads it on air with a laugh.
• Laura from Florida praises Buck’s college fund gifts, even if Clay finds them a little too “grown-up”.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Clay Travis (on media ownership):
  “Who is in control of some of these primary media assets really dictates to a large degree the direction the country goes.” (05:10)
• Buck Sexton (on Somali immigration):
  “You end up in a situation where what in the world are we doing importing 100,000 Somalis to Minneapolis? Like, this is ludicrous.” (10:11)
• Clay Travis (on Vietnamese vs Somali immigrant success):
  “So people who come here from Vietnam with nothing...just got to figure it out… that exemplifies what we would like to think is the American immigrant attitude, not ‘come here, get on welfare, complain, and maybe steal.’” (14:07)
• Buck Sexton (on Christmas music):
  “I think Christmas music's overplayed.... I don’t need to hear it everywhere.” (24:17, 25:58)
• Clay Travis (on adult gifts):
  “We stopped doing presents among the adults in my immediate family at my—I wouldn’t say demand, but I pretty much demanded this.” (27:23)
• Buck Sexton (summarizing his “Grinch” view):
  "I am sold on only kids should get Christmas gifts. I think it would be a revolutionary thing." (31:45)
• Listener "Guy":
  “You should change the name of the show from Clay and Buck to Grinch and Grinch.” (43:42)
• Laura from Florida:
  "I fully support [the college fund gift]. That's—might be a little bit too grown up for Clay, but I think that's a really good job." (44:10)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Media Consolidations & Trump Comments: 02:52–06:57
• Somali Immigration, Fraud Allegations, and Social Media Reactions: 06:57–16:47
• U.S. Immigration Limits Debate: 16:47–18:44
• Randi Weingarten & COVID School Closures: 21:19–22:49
• Christmas Music & Gift-Giving Debate: 24:13–32:35
• Presidential Ranking Debate: 32:35–36:41
• Christmas Gifting Listener Calls: 37:33–44:28
• Listener “Grinch” Feedback: 43:42–44:28

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Tone & Style

The episode mixes serious social commentary with amusing, self-deprecating humor, especially regarding holiday rituals. Both hosts draw on personal stories and cultural observations to enliven their arguments, never shying from sharp takes or joking at their own expense.

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Conclusion

Hour 3 of this episode encapsulates the show's signature style: intelligent yet irreverent debate, sometimes grumpy takes on American traditions, and a willingness to scrutinize both cultural and political sacred cows. Whether examining who owns the media or who should get gifts at Christmas, Clay and Buck keep the conversation lively, topical, and relatable—right down to the “Grinch and Grinch” label they (almost) embrace.

Transcript

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Third hour of clay and Buck kicks off now and a couple things we're going to get to this hour. One is we mentioned Yesterday that in Australia they've banned people under 16 from social media. Clay is very fired up about this.

[Buck Sexton]

Almost as fire. Super interesting.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, no, it is interesting. Not quite as fired up as you are about the prospect of the corporate wrangling behind the scenes for control of either Paramount, Netflix and yeah, you know, Clay, Clay loves that stuff. You should have been a character on succession. You love these things. The corporate intrigue of multi billion dollar mergers. Clay always asks me about, he's like, he's like, are you following the, the, you know, BBD and the qrs, the mergers in the media? I have no idea, Clay, but he's very up on this stuff. He knows these things well, very well. Trump actually weighed in on, on it the, the other day. I think it was yesterday. You know what, Clay, Just for you, just for you. I even have. This is a Trump cut that I see on the, this is cut 22. We'll just get to this quickly. Trump weighed in on the Netflix possible, possible deal, play 22. I know the companies very well, I know what they're doing, but I have to see, I have to see what percentage of market they are. We have to see the Netflix percentage of market, Paramount, the percentage of market. I mean, none of them are particularly great friends of mine. You know, I just, I want to, I want to do what's right. So, so very important to do what's right.

So he kind of just said, yeah, he's watching it, Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

Look, I get, sometimes people out there, they say, okay, these are, you know, super rich people feuding over who's going to have media assets or how it's going to be structured. I think this is one of the most important decisions that's going to happen in 2026. I really do. And so whether Netflix is going to buy Warner Brothers, whether Paramount is going to buy Warner Brothers, it is going to largely, I think, help to set the agenda for how the media covers 26, how the media covers 28 and beyond. And, and so, yeah, I follow it all. Like, I do love the television show succession and I think who is in control of some of these primary media assets really dictates to a large degree the direction the country goes. And I'll just point this out. Rupert Murdoch basically is the only person who created an alternative to the mainstream legacy media narrative in the whole country. Right. If you strip away Fox News, if you strip away the Wall Street Journal and you strip away the New York Post, you just have different degrees of arguing from a left wing perspective about what choice is Right for the country. And I think the marketplace of ideas is the most important aspect of all of American life because we have to have a way to take in all the different perspectives and make the right choices. And, and if we are artificially circumscribing what the public sees, then I think we end up with a severely curtailed success as a country. So, look, I mean, I think there are a lot of threats outside of America. I went on with Will Kane yesterday, Buck. They got gave a six month prison sentence to a former soccer player over there for criticisms that he made on social media. Now, the prison sentence was suspended, but the fact that you have people just getting, getting put in prison, theoretically, for tweets that they send, we're not that far away from that here. And if Kamala had won, make no mistake about it, that would have been one of the principles that she would put forward. And Gavin Newsom wins or whomever is in office. Again, as a Democrat, we're gonna have to fight these battles. And I hope Elon Musk buying Twitter is going to help us do that. But I just don't think we have enough assets lined up on the media side of sanity. And I worry about where we're headed there. You saw it firsthand. Who's running CNN has more impact than who gets elected. Almost any Senate office, almost any governor's office in the country. The trajectory that a network can go just based on one guy, to me, is still kind of scary.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Zucker turned CNN into a, an anti Trump battleship, essentially. That was just, that was, its only purpose was to destroy Donald Trump and ruin the brand. They, they've always been liberal. They've always been left to center. That's, that's true. That's obvious. But it was too obvious in the Trump era and they no longer were even pretending. They no longer were trying to hide any of it. So with that, I will now see. We just, I didn't even think we're going to get into that, but we did. I'm now going to transition as Clay to the Minnesota Somali American situation. First of all, Ilhan Omar, interesting to me, we still have, we have Ilhan Omar out there and I'm still seeing stuff about her and the brother. Right. You're seeing this too, from the daily. People are saying this. Trump is saying her brother. Yes, this is, can we get, can we know for sure whether this is the case or not? Okay, here's, this is cut 16. Trump is, the president is saying there's a woman who married her brother I mean, this is out there. Play 16. I want to see people that contribute. I don't want to see Somalia. I don't want to see a woman that, you know, marries her brother to get in and then becomes a congressman, does nothing but complain. All she does is complain, complain, complain. And yet her country's a mess. You know, it's one of the worst in the world. Let her go back, fix up her own country. So no Somalia. And I was right about it. You know, I started complaining about Somalia long before the scandal. The horrible things they're doing to Minnesota. It's incredible. They have an incompetent governor there, too. The Democrats are running some bad ships. They are running some bad ships, to be sure. But I think this specific case of a relatively new and very.

Sort of densely located community of people from a country that is. I mean, I. I put this out on. On X clay something that we would always talk about. It would always come up when you're waiting for, you know, a Hilo pickup or to get into a Humvee convoy or whatever overseas with all these guys in the military, CIA, State Department especially, they've been in a long time. What's the worst place you've ever been? I would say the people that had really been in the government national security game for a long time, at some point, a lot of them had been to all of these places and they would all say the same thing, which is Somalia is, I would say 80, 90% of them said Somalia was the worst country in the world that they had ever been to.

[Buck Sexton]

I think the biggest issue here is, first of all, there's rampant fraud, as we all know, unfortunately, throughout many government programs. But when you read about this case, Buck, it's that they saw the fraud, but because it was being done by Somalis, they were afraid of drawing attention to it because they were afraid they would get labeled racist. And in fact, the first thing that the Somalis did when the investigation started was accuse anyone investigating them of engaging in racism. It was both sword and shield for them. And you end up in a situation where what in the world are we doing importing 100,000 Somalis to Minneapolis like this is ludicrous. The idea that Minnesota is benefiting from bringing in low educated people from the other side of the world to come into Somalia, I mean, to come into Minneapolis is absurd beyond belief, and it should call into question our entire immigration system. But then even when they come in and start to commit straight fraud because they're from Somalia and because they are black so many Democrats in Minnesota are even afraid to point out that the fraud is happening. And the fraud continued to happen for years. Buck. Because they said it's racist of you to investigate us.

[Clay Travis]

Yes. And isn't interesting as well that people who have arrived here from Somalia will wield the racism allegation and, and just hope that no one stops to say, well, hold on a second. It's not like there's no. You have suffered from. No. You and your descendants suffered from no legacy of slavery. The United States has done nothing to you other than wonderfully generous and kind things like let you be here. You have no history of oppression in this country. You are from Somalia where the Somalis are the ones oppressing themselves. And that brings me to this individual who is went viral on social media. Clay. 23 million views as I see it right now. That's a lot of views to pull off on social media. Just a guy sitting in his car. He's Vietnamese. Vietnamese immigrant to this country. And here's what he thinks about what he sees. So this is a Vietnamese immigrant to America going on with the Somali immigrant community. Play Cut 8. I'm Vietnamese. Okay, well, we have our own communities too, and our communities thriving.

[Buck Sexton]

If you look at our numbers, there's.

[Clay Travis]

Only about 2 million of us here in the United States.

[Buck Sexton]

And out of that 2 million people.

[Clay Travis]

That we have, majority of us will have businesses, scientists, engineer, doctors, bright mind people that. That given back to this country more than we've taken. And we have never asked anybody to bow down or speak our language. Okay, since when the stupid ass mayor of the little pirate mother land piratesmalian in Minnesota have to speak their language? And apologizing for those mother crook ass pirates. Since when we have to do that?

So he's annoyed as somebody who came here as a Vietnamese immigrant. Vietnam not. It's a communist country, not a wealthy place. I've been to Vietnam. Vietnam has got. Got a lot of poverty. They arrive here and.

They, they do not. You know, there's no scam like this. There's none of this stuff going on. I'll just, I'll point this out. Clay. He's annoyed and I totally agree with this that the mayor, what's his name?

[Buck Sexton]

Jacob Frey.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you, Jacob Frey. He's now speaking Somali to the Somali community. No speak English. Ok? We don't, we don't need any government officials speaking Somali here. And beyond that, what this guy said, this Vietnamese immigrant, average Vietnamese household in America.

You want to guess what the average Vietnamese American immigrant household makes in this country right now. Throw out a number. What do you think it is?

[Buck Sexton]

$100,000 a year. Pretty close.

[Clay Travis]

86 grand. 86 grand. Nice. I mean, that's the average. Want to know what the average Somali American household is making in this country right now?

43,000.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

So?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, they would say it's because of racism. Right? That's amazing. They would have.

[Clay Travis]

So. So people who come here from Vietnam with nothing. With nothing, and don't speak English and, you know, I actually went to high school with a number of a lot of Asian kids who were super high achieving, came from very low income, you know, low to moderate income backgrounds. And there was always this big joke among them, like, well, no one's going to help us, so, like, we just got to figure it out.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

And that it's interesting because that exemplifies what we would like to think is the American immigrant attitude. Not come here, get on welfare, complain, and maybe steal.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, this is the stat that destroys all anti American racism allegations right off the top. You asked what the average Vietnamese household is making. Asian men are the highest earning subgroup in America. They make more money on average Asian men do than any race or gender in the. In the United States.

[Clay Travis]

And I think if you break it down, actually, I think Taiwanese Americans may be the single highest income group of anybody by any nationality specifically. But, Clay, the point about Somalis saying that it's racism that Vietnamese immigrants make, call it 85, 86,000 on average per household. Nigerian Americans, definitely black. Nigerian Americans, $80,000.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

So it's. It's actually not about race, is it? It's actually not skin color holding people back. Something else is going on culturally. Something is happening with a certain group because Nigerian Americans are doing great. They're doing great. Somali Americans specifically. Minnesota are not. And we should be able to ask why without people saying it's racism, because it's clearly not. No one's saying, you know what, I'm going to hold back the Somalis, but I really want to help those Nigerians. Like, that just makes no sense. That's not what's happening in this country. And also, why do all these immigrants want to come here if they face so much uphill racism? It's just lying. It's just excuses.

[Buck Sexton]

That's. That's the best also argument that destroys this. Why'd you come from Somalia then if you have a majority black government?

[Clay Travis]

I think literally any country in the world could make the case. I mean, there's a handful that are maybe as bad as Somalia, but It's one of the five worst.

[Buck Sexton]

But you know, if you go to a better place than where you lived, showing up and immediately ripping the place that you've gone to, where you're making 10, 20 x 30 x what you would have, there's no gratitude. I, I think that's a huge part of this. And worse than that, you show up and you start stealing. Remember, the big part of the theory was for young children's meals.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Pretending to feed hungry kids. Pretending to feed hungry kids. Yeah. I mean, but look, they had this problem in Europe in a different context, similar, but also the extension of or the addition of when you start looking at the violent crime and particularly the sexual assault statistics in many of these European countries that have taken in large numbers of Muslim immigrants, guess what? Not a lot of, not a lot of gratitude being shown by that community there. In fact, they have got a real problem on their hands.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. Look, and I mean, I think the big challenge that we're going to face in the next several generations, maybe beyond is America is an amazing country. Everybody around the world wants to come here. There are 8 billion people, I think in the world is the rough estimate. 350 million of them are in America. I've never heard anyone on the Democrat side say, hey, what would be too much? What would be too many immigrants coming into this country? They want open borders. They never actually answer that question. Should we take the other 7.7 billion people from around the world and try to integrate them into American life? That seems crazy. No one imagined the war in Ukraine would have lasted this long. Numerous nonprofit organizations have worked hard to help. Most of them well intentioned. Some stayed on three plus years. Many folded up their tents and moved on. Not the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. They've stayed with it. Today the IFCJ is focusing their efforts on elderly residents and those of the Jewish faith that need the most help. The majority of them might receive a pension, but it's meager. You know what the financial circumstances are in Ukraine. The pension's not enough to cover food, medicine and heat. But thanks to the ifcj, those individuals receive a box with food, emergency lighting and a warm blanket. This aid acts as a life saving gift from the ifcj. Not to mention the visit from the fellowship staff. Dropping it off to remind them they're not forgotten through a special matching grant. Your gift today to the IFCJ has twice the impact up to the first $50,000. To send your gift this season, call 888-488. IFCJ that's 888-488-4325. You can also give online@ FellowshipGift.org that's FellowshipGift.org Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Mic drops that never sou.

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[Clay Travis]

Today.

[Podcast Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points.

You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for 2, $250,000. This is where mindset comes in. Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. This is Trainer Games.

[Buck Sexton]

Watch it on prime video starting January 8th.

Shh.

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back in Clay Travis. BUCK Sexton show. We are rolling through the Tuesday edition of the program and we've got a couple of clips that are out there that I think are relevant. Buck, I'm not going to let this go away because I do think it's significant and I'm still angry about it. Teachers union head Randy Weingarten says Trump was the reason schools didn't reopen during COVID Just don't make a mistake about what's going on. They're directly lying in an effort to try and just hopefully make you forget about what actually happened. Cut 30 I do wonder what you.

[Podcast Announcer]

Think, like looking back to that tumultuous period of time, do you think that teacher unions and Democrats have done enough self examination and the role they played in pandemic school closures? Like were there mistakes made?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, of course there were. And there were mistakes made by everyone. There was huge mistakes made by the.

[Buck Sexton]

Trump administration to not be clear, to not focus on safety as they were.

[Clay Travis]

Focusing on reopening it. Reopening became political and not became something that we all should have prioritized.

If everyone's guilty, nobody's guilty. That's total garbage. Total garbage. She was the problem, number one when it came to reopening, it was Randy Weingarten and the lazy ass teachers unions. That is obvious to all of us who were covering it at the time very closely, like me and you, 100%.

[Buck Sexton]

But it's important because they're trying to now argue for history. And you got to call them out when you see them blatantly lying like she did there because they know they were wrong. And now the new argument is, oh, it wasn't me at all. It was Trump's fault.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Oh, man. I was like, you're getting in the way of the steamroller, buddy.

[Buck Sexton]

You're gonna get stepping in front, not stepping in front of the steamroller and getting flattened. Maybe even broader, though. I think Christmas music's overplayed. I was out to dinner the other day, Sunday night, went out to dinner, and I could hear throughout the whole meal they were playing Christmas music. Now, look, I used to work in retail back in the day. American Eagle Outfitters may have heard of it, Abercrombie and Fitch. And I know because we would have our holiday medley. And anybody who's ever worked in retail, it's the same track over and over and over again. But there is evidence to support that people buy more products when you play Christmas music. So I get it in a retail setting. I don't know that I need to hear it in elevators everywhere. I don't know that I need to hear it while I'm eating dinner. I would be very, very comfortable with. And I used to make jokes about this in sports talk radio. We would stop. We would only play Christmas music starting in December. I know we play a lot of Christmas music on this. Do you know we get beat in ratings now? You and me and everybody out there who does talk radio, every community in America, Christmas music goes to number one. We just get trounced. And all they do is play Jingle Bells over and over and over again. So I feel like we're inundated, frankly, with too much holiday music. Does that make me sound like the Grinch, or do you think most people agree with me that it's impossible to escape and we don't need as much?

[Clay Travis]

Well, I think you're going to get lit up over this one, buddy. I'm just going to step away from the blast radius. I love Santa Claus and. And all the Christmas cheer and music and everything else.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm going to let Clay just telling you, ho, ho, ho. I'm the. I'm the Grinch. I'll own it. There's too much Christmas Music in all facets of life. I don't need to hear it everywhere.

[Clay Travis]

I'll. I'll tell you this. I believe I've. I've referred to it before as going Grinch or maybe other people have coined that and I just picked it up. I don't know. But that's what I say. I don't want I. There. There are certain categories here. Children, yes, give them gifts, but not a ton of gifts. Ok? You shouldn't walk. Your living room should not look like a, you know, a Toys r us. After 500 kids have like rummaged through all the packaging or something. I guess Toys R Us even exist anymore. That used to be a. Remember when toy stores were this, this thing and they had all this GI Joes and he man made in China.

[Buck Sexton]

Toys R Us was incredible. They'd shut them all down. Remember KB Toys in the mall?

[Clay Travis]

Oh, yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

They used to have KB Toys and Walden Books. You had one. When I was growing up, we had one toy store before the, the Toys R Us came to town. And we only had one bookstore for basically my whole life. We had Walden Books in the local mall and those were everywhere. I don't think either of them exist anymore. I think Walden Books is gone.

[Clay Travis]

So, you know, there, there was a time when you had the first of all. I've always hated the pressure of you got to get gifts for all these people. Especially get gifts for people that maybe you don't know that well. Whatever. Here's what I would say. You get gifts for kids under 18 in your family. You know, your kids, your own children, nieces, nephews.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

You get the gifts. Like we're going to get little speed gifts, although it's not like he can remember them. He's eight months old. But you know, we're. We do that fine. My little nieces and nephews, we give them gifts too, you know, and I'm going to tell you this. In this household, I contribute to niece and nephew.

College funds. That's what I. Every year I'm just like, I contribute. Now, I know that doesn't sound like, you know, like what Santa Claus would do. Let me tell you something. I do it every year.

[Buck Sexton]

That is such an old man move, by the way. I'm not, I'm not disputing you're too young to be doing college fund contributions for your thesis.

[Clay Travis]

What are you. Actually, that is nonsense.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't want all the financial planners. Dave Ramsey.

[Clay Travis]

When I need him, I need Dave Ramsey here. Dave would support my529 plan your contributions for my nieces.

[Buck Sexton]

Donations are amazing. You're too young to be going straight. And the, the, the college donations.

[Clay Travis]

I am wrapping myself in the mantle of Uncle, Uncle Dave Ramsey on this one. He would totally approve. So I do the 5, 529 plan contributions. And so there's that. And then obviously gifts, bonuses, things like that. People you work with, people who work for you, people, whatever it is there. And really, it's like money is really what people, they actually don't want some beige sweater. They actually just want money. So they can, you know, have money in their bank account. They can do with what they want. I, we stopped doing presence among the adults in my immediate family at my. I wouldn't say demand, but I pretty much demanded this. I think, I don't know if my dad's listening. I think when he gave me a belt for the fourth year in a row, I was like, he's not going to be happy with me telling this story. But I think when he gave me a belt four years in a row.

[Buck Sexton]

The belts different or is it like different color belts? Was it like black leather belts?

[Clay Travis]

Like maybe slightly different buckle on them? But he was just like, here you go, son. Like, here's a belt. I was like, thank you. I'm going to add it to my belt collection.

[Buck Sexton]

So.

[Clay Travis]

Which is all from you because I don't even really wear belts. So I will say that we decided as a family to get rid of that pressure to get things last minute. It is so great. It is such a nice, you know, you don't have to get to just. Everyone just stop with this stuff. Christmas. For those of us who are Christians, Christmas is actually supposed to be about the celebration of something holy. It is about to be. It's supposed to be about the celebration as well of family and being together and reflecting on the year. It's really not supposed to be. Get me the GI Joe aircraft carrier, Mommy, or you don't love me. Like, that's not what it's. And it's not supposed to be. Hey, Uncle Phil, thanks for bringing me these socks with tree frogs on them. It's what I've always wanted. Like, no, we don't need to do this.

[Buck Sexton]

Here. Here's where I will co sign. And now this is going to make me sound really grinchy. I don't think anybody over the age of 18 should get gifts for Christmas. Yes, I think you should only get gifts for kids, Santa. That's fun. I don't even know you need to go to 18 but let's say to 18 after that. Like, I, I don't. Like, I'm not super excited to open gifts. I'm not super. I have zero interest in buying.

[Clay Travis]

Can I add to what you're saying? Because. Because obviously you, You. You appreciate this. You see what I see also, Clay, we all walk around now. Twenty years ago, it was different. You know, if you really wanted that thing from the Sharper Image, you had to get out. Remember, that guy is a Sharper Image. You had to get out that catalog. You had to order it, it had to arrive. It took 10 days or a month or whatever. I can get anything I want delivered tomorrow. I actually don't want for any material thing in a way that someone's going to give it to me for. And you know Carrie, so funny. She's like, well, shouldn't I get you? I'm like, no, honey, I love you.

[Buck Sexton]

Don't.

[Clay Travis]

Don't buy me an expensive watch with my own money. Like, I've got it. I'm fine. Like, I don't need that. I don't want that. I'm wearing a rubber wedding ring right now because I can't even find my wedding ring, which is driving me nuts. So that's where we are.

[Buck Sexton]

I agree with all that. We probably have destroyed 80% of the Christmas holiday spirit out there in this segment.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Except for our sponsors. Christmas gifts aplenty. That's where you got to go. Don't ever forget that. Crockett coffee. Love to get you coffee for Christmas, because you need that. No, but I just really mean the gifts for immediate family members that, you know. Come on.

[Buck Sexton]

I. I am sold on. Only kids should get Christmas gifts. I think it would be a revolutionary thing that would actually be super beneficial to the country. Not to mention the number of men that just get blown up every year because they're like your dad, buying belts because they have no idea what to get people. I mean, what do you get to your point? Like, do you know how many wallets.

[Clay Travis]

I had amassed over the years for.

[Buck Sexton]

My dad giving me ties? I mean, every dad out there ties. Even Moms. Like, where's that great Saturday Night Live skit that they did? Which was actually very funny. And mom got a robe. Do you remember that? Like, it's a great song, you know, like, because Mom's responsible for buying gifts for everybody, and then every year she gets a coffee mug or robe or whatever it is. Yeah. No, I agree. By the way, I didn't expect to get this criticism today.

Steve in Eden North Carolina, he's fired up. Buck, I don't know if you know, the criticism coming our way, but, Steve, what. What you got for us?

[Clay Travis]

Hey, hey, Buck, this ain't your son. This is another Steve. But anyway, you know, every time I hear people talking about the greatest presidents, I always get irked a little bit. I mean, everybody pretty much says Abraham Lincoln.

[Buck Sexton]

What about George Washington? So you think the show, Remember yo, you think that the show has been too disrespectful of George Washington today?

[Clay Travis]

I'm not. I actually would co sign Steve on this. I. Steve, just to be clear, I didn't say that was Bill O'Reilly who said Abraham Lincoln's clear. Number one. I, I, I would put, I would put GW in the number one spot. No question in my mind, for a whole bunch of reasons. How could you not? I'm with you, buddy. I don't know.

[Buck Sexton]

I'd actually, I'd actually put him below.

[Clay Travis]

Credit with us having the United States of America.

[Buck Sexton]

Look here, I'm reading right now. Rick Atkinson, great trilogy. He's on volume two, all about the Revolutionary War. I would actually put Washington three. I think that I'd put him.

[Clay Travis]

Now he's just trolling you, Steve. He's just trolling.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm telling you right now. I'd put him third. I think you got to go Lincoln one, because I don't think we would have a country if Lincoln hadn't stepped up. And I would go to Jefferson because I think the Louisiana Purchase was probably the most important decision that anybody made. Now, when you're talking gold, bronze, gold, silver, bronze, like, that's pretty good stuff. Let me also. I'm gonna really fire Steve up. Thank you for the call, Steve. I think he was confusing Speed with Steve. He thought your son's name is Speed.

[Clay Travis]

Not my, My, My son's name is actually like going fast, which is what Clay does in a car. The opposite of what I do in a car. But S P E E D is my son's name, not Steve, but close enough.

[Buck Sexton]

Okay, so I think Washington's actually overrated in some respects. He was actually not a very good general. He made a lot of awful choices. If you go study George Washington in.

[Clay Travis]

The revolutionary, he was out, gone. But I can't just let you. This is Gary. Listen, Mr. Civil War Buff, you're just getting crazy here, okay? First of all, Big G Dubs, G Dubs kept the army together, fighting the most impressive, certainly Navy. And overall, I think you could argue military machine in the world at that time. The French would have been right there with them. But you know, we all know how that went for them when their revolution started. Point being, he did an amazing job holding them together. But that's as a general, as president, for him to be there, to preside, to step aside when the time came to be the father of the nation, to not to allow factionalism to pull it all apart at the seams in the earliest days, not to let that pompous Adams get the titles of nobility going. I'm just saying I'm just going to.

[Buck Sexton]

Fire away on Washington here. Not a very good general on the battlefield. You're right. He held them together. Second would have been a big scandal back in the day. Do you know he refused to take a style salary but just did an expense account instead and ran up exorbitant cost as the president of the United States. He had to entertain.

[Clay Travis]

He had to throw some parties. We top throwing a party this week. You know what I mean, buddy? It's expensive.

[Buck Sexton]

Such that they had to go back in and actually say, no, no, no, we need to give the president a salary because G Dub, I don't want to. I don't want to throw her under the. The bus here. Maybe Martha had expensive taste. Not a lot of criticism for Martha Washington these days. I think if you go back and look at the G Dub expense account, Martha ran up a lot of money there and such that they decided, you know what, maybe we need to have a salary.

[Clay Travis]

Jefferson picked the wrong Jefferson thought that the French Revolution was a good idea and it was going to work out. Jefferson was on the wrong side of some big stuff. I like his Barbary Pirates move. That was pretty slick. That was good. We didn't really have much purchase.

[Buck Sexton]

Was good. Probably shouldn't have slept with a slave. If we want to go, you know, micromanage Jefferson's.

[Clay Travis]

There's a lot of.

[Buck Sexton]

There's object.

[Clay Travis]

That's. There's a lot of dispute over whether that actually occurred, sir. I'm letting you know some of people are going to tell you that they have. What. What is the evidence for that again? I mean, the evidence for it is pretty. Could have.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, it's definitely a. Jefferson at some point was involved in being the. The progenitor. Is that the right word of. Of it was either a. Could have been a brother. Could have been like the DNA is the DNA.

[Clay Travis]

You know, it's just been a nice quiet day on the show and Clay is deciding to throw G Dubs under the bus. He's deciding that, that Jefferson's private life is very much has some problematic aspect to it. Although, like I said, this is very disputed whether this actually occurred or not. Jim in Clearwater, Florida, wants to talk presence. He's going to bring us back in line here. What's going on, Jim?

Hey, guys. I've been listening since, since Rush back in like 88, but thank you. So my family has solved the issue of buying adults presents. We downloaded an app called Draw Names and I think that's the name of it.

[Buck Sexton]

And we do a bottle swap. You kind of know everybody's favorite kind.

[Clay Travis]

Of liquor or wine or whatever, and you can try to find something unique.

[Buck Sexton]

That they wouldn't normally think of or see or buy. Yeah, look, I think that kind of thing is cool. I think that's fine. I just, I, I'm on buckside here in that it used to be that it was kind of difficult to get things purchased there. I don't remember the last time I thought, boy, you know, I can't find X and I really need it. I said X because that's a, it might have been misheard. And if you do, like in this day and age, it's not that hard to be able to get whatever you want purchased. Now to be fair, I buy things at Amazon, almost always books and Costco, almost always Kirkland brand clothes.

[Clay Travis]

So I, I, you know, I got my family members, I got my family members like early edition antique books one year that I thought would all for individuals and I thought I was, I, I think they all ended up as coasters on like the sides of, you know, various desks. You know, so I've tried the, I, I've tried the special gift thing too. And you know what? They didn't, they didn't like my, my third edition Mark Twain or whatever. So you know what? Fine.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what sends the Travis kids running for the hills? I read everything. Print, newspaper. I read all day long, every day. And I find stories that I'm like, I know this is the perfect story for this son or even my wife. I don't think any of them ever read it. I, I, my dad back in the day used to cut out articles. I read them all. He would mail them to me. You know, back in the day when you couldn't get local newspapers, you're away at college, whatever. I still have some of those. I read articles and I'm like, oh, this is perfect for my oldest son. He's gonna love this. We just had this conversation. Oh, this is perfect for middle son, youngest son, wife and all I could see in their face. Oh, here's dad with another reading assignment. And and it's like they're so disappointed that I'm bringing them something to read. All I'm trying to do is just increase their brain and make their world more expansive. And all they think is dad just gives us homework all the time. Here's some more homework for all of you, but hopefully it can lead to wins. Prize Picks all right, I'm going to give this out multiple times, so if you don't get it now, it's this week's pick. Tua Dak Prescott, Sam Darnold, Bryce Young, Shador Sanders. All to throw more touchdown passes than Price picks. Has them set up. Tua Dak, Sam Darnold, Bryce Young, Shador Sanders. Just click more on each of those it pays out 6x. All you have to do is is go to prizepix.com my name Clay. When you put $5 in a pick, you get $50 deposited into your account. Boom. There you go. For the holiday season, what better than to have some fun watching football? College or pro? If you love basketball, whatever your sport is, you'll get hooked up. Prizepix.com Code Clay that's prizepix.com Code clay keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast. Clay and Buck highlight trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. The world's best ski and snowboard athletes are chasing medals. Now you can follow their every move. Join Insider, the official US Ski and Snowboard fan line loyalty program, and get premium viewing at World cup ski events, exclusive athlete meetups, discounts from brands you love, and a custom welcome gift mailed direct to your doorstep. This winter, show your support as they race for the podium. Head to Insider, usski and snowboard.org and join.

[Clay Travis]

Today.

[Podcast Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental health. Breaking points.

You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is where mindset comes in. Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. This is Trainer Games.

[Buck Sexton]

Watch it on prime video starting January 8th.

[Podcast Announcer]

Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Where did that story come from? Book Dream? Nope. It came from a conversation. Meet Mikomini, the AI companion that co creates personalized story adventures with your child in real time. What color was the hamster's cape and what did he pack for lunch? Unlock your child's imagination. Discover Miko Mini plus and the Magic of AI Exclusively at Costco. Come for the Black Friday seasonal savings. Stay for the award winning reporting for a limited time access to the Washington Post is just 99 cents. That's unlimited access to all of the posts for only 99 cents every four weeks. That's a great deal for the first year. After that it'll cost $12 every four weeks. You can cancel anytime. But don't wait. This Black Friday seasonal offer won't be here for long. Go to washingtonpost.com iheart and grab this deal before it's gone. That's washingtonpost.com iheart.com Hear that? It's the sound of truly immersive audio thanks to Vizio's new 4.1 soundbar and it's now available at Walmart. Powered by Dolby Atmos and DTS X Experience Rich cinematic sound with two wireless surround speakers and a compact wireless subwoofer that puts you in the center of your entertainment, all without the clutter of cables. Stream your favorite music radio and podcasts with the iHeartRadio app and trust us, your music has never sounded this good. Head to Walmart.com and upgrade your sound game today.

[Clay Travis]

Want to say anything other than we got a VIP email here from Guy, Perhaps Ghee if he's French. Guy writes you should change the name of the show from Clay and Buck to Grinch and Grinch.

Womp womp.

[Buck Sexton]

Look, here's the support we got to be fast. Laura in Florida, she loves your gifts. Buck.

[Podcast Announcer]

Yeah, Buck, I think you're you're dead.

[Clay Travis]

On falls accurate with the gifts to the 529.

[Podcast Announcer]

We had those for our girls when they were young and one got scholarships, so we were able to use that money to help her pay for a car when she graduated. So yeah, I fully support that. That's it might be a little bit too grown up for play, but I think that's a really good job.

[Buck Sexton]

It is too great. Thank you for the call. It's too grown up for me. You're the uncle. You should be having fun with the kids, not giving them checks. The world's best ski and snowboard athletes are chasing medals now you can follow their every move. Join Insider, the official US Ski and Snowboard Fan loyalty program and get premium viewing at World cup ski events, exclusive athlete meetups, discounts from brands you love, and a custom welcome gift mailed direct to your doorstep this winter. Show your support as they race for the podium. Head to insider.usski and snowboard.org and join.

[Clay Travis]

Today.

[Podcast Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points.

You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with the an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is where mindset comes in. Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. This is Trainer Games.

[Buck Sexton]

Watch it on prime video starting January 8th.

Shh.

[Podcast Announcer]

You won't believe what my new friend just told me about dinosaurs. Is your child having conversations you never imagined? Are they learning without realizing it? It's not a tablet. It's not a toy. It's Meco Mini, the AI powered companion that turns curiosity into endless learning. Hear the future of playtime. Meet the extraordinary Meco Mini plus only at Costco. Come for the Black Friday seasonal savings. Stay for the award winning reporting for a limited time access to the Washington Post is just 99 cents. That's unlimited access to all of the posts for only 99 cents every four weeks. That's a great deal for the first year. After that it'll cost $12 every four weeks. You can cancel anytime. But don't wait. This Black Friday seasonal offer won't be here for long. Go to washingtonpost.com iheart and grab this deal before it's gone. That's washingtonpost.com iheart Hear that? It's the sound of truly immersive audio thanks to Vizio's new 4.1 soundbar and it's now available at Walmart. Powered by Dolby Atmos and DTS X Experience. Rich cinematic sound with two wireless surround speakers and a compact wireless subwoofer that puts you in the center of your entertainment, all without the clutter of cables. Stream your favorite music radio and podcasts with the iHeartRadio app and trust us, your music has never sounded this good. Head to Walmart.com and upgrade your sound game today. This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.