Hour 3 - Don't Let Them Pull a Fast One!

Summary

Summary of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" Episode: "Hour 3 - Don't Let Them Pull a Fast One!"

Release Date: March 27, 2025

In this engaging episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve into pressing national issues, featuring a pivotal interview with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. The conversation spans fiscal policy, pandemic response, and the precarious state of the current House majority, concluding with a fervent call to action to secure Republican seats in upcoming special elections.

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Interview with Senator Rand Paul: Fiscal Concerns and Pandemic Policies

Budget and Debt Ceiling Crisis

The episode kicks off with host Clay Travis welcoming Senator Rand Paul to discuss the ongoing budget and border bill processes. Senator Paul expresses deep concerns over proposals to increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, a move he deems fiscally irresponsible. He states:

“[00:35] Rand Paul: I’m worried, I’m very worried that they’re wanting to add $5 trillion to the debt ceiling... I won’t vote for any bill that adds $5 trillion to the deficit.”

Paul critiques the disconnect between announced spending cuts and the actual increase in national debt, emphasizing that such fiscal policies are not conservative. He warns listeners that voters may feel betrayed when the deficit remains high despite promises of reduced spending.

Opposition to Unnecessary Government Spending

Buck Sexton probes whether any Democrats in the Senate are genuinely interested in cutting government spending. Senator Paul responds candidly:

“[02:37] Rand Paul: No Democrat in the entire body of Congress will vote to cut even a dollar.”

He highlights his recent attempt to amend the budget by proposing cuts to foreign aid, which received no support from Democrats and even fragmented Republican backing. Paul underscores the lack of bipartisan commitment to fiscal restraint, pointing out that both parties fail to address entrenched spending in areas like foreign aid and entitlements.

Impact of COVID-19 on Federal Budgets

Clay Travis shifts the discussion to the enduring fiscal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Paul acknowledges that pandemic-related spending has become entrenched in the federal budget:

“[04:46] Rand Paul: During the pandemic...the deficits have come down... but a lot of that spending got embedded into government and still there.”

Paul criticizes both parties for their bipartisan mishandling of pandemic relief efforts, such as the CARES program and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which he considers excessive and poorly managed.

Critique of Pandemic Management and Medical Policies

Delving deeper, Senator Paul rebukes the government's and media's handling of COVID-19 policies, particularly social distancing and mask mandates. He asserts that the guidance provided was often contradictory and scientifically unfounded:

“[09:17] Rand Paul: We were misled by our government and by media establishment figures who parroted every move and word of Anthony Fauci.”

Paul contends that policies like the six-foot distancing rule and mask mandates for the elderly were ineffective and harmful, advocating for a return to common sense and individual freedom in medical decisions.

Recommendations for Executive Action

When asked about the Trump administration's role, Senator Paul praises their proactive approach but suggests they could further aid fiscal responsibility by returning saved funds to Congress. He advises President Trump to leverage his influence to push for significant spending cuts, stating:

“[07:37] Rand Paul: They should send that money back to Congress... President Trump should use his political capital.”

Paul emphasizes the importance of executive actions in complementing legislative efforts to achieve fiscal sanity.

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Threat to Republican Majority: Special Elections in Florida and Wisconsin

Strategic Moves to Preserve House Majority

Post-interview, Travis and Sexton shift focus to recent political maneuvers that jeopardize the Republican-controlled House. They discuss the withdrawal of Elise Stefanik's nomination for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, which was orchestrated to maintain a razor-thin Republican majority in the House. Clay Travis remarks:

“[16:37] Clay Travis: ...they just pulled Elise Stefanik's UN Ambassador role over being concerned about her New York congressional seat.”

This move underscores the fragility of the current majority, hinging on a minimal number of seats.

High-Stakes Special Elections in Florida

The hosts highlight critical special elections in Florida's congressional districts, particularly Florida 6th and 1st, which are pivotal in maintaining the Republican majority. Buck Sexton emphasizes the disproportionate spending by Democrats in these traditionally Republican strongholds:

“[32:51] Buck Sexton: The Democrats... have spent $9.7 million in Florida 6, compared to the $560,000 spent by Randy Fine, the Republican candidate.”

Clay Travis adds urgency to the situation:

“[24:53] Clay Travis: ...the Democrats have spent $9.7 million... in a district Trump won by 30 points.”

Call to Action: Voter Mobilization

Recognizing the high expenditure by Democrats to flip these seats, Travis and Sexton implore listeners to actively participate in these elections. They stress that voter turnout, especially among Republican supporters, is crucial to thwarting Democratic attempts to regain control:

“[23:48] Buck Sexton: ...if you’re listening, you know, we're on in this area... Thank you very much, Floridians.”

Both hosts encourage grassroots efforts, such as distributing yard signs and leveraging local networks, to ensure Republican victories in these tightly contested districts.

Parallel Efforts in Wisconsin

Extending the conversation beyond Florida, the hosts note similar attempts by Democrats to capture Republican seats in Wisconsin. They point out the close margins in recent elections and the significant financial investments being funneled into these races:

“[32:51] Buck Sexton: ...the Democrats are targeting two congressional seats here in Wisconsin...”

This underscores a broader strategy to undermine the Republican majority by targeting vulnerable districts across key states.

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Community Engagement and Final Remarks

Throughout the episode, Travis and Sexton engage with listeners, sharing calls and messages from Republican supporters stressing the importance of these elections. One caller from St. Augustine, Florida, underscores the lack of local awareness about these critical races:

“[30:45] Caller: Absolutely. They are not aware...”

The hosts reinforce the message that every vote counts in these tightly contested races, urging listeners to remain vigilant and proactive in supporting Republican candidates.

In conclusion, the episode serves as a clarion call to the Republican base to safeguard their legislative majority by actively participating in upcoming special elections. Through incisive interviews and impassioned discussions, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show highlights the urgent need for fiscal responsibility and political mobilization to ensure the continuation of conservative governance.

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Notable Quotes:

• Rand Paul on Debt Ceiling: “[00:35]...I won’t vote for any bill that adds $5 trillion to the deficit.”

• Rand Paul on Congressional Spending: “[02:37]...No Democrat in the entire body of Congress will vote to cut even a dollar.”

• Rand Paul on Pandemic Policies: “[09:19]...the masks, they told people wearing a cloth mask was a good idea... that’s how you catch COVID.”

• Buck Sexton on Special Elections: “[32:51]...the Democrats have spent $9.7 million in Florida 6, compared to the $560,000 spent by Randy Fine.”

• Caller from St. Augustine: “[30:45]...they are not aware...”

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This episode provides listeners with a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between fiscal policy challenges and the strategic imperatives of maintaining a Republican legislative majority. Through expert insights and urgent calls to action, it underscores the critical juncture at which the party stands today.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis, BUCK Sexton show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We've been breaking down all of the absolute latest news out there from across the nation. And we head now up to, I believe, where he is, Washington, D.C. senator Rand Paul of Kentucky joins us now. Senator, we got a lot to dive into with you. Appreciate you joining us. Let me just start here right off the top. How is the budget and border bill process going? How does the timeline look to you? How would you assess it at this point?

[Rand Paul]

I'm worried, I'm very worried that they're wanting to add $5 trillion to the debt ceiling. All the good news we've heard about, Elon Musk, about cutting contracts and cutting foreign aid, all that has been so energizing to our base, to conservatives like me, we jump for joy. We cheer. And then they say, well, but the bill's going to increase the debt ceiling by 5 trillion. We say, well, how is that possible? We thought we were cutting spending. Why would we increase it more than $2 trillion a year for the next two and a half years? And there's not a good explanation. And so I've told him, I won't vote for any bill that adds 5 trillion to the deficit that's not fiscally conservative. Now, I'll vote for the tax cuts. I voted for them in 2017. I'll vote to make the tax cuts permanent. I'll vote for spending cuts, but I didn't vote for the spending. And I'm damn sure not voting for adding $5 trillion to the national debt. I just think that's outrageous. And people are going to wake up. People who listen to your show are going to wake up in a couple of months from now and say, my gosh, I thought we voted for something conservative. I thought Doge was cutting all this spending. And yet they're still going to add 2 trillion to the debt this year. Something's not right.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, Senator Paul, appreciate you being with us. We've played for the audience some sound bites from years past when people like Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and other very high profile Democrats talked about stopping fraud, waste and abuse in government spending, reining in unnecessary spending. So we know that they've said stuff like that. But to to where we are right now, it seems like everything that Doge tries to do in terms of recommendations to the president and then everything that Trump tries to do to rein in that spending, Democrats oppose. Are there any Democrats in the Senate who do want to cut spending? In all honesty, is there Anyone who actually wants to see that number go down for anything other than the military, Zero, nada.

[Rand Paul]

No Democrat in the entire body of Congress will vote to cut even a dollar. So I had an amendment last week that would have cut about oh, 16 billion out of foreign aid, foreign aids, about 40 billion. I would have cut 16 billion. So a little less than half. And this was to represent what Doge was doing, what Elon Musk had proposed, what really Secretary Rubio has already said, he's canceling these contracts. I would just put it into law. Zero Democrats voted for that. But even worse, about half the Republicans voted against me as well. I got a little over half of the Republicans with me, about half the Republicans against me. And the reason I put it forward was to show that even low hanging fruit, even $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala, $300,000 for food justice for queer and trans farmers, crazy stuff like that, you can't even get all of the Republicans on board, but you get zero Democrats. So we still have a problem. And I'm the lonely voice crying out on this because people, people are going to be disappointed and they're going to be upset and they're going to be saying what happened, what happened to the Republicans? When the end of the year rolls around and there's still a $2 trillion deficit this year and the Republicans are anticipating another 2 trillion the next year, that just shows that there is not a true seriousness even on the Republican side.

[Clay Travis]

How much of this is the embedded cost of COVID becoming standardized in budgets going forward? Because we had Senator Ron Johnson on and he's talked about this qu that if we just went back to budget spending 2019, that we would have a balanced budget right now. And I know inflation has risen since then and that there are other costs that continue to grow. But it does seem that the growth of the federal government has now been embedded, which is what Democrats wanted in all future budget bills. With the idea being anything that doesn't continue to grow those rates is considered to be a massive cut.

[Rand Paul]

I think that's true. During pandemic, you know, the deficit went up to three and a half trillion in a year. The deficits have come down. Yes. Remember Biden was bragging he's bringing the deficit down. Yeah, well, from three and a half trillion to two trillion. But a lot of that spending got embedded into government and still there. But realize that those pandemic programs, all those free money that was passed out, all the checks that were passed out, that was all the Democrats and most of The Republicans, that was a bipartisan screw up. If will to lock the economy down, just print up money. I opposed every bit of it, every bit of the CARES program, the ppp. I said, you shouldn't lock us down. We shouldn't do this. And we did. And that's part of it. But part of it is this disconnect that people will say, oh, they love Elon Musk, they love the cuts. And they're not for, you know, transgender surgery in Guatemala, they're not for all these crazy trans operas in Colombia. But when push comes to shove, there are at least 10 or 15 Republicans in the Senate who love foreign aid. They think it's the best thing since sliced bread. I think it's one of the worst and most egregious of all the spending we have in Congress. And yet if they won't cut that, you then say, well, will you cut any of the entitlements? Will you look at Medicare or Medicaid or Social Security or food stamps or Welfare? Oh, no, they're not looking at that either. And you start to wonder, are these Republicans really conservative at this point? And mind you, there are zero Democrats. I admit that there are zero Democrats, but we're trying to pass something this spring that will be only Republican votes. And yet we can't get Republican votes even to have the states pay more of their fair share. So Medicaid, normally it's 50. 50 states pay 50, federal government pays 50. But when they expanded Obamacare, they expanded Medicaid and they made it 90% federal government paid for and 10% states. If we just went back to 50, 50 saves a half a trillion dollars for the federal government and it makes it a more conservative program because the states traditionally have to balance their budgets. They don't have a Federal Reserve, and yet we've got five or ten Republicans in the Senate that won't consider any changes to having the states pay more of their fair share for Medicaid.

[Buck Sexton]

Speaking to Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Senator, is there anything that the Trump administration you think could do or you'd like to see them do? Whether it's leading the charge to try to get something through involving the Congress or just in an executive capacity using executive orders to try to tackle some of these problems? Because on the one hand, it's great that we have an administration that's trying and you're trying, but on the other hand, if this doesn't work with Trump and Elon people like you in the Senate, what hope is there for it to get better? In the future.

[Rand Paul]

Yeah. So I don't blame the administration at all. This is the best administration we've had in a lifetime. He's picked the best cabinet. They are action players. They're not waiting around. I was with Robert Kennedy for breakfast this morning. Says he's got 10 to 20,000 workers over there. They're consolidating programs. They are doing what you would do as a CEO to clean house. So I don't blame the executive branch at all. The one thing they could do though, is as they're finding savings. Doge says they've saved 140 some odd billion dollars. They should send that money back to Congress. It's called rescission. It has a special name, but it can be voted on by a simple majority. And some of them say, well, we're worried that four or five of the big government Republicans in the Senate won't vote for it. That's when President Trump should use his political capital. He should come to Capitol Hill and say, I'm sending you 50 billions in cuts every month. I'm going to send you another 50 billion in cut and I need you as Republicans to pull together on it. Instead, the pressure is coming to me to say, why won't you vote for a spending bill that detaches 5 trillion in new borrowing? And it's like, really, it seems like we're at odd purposes here that on the one hand you have Elon Musk and Doge cutting. On the other hand, they're pressuring conservatives like me to vote for 5 trillion in borrowing. Something doesn't fit here.

[Clay Travis]

You see the New York Times over the weekend, ten days ago or so, five year anniversary of COVID I know you haven't forgotten about it, said that we were misled by where Covid might have come from. And in some of our responses, we were.

[Rand Paul]

We were misled by the New York Times.

[Clay Travis]

That's right. I want to give you an opportunity to tee off on that because you were one of the first people to test positive for Covid. And the way that you were treated, the way your family was treated, frankly, was unacceptable. And now, five years later, I do find it very interesting that the New York Times, like you said, comes out and says, oh, you know, we were misled. It's like the arsonist saying, boy, somebody's really lighting fires around here.

[Rand Paul]

Well, the next step, you know, to sort of coming clean would be to say not only we're misled, but we were misled by our government and by media establishment figures who Parroted every move and word of Anthony Fauci. He was wrong virtually on everything. Six foot of distance, he's now admitted, doesn't work. But actually it was bad advice. It was probably bad advice. If you were older and overweight or of any kind of sickly nature to be 30ft from somebody in a closed room during the height of the pandemic, you probably should have been told to stay home. But six feet of distance, you didn't need that for kids at all. You can put them all together because guess what? Kids got it very readily, but they got over it very readily. So the idea that kids were a danger and somehow shouldn't be in school or should be six feet apart, we should build these monstrous thousand acre schools so the kids can all be six feet apart. No science behind it. And it led to bad behavior on the form of adults who were at risk and then inappropriate separation and school closure on the other end. The masks, they told people wearing a cloth mask was a good idea. So elderly people went in to feed their elderly spouse with a cloth mask on. Guess what? That's bad medical advice. That's how you catch COVID The cloth masks don't work at all. But they went years telling people inappropriate, unhealthy behavior. And then the one thing they really failed on was once you got Covid, they should have reassured you that you didn't need a mask and you didn't have to worry about catching it again and that the chances of you dying were basically zero. After you've got it and recovered, the chance of getting it again and dying are virtually zero. And there were a lot of good hard working people, people working in meatpacking factories where they all got Covid early on. Instead of bundling them up and all this hot clothing, we should have been saying, the good news is when you come back from work, when you're healed up in a week or two, guess what? You're not going to get it again. And you don't have to wear all this BS protective gear.

[Buck Sexton]

Is there anything that can be done or you think will be done? You said you just had breakfast this morning with RFK Jr. Who's running HHS. I worry, Doc, that. Well, you are, Doc, as well as a senator, so. But I worry that the doctors out there and the medical establishment has not been forced to finally admit that they were wrong. And as a matter of government administrative policy. Have these things changed? I mean, it should now be to me at least HHS should have officially. Hey, guys, we looked at all the Data masks don't work. This is on the HHS website, just so you know. Is that coming?

[Rand Paul]

You know, that's a good point, and I'm going to keep fighting that battle as well. But the other way to correct it is, is, like all the soldiers that were fired, they are giving them, you know, the Trump administration's position now, and I think it was done by executive order orders to let them get their jobs back. We should do that to the doctors and nurses that were fired as well. So think about it. The doctors and nurses, if you were a doctor working in February, March of 2020, it was a pretty potent disease then, and there were doctors who died. If you risked your life to help people, you got Covid, you survived, and you came back to work. And then they said, oh, you're fired because you don't have a vaccine. You're like, well, wait a minute, I got the disease. Why would I need to get vaccinated if I already got the disease? And you use common sense on them and they fired you. Those people ought to be reinstated. There's still thousands of doctors and nurses. Now, in some states, they tried to fix some of this. In Florida, they passed a law that said you cannot take a doctor's license for speech. Now, that would seem to be pretty obvious, but many states, including California, were saying, if you were to say things that I said often, that children don't need to be vaccinated for Covid, they would say, oh, that's. You can't say that. And they would try to take my license away. Nobody did, but in California, they did to other doctors who were saying similar things. There's a lot of things that need to be corrected. I think we've learned some lessons, but I fear one, we're still paying for research that could turn into this nightmare again. Gain of function research still happening in the US and outside the US Funded by taxpayers. I'm still working on getting that stopped. But also, we need to make sure that the essence of medical freedom exists in our country and that people are allowed to make choices for themselves and not be bullied.

[Buck Sexton]

Senator Paul, always appreciate you making the time for us. Thank you.

[Rand Paul]

Thanks, guys.

[Buck Sexton]

Look, we were just talking about the debt. I mean, Trump's doing everything that he can. Senator Paul just said it, doing everything he can to get this thing under control, start turning things back in the direction of fiscal sanity. But it's going to take time. It's not going to be solved overnight, and there's going to be some rough seas ahead. If you Know what I mean? Now's a good time for you to take action with gold. Look, if you have an old IRA or 401k for example, you can have that turned into a 401k or IRA in gold with a Birch Gold group and that's one of the things that they do. But they can also get you gold in hand at home. I just got my gold delivery recently. It's discreet, easy shows up and you can keep that and know that you are building your own reserves of precious metals to prepare for the uncertain future with our currency and with the debt. Birch Gold specializes in helping you convert that existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA and physical gold for no money out of pocket. Get your free info kit on gold by texting my name, buck to the number 9898. 98. There's no obligation, just useful information. A plus rating from the Better Business Bureau. A plus rating from me. Connect with Birch Gold. Text buck to 9898. 98. And let the experts at Birch Gold help you secure your future today with.

[Clay Travis]

Gold news and politics. But also a little comic relief.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

[Clay Travis]

Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back into Clay and Bucks. We just got some news coming down here that Elise Defonics nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United nations has been, has been pulled. Not for any, you know, negative reason in terms of Stefanik. It's because they're worried about the House majority. This is something we got to pay attention to. There's an important election happening down here in Florida for Tim Walsh. Did I say Tim Walsh? Mike Walz. Sorry, sorry. That's going to happen sometimes. Mike Walsh, who's been in the news a lot this week for his seat and there's also at least Stefanik seat in Congress that would have come open and they're worried about that one. Clay, the one thing you cannot have is Republicans hand over the House majority in the first two years of Trump's second term to the Democrats. It's, it's a three seat but it is a razor thin majority.

[Clay Travis]

That's right. And some of you may say, ok, three seats, what's the impact here? Remember, a lot of these representatives are in their 60s, 70s, even 80s. And so if you get one person who gets sick or two people who get sick and have some sort of health related issue, there may not be enough people to be able to give a Republican majority. So I give credit to Elise Stefanik. But I mean, this is a sign of how narrow this margin is that the Trump team, I think, looked at this and said, okay, we can't risk it. And next week, many of you in Florida, Matt Gaetz's seat is going to be filled in the Panhandle area, which I know well, I live part of the year down there. That's going to happen and should be fine. But in this Florida 6, this Florida 6th congressional district, which Trump won by nearly 30 points, it is a very safe Republican seat. They are outspending Republicans eight to one and they are counting on a lot of you not showing up for this special election. We need to talk about this. It's a big deal.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, we need to raise the alarm about this. When they're trying to sneak a seat, they're trying. Look, here's a money saving idea that can be accomplished with about 10 minutes or so of your time. Follow my lead and switch your cell phone service to Pure Talk. If you're with Verizon, AT&T or T Mobile, make the switch and immediately save 50 bucks or more. For just $25 a month, you can get unlimited talk, text and 5 gigs of data on America's most dependable 5G network. Just to give you perspective, the average sized family of four saves more than four more than a thousand dollars a year when they switch to Pure Talk. And with Pure Talk's US Customer service team, you can switch hassle free in as little as 10 minutes. You can even keep your phone and your number using your cell phone. Dial £250, say the keywords Clay and Buck to make the switch and you'll save an additional 50% off your first month. Again, dial £250, say Clay and Buck to start saving today. Pure Talk Wireless by Americans for Americans. Dial£2.50 from your phone, say Clay and Buck. Start those savings right now.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so I know a lot of you are going to say, wait a minute, Clay, we just had an election. We just had November 5th. We just celebrated, won the presidency, we won the House, we won the Senate. But the House majority is tenuous. Comes down to a few seats Tuesday. Two of the seats are being filled by guys who step down. Matt Gaetz in Florida one is going to be replaced by Jimmy Petronas. I know Jimmy. He's done really good work in the state of Florida. All of you out there in the panhandle, Florida one, you need to get out and vote. But I want to talk about Florida 6 here. This is the seat that was relinquished by Mike Waltz when he decided to join the Trump Cabinet. The Trump administration, it is a very comfortable Trump district. But I want to hit you with these numbers. Buck, you were also just reading this. The Democrats, in an effort to try to steal this seat, have spent $9.7 million in Florida 6, compared to the $560,000 spent by Randy Fine, who is the Republican candidate. This is a very pro Trump district, you guys. I understand you just voted. You need to get back out and vote. Because they're concerned enough about how tenuous this House majority is that they just pulled Elise Stefanik's UN Ambassador role over being concerned about her New York congressional seat. And then you've got two different seats that are available for the remainder of the term that are up on April 1st. That's Tuesday. I think a lot of you listening to us in Florida right now may not even be aware this is going on, because so many of you, right after the election, you're taking a breather, you're kicking back, you're enjoying the results of the Trump victory, but you need to turn out again, because if Democrats can whittle down and take back the House, they're not passing anything that Trump wants to get done. And this is going to be the risk next year in the midterm when all 435 House seats are up for grabs. And we'll have to see how that goes next year. But in the meantime, we gotta preserve what we've already won. And so if you're listening to us in Florida right now, or you've got friends and family, these are very Trump districts. Trump won Florida one by 37. He won Florida six by 30. But a lot of the people that voted for Trump may not be coming out. They may not even be aware of these special elections. So this is, I think, just, hey, pay attention. Keep your head on a swivel here.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, I mean, it would be, it would be a disastrous state of affairs for the Trump agenda if we were to lose control of the House. Even with the very narrow control that we have, it still is effectively there. So that's something that we need to keep an eye on. And it's interesting to see how Democrats are able to funnel. I'm sure, Clay, if you looked at. It's public information, right? I'm just guessing, but the of the almost $10 million the Democrat has raised in this district, remember a district that Trump won by 30 points, OK, $10 million for a congressional seat that you are minus 30 in the last election, which was just a Few months ago. Just goes to show you Democrats, they will funnel cash in. I bet a huge percentage of it is money out of the, out of the district from, you know, it's money that's coming from New York and Los Angeles. And, you know, people are giving money to whatever they have to to try to sneak this congressional seat into the Democrat column. So, you know, we sit here, we talk about the Democrats have no messaging, which is true. They do have a lot of money, though. They totally outspent Trump the last time around. They totally outspent Trump the first time around. And they will do things like this, which is something we have to be prepared for. So if you're listening, you know, we're, we're on in this area in the 6th district of Florida. We have a huge Florida audience. Thank you very much, Floridians. Our Florida audience has grown by I think overall like 25 or 30% in the last couple of years. So we have a lot of Floridians that are listening and I know some of you in that Daytona beach area, right? That's roughly, roughly what this. So if you're listening to us in Daytona beach area, you cannot let the Democrats take this one. Get out there. This is where also yard signs, I mean, the basic stuff, right? This is going to be a small number overall of people who are determining this congressional seat. So if you're listening to us and you're in this district, whatever you can do makes a difference. This is not, you know, oh, but do I really? Does the president need my vote? Randy Fine needs your vote. Get out there. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

And it is, I think, true, if you look at the data, that the diehard left wing crazy town base of the Democrats does better at showing up on special elections than the average Republican voter does. They're super committed for these things that a lot of people don't pay attention to. They do better at primary turnout. They do better in special elections. We do better as a party in midterms when they're actually big midterms in election now with presidential races, the turnout is very good. But don't get caught napping. And to your point, I mean, think about that nearly. I'm always bad at math live, but we're talking about 20 to 1 being outspent in that Florida 6th congressional district. So they think they can steal it. And by the way, also, if you're up on the panhandle, get out and vote as well. Again, I don't think we're pressing the alarm too soon, but if, if they were super confident about their majority. Elise Stefanik wouldn't be stepping down from the UN Ambassador position.

[Buck Sexton]

But I will make this, I'll make this prediction right now so we can log this as a prediction. Elise Stefanik in the, after this next cycle is going to end up getting something even more exciting in the Trump administration than a US Ambassador to the UN Role, which is, which is high up there, obviously. But I think she could be in line for something even a little more exciting, because for her to obviously voluntarily say, okay, okay, I'm not going to take the, that US Ambassador to UN Role, I'm going to stay in Congress. No offense to Congress, but there's a lot of them. They're, they're, they're making some kind of a sweetheart deal for her to, to, to do what's right for the team, and I think she's willing to do that.

[Clay Travis]

Again, I don't want to speculate on who. I also think, Buck, this tells us that there may be some health issues in the larger Republican caucus, because it only takes. Again, we've seen this happen. Look at what happened with Dianne Feinstein at the end of her tenure as the senator from California, what's happened with Mitch McConnell and his health, the falls that he's had. When you start getting people in their 70s and 80s, this is one of the dangers of having a gerontocracy when it comes to leadership. People age differently, as many of you know. But you can go from very healthy in your 70s to really in dire straits very quickly. And there are a lot of people in their 70s and 80s who are part of our leadership. And so when you got a margin this fine, this tiny, I think that, that everybody needs to make sure and make certain that they make rational, good decisions and get out and vote in these, in these races.

[Buck Sexton]

So this also is a, is a powerful reminder that while we sit here and it has been, there's been a little bit of political euphoria in the first 60 days of Trump's term because of the team he's assembled and the accomplishments they're racking up and the focus, the messaging, it's been, this is fantastic stuff. Ok? They've been doing everything that we want them to do and then some. But remember, from the beginning we said they really have 12 to 18 months to save the country or to make meaningful, lasting change for the United States in very positive ways. This, this midterm election is going to be, it's going to be a dogfight. It just is. That's the reality of being the party in power. And it's not like we're going into it with 15 or 20 seats of majority. So on the Senate side, I think it looks a lot better. But if Democrats were to take the House, oh my gosh, they, you know, the, the hearings, they would, they'll find something. They'll be having hearings on signal gate, you know, and how it's, you know, the whole thing, they're just going to go into anything to slow down and mess up. Trump is justified and necessary. So it's, it reminds us all that there is a finite window here to get very important stuff done to fix the country. Hopefully it doesn't become an issue because we keep the majority and Trump can keep doing great stuff. But you can't, you can't plan on that. You got to plan on getting it done now.

[Clay Travis]

No doubt. I'm going to be down in Florida with Buck in studio Tuesday, Wednesday, on Monday, I'm going to be helping, helping to raise money for Tunnel to Towers does incredible work. Some of you may remember I was their keynote, their host of their big fundraiser that they had up in New York City in October. I'm going to be at the Trump national course in, in the, in the West Palm area. And I can't wait to be down there and help raise money for them because since 9 11, the tunnel the towers Foundation's been supporting America's greatest heroes and their families. Heroes who protect our communities and our country. Heroes like firefighter James Dickman. He was passionate about fire safety, aspired to do everything in his power to keep his community and fellow firefighters safe. While responding to an apartment fire, James and his crew tried to save people who were thought to be trapped inside. And when the situation escalated, James wasn't able to escape. He perished in the blazing inferno. Cause of the fire arson. James leaves behind his loving wife Jamie and his children Paige and Grant. Tunnel the Towers gave the Dickman family the gift of a mortgage free home. Jamie's grateful to Tunnel the Towers and to caring friends like you for lifting the financial burden of a mortgage off her shoulders. Donate 11amonth to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's t the number two t.org making America great again isn't just one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcasts Sundays at Noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us as we are ripping through the Thursday edition of the program. Looking forward to the Sweet 16 tonight. And I'm going to be drinking some Crockett coffee to help make sure that I can stay up for all the late games. I've also got a 14 year old's lacrosse game to get to this afternoon. So all that on the horizon. Still to come, go to crockettcoffee.com use code book and you get an autographed copy of my most recent book, which I think you guys will enjoy, autographed by me. I just signed three more boxes last night while I was sitting around getting ready for date night with the wife. So go get hooked up right now. Crockett Coffee code book. We've got a bunch of you weighing in who were in those districts in Florida. Barbara calling in from St. Augustine, Florida. You say you just heard about the race again, the Democrats are smart about organizing. They're trying to take advantage of Republicans not being aware of what's going on.

[Caller]

Absolutely. They are not aware. I just saw my first sign today. I haven't heard anything on the radio, haven't heard anything on tv. I heard you guys and I said, oh, so that's what that sign is is. And so they're not aware here. So it's from St. Augustine to the district is from St. Augustine to South Daytona.

[Buck Sexton]

And can you, can you get on like the Facebook, local Facebook, Patriots and, and you know, do some yard, like can you tell people, spread the word because there's not a ton of people in your district and this is a race that we got to win.

[Caller]

There is. I, I actually don't have any social media. I know it's kind of crazy.

[Clay Travis]

Good for you, by the way.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Caller]

Well, that sounds, I haven't had it in probably 10 years.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, wow.

[Caller]

But yes, there are neighborhood things around and stuff that I will definitely talk to my neighbors and have them get on there and definitely pass the word because this is too important to miss. Too important.

[Clay Travis]

No doubt. And, and speaking of what we were discussing, Buck, Speaker Mike Johnson has just weighed in and said because we're talking about how tight this is going to be in the House. Elise Stefanik, great leader, devoted patriot. Today, selfless decision shows America what those of us have known already about her. She's deeply devoted to the country, fully committed to the president. Again, he says, I will invite her to return to the leadership table immediately. No doubt she would have served with distinction as ambassador to the United nations, but they need her and they need you because this Margin in the House is on a pinprick one way or the other. And frankly, we've got to get, got to get people out to vote come, come Tuesday because that's going to be here soon. And I know again, a lot of you still kind of kicking back and, you know, celebrating the November election. And they're taking advantage of the fact that a lot of people are not engaged. They're outspending the Republicans 20 to 1 in this floor to 6 race, which is pretty crazy to think about, in an effort to try to put themselves in a position to steal back control of the House.

[Buck Sexton]

Very important stuff going on here. Also we're getting emails about. It isn't just this comes from Eric, One of our VIPs on the VIP Special Inbox here. It isn't just Florida the Democrats are targeting to steal a congressional race. They're targeting two congressional seats here in Wisconsin. The Dems are funneling millions of out of state money to win the Supreme Court to redraw the congressional map here in Wisconsin to steal two seats from the House. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has already said the quiet part out loud. Need to get the word out there more as well. Keep up the good work, Eric in Wisconsin. Well, Eric, you're doing the good work, too, letting people know that this is very important and that if you're up in Wisconsin, listeners, we're on a WISN up there. Huge audience number one. Thank you so much. You got to get the word out, too, to people. Because when you're talking congressional race, grassroots, telling people, you know, getting the word out, these are races that could be determined by a few thousand, maybe even a few hundred. A few hundred votes. Depends.

[Clay Travis]

I bet Buck in Wisconsin, where you're talking about Trump won the state of Wisconsin by 30,000 votes. We had the Senate race come down to what, like 10,000 ish votes, 20,000 votes there. In other words, there is a tiny, minuscule difference. As we all know, Ron Johnson won reelection by about 20,000 votes. There's very little difference between either party in the state of Wisconsin right now. In fact, I haven't heard a lot of people talk about it. Maybe having the Republican National Convention in the Milwaukee area might have been what helped to get the Republican ticket in terms of Trump over the line. And Eric Hovdi, we know, was about as close as you can possibly get to winning that seat as well. So they are going to do whatever they can to be as aggressive as they can to try to get back control of the House between now and next November. So you got to keep your head on a swivel. You've got to be aware of what's going on. And I think a lot of people who live in Florida 6 and Florida 1, for instance, are just hearing from us right now and they're like, oh, wow. Yeah, we do have a race to figure out who the replacement is going to be. Don't let them steal the seat.

[Buck Sexton]

And want to get some of our talk backs here. I'm trying to see what we have. Let's see. We've got talk back coming from hh. Let's do it. Hey, guys, great show. Clay, you gotta let go of the Sydney Sweeney thing, man. She doesn't even look anything like Snow White. It's a terrible, terrible take. Like there are multiple actresses that could play her. You could do Mackenzie Foy or Bailey.

[Clay Travis]

Madison or Lucy Hale.

[Buck Sexton]

They all actually look a little bit like Snow White. Just let go of that terrible take, man.

[Clay Travis]

I don't know who any of those people are. Do you know who any of those actresses that he just. That he just named are? I'm going to be honest.

[Buck Sexton]

I just had a revelation. I just had a revelation as he was saying this. That applies to both of us. To be fair, I am. I'm too old to know who the best actress is to play Snow White. Because Snow white should be 20 maybe, something like that. And I don't know who the actresses are who are good who are in that age. I said Anna Armist. Anna armist is like 40. I've just found out. So, you know, I don't know anything anymore.

[Clay Travis]

It would actually be pretty creepy if you and I knew all of the best 20 year old actresses who should play Snow White. Like that guy just called in. He's like, you're talking about Sydney. She's the most famous. One of the most famous actresses in the world. She would kill it. They would have made a billion dollars. He's wrong. But he just ran through three random actresses that neither you nor I know. I think maybe he's the guy with more explaining to do than me. I'm looking at Lucy Hale. She does look just like Snow white. But she's 35. That's too old. Sydney Sweeney's the pick.