Hour 3 - Justifying Violence

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Hour 3 – Justifying Violence

Date: September 17, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the aftermath and implications of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. They analyze the political and media responses, the role of public debate in American life, and broader trends in political violence and polarization. The hour features sharp critiques of media coverage, a reaction to President Obama’s statement on the tragedy, and a debate about the health of political discourse on both sides of the aisle. Notable political and economic news—such as a Federal Reserve rate cut and its impact on markets—are discussed at the top of the hour.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Breaking Economic News — Fed Rate Cut

[03:13 – 08:04]

• Interest Rates: Clay reports the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut in nine months (25 basis points), with further cuts expected before year’s end.
• Impact: Lower borrowing costs could revive the frozen housing market, encourage refinancing, and contribute to general economic optimism.
  • “Borrowing costs just get way cheaper...The housing market has been largely frozen. This is going to start to unfreeze it.” — Clay Travis [03:13]
• Market Reaction: Stock market hits all-time highs in response.
• Comparative Politics: Buck and Clay note a lack of positive media attention for Trump’s economy, claiming that similar economic news under Democratic leadership would be celebrated.
  • “If Kamala Harris was presiding over what we’re seeing right now...it would be the major banner that MSNBC was running all the time.” — Clay Travis [08:04]

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2. Media Coverage & Narrative Manipulation

[09:15 – 13:22]

• Jimmy Kimmel’s Comments: Buck and Clay respond to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about attempts to frame the assassination of Charlie Kirk for political gain, calling Kimmel’s stance “despicable” and factually wrong.
  • “There was a calculated attempt on the left to try to make it appear that this person who killed Charlie Kirk was of the right.” — Clay Travis [10:36]
• Media Echo Chambers: The hosts argue mainstream left-leaning media present a distorted narrative and prevent their audiences from understanding full context and alternative viewpoints.
• Argument for Open Dialogue: Both stress the importance of exposing audiences to a full range of arguments—a theme revisited throughout the hour.
  • “They have no idea what we really think. They have no idea what we really say...They prefer to be lied to.” — Buck Sexton [13:04]

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3. Violence, Political Hostility, and Denial

[15:42 – 16:26, 21:53 – 24:26, 29:06 – 38:08]

• Danger of Politically Motivated Violence: Clay warns that unless the left acknowledges responsibility and distance from violence, further incidents like Kirk’s assassination are likely.
  • “There’s going to be more Charlie Kirks because these people think they’re heroes and they’re not being shouted down.” — Clay Travis [15:42]
• Reactions from Leadership:
  • President Obama’s Statement: Played on-air and critiqued as insufficient, with both hosts objecting to Obama’s insistence on disagreeing with Kirk’s ideas in the context of condemning the murder.
    • “We know you disagree with his ideas, Barack. We know. You don’t have to say that.” — Buck Sexton [22:54]
  • J.D. Vance’s Speech: Senator Vance calls for rejection of political violence and protection of open debate.
    • “...Young people gathering to discuss and debate, that is the thing that we cannot let pass away...I will fight for your right to speak your mind.” — J.D. Vance [28:47–29:11]
• Contrast in Political Protest: Buck and Clay recount instances where left-leaning activists confront Republicans in public, connect the rhetoric of public figures (e.g., Maxine Waters, Chuck Schumer) to heightened emotions and risk.

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4. The Debate Deficit: Why the Left Avoids Public Forums

[24:26 – 29:06]

• The Charlie Kirk Model: Kirk’s efforts in debate and open challenge are contrasted with what the hosts see as the left’s reluctance to engage publicly.
• Social Media’s Role: Hosts ponder whether platforms like Twitter (post-Elon Musk) and the virality of TPUSA (Turning Point USA) events have changed mainstream discourse.
  • “There’s not one prominent leftist anywhere in the west, not just America, doing what Charlie Kirk did. That is, issuing an open debate challenge to all comers…” — Buck Sexton quoting Ben Scalan [26:51]
• Rationality of Arguments: The hosts believe that, when forced into public debate, left-wing positions often collapse or appear irrational (e.g., on gender and sports).

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5. Contesting Claims of Political Violence Origins

[32:20 – 38:08]

• Statistical Arguments: Responding to Morning Joe’s citation of the Cato Institute showing more right-wing political violence, Buck dismisses Cato as lacking credibility and claims such statistics are misleading because they include minor infractions and January 6 charges.
• Case-by-case Review: The hosts argue that significant recent political violence (e.g., school shootings by individuals with left affiliations, the attempted assassination of Steve Scalise, the plot to kill Brett Kavanaugh) is more often perpetrated or incited from the left.
• Logical Endpoint: Concern that Supreme Court-sanctioned stances (e.g., affirmative action) are now being framed as radical to justify violence.

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6. Listener Engagement & Show Ethos

[43:42 – end]

• Listener Email: A VIP listener, Alan, thanks the show for its approachability and depth, likening it to conversations with friends.
• Generational Communication: Discussion about social media and generational habits (e.g., texting vs. calling, referencing the Kirk assassin’s messaging).
  • “If you committed a murder and you text ‘this is where I hid the murder weapon’...it’s so insanely dumb to me.” — Clay Travis [45:40]
• Show Atmosphere: The co-hosts emphasize their camaraderie and authenticity, contrasting themselves with less harmonious radio shows.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If Kamala Harris was presiding over what we’re seeing right now...it would be the major banner that MSNBC was running all the time.” — Clay Travis [08:04]
• “They have no idea what we really think...They prefer to be lied to. And that’s what you see going on right now.” — Buck Sexton [13:04]
• “There’s going to be more Charlie Kirks because these people think they’re heroes and they’re not being shouted down.” — Clay Travis [15:42]
• “We know you disagree with his ideas, Barack. We know. You don’t have to say that.” — Buck Sexton [22:54]
• “Here’s my view, I invite you to try and prove me wrong. None of them [Democratic leaders] are willing to subject their views to that scrutiny.” — Buck Sexton [26:51]
• “Our team isn’t the team that needs to hear it...Defending the right to say things without fear of violence in this country is critical.” — Buck Sexton [30:31]
• “If now there are going to be people who justify violence against you because you take positions that the United States Supreme Court has ratified, where does that leave us, Clay, as a society?” — Buck Sexton [38:00]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Economic News & Rate Cut: [03:13 – 08:04]
• Media Coverage & Kimmel Critique: [09:15 – 13:22]
• Political Violence Reactions: [15:42 – 16:26], [21:53 – 24:26], [29:06 – 38:08]
• Obama’s Statement & Analysis: [21:53 – 24:26]
• J.D. Vance on Free Speech: [28:47 – 29:23]
• Debate Forum & Left’s Avoidance: [24:26 – 29:06]
• Cato Study/Political Violence Statistics: [32:20 – 38:08]
• Listener Email & Show Atmosphere: [43:42 – end]

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Podcast Tone and Style

Clay and Buck adopt a candid, sometimes irreverent tone—critiquing political and media adversaries with sarcasm, humor, and righteous indignation. They alternate between policy analysis, cultural criticism, and lighter banter.

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Final Thoughts

This episode centers on the dangers of political violence, the importance of genuine debate, and perceived dysfunction in media narratives. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is used as a lens for broader concerns about polarization, echo chambers, and the future of public discourse. Both hosts push for open argumentation and warn against trends that stifle it, while suggesting the right is more consistent in rejecting political violence and censorship.

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Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Clay Travis]

America is changing, and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Clay Travis]

Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Clay Travis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

A new NFL season means a fresh start and fresh styles. @nflshop.com you'll find the latest jerseys, hats and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. From rookies making their debut to legends, NFLShop.com has it all score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else and show up ready for every kickoff. Big play fan like a pro and shop [e-mail].

[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming now. The US Electric grid is approaching a breaking point as demand soars from data centers and home energy use. Our aging infrastructure can't keep up and the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100 fold by 2030. The good news? One solution is already here. Propane. It's American made, stored on site and always ready, powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather. Learn [e-mail] welcome in everybody. Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. We got some breaking news. A rate cut. Clay stock market. Clay is fired up right now. We got to go to the charts, we got to go to the numbers. Buy, sell, buy, sell. Clay, what's going on here?

[Clay Travis]

Well, first of all, the rates have been cut by 25 basis points. So a quarter point cut, the first in nine months, the first since right before the election when they tried to juice numbers for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. But significantly, two more rate cuts, a total of 50 basis points expected, which would be nearly a full point overall in interest rates coming down. And some of you out there say, okay, why is this significant stock market, by the way, setting another new all time high on this news? Borrowing costs just get way cheaper. So if for instance, you are out there and you're sitting on a 30 year mortgage or a 15 year mortgage or you have been contemplating going into the housing market, you are going to get nearly, according to the Fed's forecast, a full point decline in interest rates between now and the end of the year. That makes all houses way more affordable. And it would suggest that mortgage rates which I believe are sitting on a 30 year and I don't have this open in front of me right now, but around 6.2%. And the 15, that's a 30 year and the 15 year of 5.6% or thereabouts. I'll pull them up and give you the absolute latest numbers here in a sec. But that they would come down in theory if they moved in conjunction with these rate cuts that you're talking about around three quarters of a point of interest rates coming off before the end of the year. It would set up the possibility of refis, which is significant out there. For those of you who got 7 and a half or 8% interest because you had to buy at a certain time, it might also as you start to come back down closer to 5% for some of these 15 and 30 year rates. Buck. It may also persuade some people. Let's say you're sitting on a 3% interest rate 3 to 5. Some of you out there might say, okay, it's time to sell a home. We need a bigger house. We need a smaller house. Kids have gone off to college. We've had new kids. We want to move into a new school district. The housing market has been largely frozen. This is going to start to unfreeze it as these rate cuts Come back in to reverse the rate spikes that were necessary because of Joe Biden's runaway inflation. So this is a very good thing. Stock market, as we are reacting and sitting here, is up substantially. The market was happy with the guidance going forward and all stocks are setting new all time highs. So in your 401k, all these things, the general consensus and trajectory is in a positive direction.

[Buck Sexton]

We told everybody from the beginning the Trump economy was going to be en fuego.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

And even when there was that moment because of tariffs where there was a little, a little blip, a little bit of panic, we were saying, and I give full credit to Clay because he's more, more vociferous about this, but he was saying buy the dip essentially, or hold. You don't either buy or hold. Don't sell, don't sell, don't panic. And if you have it very, it's very straightforward. If you have bet on the Trump economy, there's a whole bunch of ways to do that as an individual. But if you have bet on the Trump economy, you have been very nicely rewarded so far for that. And doesn't that all, doesn't that all make sense? Of course Trump is going to come in and do things that move things the right direction. Now, I understand there's still sensitivity to prices and prices remain high for things like not for gas comparatively, but for food. And obviously mortgage rates, mortgage rates are going to start to come down. That will be helpful. Refis, remember, more cash in your pocket at the end of the month because you have the ability to refinance. And a lower rate means that you're more able to handle those higher grocery store prices. And you know, there's, there's a push pull effect here in things that, that put more cash into your pocket are going to be helpful with everywhere else where there's been a pinch. So I think that's, that's all very, very encouraging. But let's, let's dive in if we, if we can here too. And it's just one other note, I think, because there's such an expectation after Trump's first term that the economy was going to be just, just really strong that Trump doesn't get. If, if this were a Democrat president with this market move over the last year, I don't just mean today with the rate cut and what it's doing. I mean, over the last year, the first year of a term, we'd be hearing all the time about what a genius President Harris is in the economy. I mean, really, if Kamala Harris was presiding over what we're seeing right now, Clay. Don't you think we'd be just constant Washington Post, New York Times stories about how brilliant she is? You never see that about Trump, of course.

[Clay Travis]

I will just point out as soon as the stock market turned, CNN and MSNBC stopped featuring it every day. Back in April when the stock market was going down and when you had the announcements about the tariffs every day at the bottom of the screen, they had exactly where the stock market is. I'm telling you right now as we are watching real time, all time highs in The S&P 500 just hit, NASDAQ just hit and the Dow Jones all hit record highs. If that were happening with Kamala Harris, it would be the major banner that MSNBC was running all the time, that CNN was running all the time. And I understand people who say, well, the stock market does not perfectly reflect what the overall economy is. A lot of truth to that. But usually the stock market runs about six months ahead of where the existing market is. That's where it's trading. So traders now are saying, hey, this economy is going to be firing on all cylinders by the time we get into the spring and the summer of next year. And that is what they are, that's what they're working towards. So all this is very good news.

[Buck Sexton]

Now I think we had alluded to this before, we might have teed this up before I did want us to talk about it a bit. So Jimmy Kimmel is on abc. He's the late night host there and I find him to be the most odious of those late night host, Ah, Colbert. It is a toss up. A Colbert show got canceled. So at least there's some justice there you have to hear. Now Kimmel still has, well, I don't know if he still has even a couple million people to watch the show. A million and change. I don't know.

[Clay Travis]

Good question. I don't know. I'm not sure what viewership is.

[Buck Sexton]

It's nowhere near what it used to be.

[Clay Travis]

Nowhere near Gutfeld.

[Buck Sexton]

Nowhere near Gutfeld. So here's Jimmy Kimmel saying, well, just listen to what he says. Play 20. We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. That's a. As one of them. That is despicable and monumentally stupid. False thing to say. And I don't know what's worse than he's intelligent enough to recognize the falsehood and he peddles it to his audience anyway. Clay or this is somebody who people are told to laugh and clap for as part of some corporate media entity. And he is, he is honestly operating with about an 85 IQ.

[Clay Travis]

This is where I think it's challenging. There was a calculated attempt on the left to try to make it appear that this person who killed Charlie Kirk was of the right. And so if you are someone who follows leftist media, New York Times, Washington Post, cnn, msnbc, abc, NBC, cbs, basically anything but FOX News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, obviously this program, you do not get a full picture of what the news is. Now, we've played you audio from CNN and msnbc. There is an intentional desire to try to avoid recognizing what motivated this attack. And I hope that in the wake of the announced indictment, which makes that argument virtually impossible to make anymore, I just wonder how much of an experience of the whole world you have, you and I. When you saw Charlie Kirk first, we were live on the air last week, one week ago today, about this time, I could see in your face something really bad happened. I didn't know because we're constantly on our phones hitting refresh, making sure that we're on top of the latest news for all of you. I knew something was bad. I didn't know what it was. But you and I, off air immediately knew this. Is someone killing Charlie Kirk because they hate him? Of course not. Complicated. You and I experience a wide variety of media. I think we understand the full scope of arguments that people in media might make. I don't think very many people on the left do. I think they marinate in blue sky. I think they're on Reddit forums. I don't think they see the arguments that people like you and me make. And this is one reason I wanted to do the Stephen A thing because I think all the time about how do we get better arguments. Charlie Kirk certainly thought about this a lot. How. How do we get arguments in front of persuadable voters, people who are willing to change their minds.

[Buck Sexton]

The Stephen A discussion that happened showed that he has some familiarity with and even some agreement with right wing arguments.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Which is. Which is heartening. It's encouraging because a lot of what you see are people on the left who have you and I. I could do this show as a leftist and I kind of want to like for April Fools one day, just come on. Although I think people wouldn't necessarily.

[Clay Travis]

Rush did this. Producer Ali talked about back in the day we were talking about this off air, he pretended to be a big Bill Clinton supporter for What, Ali, like 20 minutes? Or was it a full hour? She's going to look up how long it went on. People lost their mind.

[Buck Sexton]

You guys have to find that. You know what? Refresh my memory. Pull that clip for us if you can.

[Clay Travis]

And I want, I want to listen to Rachel Maddow.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh my gosh, Clay. I could sit here with some big framed glasses and a man bun and, and a perhaps futurist female T shirt and some sandals with socks, and I could sit here and talk about the patriarchy and white supremacy and I could make all of their arguments. In fact, you and I could sit here in advance, as long as we knew the topic in advance of like a Anderson Cooper or Matt Au or any of those names doing a show. And we could say what their position is going to be on that. Correct. We knew they were going to do both sides ism as soon as they finish. So we have familiarity with the other side. One of the problems that is so clear on the left. And by the way, there's data that shows this as well. They have no idea what we really think. They have no idea what we really say. And we meeting, Clay and me, but also more broadly, the right, they just don't get it. And I think they, deep down, they don't want to get it. They prefer to be lied to. And that's what you see going on right now. And that's why Kimmel told that lie. By the way, what you're telling me is that Jimmy Kimmel is an incurious moron. Like that's. There's only two options here. He's an incurious moron or he's just a vile propagandist. So I'll accept that he's an incurious moron. But some of these things, the assassination and assassination of Charlie Kirk. It's so clear what the motivation was the second that it happened because he's Charlie Kirk. This reminds me of when we're all supposed to think that the, that the COVID virus appearing next to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China was a coincidence where they were playing around with COVID viruses. It's a big planet, everybody. You know, the virus didn't appear suddenly in Mozambique or Bulgaria. It appeared next to the facility where they were doing this first. Right. We were to believe that was a coincidence. Now they're going to tell us that we can't tell what the motive is with Charlie Kirk. Of course we know that. We knew the motive right away. It couldn't be any more clear. It's, this is not hard. But they would rather lie to themselves and lie to each other than handle the reality, which is that the left has created a toxic political ideology that has infected the mainstream of their party, top down. And, and they don't want a clean house. And I think that this is, like I said, a clarifying moment for the country about who stands for what.

[Clay Travis]

And as long as they don't acknowledge this inside of their party, the sad and scary and unfortunate reality is, and this is what we've been saying for some time, there's going to be more Charlie Kirks because these people think they're heroes and they're not being shouted down. Now we haven't seen this.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't want to interrupt you but look at the Luigi situation. Yeah, this guy just murdered a guy. Do you know what happened at UnitedHealthcare in response to this? Nothing except for corporate security needs went up. They've got a CEO who's still running this business. And this also goes to the babyishness, the crybaby ishness of all these socialists and leftist clay. They're all ah, it should be free. It should be free. Why isn't everything free? Or why isn't someone else paying for my stuff? Because it doesn't work that way.

[Clay Travis]

We haven't played this yet. I'm curious to hear this audio. Barack Obama evidently weighed in outside of the social media arena. Do you want to first time. Do you want to hold this first? Play it here in a little bit. I'm curious to hear what he had to say. We've got the audio for you. No matter where you live, there's always the chance you become a victim of a home robbery. Stats show there are two home break ins every minute on average. You want to be able to protect yourself and your family with the right self protection tools and you can get them from our sponsor, Saber. So Saber is the number one pepper spray brand trusted by law enforcement. In our house we've likely got every one of these products including Sabers pepper spray gel projectiles. They've been at this for 50 years. Family owned sabre is spelled S A B r e website saberradio.com their pepper gel projectile launcher, shaped like a pistol or a rifle depending on the model, fires off a pepper gel projectile targeted goes a longer distance than you might think making it effective against an intruder. Decide today what you need to help make your home safer. Non Lethal family owned. We've got every one of these products. You're gonna love them. Saberradio.com that's 844-824-SAFE, 844-824-SA safe. You know them as conservative radio hosts.

[Buck Sexton]

Now just get to know them as.

[Clay Travis]

Guys on the Sunday Hanging podcast with Clay and Buck. Find it in their podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, dc.

[Clay Travis]

I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Clay Travis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

A new NFL season means a fresh start and fresh styles. @nflshop.com you'll find the latest jerseys, hats and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. From rookies making their debut to legends, NFLShop.com has it all score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else and show up ready for every kickoff and big play fan like a pro. And shop [e-mail].

[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen. All from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your seven day Free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming now.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

What happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy. What happened, as you mentioned to the state legislators in Minnesota, that is horrific. It is a tragedy and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

[Clay Travis]

Obviously, I didn't know Charlie Kirk.

[Buck Sexton]

I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong. But that doesn't negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family. He's a young man with two small children and a wife who obviously.

[Clay Travis]

And a huge number of friends and.

[Buck Sexton]

Supporters who cared about him. And so we have to extend grace.

[Clay Travis]

To people during their period of mourning and shock.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, I mean, okay. Ish. The whole but thing. We don't. We don't. You don't have to tell us. You. We know you disagree with his ideas, Barack. We know you don't have to say that. You can just. And by the way, I think that this needs to be more of a like, slap upside the head moment for Democrats and much less of a, like, you know, okay, guys, like, can we just like try to be human for one second a little bit? You know, it should be Guys, stop being crazy. This, this guy just got shot in front of everybody because of what he stood for. We can't go down this path in this country. So I, you know what, do you give a Barack Obama statement here? C minus.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, I mean, I think he, I, by the way, we take a cut. So I don't know what the full totality of it was. Maybe he had better commentary, meaning more expansive commentary saying, hey, the First Amendment is the thing that matters. And anybody fighting, he doesn't have to.

[Buck Sexton]

Say the I disagree. There's no reason to say the I disagree.

[Clay Travis]

Everybody feels compelled to say, I don't agree with everything that he said. And I've always said this, you shouldn't agree with everything that anybody says. What percentage of the things that you say does your wife agree with?

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, we agree on a lot.

[Clay Travis]

But of, well, Laura agrees.

[Buck Sexton]

It's like honestly, Carrie and I kind of see eye.

[Clay Travis]

Laura agrees with me on not a lot of things.

[Buck Sexton]

Look at you. Look at the, look at this. Scurrilous, scurrilous. Pistachio. Pistachio ice cream. Hate that Clay throws out on.

[Clay Travis]

Most husband and wives disagree on a decent number of things every day. But you don't preface every bit of your relationship talking about it.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, I think we're entering a big opportunity for Main street investors. President Trump and his administration are working overtime to make the markets free from red tape and job killing regulations. Look at where the stock market has been going over the last year. And that's even before defense, health care, energy, manufacturing hit their full stride under Trump. Once artificial superintelligence comes in, could transform the US Economy even more. But here's the truth. A lot of Americans are going to miss out on this fortune building opportunity. I don't want this to happen to you. That's why I've launched a brand new financial intelligence project called Money and Power. I handle the power part. That's politics and what goes on in the machinery of government and then on money. I've got a great team of analysts who all they do is look at stocks and pick them. I've got exciting details in an interview you can go [e-mail] go watch this presentation and sign up insider2025.com paid for by Paradigm Press. He's running. Gavin Newsom is calling on Democrats to do more outreach. Like Charlie Kirk. We've known this all along. Gavin Newsom is the, in my view, current standard bearer of the Republican Party with the most serious claim to the Democrat leadership and therefore becoming the next nominee for the Democrat Party. And I think that's very likely to be the case. I want to give credit to who put this out on Twitter because he got an Elon retweet, so it's now gone. Very Ben Scalan, I don't see from Ireland. I don't know this guy is. This is on X. But I like to credit people when I can for their thoughts. Ben Scalan, he is a senior. Yeah, Irish journalist and commentator. He writes note, there's not one prominent leftist anywhere in the west, not just America, doing what Charlie Kirk did. That is issuing an open debate challenge to all comers and saying, here's my view, I invite you to try and prove me wrong. None of them are willing to subject their views to that scrutiny. That Clay, is a critical point and it's something that I think is overlooked here. It's not just that Democrats don't, don't, you know, accept that. Charlie, what Charlie Kirk was doing is the foundation of the First Amendment and everything else they are unwilling themselves because I think a lot of them, the smarter ones, know they will lose.

[Clay Travis]

Yes, they have.

[Buck Sexton]

They will lose on women can have penises. Like they will lose on climate change is an existential threat. Like they will lose on these issues that are like religious fervor issues for them.

[Clay Travis]

That's why they don't have open public forums. And that's why I was saying Gavin Newsom got exposed by Ron DeSantis. The point of Charlie's events was that when you argue leftist points, they look irrational compared to points on the right. And the flip side would be true. Which is why I was saying there is no left wing version of Charlie Kirk. Because to your point, Buck, it would be somebody like you or me, a younger version of us, 20 year old clay or Buck walking up to a mic and saying to left wing Charlie Kirk, how can you say that it's fair for a grown man to decide to identify as a woman and win a women's sports championship? That you can argue that it is while they're real women, there is no biological impact. But you end up. Remember when Neil Degrasse Tyson said that and we came on and we played that audio and we said this guy is supposed to be one of the most brilliant scientists in the entire world. And he went on because of left wing orthodoxy and said, do we really know that men would be better athletes than women? I don't know.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, we do know, Mr. Science. We do know.

[Clay Travis]

But he got ridiculed for that take, it was him choosing politics and orthodoxy over science. And I think what you would see if somebody had an open forum from the left wing perspective is it would absolutely ridicule those perspectives. By the way, credit to J.D. vance, this. We told you we were monitoring the speech that he was giving. He just said this, which echoes much of what we've said for the last week. Cut 38. And I would like to think that.

[Buck Sexton]

Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican.

[Clay Travis]

This basic idea of young people gathering to discuss and debate, that is the thing that we cannot let pass away.

[Buck Sexton]

Just because the leader of Turning Points USA was gunned down by an assassin. And I want to let you know that whether you're a Democrat or Republican.

[Clay Travis]

Whatever your belief is, I will fight.

[Buck Sexton]

For your right to speak your mind.

[Clay Travis]

We reject political violence and we reject the crazy left wing radicals that gunned.

[Buck Sexton]

Down our friend Charlie Kirk. Let's talk to one another and not.

[Clay Travis]

Try to shoot each other down for disagreeing.

[Buck Sexton]

Isn't it nice to have a vice president who is incredibly eloquent, intelligent and forceful on the issues and just gets it? You know, honestly, it's, it's something that I think we almost take a little bit for granted right now. But JD's is, JD is a political star in his own right.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. And a super smart guy, to your point. And off air we were saying this and increasingly, I think it's actually very likely that a part of me feels like maybe sometime after the midterms, if things continue to go well, that we're going to see J.D. vance and Marco Rubio announce a unity ticket. Hey, we don't need to spend 300, 500 million dollars on a primary. Let's put all of our resources behind this. Let's let the Democrats fight and let's go ahead and know who our guys are going to be going forward. I'm not 100% sure it happens, but I think there's increasingly a lot of momentum there.

[Buck Sexton]

And you think about the names that would also consider being Republican contenders in the next election cycle, which is not far away. Everybody, this is the thing we have to keep reminding ourselves. It's, it's, you know, in two years we're going to be talking about, about who the, who the nominee will be and all that.

[Clay Travis]

Fifteen months, as soon as the midterms in next year, not even everybody's going to start to announce.

[Buck Sexton]

That's right. So it's going to come pretty quickly. And I would just say everybody, though, who's in that conversation I think knows that they would also be welcome in A. J.D. vance, Marco, Rubio, and I'm, you know, however, they would do that, welcome in that administration. So I think all of the big names know that there's. There's a place for them if that were to be the ticket. Look, we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves with that. But back to what JD Said there. Here is my frustration, Clay. And I know that J.D. agrees with this. Him saying this is a good thing. It's the right thing to say. Defending the right to say things without fear of violence in this country is critical. It is essential. Our team isn't the team that needs to hear it. You know, this is. This is the issue. Our people will say this all day long because that's how we think. You know, and this is always across the board, too. We don't chase politics. And when I say we, I'm talking about people on the right in any numbers, with any support of people who are ideologically aligned or ideologically similar. We don't agree with lying down to block traffic. We don't agree with yelling at people in front of their families or just in general while they're trying to have a dinner, you know, yelling at politicians. You know, we don't agree with, you know, throwing riots that burn down or destroy neighborhoods or loot stores when we're unhappy. Like, you go down this list of things, this could not be. This could not be more clear, but Morning Joe, your boy Morning Joe, or as. As. As Mr. Mark Levin calls him Morning Schmo, which I think is quite apt, I must say. Morning Joe says this. This is cut 26. Sorry I didn't give you much advance notice on this one, but there we go.

[Clay Travis]

We got it. United States.

[Buck Sexton]

The Vice President, Stephen Miller, the Attorney.

[Clay Travis]

General, have been saying things that have.

[Buck Sexton]

Been extraordinarily divisive, and as we said yesterday with the vice president, sadly, just not true.

[Clay Travis]

When.

[Buck Sexton]

When he says that most of the violence comes from the left, I can say this is somebody in the center. No, it doesn't. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank funded by the Koch brothers and run in part by people in association with the Koch brothers, have put out studies.

[Clay Travis]

Showing the overwhelming amount of political violence.

[Buck Sexton]

In America has in fact come from the far right. This is delusional. First of all, no one on the right takes the Cato Institute seriously. I'm just going to say this right now, okay? They're a bunch of open borders loons. And I don't. I don't care what Cato has to say about anything. You know, that's. That's part one. That's just reality. Part two is this just goes against everything that we see, everything that we know. And like I said, I've seen them play this game before.

[Clay Travis]

Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

I was on CNN in the era when we were having the San Bernardino terror attack, the Pulse nightclub terror attack. The. You know, you go down the list of all these different. The guy who drove his car on the west side highway and mowed down a bunch of all these jihadist terror attacks happening over and over and over again. And then they would put me on and they'd say, well, look at this. You know, here's some data that shows that there's more right wing terrorism than left wing terrorism. And they would include things like someone saying something mean to a minority on a subway car. Oh, it's like right wing violence. I mean, it's just not reality.

[Clay Travis]

Can you think of any? I mean, I just. For all of you out there, I mean, you had the crazy. I think it's 1 billion percent. The guy in Minnesota, I read his manifesto. I mean, he's schizophrenic. He's. I mean, there's some.

[Buck Sexton]

Tried to do this with the guy who shot Gabby Giffords, who's just. He is like the. What's the frequency Kenneth guy. He's a psycho. A psycho that isn't latching on to a clear ideology with institutional support from real edifices in our society.

[Clay Travis]

I can't even think of one. Now. They're going to say, oh, Gretchen Whitmer, first of all, nothing really happened there and it seems to be primarily an entrapped situation. But if you just run through in recent history, obviously what happened to Charlie, if you think about what happened in Minneapolis at the school shooting, the trans shooter. If you think about what happened in Nashville with the trans shooter. Are there lots of violent people in America? Yes. Are they far too often violent? Yes. But what Political violence motivated by someone from the right. Now, I'll tell you what they did probably was they counted every charge brought on January 6th. Hey, this trespassing charge, hey, this, this misdemeanor that was pled guilty to and they rolled all those together. But as you've pointed out, the only person who died on that day was actually unarmed and shot and killed. Otherwise there was no actual substantial killed.

[Buck Sexton]

Killed in an act of violence. There are people that had a heart attack a couple days later and things like that.

[Clay Travis]

Ashley Babbitt, they try to say six Cops died. They don't actually give you the details.

[Buck Sexton]

But, I mean, here's an example. I remember the first Trump administration. There was this. There was this movement of lunatics. They chased Ted Cruz into a restaurant in D.C. and they were screaming at him. And to that restaurant's credit, actually, they like, were totally had Ted's back and said, you were welcome back here. Those scumbags, you know, are not. Will be. There are other times, though, where Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she was at a restaurant in Virginia. I remember this. And they. And the restaurant owner was like, that's right. I'm with these lunatics who are shouting at you like, sorry, you know, you.

[Clay Travis]

Stand in Lexington, Virginia.

[Buck Sexton]

There you go. Yeah. So did that happen under the Biden years when the restaurants were open because we, you know, Covid.

[Clay Travis]

How about Maxine Water saying, get in everybody's face, which helped to motivate the fact that that was occurring? How about Chuck Schumer saying, be care. Basically out in front of the Supreme Court, they tried to kill Brett Kavanaugh. I know everybody just pretends that didn't happen. The shooting of Steve Scalise and others after the shooter said, are those Republicans or not? While they were preparing for the softball.

[Buck Sexton]

Game to the point that was made by that Irish guy. This is why they can't have these debates in public. If Morning Joe tried to have this discussion on Morning Joe with you or with me, they would be eviscerated on their own show, on tv. They would get smoked, okay? They would get smoked, and they know it. And so instead of saying, maybe our ideas are bad, maybe our arguments are weak, they just retreat further into an echo chamber where they create an audience that is emotionally, emotionally unstable and can only hear what they want to hear because they cannot present them with the truth, because then they'll go somewhere else, right? It turns into a competition for the lowest common denominator. They'll listen to some other lunatic out there who will try to justify these things. And you'll notice also, and this is true of the Charlie situation in really stark terms. But you've seen this with a lot of other times, too. They'll say things like, you know, Charlie was a white supremacist. And you sit there, I mean, and put us at the obvious things like, Candace was one of his first, you know, stars within Turning Point, and they had a very close friendship. And there's a lot of things you could say right away that would dismantle this. But, okay, what's the racist thing that Charlie Kirk said that we shouldn't have affirmative action, that it demeans people who the Supreme Court agrees with that. So. So if now you're beyond the pale, if now there are going to be people who justify violence against you because you take positions that the United States Supreme Court has ratified, where does that leave us, Clay, as a society? Where, where are we? That's now. So. So the law of the land of the Supreme Court, of the Constitution is so radical to the left that you're allowed to be a target. I actually think that is where we are.

[Clay Travis]

I think one of the real questions that's out there in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination is Elon Musk buying Twitter? Is that connected to the rise of Turning Point where Charlie's videos were able to go more viral? TikTok We've got a potential purchase that's taking place by Oracle. Larry Ellison, we read for you the apology basically that came from Comcast after the way they covered the Charlie Kirk assassination. Are there enough people in power that are now embarrassed by the arguments of the left such that they start to get shouted down from within their own corridors? That's the question. I think that that remains we'll take some of your calls. We'll take some of your talkbacks to close out the Wednesday edition of the program. The next segment. In the meantime, it's football season and tomorrow I'm hopefully going to win you some money with prize picks. You can play in California, Georgia, Texas, all over the country. 40 plus states, including my home state of Tennessee. Use my name clay. You get $50 when you sign up at prizepix.com code clay. That's $50 when you play $5. It's fun, it's easy. All you have to do is pick more or less on your favorite athletes in your favorite sport. It makes the game a little bit more fun than it otherwise would be and you will love it, I promise. Go to prizepix.com Code Clay that is prizepix.com Code clay to get hooked up today, 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 obviously iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, dc.

[Clay Travis]

Hi, I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global story.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Clay Travis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

A new NFL season means a fresh start and fresh styles. @nflshop.com you'll find the latest jerseys, hats and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. From rookies making their debut to legends, NFLShop.com has it all. Score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else and show up ready for every kickoff and big play. Fan like a pro and shop [e-mail].

[Clay Travis]

Now you can stream Fox News live on the Fox One app. Stay on top of breaking news and the biggest stories live as they happen, all from the Fox voices you trust, bringing you the coverage you won't find anywhere else.

[Buck Sexton]

Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one We LIVE for live streaming now.

[Clay Travis]

Life moves fast. A new home, a new baby, a new chapter. But without an estate plan, your future's still vulnerable. With trust and will, you can name guardians, start a trust, create health care directives and more. All online in about an hour. It's attorney designed, state specific and built to protect what you love. Plans start at just $199 and every plan is safe, secure and kept completely private. From families with young kids to adults caring for aging parents. Trust and will makes it simple to take control without a law office, paperwork, stress or court delays. Go to trustinwill.com and use code RADIO to save 20%, start your plan today. Don't wait for life to force your hand. Estate planning is one of the smartest, most loving things you can do. Trust and Will is an online estate planning service. See website for details. CLAY travis, BUCK SEXTON SHOW we're going to get some of your talk backs, but producer Ally with us here in New York City, we have not seen this, but she said she she wanted to give us an uplifting end to the show and she had an email to read. Ali, the floor is yours. All right. This is a VIP email from Alan. Hey, guys. Love the show and I've been listening.

[Buck Sexton]

Ever since you came on the air.

[Clay Travis]

I started listening to rush in my.

[Buck Sexton]

20S and loved how he taught me.

[Clay Travis]

How to analyze and direct arguments.

[Buck Sexton]

But one thing that I really enjoy about you is you are closer to.

[Clay Travis]

My generation and it's obvious you are really friends. You talk to each other like me.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

And my buddies do.

[Buck Sexton]

You laugh with each other and at each other.

[Clay Travis]

And recently we all cried together.

[Buck Sexton]

When I'm listening, it's like I've got.

[Clay Travis]

A couple of my friends with me during the day and it just makes my day better. Thanks, guys. Oh, that's super nice.

[Buck Sexton]

Really kind. Thank you for that.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you. Alan. One of our VIPs. Thank you. Good job reading that after the show.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay and I don't storm off into separate green rooms like, I can't handle one more day of this.

[Clay Travis]

And I will tell you, there are.

[Buck Sexton]

Shows like that out there. I'm not going to name names, but there are shows like that out there.

[Clay Travis]

Debbie from thank you, Ali. That was really, really nice. And like I said, Alan, thank you as well. Debbie from Denver we were talking. We started off the show reading through the text messages of the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin. And Debbie from Denver weighed in saying, we were saying, hey, is this person, these texts? Is this texter a or is this intentional to try to provide some sort of alibi or clarity to protect others, Debbie from Denver said. And I asked, why not just call on the phone? Debbie has a theory. Dd hey guys. The reason why he texts instead of.

[Buck Sexton]

Giving a phone call is because that age doesn't talk to each other. All they do is text. If you haven't ever noticed that they can be seen sitting at the same.

[Clay Travis]

Dinner table and they're not talking to.

[Buck Sexton]

Each other, they're texting each other. I've seen it in restaurants. I've seen it at people's houses. People don't talk to each other, they just text. I think it's very insightful. I think she's I think she may.

[Clay Travis]

Be right that he is just that's his preferred method of communication. My point on that would just be.

[Buck Sexton]

The sensitivity of the topic though. May change it to, you know, I.

[Clay Travis]

Mean it's so dumb if you committed a murder and and you text this is where I hid the murder weapon. It's so insanely dumb to me. I would think that you would just recognize making a written record of your crime is one of the dumbest things you could do. I'm at least going to call this person and have a phone conversation with him. But maybe the technology and the kids. Although I will say my boys talk a lot on FaceTime with their friends. So and they're younger than this guy. But I it's an interesting argument. I think it's worth playing, which is why we did I just still think it's a sign of being an incredible moron to write.

[Buck Sexton]

It doesn't add it doesn't add up that he cares about what evidence he left behind and then he wrote out a detailed confession online. That part unless he's incredibly stupid, which we are not to believe that he is. So there's something going on there, funky going on there and we're going to continue to chase this one down and we're going to do more show for you tomorrow. Thanks for being here everybody.

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[Clay Travis]

America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC.

[Clay Travis]

I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Announcer/Ad Voice]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Clay Travis]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

A new NFL season means a fresh start and fresh styles. @nflshop.com you'll find the latest jerseys, hats and sideline gear to rep your team all season long. From rookies making their debut to legends, NFLShop.com has it all. Score exclusive styles you won't find anywhere else and show up ready for every kickoff and big play Fan like a pro and shop [e-mail] Oral health goes beyond just aesthetics.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Start your 7 day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one we live for live streaming now. This is an I Heart Podcast.