The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: "Hour 3 - No Longer Random"

Date: September 8, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Host: Buck Sexton (Clay Travis off)

Episode Overview

This episode, hosted solely by Buck Sexton, centers on the media’s treatment of violent crime, especially racially charged incidents, and the broader implications for America’s criminal justice system. Buck argues that heinous crimes committed by repeat offenders are not given equal attention by the media depending on the racial dynamics of the perpetrators and victims. He discusses recent high-profile murders, disparities in media coverage, the failures of the justice system, and the problem with soft-on-crime policies. Buck is joined by Heather Mac Donald, author and Manhattan Institute fellow, for an in-depth discussion on these issues, including the impact of "no-cash-bail" and the moral priorities of government.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Disparities in Media Coverage of Violent Crime

• Main Theme: Buck opens with a critique of how the Democrat-aligned media chooses which crimes to promote as national stories. He alleges that the media’s attention is racially selective, highlighting cases where black individuals are victims of white perpetrators, while underreporting the reverse.

  • Quote:
    "When is a murder national news? If it’s particularly heinous, as this clearly was, you tend to think it will be national news. Depends on if it is a murder of a black person by a white person—that is also heinous—the chance of it being national news is essentially 100%."
    — Buck Sexton [04:25]

• Incident 1: Murder of Irina Zarutska

  • 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee murdered in North Carolina on public transit by Decarlos Brown, a black man with 13 prior arrests (including assaults on women). Buck emphasizes the crime is on video and widely circulated online.
  • Buck raises questions: When do we decide a murder reflects a systemic problem, rather than being a random act?

• Incident 2: Murder of Dr. Julie Schnewell

  • 59-year-old former veterinary professor at Auburn University, murdered while walking her dog in Alabama by Harold Rashad Dabney, another black man with a criminal record.
  • Noted for the dog’s loyalty ("the dog stayed by the owner's body the whole time").

• Buck's Point:

  • These cases, despite their brutality and the fact both victims were white women murdered by black men with long rap sheets, gain little national coverage from outlets like CNN or The New York Times.
  • Quote:
    "If the races were different... would this be the biggest story in the country? Yes. Yes, it would."
    — Buck Sexton [11:40]

2. The Problem of Repeat Offenders and Systemic Failure

• Pattern: Buck emphasizes both suspects were known to law enforcement; systemic failures allowed them to remain free.

  • Comparison: He contrasts these cases with high-profile incidents like George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, which received significant attention and became part of national conversations about race and justice.

• Concept of "No Longer Random":

  • Buck distinguishes true randomness (e.g., lightning strikes) from preventable tragedies enabled by policy choices and judicial inaction.

  • Quote:
    "We want this to stop... They can’t stab any ladies to death... if they’re in a prison cell."
    — Buck Sexton [15:45]

• Soros Prosecutor Critique:

  • Buck blames “Soros prosecutors” and progressive policies for prioritizing social justice narratives at the expense of public safety.

3. Reaction from Leadership: Trump and "Tough on Crime" Rhetoric

• Soundbite from Trump: Pledges to “go into cities and straighten it out... clean out the criminal rot.”

  • Quote:
    "When you have horrible killings, you have to take horrible actions... This cashless bail started a wave in our country."
    — Donald Trump (clip shared by Buck Sexton) [22:32]

• Stephen Miller Clip:

  • Miller vows federal law enforcement action, “identifying, disrupting, and dismantling criminal organizations.”

4. Interview with Heather Mac Donald (Manhattan Institute)

(Timestamp references for segment: [26:00]–[39:59])

a. Media Narrative and Racial Realities

• Mac Donald claims: Media narrative ignores black-on-white violent crime and exaggerates the prevalence of white-on-black crime.

  • Quote:
    “Black-on-white crime gets virtually no attention... Blacks are 35 times more likely to commit an act of violence against whites than vice versa. That is a narrative not allowed into the public sphere.”
    — Heather Mac Donald [26:32]

• Government Priorities:

  • Mac Donald argues government has inverted its priority—protecting offenders and dysfunctional individuals over law-abiding citizens.

  • Quote:
    “We are living through the great inversion, where government has decided that its priorities are for the dysfunctional, the criminal, the antisocial.”
    — Heather Mac Donald [27:38]

b. Body Cameras and Surveillance

• Topic:

  • Recent cases have video evidence, which undermines efforts to control the public narrative. Mac Donald and Buck agree surveillance footage increasingly exposes realities the mainstream media wishes to downplay.

  • Quote:
    “They [the media] had control of the narrative... The public is completely in the dark about the reality of inner city crime because the media has decided we don’t dare to know it because we might become racist.”
    — Heather Mac Donald [29:40]

c. Cashless Bail Debate

• Mac Donald’s nuanced view:

  • She has some sympathy for bail-reform arguments (concern about unfair detention for the poor) but says all criminal justice reforms are really about race and a reluctance to incarcerate black offenders.

  • Quote:
    "Everything in our criminal justice system today is driven by race... That’s why we are not enforcing the law."
    — Heather Mac Donald [31:15]

• Systemic Enabling:

  • Both hosts argue that rampant recidivism is allowed, and judges/prosecutors fail to protect public safety, focusing instead on the rights of repeat offenders.

  • Quote:
    “You get at most one free bite of the apple, and then that’s it... When you allow criminals, when you allow the mentally ill, drug addicted on the streets, it will happen. That is no longer acceptable.”
    — Heather Mac Donald [33:07]

d. Case Statistics and Judicial Philosophy

• Arrest and Recidivism Stats:

  • Buck references a New York Post report: 63 individuals responsible for 5,000 subway arrests in New York City; some with nearly 150 arrests.

  • Mac Donald’s Response:
    “The thought process [of judges] is: my responsibility is to the allegedly downtrodden... not the public.” [34:58]

  • Advocates for building more jails, reversing "street colonization," and focusing government duty on law-abiding citizens’ safety.

• Conviction Rates Declining:

  • Buck: Ten years ago, 81% of transit felony arrests led to convictions in NYC; today just 36% ([36:40]).

  • Mac Donald: Driven by a misplaced sense of “historical guilt.”

  • Quote:
    “It is time to end the racial grift, to end the racial guilt... The fact is that law enforcement works... This is a choice, it is not an inevitability.”
    — Heather Mac Donald [36:55–38:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Buck Sexton on selective outrage:
  "Just run this experiment over and over again. Any number of cases... if it was a black Muslim woman stabbed by a white man — riots, 24/7 liberal media coverage, forever."
  [44:47]

• Heather Mac Donald on government priorities:
  "Their duty is not to protect the dysfunctional and the antisocial."
  [36:18]

• Buck Sexton on why tough conversations matter:
  "It's a tough day today talking about these things, but we have to do so honestly and sincerely here on the show."
  [45:34]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:18 | Buck Sexton opens; outlines episode’s main focus | | 04:25 | When does a murder become "national news"? Media dynamics discussion | | 08:00 | Details on Irina Zarutska and Julie Schnewell murders | | 11:40 | “If the races were different...” — major quote / recurring theme | | 15:45 | Failures of current criminal justice approach, Daniel Penny reference | | 22:19 | Trump’s comments on crime policy played/discussed | | 25:59 | Interview with Heather Mac Donald begins | | 26:32 | Mac Donald: “It’s all about race...” | | 31:15 | Cashless bail and how race shapes criminal justice reform | | 33:07 | Mac Donald: One strike and you’re out; on public safety priorities | | 34:58 | Discussion of repeat offenders and judicial mindset | | 36:40 | Decline in conviction rates and “historical guilt” | | 39:54 | Close of Mac Donald’s segment | | 44:47 | Buck reads listener emails on local impact and media outcomes |

Summary

This episode explores the intersection of crime, media, and politics, largely through the lens of two shocking murders that Buck Sexton contends are underreported due to the racial dynamics involved. The show criticizes selective outrage by the “Democrat media,” argues for stricter criminal justice, and highlights recidivist failures and racial disparities in reporting. Guest Heather Mac Donald powerfully reinforces Buck’s argument, warning against the “inversion” of government priorities and calling for an end to the current era of leniency. The tone throughout is urgent, unapologetic, and challenges the mainstream media’s narrative surrounding violent crime and racial politics in America.