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Clay Travis
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Clay Travis
12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy. See terms at TJ Maxx. Feel more you than ever without compromise. Because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and online@tjmax.com and Max, what makes you you. Welcome back in Everybody to the third hour of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show, first show of 2026. Happy New Year. We missed you, but we had great time over the holidays with our families respectively. We all hope and trust that you did as well and you are ready and rested to dive into everything with us again this year. 2025 was a great year for this country. I think 2026 could be even better. Starting off with a bang here, a flashbang perhaps with the raid on the dictator dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who has pleaded not guilty along with his wife. They also grabbed the wife who was herself indicted in this for being narco traffickers into the United States. That is underway. We've been talking about the Tim Walls and Somali fraud situation. Tim Walls saying he's not running for reelection as governor. Is this the end of his political career? Possibly. And there's much, much more that we'll be discussing around that fraud issue. Just a breaking news item. Wall Street Journal just putting this up. In the last few minutes, the CDC has pared down the list of recommended childhood vaccines. So the US Is dropping universal recommendations for certain childhood vaccines, altering the immunization schedule to be more closely aligned with Denmark's recommending fewer shots for children. Under the change, the CDC is doing away with the recommendation that all children receive vaccines for rotavirus, COVID 19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B. The CDC is instead advising decisions about their shots be made by parents and their children's health care providers. Claire, we don't want to spend too much time on this one today because there's so much heavy news going on. But I do think that this is just, this is just a win for sanity. You know, I'm going through this with my boy right now. We, we have a very good practitioner, very good doctor.
Buck Sexton
Who's our, our.
Clay Travis
What do you call a kid doctor? What do you mean?
Buck Sexton
Pediatrician?
Clay Travis
Pediatrician. Thank you. Sorry, I just blanked on the pediatrician. Blanked on the term. We have a great pediatrician.
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
Clay Travis
And we go through, we just go through each and every one. Do we want this? Do we need this? What does the data say? Do we want this? Do we. What does the data say? Because the overall schedule is way too many, way too fast.
Buck Sexton
I know that I speak for a lot of parents and grandparents out there when I say I am so grateful that we did not get my kids the COVID shot. Now I'm glad I didn't get it. But, you know, I think a lot of parents out there felt like they had to do it to keep their jobs and to make sure they could pay their mortgage. And we certainly can't forget what they did to us. But the fact that so many parents were willing to make the right decision for their kids, I. The data on the COVID shots just keep getting worse. And the fact that any kids, particularly young kids and healthy kids, were ever given the COVID shot is, I think, a complete failure of American policy. But that information is out there. Just came down. Wall Street Journal, breaking news. We had a bunch of people who wanted to weigh in on the big stories of the day. We're going to talk with David Rutherford at the bottom of the hour about the raid on Venezuela, how incredibly impressive it was. We've got a bunch of talkbacks and Michael in Milburgh, Florida, he's got a question about what was said as it pertains to Maduro being arrested. Fire away, Michael.
David Rutherford
Yeah, I was just curious about the legality of when Secretary Rubio said that they arrested him and read him his rights. What is the legality? What rights is he entitled to as a non US Citizen in New York?
Buck Sexton
Well, prosecuted under American law, so he same protections under federal law that any other criminal defendant would be entitled to. And so what Rubio was referencing, which I think is significant, is this was very similar. For those of you who remember the Manuel Noriega raid in 1990 when he was arrested in Panama, there's a lot of focus. The Democrats have said, oh, we're at war with Venezuela. What Marco Rubio, I think, has done a good job of trying to illustrate is this was an arrest of an indicted criminal under American law, and he was arrested and now he's being brought to justice. He pled not guilty, as is his right, in a criminal court in New York City this morning.
Clay Travis
This is Operation Absolute Resolve that has captured Maduro. If you want to do a little throwback, there was Operation Urgent Fury, pretty good name for the US invasion of Grenada back in 1983. A very small clay. Are you licensed to practice law there, too? A very small Caribbean nation.
Buck Sexton
I am licensed in the United States of Virgin Islands in Tennessee. Not have not added Grenada to the list. Let me just point out, Michael didn't ask this question, but I do think this is an interesting question. And that is unlike, let's say, the combatants who were tried, if you remember. And this is me going into the weeds a little bit in Guantanamo. And Buck has met one of my buddies from. From law school who has been involved in some of these prosecutions. Great guy. They decided to classify these individuals as enemy combatants. They are not in some way charging Maduro under criminal military tribunals. They are prosecuting him as a criminal case in New York City. Just a little bit interesting. Procedurally, there's probably an argument if they were classifying him as an enemy combatant, that they could have charged him under military tribunal law. Again, this is really getting into the weeds, but they are not doing that. And so they are prosecuting him under typical criminal justice statutes, as would be the case with a lot of criminal defendants all over the country.
Clay Travis
He's really being treated as a narco kingpin and not as a terrorist mastermind. Right. If he had sent agents to blow up buses or, you know, take down planes or something here in America, we might have gone the enemy combatant, you.
Buck Sexton
Know, because if we had seized the ayatollah, I think based on his enemy combatant status, that would be a military tribunal under which he would be tried, not a. Not a criminal court in the United States. That's in the weeds. He didn't ask about that, but he might have been wondering. That might have been an implication behind his question.
Clay Travis
You want to do this? We got a VIP email that just came in. Born in Caracas is the title. And this comes from Pamela. Worked in Major League Baseball and returned to the 80s and 90s for the winter ball games. I had been detained last time I visited. Never forget there was a time when Venezuela was one of the four wealthiest countries on Earth, along with the U.S. new Zealand and Switzerland at that time. Never forget Chavez. Maduro threw the population into starvation with estimates of 70% of the people, and set up blockade to prevent medicine from reaching people so the government could hoard and blackmail Dinesh d' Souza's wife. Debbie's from Venezuela. Actually, I'd forgotten that. That's. I think that's correct. Would she be a good guest? Hoping I can go back and visit again. Thank you so much, Pamela. The. The devastation Society wide devastation that has been visited on Venezuela because of socialism, because of redistribution of wealth, collectivism, social justice, all those buzzwords, all those things, all those ideas. Part of the lib brain virus in this country. That's why they're clay. The worst people in American politics are the people who are upset that Maduro was gone. It's amazing, isn't it? It's a perfect correlation. Are you the worst person in American politics? Do you support all the bad things in this country? You know, more crime, open borders, more spending, more taxation. Do you support all the bad ideas? You're upset about Maduro being gone. There's a re. There's a thread that connects all of these things. And that's why you can go back and look at the. Not the Wall Street Journal, but the New York times in like 2012, writing editorials, not. Not an op ed editorials on behalf of the editorial board about all the great social justice things that Chavez was going to accomplish in that country.
Buck Sexton
Look, the fact that there were immediately these Astroturf protests in many different places in America, I think are indicative of the left continuing to be broken, to reflectively be opposed to anything Trump does Think about the reaction when, to his credit, Barack Obama, contrary to the advice of Joe Biden who said, don't do it, took out Osama bin Laden. I don't remember. Do you remember any Republican saying, I can't believe we undertook this risk? I remember everybody saying, credit to Obama. He put his balls on the table, so to speak, took out Osama bin Laden. That was an incredible accomplishment. I remember everybody in America reacting in a very positive way.
Clay Travis
I remember tweeting out in celebration of it and congratulations. Very early in my media career, I'd left government and so I finally had a Twitter account. And I remember very early on, this is what I was saying. I was just saying that, or rather that this is how it felt. It's a win for America. This is a win for America. What happened in Venezuela, it's a win for America, it's a win for the Venezuelan people, it's a win for the rule of law, it's a win for the hemisphere, it's a win for the world. Go down the list and the people who are saying, oh, but what if, but what if you could, but what if anything, ok, yes, you could, but what if a million. You could, but what if, you know, if we ended the Russia Ukraine war tomorrow, well, now what if Russia smuggles nukes? You can come up with a million scenarios that are possible right now. What's happened is a huge step in.
Buck Sexton
The right direction, I think also just compare the way we left Afghanistan to the way that we took out Maduro from Venezuela. To me, it is a great distillation of it's the same military, right? I mean, in the same forces that are being allowed to do their job. 13 people got killed because we left Afghanistan in a total mess. We left, what, billions of dollars of material that is now the property of the Taliban, that they are hundreds of billions.
Clay Travis
We outfitted the Taliban military. The Taliban is going to be driving around in and these humvees in 40 years, they're going to have to patch them back up, but this is going to be their military for the foreseeable.
Buck Sexton
Just look at the organizational plan that it was in place and was necessary in Venezuela compared to leaving Afghanistan. And I think it's hard to argue that we have not put competent people in positions to be able to make the world a safer place.
Clay Travis
But how you do things, the decision to do something matters a whole heck of a lot, right? That is judgment, that is wisdom. But how you do the thing is skill, it is acumen, it is tactics. You know, it is implementation and the Trump administration is superior to Biden on on hugely, clearly on both counts. But I would even say you look at Pete Hegsett, Secretary of War, and you compare him to Lloyd Austin, his predecessor. Peter's just a more on the ball, smarter, more with it guy.
Buck Sexton
Yes.
Clay Travis
He's just better at this. Yes. He just understands how to get something like this done in a way that his predecessor in the role did not. And that is true also of Marco Rubio versus his previous occupant of the Secretary of State role, the Marco Rubio. As we know, many jobs, many jobs that guy has. But Secretary of State's probably the most prominent.
Buck Sexton
By the way, Trump has just weighed in on Tim Walls stepping down. Should I read that or should that be a no?
Clay Travis
You got to hold that one.
Buck Sexton
All right.
Clay Travis
You got to hold.
Buck Sexton
When we return, Trump, as only Trump can, has teed off on Tim Walls and we will tell you exactly what he said as Tim Walls political career is over.
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
News you can count on.
Clay Travis
And some laughs too. Clay Travis at Buck Sexton.
Buck Sexton
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Clay Travis
Yo, you know Ball, we'll come through with a free $10 from Better Picks, download the Better app, pick more or less on your favorite player stats, watch the games and win some cash. It's that simple. Must be 21 or older in a jurisdiction where better Picks operates in terms of conditions apply. Better Picks Sports Just got Better these.
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Buck Sexton
Birch Gold Group welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show okay. President Trump has teed off on Minnesota Governor Tim Walls, who ended his political career in disgrace earlier today after all of the revelations surrounding the Somali fraud. Uh, here is what President Trump just posted. Minnesota's corrupt governor will possibly leave office before his term is up. Let me pause there. There are rumors that Walls is going to resign ultimately as well. Uh, we'll see whether that ends up being true. Right now Walz is saying he's gonna fill it, finish the rest of his term this year. Uh, but in any event will not be running again because he was caught all caps red handed along with Elon Omar and others of his Somali friends stealing tens of billions of dollars, taxpayer dollars. I feel certain the facts will come out and they will reveal a seriously unscrupulous and rich group of slime balls. Governor Walz has destroyed the state of Minnesota. But others like Governor Gavin Newscombe, J.B. pritzker and Kathy Hochul have done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. All caps. No one is above the law. Question for you, Buck. Do you believe that there will be any criminal charges brought against Tim Walls? Is this going to get worse? Could there be more information coming out about his involvement and recognition and knowledge of this fraud? Or do you think Tim Walls, his political career is just over and he just kind of rides off into the sunset now that he's no longer going to run for reelection, focus turns to other people. Where do we go from here? Basically in this story, I don't think.
Clay Travis
That you're going to see Tim Wall's charges. I really don't. And I try to always call these things honestly, even though I know it right now feels like all this momentum. No, I don't think so. Because let's break this down. What maybe happened here. I think Tim Walls was setting from the top down a prioritization list and you know, as governor and that includes his ag, the attorney general for the state. Is it Keith Ellison still? It was Keith Ellison. Is that is that's who's the AG in Minnesota?
Buck Sexton
I think that's still true. I think that's correct.
Clay Travis
Well, that's interesting. Uh, if that guys check that one on me. If that's the case, I'm just pulling that one from the Buck memory banks. It's been two weeks. I'm a little rusty, a little dusty up there. Uh, but it is. It is the case that they wouldn't have. You would not have gotten an attaboy. You would not have gotten a high five previously for starting to look into this. So that's set at a very bureaucratic institutional level, as in he probably allowed this fraud, turned a blind eye to it, and maybe even profited from it insofar as there were illicit donations to Democrat calls and campaigns. But I don't think he got kickbacks, you know, cut. Exactly. I don't think Tim Walsh was getting money on the semi. He'd have to be truly insane to be doing that one because now you're definitely talking about prison time. I don't think he did anything like that. I just think it wasn't a. An enforcement priority for him at all. And I think that actually anybody who began that enforcement process, Clay probably was risking their job. That sets a very powerful standard.
Buck Sexton
I would also point this out. Tim Walls would still be governor and he would be running for reelection and he would probably win if he had not been Kamala's vp because I don't think people would have come after him on the fraud front in the same way and it would have gotten the same amount of attention. Getting picked as Kamala's VP ended his political career.
Clay Travis
Well, maybe Kamala is krypton for politics play. Maybe, just maybe, Tim Walsh is the first of the duo to realize ain't no future in politics for you. We shall see, my friend. The bet is outstanding. All right. We've already hit the ground running with the new cycle in 2026. Huge show today. This is going to be a huge year, my friends. You know it, we know it. We want you to have all the energy. Not just, of course, stay with us and stay abreast of events going on around the world here on the playing buck show. But for your day to day, the energy you need to take the kids to school, to clean up the house, to get to the gym, to get your steps in. Got to get the steps in. You need energy, my friends, to get the steps in. Chalk can help with this. Chalk is the best when it comes to supplements. Can help with 20% of diminished testosterone in men in just three months time. By the way, with the chalk male vitality stack. There's also a female vitality stack. Go check out these vitality stacks from chalk. Go to chalk.com and choq.com get a free 99 bag of chocolate powder with your first delivery. Go to choq.com use promo code Buck. All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. As promised, our friend, our podcast host, our guest host of this program over the holiday where I am told many people are saying you did a fabulous job. Many people I have been told. David Rutherford is with us now. He is a former Navy seal, saw combat in Afghanistan, host of the David Rutherford show on the Clay and Buck Podcast Network, our friend, Rut. Happy New Year, my friend. Thanks so much for making the time for us.
David Rutherford
You are more than welcome, gentlemen. Thanks for having me on. And can you believe what a way to kick off 2026 with one of the top, top five best ops I've ever seen or heard about.
Clay Travis
Yeah, talk us through this one. In terms of the, like, the difficulty, the precision we know that they had because it's been reported widely, they had a mock up of the actual building and they waited till they knew Maduro be in that building. What, what's it like to get to the level of, of room clearing, speed and precision that this Delta team had to have to get in there? Heavily armed compound, not a single casualty there.
David Rutherford
J Sock units in particular, Delta, cag, the unit, whatever you want to call it, are the best in the world. And the precision, speed and accuracy of their movements, there's just nobody else on the planet that can compete with these guys. Now, you throw in on top of that, the support units in terms of TF160, the ground branch probably was there, you know, the CIA assets and sources online, the naval personnel, the air Force, the dia, the intel. This is one of the most complicated operations that could possibly take place. And to execute it as flawlessly as they did, I mean, it's like, you know the deal, Buck, you know, what's Murphy's Law? You know, if it's going to go wrong, it will. And this thing went flawless.
Buck Sexton
What do you think it says? We were talking earlier, thanks for guest hosting and everything you're doing as a part of the Clay and Buck podcast network. What does it say? If you just look at the organizational leadership and compare our withdrawal from Afghanistan and you compare it with the tactical brilliance and superiority of the bombings of Iran when it's with the nuclear sites and now this with Maduro, what do you think people around the world are saying? What does it reflect upon when it comes to our military and their ability to do things like this compared to under Biden?
David Rutherford
Oh, it's night and day. I mean, obviously the Afghanistan pullout was probably the worst revelation for any G1 operator or person who Served over there from the intel community wherever it was like a dagger through your heart. And so now when we finally see some real pipe hitters go in to project, you know, American power and re establish ourselves as, as somebody you don't want to mess with around the world, there's nothing more significant as the global power game shifts and that's what's taking place. I mean, the implications of this operation are not just, don't just stop and you know, as it affects the Monroe Doctrine in Central and South America and the Americas itself. This affects the entire world and puts everybody on notice. Hey, stand by because there's some pipe hitters back in, in control now and things are going to change.
Clay Travis
We're speaking to David Rutherford, former Navy SEAL and host of the David Rutherford show on the Clay and Buck Podcast network. You guys should all go check it out. Dave's going to have some deep dive into the tactics and the strategy implications of what just happened here in Venezuela. And I want, I want to ask you, Dave, about the cartel Mexico component about this in a second. But, but first you've been on, whether it's a Blackhawk or a Chinook. I mean, you've been on the, on the Hilo, going in, in your case, during the G wat days, Afghanistan, knowing you're on that, you're on that bird and you're going after an hvt. Your, your Delta brothers just did this in, in Venezuela. But what's the, what's going through your mind? Like, what's the focus? I mean, how do you get ready to put literal boots on the ground and go into a situation where, you know, you're going to see combat and the enemy is ready for you and you're going to have to bring all your skills to bear.
David Rutherford
That's a great question. And I think the, from all the, you know, guys that I know that were tier one, obviously I was not a tier one operator, but did get to suit up and conduct missions. You know, the biggest thing is to remain calm and just relaxed. You know, you've done so many dry runs, you so many rehearsals. You know, these guys are the top of the top, right? They're, they're the elite of the elite. And so it's staying calm, knowing what your role is, staying focused, staying relaxed and not getting spun up as, as any normal human being would, you know, their heart rate would be over, you know, 175, 185 beats per minute. These guys are chilling at 115 beats per minute. They, they're, they've rehearsed. They know exactly what's going to take place and then if something does go wrong, they adapt, assimilate, assess and then continue to kick ass as they did down in Caracas.
Clay Travis
Also I know I was going to ask you about the cartels rough but can you just speak to and I'm sure my, my, my in laws who have a lot of aviators on that side. There's actually a SEAL Team six guy on that side too, but a lot of aviators on that side. The 1/60th. I mean the stuff that I remember seeing a little bit of when I was in the agency that these guys and gals can do is incredible.
David Rutherford
They're the best pilots I've, I've ever seen, I've ever worked with. I mean I got picked up on the side of a mountain with like a 2500 foot cliff. They put the back gate on an edge as we jumped on board after recon. You know I've done an innumerable amount of training stuff with them. They're the best of the best and they just keep getting better. You know I also to pay tribute to your father in law there who just retired. The aviators that conducted the airstrikes as well too to take out the air defense capabilities. Everything was so succinct and so flawless. This is the capability of the American military and intelligence community. And when employed in the right capacity, it can disrupt the global hegemony as it should. And that's what we're using it for right now. We're receding the distribution of power in the world and we're doing it with precision and just absolute perfection.
Buck Sexton
David Rutherford with us right now. Encourage you to go sign up for his podcast, part of the Clay and Buck podcast network you mentioned. It's a top five all time operation that you've seen. I'm curious if you could give us, based on the evidence that's out there so far, compare and contrast the difficulty of the Osama Bin Laden raid with the capture of Maduro. Both Buck and myself, as nowhere near the experts that you are, said that this seems to be a far more impressive raid even than what went on when Bin Laden was taken out. Is that your impression? How would you compare and contrast these two situations based on your expertise?
David Rutherford
Boy, that's a really unique way to assess it in terms of the complexity issue and I think that's the only way. I mean obviously I was in Pakistan with the agency and the lead up in the aftermath of the Bin Laden raid and have A lot of friends that were on the op, but the size and scope of that op was not probably what, 110 the size of this, maybe 1 20th the size of this, maybe even smaller. Obviously the legwork done in preparation and the hunting of down was unbelievable. Of Bin Laden. But this in terms of all the intelligence they had to collect in the weeks or months leading up and then the complexity and coordination of all these different units, no shade on Bin Laden raid, obviously that's from my generation, unbelievable. But this, this operation is. I mean we just went in and snatched a world leader in his sleep and didn't take one casualty. That just, it's mind blowing to what our capabilities truly are.
Clay Travis
It reminds me a little bit actually Rod of the. I think it's the opening of Air Force One, right? Don't we swoop in, we send in a bunch of guys on, on parachutes and they snatch like the, some bad guy.
Buck Sexton
They're saying that this is. And some of the people may have watched Rut, you may have watched this building on what Buck's saying that the Jack Ryan show that now is a part of Amazon prime, that season two is basically this, that this happens. I have not watched that show, but I've heard a lot of people and they've been reacting and saying this is basically that show.
David Rutherford
I agree. That's one of my favorite seasons of the show. I just, I think, you know, it's always in those first couple seasons, whether it's Homelander or, or Jack Ryan, like their, their narratives are so close to reality that it's the truth. And you know, let's just take a step back and look at Maduro. 45,000 foot, right, illegal, you know, leader of the, in a, in a, in a compromised election system. You know, the relationship, the alleged relationship that Gary Bernstein and Martin Rodeal point out and Ralph Pizzulo's incredible book Stolen Elections. You know, they, they did a ton of human research with the corruption of Venezuela's control over, alleged control over smartmatic and Dominion. Then you've got the Cartel de Solis and the impact of what they're doing around the world in terms of the international drug flows, illegal arms flows and illegal oil. Right. The whole oil thing is, I mean, think about if we are able to kind of strangle the oil outflows out of that country, who does that input? What countries? How does it affect their governors? How does it affect their preparation for what they're doing around the world? I mean this is like one of those major chess moves that it takes is very complicated to understand the totality of it. But it is one of the most remarkable things that I've ever seen, obviously, in my operational lifetime. And then on a grander context that we've seen in modern geopolitical tactics and initiatives, I mean, you know, you go back, what, 10 years ago, and our South America, Central America, you know, operations in terms of, you know, quelling the rise of socialism, communism, whatever you want to call it, was almost obsolete. And now we're literally writing or changing the global power hegemony with these types of missions in our own hemisphere.
Buck Sexton
Love it. Rut, how many countries do you think, based on what you see here, from Venezuela, do you think the United States could go into and grab a leader like this and get out with no casualties? I mean, 95% of the countries in the world, 98%. I mean, if you're Iran or heck, I mean, maybe some of these other countries that have nuclear weapons, like North Korea, are saying this could never happen to us because of that. But don't all those leaders have to be looking around saying, if the US can do this to Venezuela, they can do this to me really easily?
David Rutherford
100% clay. And that's. I think that's the posture President Trump and Secretary Hegseth and, you know, Secretary Rubio are saying to everybody, this is a notice. This is a notice to the world. Listen, America is done playing the games of the last administration, the Obama administration, even, you know, in some capacity, the Bush administration administration, right? Where we're. We're now, we're going to be incredibly focused on what we're going to do, have a reason behind it that's going to alter. Right. Like I said, this global hegemony that's been globalist in nature is now back, getting back to American superiority.
Clay Travis
Rut, what is your operator Spidey sense tell you about the possibility of, let's just say, an increased ops tempo against cartels to the south of our border in Mexico?
David Rutherford
Okay, what shine bomb came out? You know, it didn't quite condemn it, you know, gave kind of soft language on it. You know, I believe that she is absolutely quaking in her boots right now. I think the cartels down there are probably, you know, gearing up and starting to realize, hey, this is a different game these guys are playing. Probably go underground for a while and get real quiet just to hope it passes by. But I think everybody's on notice. In particular, if you're a cartel and you're engaged in any type of drug trafficking that directly impacts American civilians, then guess what? You probably just got put on the JSOC door knock list, which is a list, I'm telling you. If you're listening to this anywhere around the world, you never want to be on the JSOC door knock list.
Buck Sexton
Go follow him. David Rutherford, part of the Clay and Buck Podcast Network. Thanks again for guest hosting while we were out. Great feedback on that and enjoy 2026, brother.
David Rutherford
Thanks guys. God bless you. Keep doing what you're doing. You're crushing it.
Buck Sexton
Let's dive in here. Buck Prize Picks was just talking with Buck. I think Buck is going to come with me to the national title game potentially going on in his hometown of Miami. We don't know who's going to play yet.
Clay Travis
Could be my beloved Miami Hurricanes.
Buck Sexton
Could be. Could be the Miami Hurricanes who are playing against Ole Miss on one side, Indiana and Oregon on the other side. The world. The world championship of football, also known as the super bowl, has been set. The wild card playoffs are set. Amazing game between the Ravens and the Steelers last night. Stayed up and watched that. Outstanding. If you love football, whether it's NFL, whether it's college football, guess what? 2026 Price Picks is now available in all 50 states. You can play everywhere. You are listening right now. They continue to grow. They are expanding. Great American business success story. You can play in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, all 50 states. $50 when you play. $5 at prizepix.com My name Clay. Play $5. I'll give you a pick for the wild card. Going into the weekend. We'll have some fun with that. Prizepix.com Code Clay that is prizepix.com Code clay get hooked up today. Prizepix.com code clay making America great again isn't just one man, it's many. The Team 47 podcast Sundays at noon.
Clay Travis
Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or.
Buck Sexton
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Buck Sexton
Birch Gold Group welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show it's been a lot of fun. We've got a ton of stories that we've been hitting with all of you. We're excited to roll into another fantastic year. 2026 hit the talkbacks. Producer Greg does a great job getting through those and we want to be able to use those as much as we can in 2026. I would also point out, hey, we're going to be having a lot more video during this year, potentially all three hours. We love the 555 radio stations out there, but in the months ahead, you're going to be able to get all three hours of the show on video. That's never been the case before. Again, going to take a little while to get all this ironed out, but in the meantime, go subscribe. Join us on pretty much every social media site out there. Clay, Travis, Buck Sexton, the show is out there. I think I saw, I looked actually this morning. We have 115,000 of you that have subscribed on YouTube. We want those numbers to continue to grow and we're going to be giving you more and better video content to go along with all the audio in the days and weeks and months ahead. But man, we're excited. Hope you and your family had fantastic holidays, great new year, great Christmas, and we can't wait to hit the ground running and have a lot of fun with all of you breaking down what I expect to be an absolutely phenomenal year.
Clay Travis
Thank you so much everyone for joining us. Our first show back in 2026. We did miss doing this show very much, which means we are coming back at it every day with renewed gusto. Talk to you more tomorrow. Nothing in life is free except this $10 that better picks is offering. Download the Better app, pick more or less on your favorite player stats, watch the games, and win some cash. It's that simple. Must be 21 or older in a jurisdiction where Better Picks operates Terms and Conditions Play Better Picks Sports just got.
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Episode: Hour 3 - Operation Absolute Resolve
Date: January 5, 2026
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts
The first episode of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" in 2026 opens with Clay and Buck discussing a major international story: the U.S. operation ("Operation Absolute Resolve") that led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, both indicted for narcotrafficking. The hosts also hit on domestic news, notably the resignation of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz amid a massive Somali fraud scandal, and break down the CDC’s decision to pare down recommended childhood vaccines. The major feature of the hour is a detailed interview with former Navy SEAL David Rutherford about the Maduro raid. Throughout, the hosts compare and contrast recent U.S. military/foreign policy actions with those of the Biden administration, reflect on the implications for American power projection and domestic politics, and take listener questions.
[01:14 - 10:49]
Main Story: Operation Absolute Resolve successfully captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, both indicted as narcotraffickers under U.S. law.
Procedural Notes:
Legal Q&A ([05:42 - 08:19]):
Political & Historical Context:
[08:59 - 10:49]
Pamela writes about Venezuela's transformation from prosperity to starvation under Chavez and Maduro.
Socialism’s damage is lamented (“The devastation society-wide… is because of socialism, because of redistribution of wealth, collectivism, social justice… That’s why you can go back and look at... the New York Times in like 2012, writing editorials... about all the great social justice things that Chavez was going to accomplish in that country.” - 09:44, Buck).
Political Divides:
[01:16 - 04:23]
Breaking News (via Wall Street Journal): The CDC drops universal recommendations for several childhood vaccines, moving towards Denmark’s model.
Host reactions:
[01:14, 18:43 - 22:35]
[12:22 - 13:58, 25:44 - 27:27]
[24:08 - 37:51]
“What happened in Venezuela, it's a win for America, it's a win for the Venezuelan people, it's a win for the rule of law, it's a win for the hemisphere, it's a win for the world.”
(11:34 - Clay Travis)
“To execute it as flawlessly as they did, I mean… this thing went flawless.”
(25:44 - David Rutherford)
“We just went in and snatched a world leader in his sleep and didn't take one casualty... it’s mind blowing to what our capabilities truly are.”
(32:41 - David Rutherford)
“The worst people in American politics are the people who are upset that Maduro was gone... There’s a thread that connects all of these things.”
(09:44 - Buck Sexton)
The conversation maintains the show's characteristic brash confidence, humor, and combative political commentary with a focus on American strength and skepticism of left-wing and establishment policies. Buck often provides policy or historical context while Clay delivers sharp, energetic takes, drawing on legal and cultural references. The interview with Rutherford is informative, direct, and full of military jargon and admiration for special operations forces.
This hour delivers a dynamic breakdown of breaking global news (the Maduro capture), commentary on domestic political fallout (Tim Walz and the Somali fraud ring), and a clear frame that sees recent U.S. actions as a return to competence and strength abroad. The detailed, insider conversation about Operation Absolute Resolve with David Rutherford stands out as the highlight and a rare real-time analysis of a major covert success.
A must-listen for those tracking U.S. policy, military operations, and conservative political commentary.