Hour 3 - Saving the Republic!

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: Hour 3 - "Saving the Republic!" Release Date: March 28, 2025

In this engaging third hour of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton delve deep into the current state of the entertainment industry, the decline of major corporations like Disney, and the broader implications for American culture and politics. Featuring insightful conversations with guest Kirk Cameron and political commentator Steve Hilton, the episode offers a blend of humor, critical analysis, and calls to action aimed at "saving the republic."

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1. Introduction and Guest Introduction

Timestamp: [00:30] - [00:58]

The hour kicks off with Buck Sexton introducing the guest, Kirk Cameron, an actor known for his role in Growing Pains and his recent endeavors in creating family-friendly entertainment. The hosts express their admiration for Kirk's work and set the stage for a conversation about the current entertainment landscape.

• Buck Sexton: "We've got Kirk Cameron joining us. He wants to talk to us about an alternative to Disney."

2. The Decline of Disney and Shift in Family Entertainment

Timestamp: [00:58] - [04:54]

Kirk Cameron shares his perspective on Disney's recent struggles, attributing the decline to the incorporation of "woke" content that alienates traditional audiences. He emphasizes the importance of returning to wholesome, virtue-based programming and introduces his new project, a children’s show titled Iggy and Mr. Kirk.

• Kirk Cameron: "When you take a beloved classic like that and you strip it of what's good and, and true and beautiful and replace it with people who are promoting all this woke garbage, people don't want to be a part of it."

Clay Travis probes Kirk on the possibility of a resurgence of the 80s and 90s style of universal family entertainment, expressing hope for a return to content that appeals broadly without heavy political undertones.

• Clay Travis: "Could we be potentially headed more towards that era, the 80s, the 90s, when the goal was to try to entertain as many people as possible?"

Kirk remains optimistic, despite acknowledging the current chaos, and stresses the role of parents in imparting values through everyday interactions.

• Kirk Cameron: "We've got the opportunity to actually teach them what's good and true and wholesome and right in our homes."

3. Moving to Nashville: A Hub for Diverse and Wholesome Entertainment

Timestamp: [04:54] - [07:19]

Clay and Kirk discuss Kirk's recent move to Nashville, highlighting the city's burgeoning scene for creators who value diverse and wholesome content. Kirk notes the presence of like-minded individuals and organizations, such as The Daily Wire and faith-based filmmakers, which fosters a supportive environment for his projects.

• Kirk Cameron: "There’s the Daily Wire folks right up here... You end up having these really cool conversations with a lot of people."

Kirk appreciates Nashville's community, contrasting it with the traditional entertainment hubs of New York and Los Angeles, and expresses gratitude for the creative freedom it offers.

4. The Emergence of Independent Content Creation

Timestamp: [07:19] - [10:42]

Buck Sexton highlights the importance of creators like Kirk establishing their own platforms, such as Brave, to offer alternatives to mainstream media. Kirk explains that advancements in technology have democratized content creation, allowing creators to produce and distribute their work without relying on major studios.

• Kirk Cameron: "You can live anywhere now and you can be a content creator. You don’t have to be in Hollywood under the contract of a big studio."

Kirk also critiques big companies like Disney, suggesting that their decline is partly due to external pressures from funds influenced by political ideologies, making it challenging to cater to their traditional customer base.

• Kirk Cameron: "These big companies, they're not operating just off of the profits from the customers... They're actually operating off of these giant funds that give them capital."

5. Disney’s Reputation and Legacy

Timestamp: [10:42] - [13:28]

Clay poses a hypothetical scenario to Kirk, asking how Walt Disney would perceive the modern Disney corporation. Kirk confidently asserts that Walt Disney would be appalled by the current state of the company, contrasting it with the original vision of creating "the happiest place on earth."

• Kirk Cameron: "Walt Disney reacting to Snow White today... he would lose his mind because... it should be the happiest place on earth."

Clay concurs, emphasizing the stark difference between Disney's past and present, and lamenting the erosion of the brand's foundational values.

6. Promoting Brave and Alternative Shows

Timestamp: [13:28] - [14:18]

Kirk introduces Brave, his streaming platform, and promotes his new show Iggy and Mr. Kirk. He highlights the platform's focus on "good, true, and wholesome" content designed for children aged 4 to 8, ensuring parents can trust the programming without second thoughts.

• Kirk Cameron: "You can watch the first three episodes of my new kids TV show, Iggy and Mr. Kirk for free."

7. Audience Interaction and Lighthearted Banter

Timestamp: [14:18] - [19:24]

The conversation shifts to audience interactions, where callers share personal anecdotes and humorous exchanges unfold between Clay and Buck. Topics include challenges with driving big SUVs as shorter individuals and playful teasing about driving skills.

• Mary: "I've been driving some version of an SUV or 12 passenger van for the last 30 years."
• Buck Sexton: "How tall are you?"
• Clay Travis: "You're like my wife? For people who are 52 driving big SUVs, this is like a major issue that nobody talks about."

8. Featured Guest: Steve Hilton on California’s Decline

Timestamp: [20:47] - [30:15]

Political commentator Steve Hilton joins the show to discuss his new book, Califalure: Reversing the Ruin of America's Worst Run State. He critically examines California’s governance under Governor Gavin Newsom, highlighting issues such as high poverty rates, exorbitant housing costs, and poor management of public resources like firefighting.

• Steve Hilton: "California has the highest rate of poverty, the highest housing cost, the lowest home ownership, highest cost for gas, electricity, water... It’s a disaster."

Hilton attributes these problems to ideological governance and emphasizes the need for grassroots movements to reclaim and revitalize the state's political landscape.

• Steve Hilton: "We need to start making our own schools, our own companies, our own everything."

He shares success stories from local political shifts, such as Huntington Beach’s council going from a strong Democratic majority to a complete Republican takeover, demonstrating the potential for change.

• Steve Hilton: "In four years, that city has gone from 6:1 Democrat control to 7:0 Republican."

9. Impact of Policy Decisions on Public Safety and Environment

Timestamp: [27:29] - [28:09]

Clay raises concerns about California's handling of natural disasters, like wildfires, questioning whether policy failures have influenced voter behavior. Steve responds by advocating for active campaigning and recalls to hold corrupt officials accountable, citing Karen Bass as a target for recall efforts.

• Clay Travis: "Putting out fires seems like maybe the number one thing that people would expect the government to be capable of."
• Steve Hilton: "I'm working with Nicole Shanahan on a recall campaign for Karen Bass... This is what we need to show across California."

10. Promoting Action and Future Endeavors

Timestamp: [28:09] - [30:15]

Steve Hilton encourages listeners to engage in political activism to reverse California’s decline, sharing positive examples of effective conservative leadership in smaller cities as a blueprint for broader change. He underscores the urgency of addressing ideological extremism to restore common sense and effective governance.

• Steve Hilton: "If we can do it there in Los Angeles for Karen Bass, I think that's a very encouraging sign that people are ready for change."

Clay and Buck commend Steve’s efforts and promote his book, inviting listeners to support the movement towards political and cultural restoration.

11. Closing Remarks and Final Banter

Timestamp: [30:15] - [38:56]

The episode concludes with playful exchanges between Clay and Buck, discussing their personal lives, upcoming events, and lighthearted teasing about driving and sports preferences. They also mention engaging with the audience through subscriber interactions and upcoming episodes.

• Buck Sexton: "Not all heroes wear capes, Clay."
• Clay Travis: "I will get a really good tan in the process."

The hosts reinforce their commitment to building a community-driven platform aimed at fostering positive cultural change, blending serious discussions with relatable humor and personal anecdotes.

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Key Takeaways

• Critique of Mainstream Media: Both hosts and guests criticize mainstream companies like Disney for deviating from their original family-friendly values in favor of politically charged content.

• Rise of Independent Platforms: There's a significant emphasis on the importance of independent content creation platforms like Brave, which prioritize wholesome and value-driven programming.

• Political and Cultural Reclamation: The discussion extends beyond entertainment to encompass the need for political activism and grassroots movements to address and reverse ideological extremism in governance, particularly highlighting California as a case study.

• Community and Parental Responsibility: Emphasis is placed on the role of parents and communities in shaping the values and entertainment consumed by the younger generation, advocating for a return to "American goodness" and character education.

• Calls to Action: Listeners are encouraged to support alternative media platforms, engage in political processes, and hold elected officials accountable to foster a healthier, more balanced societal landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

• Kirk Cameron ([00:58]): "When you take a beloved classic like that and you strip it of what's good and, and true and beautiful and replace it with people who are promoting all this woke garbage, people don't want to be a part of it."

• Clay Travis ([02:47]): "Could we be potentially headed more towards that era, the 80s, the 90s, when the goal was to try to entertain as many people as possible with generally wholesome ideas about innate American goodness?"

• Steve Hilton ([20:47]): "California has the highest rate of poverty, the highest housing cost, the lowest home ownership, highest cost for gas, electricity, water... It’s a disaster."

• Kirk Cameron ([11:04]): "Walt Disney reacting to Snow White today... he would lose his mind because... it should be the happiest place on earth."

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This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show offers a thorough exploration of the intersection between media, culture, and politics, urging listeners to reflect on the current state of American entertainment and governance while inspiring action towards meaningful change.

Transcript

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[Buck Sexton]

All right, third hour of playing. Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. We've got Kirk Cameron joining us. He wants to talk to us about an alternative to Disney. Kirk, welcome on the show. Love your work. As you know, we are all big fans going back for a long time and Brave, tell everybody about Brave for a second here as we dive into the Disney disaster unfolding before our eyes.

[Kirk Cameron]

Yeah, we could talk about that. We're so sad about Disney not doing well at the box. Not really. It's like, it's like no surprise we know why parents and families are not showing up to see Snow White. When you take a beloved classic like that and you, you strip it of what's good and, and true and beautiful and replace it with people who are promoting all this woke garbage, people don't want to be a part of it. So that's why I'm leaning into the new Mr. Rogers for our kids and grandkids in a new show called Iggy and Mr. Kirk. It's a beautiful kids show that parents can trust without a second thought and it's going to not only entertain kids and engage their imagination, but actually teach them virtue and character?

[Clay Travis]

Kirk, are you optimistic? Buck and I had a big conversation about this obviously this week surrounding the Snow White debacle. Are you optimistic that some of these big companies, even if they don't share the same ideology or political beliefs, are recognizing that a lot of the shows that were universal and you were in one of them, Growing Pains, the Cosby Show, Family Ties, different, different strokes. I mean those shows were made for everybody 8 to 80. And I don't remember them having major political commentary. I feel like you could sit down and watch them with your kids, your grandkids and everybody could enjoy them. Are we potentially headed more towards that era, the 80s, the 90s, when the goal was to try to entertain as many people as possible with generally wholesome ideas about innate American goodness? I mean, could that be coming back?

[Kirk Cameron]

I hope so and I hope it Gets even better than the 80s. I, I, I, I hope we actually take it to the next level. But who knows? I mean, I was listening earlier to that guy that, that called in and he's got a 39 year old girlfriend who, who, who was hoping for the assassination of Trump and Elon Musk. What do you do with something like that? It's like, well, wait a minute, like, how do you even reason with a person like that? That is just beyond, you know, sane thinking. I mean, she's a 39 year old. I don't know the woman. But you know, when you're holding the government accountable to not spend trillions of dollars more than it makes, and you know, you see Jon Stewart's reaction to what was going on with some of these policies. He's going like, holy cow, you'd wonder, like, is he just having the light bulb come on now? I don't know. I sure hope that people are waking up and that they'll, they'll listen to common sense and reason and that we can get back to the values that lead to healthy families and good relationships and wholesomeness and fun. But you never know. There's just craziness out there. And of course, that's what the radical political folks want to do, is they want the people on the other side of the aisle to think they're the ones who are crazy. So I think at the end of the day, the beauty of the way the world works is that kids actually show up in homes with moms and dads. They're not produced and owned by the government. And unless we give our kids over to the government for bad stuff, we have the opportunity to actually teach them what's good and true and wholesome and right in our homes. And we've got to do that by the stories we tell them, by the things that we say to them at the kitchen table and the songs we sing them when they go to sleep at night. And that's what I'm trying to lean into. I'm 54, I got six kids and a granddaughter, and I want to be a part of bringing our culture back to what is wholesome and good.

[Clay Travis]

Kirk, you moved to Nashville, I believe, recently. It feels like there are places maybe outside of New York and la, that, and I'm sure there's some of this in New York and LA too, but where there's green shoots of sanity, I would call it. Nashville feels like one of those places. I think maybe it's partly related to country music, where certainly the average country music Singer and listener is different than the average pop or rap or R and B artist typically in terms of their politics and the audience that they speak to. I think it means that a city like Nashville, where I live, is more welcoming of diverse entertainment viewpoints maybe than others. Have you found that to be true? Do you see other cities and states developing as entertainment capitals maybe different than the New York cities and LA's of years past?

[Kirk Cameron]

Yeah, that's one of the really cool things about technology with all of its bad qualities. There's, there's also new opportunities for people. You can live anywhere now and you can be a content creator. You don't have to be in Hollywood under the contract of a big studio. You can have your own show. You can be, you know, and that's what people are doing. And in Nashville and in the surrounding areas, there's so many creatives, there's so many people who are promoting so many good things. I mean, the Daily Wire folks are right up here if you like the Daily Wire. There's so many country singers, but also so many faith based operations, movie makers like the Irwin brothers, Dave Ramsey's right out here, you got Chris Stapleton right down the road, you've got, I mean it just, it's, it's weird. You walk into the grocery store and you know, there's Carrie Underwood, you know, in, in, in the cereal aisle and, and you end up having these really cool conversations with a lot of people. And by and large people are wanting to get back to those kinds of Americana, pro family, pro country, pro God messages. And nobody's perfect. No place is perfect. You know, they've got an acute taste for whiskey out here in Tennessee and it's good whiskey. And that can lead to a lot of problems for people in the entertainment industry. But that's going to be true everywhere. I'm thankful that we're here. I miss the California sunshine, but I really love the people in Tennessee.

[Buck Sexton]

We're talking to Kirk Cameron. You all know Kirk Cameron. He's got Brave, a streaming, streaming channel, Creative stuff for kids. Kirk and I know that creating our own stuff is a very important part of all of this. I know that's something that has been happening. You're doing that with Brave and streaming service. I'm also though, curious the degree to which the winds have shifted enough that maybe now conversations with some of the very established players in the entertainment space. You know, basically, do you think that we're at a place now different than we were even a year ago, where maybe you could go to Disney executive and say, hey, I'm Kirk Cameron, I know how to do this stuff. Let's make a series that all kids of all races and religions and, you know, people of different backgrounds, etcetera, Will just enjoy.

[Kirk Cameron]

Yeah, I think that, I think that is possible. And with, with the success of shows that the big studios never thought would do anything, for example, the Chosen, that's become a cultural phenomenon. I mean that's just, that's, that's everywhere now. It's in the theater, it's on streaming services. You know, they, they, they broke away and now they're doing their own thing. And everybody wishes that they could do what the Chosen did. And this is about the life of Jesus and his friends. I mean, who would have thunk? But, but now they're realizing maybe we missed something here. And so people want to make money. I don't think at the very heart of the leadership of these big companies, you know, Disney or, or those that fund them. I remember seeing a video with Larry Fink is that if I got the right guy, if I got the right BlackRock.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kirk Cameron]

And, and there was a video and they were just talking about Target, you know, you know, is Target going to come around to, to, to really listen to their customers and that they don't want trans bathing suits for their five year olds. And ultimately he was saying that, you know, Target and these big companies, they're not operating just off of the profits from the com. From the customers. They're actually operating off of these giant funds that give them capital. And there's politicians who are funding the funds who are winning based off of political ideology. And they're forcing them to stick with that ideology or lose their capital. So it gets like layered and you know, goes way up into areas that I'm not all that familiar with. But who knows? I don't think we should wait around for Disney and other big places to answer the clue phone. I think we as moms and dads and as good citizens need to understand that this isn't China where we have a dictator and a few of their friends make everything happen. I think this is the United States of America where we have a representative government that should represent our values. And the way they figure those values out is by watching how we do things at the grassroots level and we hold them accountable. Once we do that now we can start making our own, our own schools, our own companies, our own everything. And that's that, that's what I see happening and I'm really excited about that.

[Clay Travis]

Kirk You're a student of, of media and entertainment, and obviously you're having a lot of success with what you're building. What do you think Walt Disney would think if he looked back at the Disney Corporation now that he put his heart and soul into found? What do you think his reaction would be to the modern corporation?

[Kirk Cameron]

You know, I was just watching some reaction videos of Joe Rogan reacting to something or Jon Stewart reacting to something, and wouldn't that be a great reaction video?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Kirk Cameron]

Walt Disney reacting to Snow White today. I mean, he would lose his mind because, you know, I don't know the man personally, but certainly the branding for Walt Disney and Walt Disney World and Disneyland, where I grew up going, it should be the happiest place on earth. And I think Disney today would make him cry because it's nothing like it back in the day.

[Clay Travis]

I think you're right. I mean, the man put his heart and soul, he mortgaged his house to be able to make the 1937 Walt Disney Snow White movie, and he built his entire career on, to your point, Kirk, trying to make Disney the happiest place on earth. And I think they've totally destroyed the brand that he built. And I would think it would make him sick.

[Kirk Cameron]

Yeah. Yeah. And if we're not careful, you know, because we, we who have good values have gotten out of places of leadership in Hollywood, in Washington, D.C. you know, politics, education, we've outsourced that stuff to other people. People with lesser ideas are really not just destroying a brand like Disney, but destroying the whole concept of those who gave us this country. And when you go back to the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, these are revolutionary ideas that brought more freedom, more opportunity, more blessing to the world. And now we've got kids growing up thinking that the United States of America is about white supremacy. They have a completely wrong understanding of things because of the propaganda that's being foisted on them in these places of leadership and, you know, culture shaping institutions. So if, if, if we do love this country, if we do love the values that it's built on, if we really think that those values lead to blessing, and we need more stuff like Mr. Rogers and we need stuff like Iggy and Mr. Kirk and companies like Brave Books, then we need to support them, we need to get behind them, and we need to start making more of them.

[Buck Sexton]

How do folks go to Brave to stream some shows for their kids that you're working on and have created?

[Kirk Cameron]

Kirk, just download the Brave plus app on your smart TV, just download the app, it's called Brave plus and you can watch the first three episodes of my new kids TV show, Iggy and Mr. Kirk for free. And then if you want to see the other 20 episodes, we've got two full seasons already, complete episodes on forgiveness and teaching your kids about kindness, compassion, overcoming your fears, working together as a team, faithfulness. Then you can just subscribe. And there's over 50 shows for kids, including old classics like Bob the Builder, Strawberry Shortcake. Again, these are for little kids 4 to 8 years old and then new shows like Iggy and Mr. Kirk.

[Buck Sexton]

Wonderful. Kirk Cameron, appreciate you sir. Thanks for being here with us.

[Kirk Cameron]

Appreciate both of you guys. Thanks so much.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Sometimes all you can do is laugh. And they do a lot of it with the Sunday hang. Join Clay and Buck as they laugh it up in the Clay and Buck podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

I know born and raised here. I don't have a good excuse. I don't have a good excuse for not knowing. Eric, by the way, I asked this question of Kirk Cameron, which by the way, if you had told me, hey, yeah, Kirk Cameron, just going to come on the show every now and then when I was watching Growing Pains back in the day, I would have been like, no way. I mean, I love that show. Eric in Wisconsin says he's got family. His uncle worked directly for the Disney brothers Walton. Roy, Walt was the creative, Roy was the business side of that studio. Eric, what did you want to fill us in on?

[Eric]

Well, hey, gentlemen, it's great to be on your show. And yes, my uncle, he didn't work directly with Walt, he worked with Roy, but he knew Walt personally and he knew Roy and these were very kind and gentlemen, just like my uncle, and my uncle's been passed away for a number of years, but in working directly with them, he's told me what they were like and there's just no doubt in anybody's mind who knows what they're talking about that these men would be turning over in their graves right now if they saw what happened to their company. And it's just, it's terrible. It's terrible to watch.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you for the call. I appreciate your feedback and I think that's definitely true. Wide variety of topics people want to weigh in. And Mary in South Carolina, what you got for us?

[Mary]

Hi there, gentlemen. Great to be on your show. Hey, I wanted to comment on the SUV, the short women driving SUVs and the square dancing thing. I am also 5 foot 2 woman, been driving some version of an SUV or 12 passenger van for the last 30 years. And the secret is, or the tip is that hood ornament or that middle mound in the hood that lines up with the curb or the shoulder line or just the side of the road if you're going through a narrow part of traffic.

[Clay Travis]

By the way, do you I'm sorry to cut you off, but are you like my wife? For people who are 52 driving big SUVs, this is like a major issue that nobody talks about. Like, you guys have legit trouble seeing over the hood.

[Mary]

Well, oh, absolutely. You can't see over the hood. The women at church used to chuckle every time they'd see me get out of the Suburban.

[Buck Sexton]

Hey, Care Bear, how tall are you?

[Clay Travis]

Buck's yelling at his wife to see 5:3, 5:3.

[Buck Sexton]

So basically the same size.

[Clay Travis]

But has she ever driven? It's gotta be a Suburban. It's gotta be an Escalade, one of these big, big suv. When you have a bunch of kids, I'll get a carrier's not gonna be able to drive all of a sudden.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Steve Hilton]

Hi, guys. Great to be with you. What fun. Can I tell you what a pleasure it is. And guess who wouldn't have me on his new podcast to talk about whether or not California is the worst run state in America. Gavin Newsom. What a shame. But it's very good to be here with you.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, we're not surprised that Gavin Newsom wouldn't have you. Have you on. Given that you recognize the problem, problems not just of California, but specifically of Gavin Newsom's leadership. But I wonder, Steve, is it just the way it's going to be there? I mean, one of the problems that we see is the willingness to suffer for ideological reasons in some of these Democrat enclaves.

[Kirk Cameron]

Definitely.

[Buck Sexton]

In the case of cities like San Francisco, for example, or even New York, unfortunately is much higher than a lot of people would imagine.

[Steve Hilton]

Well, you're right. And ideological is the word. That is why we're in such a mess. You know, with the highest rate of poverty, the highest housing cost, the lowest home ownership, highest cost for gas, electricity, water, everything. It's a disaster. The worst business climate. I mean, that's the point really, which is that of course, across the country we see the video of the unbelievable homeless encampments and people wandering around like zombies and the crime and toothpaste locked up in Walgreens and, and now the fires and people see all that. But actually the underlying problems are even worse. It's a failure on every front and people have been putting up with it and it's driven by ideology. And that's one of the things in the book I go into. Like, what is this ideology? It's not enough to just call it leftism. There's so many different components to it. And we've got to understand it because it's going to spread across the country. That's what's been happening. And if you look at where the Democrats are today, that seems to be where they're gravitating. The Bernie AOC thing, that's where the energy is. That's what we've got in California. That's. Now to your question about change. I think people are waking up. You saw even before the fires, if you look at the results last November in the presidential election, even without obviously competing in California, particularly because you're never going to get the electoral votes, Donald Trump got more votes than any Republican for a generation In California you saw 10 counties flip from blue to red, including big counties like Fresno county, the fifth biggest city. And now with the fires, I mean I meet people all the time in Los Angeles. Democrats, Independents say we can't go on like this. It is just obvious that we need a change, we need some balance. It's been this one party rule for so long. We got to get some common sense ideas back in there.

[Clay Travis]

Appreciate you coming on, Steve. Buck and I talk about this a lot. It's not just that California has fallen apart, it's that and I'm curious what your experience was growing up and what you thought about California. I just came back from San Francisco. It is a beautiful geographic jewel.

[Steve Hilton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

The likes of which there are not very many of anywhere in the world. La, obviously nearly perfect climate. You go on up the coast, Seattle, Portland. It's that left leaning ideas have destroyed some of the most beloved communities in much of the country. What did you think about California as a kid growing up far from California? And when did your perception start to change? Because I remember as a college kid I had never been to California before. I remember going out, I don't know, probably 2,000 thereabouts and just being blown away by how spectacular it was. It seems to have really fallen apart only in the last 10 or 15 years. And I know many Californians who've lived there feel the same way.

[Steve Hilton]

So I'll tell you a story about that. So. So I was totally inspired. I was in the way I put it, I was in love with California even before we moved here. We moved in 2012. I got my citizenship four years ago. So now I'm a proud American, but also proud Californian. I love California. In fact there's the story about this is back in the day when I was working for David Cameron. This is before he became Prime Minister and I was leading our policy development, our political strategy. And there was a cover story in the Spectator magazine. We all know the Spectator website here in America. It's actually a printed magazine, the oldest in the world. Actually the political magazine in the uk. They did a cover story on the direction that we were working on for the Conservative Party. And the, the headline on the story was California Dreaming. And the first lines go on about Steve Hilton, David Cameron's policy guru is inspired by California. And the theme of their policy work is to make the UK more like California. Like this is like 15, 20 years ago. And the question is, is there any political advisor to any politician anywhere in the world? Who would want to make their country more like California today? And it shows you just how far we've fallen, how quickly with this far left ideology dominant in California. But actually the point is all the problems of California are self inflicted and we can turn it around. And actually part two of the book is called Caliphalia, but part two of the book is. Is called Califuture. And that is my plan for how we actually turn things around and restore California to what it should be, which is the best of America, not the worst, which is what it is now.

[Buck Sexton]

Now, you didn't go on Gavin Newsom's podcast, but I want you to the degree that you can be as objective as you can in telling us, is this guy gonna be the leader of the Democrat party in the next election cycle? Do you see him being able to swindle enough people in the middle that he's able to rise ranks and go from being governor to presidential nominee? Because from what I see, he has had some right wing people on his podcast and he's not abandoning the crazy left positions, but he's at least putting on a show of I'll have a conversation. I'm not that crazy.

[Steve Hilton]

Yeah, exactly. And I think you should not underestimate him. I know him a little bit, obviously, watched him closely. And that's the point about him, is that he is like Kamala Harris before, like Joe Biden, like Karen. You know, these are machine politicians, okay? And they, and they will say whatever is politically expedient. But Gavin Newsom says it better than most and so don't underestimate him. In a way, that's why I wanted, not partly why I wanted to write the book is like, this is the record that he's presided over. It's a total failure on every front. So yes, you can talk. I mean, a good example, the difference between talk and action. So he's on, you know, has Charlie Kirk on and agrees how unfair is deeply unfair was his phrase about, you know, biological men and girls sports. What's he doing about it? Nothing. He's the governor now. Next week in the state legislature, there are two bills up for a vote that would stop this madness. Is he going to weigh it? So far he's avoided even talking about it. So you've got to pin him down on the actions. And the actions that have happened in California have been a complete disaster.

[Clay Travis]

Putting out fires seems like maybe the number one thing that people would expect the government to be capable of and expect the government to be responsible for the fire situation in the Los Angeles area seems to have been for many people, a recognition that the policy choices they make, Karen Bass, for instance, as mayor, have consequences. Do you get the sense that that could change political voting behavior? Or is it so ideologically committed at this point that people would have to recognize that they made poor choices? And lots of people don't want to acknowledge mistake. How do you get them to change? And how did the fires potentially impact that?

[Steve Hilton]

Well, that's the job of campaigning. And to bring that home, I mean, I can tell you right now, I'm working with Nicole Shanahan on a recall campaign for Karen Bass, because every day that she's there is a disaster. And one of the reasons that we're doing that is, is to show if we can, if we can pull it off, that the Democrat machine in California, that kind of Democrat industrial complex of the unions that fund the politicians and the far left activists and the bureaucrats and all that, that it can be beaten. And if we can do it there in Los Angeles for Karen Bass, I think that's a very encouraging sign that people are ready for change. Look, if we don't pull it off, I still think we need to fight. We need to make sure that people understand. I'll give you a story which is really encouraging. Huntington beach, not the biggest city in California, an iconic one, Surf City, USA. So just over four years ago, the council in Huntington beach was 6:1 Democrat. A friend of mine, Tony Strickland, put together a team of strong candidates. In 2022, they took control of the council, 4:3 on a very strong conservative platform. They then implemented that. They had a lot of energy, just like you're seeing from President Trump right now. They cleaned up the streets, they cleaned homeless encampments, they prosecuted crime. They dealt with the nonsense in the schools and the libraries. They actually put in a ballot initiative for voter ID, which passed. Then in November, just now, 2024, they put forward seven candidates as a slate. They called themselves the Magnificent Seven. To show you where they were coming from. They had a clean sweep. They won all the seats. So in four years, that city has gone from 6:1 Democrat control to 7:0 Republican. So it shows what can be done if you actually fight. And I think that's what we need to show across California. That's why I really do believe change is possible sooner than many people think.

[Buck Sexton]

Steve Hilton, everybody, go check out the book Califalure, which also goes into Califuture. So it's not just the problems, it's also the fix. And Steve Best of luck to you. Please come back and tell us how it's all going and hang out with us again soon.

[Steve Hilton]

Absolutely. Thanks guys. See you soon.

[Clay Travis]

Steve does great work and it would be transformative for the nation if sane Republicans or just even sane independents could start to get into positions of power all over California. And I do think there's a frustration over Democrat failures in the meantime. So it's an interesting book idea. Look, my beloved University of Tennessee Volunteers are about to make my boss, Julie Tabitt cry because she is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. But if you disagree with that, maybe you love a lot of the Kentucky Wildcat players. Maybe you think they're going to go off and win a third time this year against the University of Tennessee. Prize Picks has an app for that. You can dive in and pick the top Kentucky players to have more than expected in all of their different performances. And maybe you're out there right now and you're a big Auburn Tiger fan, or maybe you're a Michigan Wolverine like my wife. You've got all sorts of teams going on with the Sweet 16 underway. Ole Miss we had a caller say Hottie Toddy a little bit earlier. Ole Miss Rebels playing today as well. Four great games in the Sweet 16. Two Elite Eight on Saturday, two Elite Eight on Sunday. Plus Major League Baseball is all back. You can play prize picks in California, you can play it in Texas. You can play it in Georgia if you're feeling a little bit left out. 13 million people in fact have signed up to play. They now offer MasterCard, Visa, Discover Card, Quick and easy deposits into an account you can get hooked up right now. Major League Baseball, that March Madness, the NBA, whatever you love golf. You can get hooked up and play with prize picks pricepix.com code clay for fifty dollars when you play your first five dollar picks prizepix.com code clay that is prizepix.com code Clay Patriots radio hosts a couple of regular guys, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ritual Representative]

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm sorry.

[Clay Travis]

Clay Travis, BUCK SEXTON SHOW Finishing the segments off today. We appreciate all of you for hanging out with us all over the country. A lot of big weekend activities coming up. I got to go watch. Like I said, my University of Tennessee volunteers take down Kentucky and leave the entire Bluegrass State in tears, including our beloved boss, Julie.

[Buck Sexton]

By the way, if Kentucky wins, we need Julie, our boss, to do a talk back where she gloats and we play it on this show where she just feels all the sympathy, all the sympathy for you poor Tennessee fans out there. So I think we're have to put that out in the ether.

[Clay Travis]

She also, Julie has an amazing, like my parents do, real Southern accent. Like a real, like what you would expect a Southerner to sound like if you haven't ever lived here before. I think I've, I've mentioned this. When I was in college and my mom or dad would call, you know, we used to have this thing called the, the, the voicemail right, where you could, you'd come in the answering machine, you'd hit it, you'd actually be able to hear anyway. People don't realize it now. Nobody leaves messages. By and large, my roommates would just like to hear my parents talk because they were all from the Northeast and they had never heard somebody with an actual Southern accent before.

[Buck Sexton]

If we were doing like a narrative of the life of Davy Crockett as part of this show or something, having your mom read it as the narrator would be fantastic.

[Clay Travis]

She would do really, really well. A couple of housekeeping things. By the way, I'm going to be playing Tunnel to Towers on their charity golf event at Trump's Golf Course in West Palm Beach Monday. I'm going to be posting a, you know, 110 score. Thankfully, we're playing best ball. But you've got, we, we've been talking about the importance of these elections that are coming up. We're going to have the candidate for Florida's 6th congressional district, Randy Fine, which is a real battleground to make sure people get out and vote. He's going to be on with us Monday. We talked with Brad Schimmel earlier in this program who is running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. There are still lots of races to pay attention to here.

[Buck Sexton]

So you're going to be going full Happy Gilmore on Monday while I'm trying to save the Republic.

[Clay Travis]

Cool. That's right.

[Buck Sexton]

Good to know.

[Clay Travis]

That's right.

[Buck Sexton]

Making sure that's how it's Going all right.

[Clay Travis]

And then by the way, on Thursday I'm playing in the live golf tournament at Doral. So actually two different days next week you'll be saving the republic and I'll be posting 110 scores out there.

[Buck Sexton]

Not all heroes wear capes, Clay. You know what I mean?

[Clay Travis]

I will get a really good tan in the process. And you know what I'm traveling with because I got to drive to Memphis as soon as I finish my kid. That's right, I'm traveling here.

[Buck Sexton]

Calm everybody. Go subscribe. Run up those numbers for us. Because we're building a Great American company. 10% of the profits goes to our friends at Tunnel the towers foundation, crockett coffee.com and remember, you can get a signed copy of Clay's American Playbook if you use code book. And we got a new exciting product coming out because we're going to be at the one year anniversary of the company in a couple of weeks here. So we're going to have something very cool to tell you all about. So join us. Become a subscriber. Crockett coffee.com we got a talk back here. FF in Youngstown, Ohio. Play it. My granddaughter's name is Caroline and we call her Care Bear. Makes me laugh every time I hear Buck call his wife Care Bear. Well, there you go.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, it's so sweet. We need a lot of sweet things because people are angry over the square dancing and the line dancing and the attempt to determine why men and women are are not able to get together. And by the way, you mentioned Crockett Coffee. The games last night. Buck didn't until after 12:30. Congrats to Texas Tech. Overtime win. Sorry Razorback fans, your team collapsed down the stretch. Up 13 with 4 minutes ago. Should never happen. But I need coffee even more because the games didn't until after 12:30 Eastern. They're going to be late over the weekend again. So yeah, Crockett Coffee.com get hooked up and where the Alamo is. Davy Crockett certainly became very famous there is where the final four is going to be. So if my beloved University of Tennessee volunteers ever make the final Four, which they've never done, then I will go. Maybe this is the yearbook. Fingers crossed. Maybe this is the year.

[Buck Sexton]

Absolutely. We got some VIP emails Horace writes in. Great show. Very insightful and entertaining. However, I simply can't believe neither of you knows the difference between line dancing and square dancing. The names alone are very self explanatory. A good friend of mine competes in square dancing. Well, I can assume that one has lines and one is a square. But we don't really know what that means, Horace, you know, that's just neither of us. This may not come as a shock to you, but neither Clay nor I are the ones you look to. To tear up the dance floor in any style or genre.

[Clay Travis]

Is Diane still there? She called in earlier because she was. I'm just catching up on the callers. Diane said that she taught the square dance and says it's the United States national dance.

[Buck Sexton]

Now she has left bounced Diane square dancing to teach.

[Clay Travis]

That's right. She had to teach. I'm sorry that we missed you. But Diane, you. Your. Your square dancing knowledge has now been imparted in some degree on the nation.

[Buck Sexton]

This. This one still smarts. This one still hurts a little bit. But Mark writing in vip, Mark, that crack about Buck and Driving Miss Daisy was awesome. Ha ha ha. I'm about safety, okay? Safety first.

[Clay Travis]

I have to tell you guys, the first time I got in the car with Buck, I thought he must have gotten some high tech CIA evasive driving maneuver training. And I felt really like, you know.

[Buck Sexton]

I. I did, Clay, but I'm not taking you through the mean streets of Mogadisha, okay? This is Miami Beach. I don't want to get a ticket.

[Clay Travis]

If you're not an old person and people pass you on both sides of the interstate, what are you doing with your life? I'm not saying you have to be far left, but if you're in the middle and people are passing you on both sides, I just. I question many of your life decisions.

[Buck Sexton]

I just want you all to remember this. These scurrilous accusations from Clay about the speed of my driving. Just remember this on Monday when we're all doing a victory dance for the wonderful Kentucky team that's going to defeat his Tennessee team, okay? Because he's going to be all sad and he's going to deserve it after all this nonsense.

[Clay Travis]

I will be crushed, but I'm not going to be, unfortunately. I'm sorry. Kentucky fans, your season ends in about six hours. See y'all. I'll be back Tuesday. Bucks got you Monday.

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