← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
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- [00:00]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Buck Sexton
And here.
- [00:05]
J.R. Martinez
We have a specimen from the early.
- [00:07]
Clay Travis
2000S, a legacy investing platform.
- [00:10]
Senator Rand Paul
Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.
- [00:13]
J.R. Martinez
Ready to step out of the financial history museum@public.com you can invest in almost everything, stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SID. Full disclosures@public.com disclosures hello, it is Ryan.
- [00:36]
Senator Rand Paul
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- [01:00]
Buck Sexton
No purchase necessary vgw group void we're prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply.
- [01:05]
Brendan Carr
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.
- [01:18]
Buck Sexton
This medal is for the men who went down that day on Medal of.
- [01:22]
Brendan Carr
Honor Stories of Courage. You'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:35]
Senator Rand Paul
Welcome in our number three Tuesday edition, Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We're about to be joined by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. I AM In Washington, D.C. buck is on the French Riviera for the Big Can Advertising conference. A lot of people want to buy into this show as the audience has continued to grow and so Buck is over there. Senator Rand Paul with us now. We're following a lot of different stories. Ongoing uncertainty about exactly what the United States actions and responses will be as it pertains to Iran. We'll talk about that with Senator Rand Paul right now. Also continued fallout of the big beautiful bill and where that is headed. But so let's start with the number one question that is out there right now. Senator Rand Paul, if President Trump called you and he said, hey, what do you think I should do about the situation in Iran, your response would be what?
- [02:38]
Buck Sexton
You know, the President's had good instincts traditionally on this, and his instincts have been for restraint, for thinking things through, and hopefully for not getting us involved in this war. And I think it would be a bad idea for us to be involved directly in the war. I think the of negotiation pretty much goes out the window with the first US Bombs dropping. Even as it is, we're so closely linked with Israel, I think that it's almost depicted as a joint action now, but I think it is a step for the worse if we actually are involved actively with bombing. The other thing in our country is we have this thing called the Constitution that says you can't go to war with countries without permission. So if he did decide, and he told me he's absolutely made the decision, I would recommend to him that he has to come before Congress, ask us for permission, and we'll have a vote the same night on whether or not to go to war.
- [03:30]
Senator Rand Paul
Do you yourself, are you concerned about the idea of Iran having nuclear weapons? Do you think that's a threat to the United States?
- [03:39]
Buck Sexton
Well, you know, I think potentially I think that it's more a threat to their regional neighbors. But I would say that I don't want them to have nuclear weapons. I don't think anybody does. But, but the question about every activity is does it make it more or less likely? So I think you can argue both sides of does Israel's bombing make it more or less likely that they get a nuclear weapon? You can say, well, they're destroying their capability, or you could say that this is the last straw from Iran's point of view and Iran will simply rush headlong into developing a weapon. They may well have stockpiles of highly enriched uranium we don't know about. And once you have it, you can really hide a cup full of highly enriched uranium anywhere. And probably one cupful is probably enough for a decent sized bomb. And so they have the ability to enrich. I don't think the bombing gets rid of their knowledge of nuclear power, even though they killed many different scientists. I hope they don't go this direction. But there's always a question, will they passively come back and hang their head and say we're sorry and we want to negotiate, or will they have this sense of nationalism, rally around their flag, put aside their differences and really unify in the sense of trying to combat an attack?
- [04:59]
Senator Rand Paul
I presume that since you wouldn't like to see United States force bunker busting bombs used, I think that would be your position based on the Answer so far that you also would want to have no U.S. involvement in any potential regime change relating to the ayatollahs or anything else. Your general proposition would be that we should not get involved.
- [05:21]
Buck Sexton
Well, you know, we tried that. You know, we tried it in Afghanistan and for 20 years. And Afghanistan was a very, very tiny, backwards country. No wealth and very few people compared to Iran. And we weren't very successful even in that backwater of trying to get, you know, a stable government. And the Taliban ended up waltzing in, you know, a matter of days, taking over that government. So. So I don't know that we're very good at nation building, nor do I think that's really what we should be doing. So, no, I'm not involved with it. Do I wish their people well? Yeah, I would love to see their people get rid of their government. Nobody wants to see their people oppressed. The women that have been snatched up off the street, beaten and who knows else simply for not wearing a face covering. And the young people of Iran are said to be very pro Western, very much more open than where the mullahs are as far as, you know, culture. And it is sad to see what's happening. But, you know, our job really isn't to send armies everywhere and to send our soldiers. And that's the way people need to think of this. Are you ready to send your son or daughter, you know, to march in a trench and, you know, trench to trench in Iran and it really is not a war that we should be involved with.
- [06:38]
Senator Rand Paul
Talking to Senator Rand Paul. All right, let's shift from Iran right now to what's going on with the so called big beautiful bill. Last week we had Senator Ron Johnson in. I think you and he share a lot of the same ideas on this bill, not cutting spending enough. I don't know if things have changed since last week. What would you tell us? What should we know about the current status of the bill as you see it?
- [07:02]
Buck Sexton
You know, a lot of the bill is tax cuts, which I'm for. Making the tax cuts permanent, which I'm for. I voted for these tax cuts in 20, 2017, most of them. I think they were largely responsible for the economic growth and prosperity in the first Trump administration. We had low historic unemployment. We were doing great until, you know, they shut the government down, shut the world down for the pandemic. But I'm for all of that. The spending cuts, I agree with Ron Johnson. They're weak, they're anemic, and they will not materially affect our Accumulation of debt. And this is the thing people need to understand. Our deficit this year is going to be 2.2 trillion. If you believe the numbers of the bill, which really probably are not accurate in the first year or two, but that we're going to cut spending 150 billion, that means instead of a 2.2 trillion, you'd have a 2.05 trillion. So it's really not materially changing the accumulation of debt. And probably in the first couple years the debt will grow because when you reduce tax rates, you do usually get less revenue in the beginning. Now you tend to get economic growth and grow out of it. But for a year or two, that revenue will go down. They also have some fake pay fors in there. They have a pay for that says we're getting rid of the Biden forgiveness of student loans. Well, the courts ruled that illegal and it never went into action. So they're going to get rid of something that isn't currently happening. And only in Washington do you call that a cut when you get rid of something that actually isn't occurring. But some of these things aren't real. Some of the real findings, like putting work requirements on Medicaid don't start occurring until after the election in 2026. So I think in the first couple years the deficit does get worse. So. But my biggest complaint really though is the debt ceiling. Raising the debt ceiling 5 trillion, when Congress, I think is terrible with money, they're irresponsible. We've accumulated a $36 trillion debt. They show no signs of wisening up and actually spending cuts. And so I think to raise the debt ceiling 5 trillion is giving irresponsibility too much, irresponsible people too much credit. So I'd give them three months. And in three months it's going to be the end of the fiscal year. You realize in three months they're going to be coming back with a big beautiful omnibus. And so that's going to be Wolfie, face that in September. And so if they're going to keep spending money the same way they have, I would say you get very little installments of debt ceiling. We vote on it every three months until we see if we can trust you with money.
- [09:33]
Senator Rand Paul
What do you think the timeframe is? You just laid out the debt ceiling. President Trump has said he'd like to have this done by July 4th. Ron Johnson said he didn't think that was very likely. When do you think the Senate might be able to vote on this bill? What does your horizon look like? In that respect, it all depends on.
- [09:52]
Buck Sexton
You know, how many people have courage. Four principled conservatives with courage could make this into a conservative bill. All it would take would be four of us to say that we don't want the debt ceiling on there. We're not voting for 5 trillion in debt. And they would have to change it. Right now, I think it's me and possibly Ron Johnson, and then there may be one or two others out there, but I really haven't heard a lot that indicates to me that there are people. You have to say you're going to be a no. You have to be steadfast and loud and you have to tell them why and you have to tell them what it takes to get to yes. And that's why, despite getting some critic from some of the, you know, attack dogs at the White House, I've been very clear to the President, I like a lot of the bill. I like him personally. I support him and I'll support the bill. But they have to separate out the debt ceiling. They don't want to do that, but they will do it if I'm deciding vote. That's what I also told my supporters. You say, I can't believe you all vote for the tax reduction. I said, I will. I'm for it. And if I'm the deciding vote, I promise you I'll vote for it. But if I'm the deciding vote, they're going to have to negotiate and they will, because that's the way it works. The only reason they're not negotiating with me over the debt ceiling now is we don't have the four votes to oppose them. If we had the four votes, we'd have already separated out the debt ceiling and I would be a yes now.
- [11:12]
Senator Rand Paul
How frustrated? You just mentioned it a little bit. Do you think the President is with you.
- [11:20]
Buck Sexton
A little bit? You know, I've known him for quite a while and.
- [11:24]
Senator Rand Paul
But is your relationship with the President. Sorry to cut you off a little bit, but is your relationship with the President a little bit of a roller coaster? Because sometimes it seems like you guys are thick as thieves and then other times it's like you're. You're kind of at each other a little bit. Do you feel like a little bit over the decade that you've been a roller coaster with the President?
- [11:41]
Buck Sexton
Well, it's kind of funny because I personally like him. Played golf with him a dozen times. I played golf with him before he was president, probably 2013, 2014. I asked him to support some of my mission trips When I did surgery in Guatemala, and I believe it was 2013 or 2014 and then in Haiti, he supported both trips. And so I've gotten to know him over time and actually enjoy his company. I was probably one of his biggest defenders on the impeachment. But, you know, there is a mercurial nature to it, though, that, you know, I think those were very important things, the defense on that. I think this bill is just a policy difference, and I'm not changing anything. I'm for. I've always been against raising massive raises of the debt ceiling, whether it was Biden or anybody else. But I think some of his attack dogs at the White House simply, you know, it's my way or the highway kind of stuff. But the last time I talked to him, we had a good conversation. It was after the big, beautiful parade and he was in good spirits. And, you know, I reiterated what it would take and that my goal is not to defeat the bill. My goal is to, you know, present a conservative bill that I can be happy to support. And a lot of the bill I like. All I gotta do is separate all the debt ceiling or shorten it, and they could well get my vote. But, yeah, the relationship's up and down, but I think still a lot of, you know, respect on my part.
- [13:07]
Senator Rand Paul
We're talking to Senator Rand Paul. Last question for you. You know, I know looking ahead to 2028 as a ways away, we still have to get past the midterms. But there's a lot of talk about Andy Beshear in your state running for president. He was one of the worst governors in America, certainly the worst governor, I would say, of a red state during COVID Is it kind of staggering to you that he would be a national political figure based on what you have seen of his leadership in Kentucky?
- [13:35]
Buck Sexton
I've yet to see that he'll be any kind of national figure. I don't. I think he lacks the, you know, charisma. But he also, the things that he did to us in our state. I mean, shutting down churches, shutting down gyms, shutting down, you know, stores, you name it. Limiting how many people can show up anywhere, banning travel. I mean, the authoritarian things he did in our state are what many other Democrats did, too. Whitmer did some of the same stuff in Michigan, but I don't think that'll be popular. I think he fools himself into thinking, well, he's a Democrat. He won in a Republican state. All Democrats like that think they're going to be the next Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton. And that's yet to be seen, but I kind of doubt it. From what I've seen, I can't imagine that he'll be much of a force in the Democrat primary.
- [14:21]
Senator Rand Paul
Senator Rand Paul we appreciate the time. Happy to have you on whenever and keep us updated on how the bill goes.
- [14:27]
Buck Sexton
Thanks.
- [14:28]
Senator Rand Paul
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- [16:32]
J.R. Martinez
You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full disclosures at public.com disclosures the Medal.
- [17:03]
Brendan Carr
Of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.
- [17:14]
Buck Sexton
This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it.
- [17:21]
Brendan Carr
I'm J.R. martinez. I'm a U.S. army veteran myself and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart podcast. From Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal. To Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [18:07]
Senator Rand Paul
We are gonna be joined by the commissioner of the fcc, Brendan Carr. He's gonna be with us here. At the bottom of the hour. We got a couple of different things I will hit a lot of you weighing in on a variety of different stories. I love Mary Beth. Let's listen to AA firing back yesterday at the criticisms undaunted and unjustified. I should say unjustified criticisms of my outfit on Fox News. This is Mary Beth Clay.
- [18:35]
Buck Sexton
Don't listen to him. I saw you on the media buzz show and you looked fantastic. It was the perfect shade of pink for a man and it very, very appropriate for summer. You looked fantastic.
- [18:53]
Senator Rand Paul
I don't know that I was in pink. So I was going to give Mary Beth a real, a real plaudit's here. But I do appreciate that she thought I looked good. It was a light, airy color and I can see how the white could have looked a little bit pink in conjunction with my amazing jacket. Anna and Raleigh, what did you think of the incredibly masculine crying stunt from Senator Padilla that we just saw on the Senate floor? As a woman, were you swept off your feet?
- [19:20]
Buck Sexton
He needs a Grammy. Seriously, on all things. He's playing to the ignorance, okay? Because he could have staffed out a phone call to make an appointment to meet with DHS and ask his questions. Okay?
- [19:35]
Clay Travis
That's all in reality. In reality, he would have expected the.
- [19:39]
Buck Sexton
Exact same courtesy from DHF if They had questions for him.
- [19:45]
Senator Rand Paul
Thank you for the call. Doesn't sound like you were overwhelmed by his raw masculine power on the Senate floor. Jeff in Houston, we got a lot of reactions coming in. BB KTRH down in Houston, one of our top affiliates. What's Jeff got for us?
- [20:00]
Buck Sexton
Clay, as far as Iran goes, we owe them revenge going all the way back to 1979. But as far as Iran being a free country, they were never a free country. They were westernized. But the Shah had the SAVAK back then and those people were terrorized. And I talked to people back then who were from Persia as they called was much better than it is now, but it was not free.
- [20:28]
Senator Rand Paul
Yeah, when I say free, I mean in the context of Middle Eastern freedoms at the time Iran in the 1970s, before the revolution, the people were far freer than they are today. And I think that many people who lived through that envy that era. In fact, I think the percentages and again team can look this up. But Iran has a huge population of people under the age of 30 who look back on that era very fondly and actually would love to have more of a connection with the west than they do right now. And I give credit to Elon Musk. My understanding is he's turned on the Starlink Internet so that the people of Iran don't have to just be listening to the state subsidized media coverage of what's going on there. We'll talk about that a little bit with Brendan Carr of the FCC and how that impact can be even in the foreign countries as it pertains to your ability to know what exactly is going on. And we may get an update on the president being in THE Situation Room before the program ends today. So we are certainly going to keep you updated on that as well. But I want to tell you as we get ready for Brendan Carr to be on with us next, we have got an incredible offer for all of you. Rapid radios. These are phenomenal. They last charged us five days. My wife has got this set up, sometimes gives it to our 10 year old. He doesn't have a cell phone yet but he wants to run around. He gets to pretend he's GI Joe and he gets to stay in touch with his mom and his dad. But this is a nationwide wireless device that will allow you to connect with everyone in your household. We've talked about this a lot. In times of awful weather, for instance, what happened in Asheville, North Carolina, Buck's sister in law was able to get in touch with their family when virtually every cell phone network was down. These charges last for five days. They're great safety and security for you to be able to have limited time offer. All you have to do is go to rapidradios.com you can save up to 60% free UPS shipping from the guys up in Michigan where this company is based. And when you use the promo code radio, you get an extra 5% off. That's Code Radio. Rapidradios.com Code Radio up to 60% off. Get hooked up right now. Make sure that you are taking care of your family in the event of needing to be in touch nationwide. Get hooked up now rapidradios.com code radio that's rapidradios.com code radio. Get hooked up today we are joined now by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. He's in studio with us here in Washington, D.C. and I know you got a ton of different things on your plate, so I'm going to hit you with questions. You may try to dodge some of them just because I understand you guys are pretty good at that. So, so let's start off here. I think now that President Trump is in office, it's fair to say that we have seen maybe a little bit of unfairness from abc, cbs, NBC, among others. They have a government responsibility based on the fact that we have given them a license as a country. How fair now that we're through the election season. Do you think news coverage has been what could occur from your perspective to make it fairer because they're supposed to be as a part of getting a license? You correct me if I'm wrong, not providing some form of biased news coverage, but I think most people that are listening to us right now would really roll their eyes at the idea that abc, NBC and CBS are providing in some way fair and balanced news coverage.
- [24:19]
Clay Travis
Yeah. Thanks so much. Great to be with you. You know, look, if you step back and you think about speakers in this country, you've got, you know, the guy in the soapbox gets to say whatever he wants. You've got cable channels which are lightly regulated when it comes to television stations. Those are licensed by the fcc.
- [24:34]
Senator Rand Paul
Yes.
- [24:34]
Clay Travis
And they are required by federal law to operate in the public interest. Now, if you step back, over the years, the FCC and regulators in Washington, I think, have walked away completely from enforcing that public interest obligation. I don't think we're better off for it. To your question, if you step back, I don't think the national programmers, if you look at abc, cbs, NBC, they own some stations, but in the main, they program Content that goes out through license stations, I don't think they've been fair at all. If you step back and look at their coverage in terms of Republicans or President Trump. And frankly, that's not just my opinion. If you look at trust in that national programmers, again focusing on abc, cbs, NBC, trust is at an all time low. Again, Jeff Bezos of all people, did an op ed not that long ago saying that these national media outlets have lost the thread when it comes to where the American public is. But the good news is this. There's another side of the coin. We talk about the actual local broadcast TV stations, the ones that actually hold the license by the FCC when they run programming, it's actually really trusted by local communities. So the biggest policy that we're running at the FCC in terms of media right now is how do we empower the local broadcasters to serve the public interest and allow them to get some distance from the national programmers that are really just generating content in Hollywood, in New York and sort of force feeding it out there. So I think there's actually a lot the FCC can do that addresses this issue. And again, focusing on that unique public interest obligations that TV channels have, that.
- [26:03]
Senator Rand Paul
Is super interesting because I think most people out there listening to us right now, when there is a major thunderstorm, for instance, and they are at home, they trust their local news to provide them accurate coverage about danger, tornadoes, everything else. But they certainly don't trust the national news to provide them. So I hadn't really thought about that dichotomy. It's interesting. Npr, pbs, we have seen the vote barely get passed in the House to take away their funding as it pertains to government dollars. I've always thought it's crazy. To my knowledge, we don't get a massive amount of government support. We compete with npr, this show does the, the premier networks all over the country. And it's always felt like an unfair competition that they get these dol. We don't. What do you think? What kind of optics does the FCC have on those issues?
- [26:50]
Clay Travis
It really wasn't that long ago if you looked at a cross section of the listeners and viewer to NPR and pbs, you'd get a pretty decent cross section of the country as a whole. And at some point, not that long ago, things changed dramatically. And it appears that NPR and PBS have been appealing to a very narrow, bespoke, almost a seller, corridor portion of the country. And you can do that right as a First Amendment matter. But if you are going to Congress and saying I want you Congress to force people to take money out of their pocketbooks, send it to Washington, and then send it to subsidize that. I think it's entirely legitimate for people to be asking questions about that. And to your point, recently, rescissions passed, a package passed the House that would save about a billion dollars from that funding the fcc. We've launched actually an investigation into NPR and pbs, and here's why. They are unlike any other station. Like a station here, a commercial station, they're non commercial, which means they get special benefits above and beyond those that regular broadcasters get. But as a consequence, they can't run advertising. But what it looks like they've been doing is running programs that appear to be very close, if not to advertisements themselves. So we've launched an inquiry at the FCC to make sure that they're not violating the law. Because really, you can't have it both ways. You can't be getting, you know, public funding and claiming that you're, you know, non commercial and then potentially the same time running commercial. So we're looking that as well right now.
- [28:14]
Senator Rand Paul
CBS News in the news a lot. You got the transcript released of 60 Minutes, the interview that they did with Kamala Harris right before the election, that was edited in many different ways, potentially beneficially to her. What can you tell us about the investigation into 60 Minutes and how does that impact the larger Paramount idea they're trying to sell to Skydance, I believe. Where is all of that from your perspective?
- [28:39]
Clay Travis
Yeah, right before January 20th, in fact, right around January 10th, I believe the prior administration, the Biden FCC, summarily dismissed a news distortion complaint that had been filed against 60 Minutes based on claims of editing around that answer to Kamala Harris in the 60 Minutes episode. They dismissed it without actually doing any real inquiry, without doing any due diligence. And so one of the very first things that we did was we restored that complaint against cbs. We've put it out for public comment. And to your point, we obtained the unedited transcript and video of that interview. We've put it all out there. I think sunlight is the best disinfected. So right now, the American people are participating in this process. We haven't made a final decision, but we are weighing whether in fact it is a news distortion or not. And that's under active investigation at the fcc. Separate from that, we do have a transaction before the FCC where the owners of CBS are looking to sell. And as of right now, we're just running our normal course review on that. And no, no significant update as to where we are on that, when you.
- [29:37]
Senator Rand Paul
Look at the spectrum, and I know people think about this a lot, I was out in San Francisco recently, got to go in a Waymo. I felt like I was in the.
- [29:47]
Clay Travis
Future for all the Waymo started getting.
- [29:48]
Senator Rand Paul
For all the way. More good.
- [29:50]
Clay Travis
Get out of there, Clay.
- [29:51]
Senator Rand Paul
We got out safely there. Doing research on that. The amount of spectrum that's going to be required for autonomous vehicles, actually pretty extraordinary. The government, I'm sure a lot of people out there understand this, may not has control of the wireless spectrum universe out there. Is there enough to be able to handle all the technology coming? What would be beneficial in your mind as you look at the auctions of this spectrum and the utilization of the spectrum?
- [30:20]
Clay Travis
Yeah, this is a really important issue. It's a practical issue. It's a national security issue. Most people, when they pick up their smartphone or they hop into a Waymo, they just assume it works. They don't know how. Maybe they think it's magic or pixie dust, but it's these invisible airwaves that you need to power everything. And when you look at the future of technology, whether it's autonomous vehicles, whether it's AR VR, AI, the data demand to carry data traffic wirelessly is just like a hockey stick through the roof. And right now, China has leaked out to a really significant lead over the us. Didn't used to be this way. If you go back to the first Trump administration, China was ahead of us early on and President Trump stepped in, showed strong leadership, and the US closed the gap. That's why you saw 4G and 5G explode in the US. Now, President Biden stepped in and we just fell into a deep malaise when it comes to freeing up spectrum. And President Trump recently has articulated that he wants the US to lead again and we're going to do it. So one of the things that the one big beautiful bill does is it restores the FCC authority to free up these airwaves, which lapsed during the Biden years. Senator Cruz, Chairman Cruz has been phenomenal in leading on this. But we are hundreds of megahertz behind where China is right now. And to your point, our commercial sector needs it. DoD uses it as well. But I think ultimately right now, where we're short is commercial spectrum for high power use. President Trump and Chairman Cruz have been clear. But it's national security, it's economic growth, and it's bridging the digital divide because we use that spectrum to connect people, to connect communities.
- [31:49]
Senator Rand Paul
Your job, to a large extent I would think, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, is to try to allow the marketplace of ideas to work at the best of its manner and ensure that the government is not putting a hand or a finger on the scale to. To. To allow one side to have an advantage. How fair do you think the overall media environment is from your perspective as FCC chairman, when you look at it across the scope of all of the different arenas that you are monitoring right now? Do you think we have a fair system in place right now, or do you think there's still a lot of things that need to be done?
- [32:25]
Clay Travis
Well, I think there's still a significant ways to go in terms of making sure that broadcasters in particular, live up their public interest obligation. Again, the studies and survey, in terms of lack of trust speak to that. But if you step back, particularly during COVID we saw this massive acceleration of censorship in this country, and a lot of it took place on social media and on big tech platforms. Silicon Valley was deciding whether you got to stay on the digital town square, what you could say. And the evidence also shows that the Biden administration was effectively colluding with a lot of these social media companies to shut down free speech. And it didn't just happen here in the US it's spreading globally. In Brazil, there's this justice de Morais, this government official there that's been censoring social media. In Europe, they're passing laws to sort of force US Technology companies who abide by their version of censorship. And so to some extent, we are on the backside of that. Meaning as the government controls. With COVID rescind, we see free speech reemerge, because you can't have both. Right. If you're gonna have massive government controls that came with censorship that came with COVID you necessarily have censorship as well, because free speech is a check on those types of government controls. And President Trump has come in and very clearly said that he's gonna restore free speech in this country. So whether it's the work of the fcc, the Federal Trade Commission is doing great work on this. The doj, we're looking to sort of break up that collusive conduct that. That really amounted, in my view, to a censorship cartel. There's still work to do, but I think we're finally turning the tide on that.
- [33:50]
Senator Rand Paul
Yeah. And I'm sure a lot of people out there listening right now, listening to us on traditional radios, podcasts, certainly still watching some news broadcast, cbs, abc, NBC. But for my kids, they get almost all their news from TikTok and YouTube. So to your point on the power of, of media, the dynamic has shifted in a big way. Like, I don't even know that my kids could find local news on television. Other than watching sports, they never watch it. Everything through YouTube. And I'll give you an example on this program, YouTube wouldn't allow our interview with President Trump. They wouldn't. We just had Rand Paul on at the top of the last, at the top of the hour. They wouldn't allow our interview with Rand Paul to be posted because they said something that, that YouTube didn't like. But in an election universe, in a democratic universe, should it, at a bare minimum, everything that a political figure says be distributed as widely as possible and not restricted and censored?
- [34:48]
Clay Travis
Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I focus a lot on is this concept of user empowerment. Look, we don't want any one single centralized authority, whether it's a Silicon Valley company or otherwise, deciding who can participate in the town square. What can they say in the digital town square. We need to empower individuals. So if you don't want to see Rand Paul, great, don't follow him. If you don't want to see this video, okay, block or unfollow the show. But we need to sort of get those decision making decisions back into the hands of individual users and take it out of the hands of the big corporations. For instance, on social media, you know, one idea we've talked about is should we have content filters that you can choose? Like, let's say you want for reasons that escape me, but you want MSNBC to filter your feed for you. Okay, plug that in and do it. If you want, you know, this show to have one, great. If you want Fox News to it, great. But let's, let's get that power back to individuals unless this centralized. Because when you make a mistake at a system wide level like that, like the consequences are very serious.
- [35:42]
Senator Rand Paul
Yeah.
- [35:42]
Clay Travis
People think about, well, there's harm that comes from hate speech, which obviously is protected by the First Amendment. But think about the other side of it. Like when you couldn't talk about the origins of COVID 19, when you couldn't talk about the costs and benefits of masking young children who were trying to get speech development at that point in time. So there's very real harms that flowed from the censorship that we lived through, let alone, you know, electoral consequences. With a Hunter Biden laptop story, no doubt.
- [36:05]
Senator Rand Paul
Last question for you. AI is taking off at a rapid rate and we have fun with AI memes that people Will post of me playing the flute, like, and all sorts of ridiculous things out there, but it's rapidly evolving to the point where I think being able to determine what's real and what's fake is going to become really very difficult. Are you concerned about that? Because it's one thing to restrict something that we know is real, but how in the world do we have the ability to let people know what is true and what is false and what someone's actually said and not said?
- [36:38]
Clay Travis
Yeah. Have you seen these? These AI generated videos of the podcasters that are in the baby.
- [36:43]
Senator Rand Paul
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [36:44]
Clay Travis
They're hilarious.
- [36:44]
Senator Rand Paul
Yes. Very, very fun.
- [36:46]
Clay Travis
I don't know if they've had any of those use of you or not.
- [36:47]
Senator Rand Paul
But I think they may think I'm a baby already, so I don't even.
- [36:49]
Clay Travis
Need to put on a meme hole at one time looking at all those. I thought they were hilarious. I mean, look, look, I think we'd be very careful here. During the last administration, President Biden had the FCC propose putting labels on political speech, political ads that were generated any way with AI content. And really, it just became a way of sort of slowing down the use of AI because they viewed it as, in my view, Republicans were being more successful in the meme wars than they were. So I think there is some harm, as you noted, but I think we have to be very careful that we don't stifle this early on because ultimately it can start to look a lot like censorship. So I do think that people need to be vigilant and we need to educate people, and it's. I think it's easier for younger folks. I think older people can get, you know, fooled a little more easily. Well, if you're just stepping back, look at online scams in general. But I think this area, we have to proceed very cautiously, and I'd be very, you know, skeptical of regulation at this point.
- [37:37]
Senator Rand Paul
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, I appreciate the time. Appreciate you coming in video, coming in studio with us, sitting in on video here, and we hope to talk to you again soon.
- [37:46]
Clay Travis
Yeah, good to be with you.
- [37:46]
Senator Rand Paul
Thanks for sure. Look, a lot of you out there right now got all sorts. We're just talking about all the different ways media can evolve. You got VCRs, you got old film reels, you got old photographs. How many of you have digitized those forever because the VCR wasn't made to last forever? Do you have the ability to share old movies with your family? Do you have old slides, old pictures digitized? This is what Legacy Box does they help you preserve and and ensure that your family's history lives on long after all of us are gone. They've done it for a million and a half families and they rely on Legacy Box to carefully handle saved photos, film videos and return them all with brand new digital files as well. They hand transfer everything one videotape at a time, one photo a time, carefully preserving your family's most cherished memories. Visit legacybox.com clay right now unlock 50% off when you do so. Legacybox.com clay 50% off preserve your family's memories for years and years to come@legacybox.com Clay Grand Canyon University, a private Christian university in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona, believes we're endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. GCU believes in equal opportunity and the American Dream starts with purpose. GCU equips you to serve others in ways that promote human flourishing and create a ripple effect of transformation for generations to come. By honoring your career, calling you impact your family, your friends and your community. You can change the world for good by putting others before yourself to glorify God. Whether your pursuit involves a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, GCU's online, on campus and hybrid learning environments are designed to help you achieve your unique academic, personal and professional goals. With over 340 academic programs as of September 2024, GCU meets you where you are and provides a path to help you fulfill your dreams. The pursuit to serve others is yours. Let it flourish. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private Christian affordable. Visit gcu.edu.
- [40:06]
J.R. Martinez
You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind at public.com go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full disclosures at public.com disclosures the Medal.
- [40:37]
Brendan Carr
Of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.
- [40:48]
Buck Sexton
This medal is for the men who went down that day. It's for the families of those who didn't make it.
- [40:54]
Brendan Carr
I'm J.R. martinez. I'm a U.S. army veteran myself, and I'm honored to tell you the stories of these heroes on the new season of Medal of Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries. And I heart piece from Robert Blake, the first black sailor to be awarded the medal to Daniel Daly, one of only 19 people to have received the Medal of Honor twice. These are stories about people who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor going above and beyond the call of duty. You'll hear about what they did, what it meant and what their stories tell us about the nature of courage and sacrifice.
- [41:34]
Senator Rand Paul
Sacrifice.
- [41:35]
Brendan Carr
Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [41:41]
Senator Rand Paul
My thanks to all of our guests today. You just heard from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr here in our DC Studio, Senator Rand Paul and Senator Ted Cruz. We have been following minute by minute everything surrounding the decisions that will be made in Iran and in particular about potentially the United States involvement there. Latest news, in case any of you were planning a summer vacation in Tehran, the US State Department has said US Citizens should not travel to Iran under any circumstances. Now, I don't know, maybe some of you out there, that's breaking news. Maybe you were like, oh, man, I was thinking, you know, summer in Tehran, it's only 180 degrees and there's, you know, a chance of getting hit by a bomb. That sounds like an amazing way to take off for summer vacation. Don't do it. So that is news from the State Department that was just released. I'm not even making that up. So do not travel to Iran, in case you were thinking about it. Also, they are suggesting no one traveled to Israel more seriously. And I know that that's probably far more common. But, but given the situation that's going on, I know there's not very many planes that are traveling into Israel right now, but that also being told. That's Tammy Bruce just in the last few minutes. State Department spokesperson saying both of those things. So we'll see what happens tonight as the drama continues to build surrounding what exactly is going to happen. And the Iranian crown prince has said a nationwide uprising could put the nightmare to an end and he would be with you soon. That is potentially a new regime much to follow. We will get you all of that tomorrow. Live from D.C. have great Tuesdays. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the front lines of truth.
- [43:50]
J.R. Martinez
And here we have a specimen from.
- [43:51]
Clay Travis
The early 2000s, a legacy investing platform.
- [43:55]
Senator Rand Paul
Please don't touch the exhibit, folks. It could crash.
- [43:58]
J.R. Martinez
Ready to step out of the financial History museum@public.com you can invest in almost everything stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full disclosures at public.com disclosures the Medal.
- [44:20]
Brendan Carr
Of Honor is the highest military decoration in the United States. Recipients have done the improbable, the unexpected, showing immense bravery and sacrifice in the name of something much bigger than themselves.
- [44:33]
Buck Sexton
This medal is for the men who went down that day On Medal of.
- [44:37]
Brendan Carr
Honor Stories of Courage. You'll hear about these heroes and what their stories tell us about the nature of bravery. Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [44:50]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast.