Hour 3 - Then and Now

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: Hour 3 - Then and Now (Released March 21, 2025)

In the "Then and Now" episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, hosted by Premiere Networks, Clay and Buck delve into significant political developments, scrutinize key political figures, and discuss the broader implications of recent policy changes. The episode is rich with in-depth analysis, spirited discussions, and notable insights, making it a compelling listen for those interested in the intersection of news, politics, and current events.

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**1. Trump's Decision to Eliminate the Department of Education

The episode kicks off with a major revelation: President Donald Trump has officially dissolved the Department of Education, fulfilling a long-standing Republican promise. Clay and Buck explore the ramifications of this monumental shift in federal education policy.

• Clay Travis [01:03]: "For at least a generation, maybe longer, people have been saying Republicans will shut down the Department of Education. Well, guess what? Promises made, promises kept."

• Buck Sexton [02:26]: "And everybody knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right. And I hope they're going to be voting for it because ultimately it may..."

The hosts play a clip of Trump's announcement, highlighting the bipartisan acknowledgment of the move:

• Nate Silver [02:23]: "We're going to eliminate it."

Implications:

• Education System Overhaul: The elimination signals a substantial restructuring of how education is managed at the federal level, potentially increasing state and local control.

• Political Reactions: The move is met with mixed responses, with Republicans lauding it as a step toward reducing governmental overreach, while Democrats criticize it as undermining educational support.

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**2. Critique of Teachers Unions and Randy Weingarten

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the role of teachers unions, particularly focusing on Randy Weingarten, the head of the teachers unions. Clay and Buck argue that these unions have historically obstructed educational progress and placed their own interests above those of students.

• Clay Travis [03:06]: "Randy Weingarten ... has been making everything worse for kids going on 40 years now or something like that."

• Buck Sexton [04:00]: "I think Randy Weingarten has been making everything worse for kids going on 40 years now..."

Key Points:

• School Closures During COVID-19: The hosts contend that under Weingarten's leadership, teachers unions were primarily focused on keeping schools closed to secure benefits for themselves, rather than prioritizing student safety.

• Impact on Students: Clay shares a poignant listener story illustrating the real-world consequences of prolonged school closures on students' education and well-being.

• Strategic Obstruction: Buck emphasizes that the unions' actions were less about student safety and more about maintaining union power and benefits.

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**3. Gavin Newsom's Hypocrisy

Clay and Buck turn their attention to California Governor Gavin Newsom, accusing him of blatant hypocrisy regarding his stance on men participating in women's sports and his contradictory views on the term "Latinx."

• Clay Travis [10:32]: "Gavin Newsom ... saying that he didn't understand why people use the word Latinx."

• Buck Sexton [11:48]: "This is why I don't think that Gavin Newsom is actually viable, but because he's just such an inveterate liar."

Highlights:

• Men in Women's Sports: Newsom's public statements attacking the inclusion of men in women's sports are scrutinized, revealing inconsistencies in his policy positions.

• Latinx Terminology: Despite previously supporting the term "Latinx," Newsom is now portrayed as criticizing its usage, raising questions about his authenticity and commitment to supporting marginalized communities.

• Media Accountability: Clay points out that CNN fact-checked Newsom's claims, uncovering evidence of his contradictory statements, thereby challenging his credibility.

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**4. The Administrative State and Progressive Authoritarianism

A substantial segment of the episode features an interview with Ned Ryan, founder and CEO of American Majority, discussing his new documentary, American Leviathan: The Birth of the Administrative State and Progressive Authoritarianism. The conversation delves into the dangers posed by the expanding administrative state and offers strategies for dismantling it.

• Ned Ryan: "We of our own volition, sub-delegate legislative authority to them to let them with their statutes and regulations do the real governing of this country."

• Buck Sexton [26:53]: "What can be done so that they aren't able to run out the clock on the efforts to rein in the administrative state?"

Key Discussions:

• Definition and Threat: Ryan explains the concept of the administrative state as a centralized authority that operates beyond the reach of elected officials, posing a threat to civil liberties and representative governance.

• Constitutional Concerns: The conversation highlights how the administrative state's growth undermines the U.S. Constitution by shifting legislative power away from Congress to unelected bureaucrats.

• Strategic Solutions:

  • Demanding Oversight: Republicans across the board need to reject the administrative state's legitimacy and reclaim legislative authority.
  • Judicial Intervention: Advocating for the Supreme Court to set strong guardrails against the administrative state's overreach.
  • Political Mobilization: Encouraging a unified Republican front to dismantle the entrenched progressive machinery.

• Ned Ryan's Documentary: American Leviathan serves as a critical exposé on how the administrative state has been intentionally built by progressives to maintain control and push their agenda without accountability.

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**5. Listener Calls and Personal Narratives

The show features engaging interactions with listeners, sharing personal experiences that underscore the hosts' viewpoints.

• Joel from Michigan [38:18]:

  • Commentary: Joel draws parallels between the show's advocacy for freedom and his local experience with Crockett Coffee's resistance against COVID-19 restrictions.
  • Buck Sexton [39:09]: "Thank you. Well, hopefully you're already a Crockett Coffee subscriber, Joel, since you're bringing it up on your call."

• David from Washington [39:02]:

  • Story: David, a former high school English teacher, shares his experience with school closures during COVID-19, emphasizing the negative impact on educators and students.
  • Buck Sexton [39:46]: "Just to say, I think Big Ed in America has become like a welfare program for kids and families."

These narratives provide real-life context to the broader political discussions, highlighting the tangible effects of policy decisions on individuals and communities.

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**6. Closing Remarks and Future Outlook

In the concluding segment, Clay announces an upcoming appearance on Air Force One to attend the NCAA Wrestling Championships with President Trump, signaling continued support and strengthening ties with the administration. Buck and Clay also discuss the future of the Democratic Party, predicting that internal chaos and progressive overreach will lead to its downfall.

• Buck Sexton [13:10]: "I actually think they're going to end up with a nominee who's not a politician. I think they're going to try to find their version of Trump..."

• Nate Silver [29:50]: "I think the only way you see it stop is rather to be serious legal consequences..."

The hosts express optimism about the political landscape, anticipating significant shifts that could reshape U.S. governance and policy directions.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Clay Travis [01:03]: "Promises made, promises kept."

• Buck Sexton [02:26]: "Everybody knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right."

• Clay Travis [03:06]: "Randy Weingarten ... has been making everything worse for kids going on 40 years now..."

• Buck Sexton [11:48]: "This is why I don't think that Gavin Newsom is actually viable, but because he's just such an inveterate liar."

• Ned Ryan [24:17]: "Administrative power is a revival of absolute power and is a tremendous threat to their civil liberties..."

---

Conclusion

This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show presents a robust critique of current educational policies, teachers unions, and the expanding administrative state. Through incisive discussions, personal anecdotes, and expert interviews, the hosts advocate for significant political and structural reforms aimed at reducing governmental overreach and restoring accountability. The episode not only highlights pressing political issues but also offers a vision for a more transparent and representative governance system.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

Hello, it is Ryan.

[Buck Sexton]

And I was on a flight the.

[Clay Travis]

Other day playing one of my favorite.

[Buck Sexton]

Social spin slot games on jumbacasino.com I.

[Clay Travis]

Looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing?

[Buck Sexton]

They were also playing Chumba Casino.

[Clay Travis]

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[Nate Silver]

Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21/ terms and conditions apply. I'm Nate Silver. And I'm Maria Konnikova. On our podcast Risky Business, we talk everything from politics to poker and from betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team. Sports bettors need a bit more street smarts because there's this whole second side to sports betting of how do you actually, how do you get your money down good if people think that you're a winning bettor. And now that March Madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies, odds, how to maybe actually win your office pool. You can listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show Final hour of the week. We are excited to have spent 14 hours with you, 15th hour here up and running. Want to give you an update on the announcement that President Trump made this morning as it pertains to the Department of Education. For at least a generation, maybe longer, people have been saying Republicans have that they will shut down the Department of Education. Well, guess what? Promises made, promises kept. Trump has actually done that. We'll play that for you. But I also want to set the table for why Democrat popularity is collapsing. Their hypocrisy has finally reached such a level that many people who are Democrats can no longer defend them, including Randy Weingarten, the head of the teachers unions. And also Gavin Newsom, who who tried to get attention recently for attacking men involved in women's sports and also for saying that he didn't understand why people use the word Latin. X CNN actually went back and they've got some receipts, unfortunately for my boy Gavin. We will get into that in a moment. But first, let's start with the news that came down about 11am Eastern. Trump ending the Department of Education. Here's what that sounded like.

[Buck Sexton]

It sounds strange, doesn't it? Department of Education.

[Nate Silver]

We're going to eliminate it.

[Buck Sexton]

And everybod knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right. And I hope they're going to be voting for it because ultimately it may.

[Nate Silver]

Come before them, but everybody knows it's right.

[Buck Sexton]

And we have to get our children educated.

[Nate Silver]

We're not doing well with the, with.

[Buck Sexton]

The world of education in this country, and we haven't for a long time. And we're pleased to be joined today by the woman who I chose because she's an extraordinary person, and hopefully she will be our last Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. Linda, thank you.

[Nate Silver]

Thank you very much.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, so that is the announcement about the Department of Education. Immediately thereafter, Randy Weingarten, who I think may be the most frankly unlikable person in all of left wing politics because of what shit I really do.

[Buck Sexton]

Pretty bold. Can I just say? That's pretty bold. I like where your head's at. I don't disagree. But wow, number one in all left wing politics. You put her ahead of Foushee.

[Clay Travis]

I do because. Well, Foushee, technically. That's a great question. I mean, she is more explicitly political in theory. Foushee. If Covid doesn't happen, nobody knows about him at all. Whereas I think most of what Randy Weingarten has done in her career is awful.

[Buck Sexton]

I think you're right. I think Randy Weingarten has been making everything worse for kids going on 40 years now or something like that. So, you know, yeah, okay, I'm with you.

[Clay Travis]

And just a blatant liar. And we have her here saying, you know, now she's saying, buck, oh, I didn't ever want to keep schools closed. I wanted to be schools to be back open in April. And I just want to play how blatant those lies are. She says the idea we wanted schools closed is, quote, a Republican talking point. That's what she's saying right now. Listen to cut 14.

[Buck Sexton]

Covid was a terrible time for us. And, and as you know, because I.

[Nate Silver]

Was on your show a lot and.

[Buck Sexton]

Other shows, I wanted schools to be.

[Nate Silver]

Reopened as early as April of 2020.

[Buck Sexton]

The issue was the fear, and the.

[Nate Silver]

Issue was the safety issues.

[Buck Sexton]

But Covid has really hurt in so many ways. But this has been a Republican talking point for a long time.

[Clay Travis]

Okay? She did not buck. Once schools reopened in April of 2020, in fact, she did everything she could to keep them closed. And we've got some receipts. Here is what Randy Weingarten insisting that schools remain closed. Cut 15.

[Buck Sexton]

If people are at high risk, they shouldn't be in school.

[Nate Silver]

They should be doing things remotely.

[Buck Sexton]

Just because Donald Trump wants to take a risk with people who go to bars or beaches. Those of us who have spent our life teaching kids are not going to take a risk with kids or with our members.

[Nate Silver]

Lives remote and hybrid are really the only two ways you can reopen schools safely.

[Buck Sexton]

You gotta delay school opening because if you don't have the mask, how are you gonna be able to do this?

[Nate Silver]

There's a huge difference between working in Walmart and working in a school.

[Buck Sexton]

Miami schools did not reopen because you had people who were courageous and who were willing to defy Desantis denials. I mean, she is, she is loathsome. Truly a loathsome person. Yes.

[Clay Travis]

I had a emailer send me an email this morning and I was reading it. Not the one with one of me to die in hopes that I choked to death meeting with Trump today, but another one who was nicer and she said her daughter in Illinois shut down in March, didn't get to go back in the Chicago area to school and was trying to find things to do. Worked at a grocery store. 17 year old girl. And she said she would get so frustrated, Buck, because sometimes her teachers who said it wasn't safe for them to be in the school, would show up at the grocery store she was working in, walking around shopping in the middle of the day when otherwise they would have been teaching school.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, that was the whole game was that they, the teachers unions flex their muscle at a time when they could get away with it so that people could have extended fully paid vacation and, and call themselves heroes.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

And now I know, I know that there may be. People think that that's harsh. They're wrong. This is the truth. That is why the teachers unions did it. Teachers are overwhelmingly in their 20s and 30s, by the way. This is not a. I know there are older teachers. Please don't call in and say, I'm 89 and I still teach. I get it. But generally speaking, the people who are covered under the teachers unions are going to probably have an average age in their early, early 30s. And the idea that they were under too much risk to go back to school. It was clear. Look, I had wished that Trump had actually gone even more heavily. Now he let the states do it. I understand there was some, there was a bit of a freedom component to this. Right. Freedom of the states to make their own decisions. But fall of 2020, if you weren't in favor of full school reopen, you were either a liar or didn't know what the heck you were talking about. That's, that's the truth. And with Randy Weingarten, the whole game was, well, well, I want the schools to be open, but we need to have like special filtration systems and six feet of distancing. Remember there was that meeting and Hatsip Carol Markowitz reporting this out from the Clay and Buck network on Twitter last night there was that meeting where they were going to reduce the completely arbitrary and absolutely pointless six foot distancing rule to three feet because then you could actually fit the kids in the classroom again. Randy met with the Democrats and they said, no, we're not going to reopen.

[Clay Travis]

Remember, I know all of this gets forgotten and it's been five years, but remember, and I might not get their phrase right, the American association of Pediatric Doctors or whatever it's called, In June of 2020, Buck, they came out and said schools need to reopen in the fall everywhere. And they got so much criticism, the pediatricians, they flipped their recommendation.

[Buck Sexton]

Generally speaking, all of these professional associations have become professional collectives, have become run by commissars now.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Whether it's the American Bar association, you know, Pediatric Association, American Psychiatric. So you go all these associations because who wants to be involved in that stuff? Communists. And that's what ends up happening.

[Clay Travis]

And the results are now in that the students who were able to go to school in person, including fortunately my own kids who were in school in August of 2020 in public schools in Williamson County, Tennessee, next door, Davidson County, Tennessee, which is Nashville, where I grew up and went to K through 12 public schools. They didn't open for months and months more into the future. I don't think they are open till March of 21. A lot of kids didn't go back if you were a junior. A lot of kids in New York, California, Illinois and many other big city metro regions, they left school in March, Buck, they did not go back. If you were a junior, you never returned to school.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay, if you were in private, my recollection is if you're in private school in New York City or parochial school which is affiliated with the Catholic Church, they were back for in person learning many, many months before public schools.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

And that's purely a function of the power of the teachers unions which pretend to care about kids and then every action they take is just to prevent accountability and increase benefits for adults. That's actually. And make sure Democrats get elected. So the system. So the self licking ice cream cone continues to lick itself. That is the Whole game. They do not care about children. The unions I'm talking about, there are good teachers everywhere. Don't send me your angry emails. The teachers union, first of all, public sector unions should be abolished across the board. We do not need to have public sector unions. People say, oh, what about police and firemen? We can just have a good contract for police and firemen for where they are. You actually don't need to have any public sector unions. I think it's inherently a problem. But that's a whole other conversation.

[Clay Travis]

I wanted to play this because while we talked about Elon earlier and the Tesla is being attacked and all of the craziness going on there associated with Doge, they also Twitter and X and the ability to point out blatant hypocrisy like I just did with the Randy Weingarten clip. We talked about Gavin Newsom saying, oh, it's completely unfair, I think, or close to that phrase about men and women's sports. He also in that same conversation said he didn't understand why anybody would use the phrase Latinx. He thought it was ridiculous. Cnn actually doing some real journalism, went back and they determined Gavin Newsom has used the phrase Latinx in a lot of public settings, despite claiming that he banned it and asking why in the world anyone ever claimed that they would use it. Here is Gavin Newsom, like Randy Weingarten, getting hoisted on his own petard. The hypocrisy is tough to escape. I hope we can really paint a.

[Nate Silver]

Picture in terms of our consciousness of how impactful this has been on the Latinx community. Latinx community, the Latinx and black communities. You've got politicians that are banning, not assault rifles, but the word Latinx. Not even serious.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, I.

[Clay Travis]

This is why I don't think that Gavin Newsom is actually viable, but because he's just such an inveterate liar.

[Buck Sexton]

Correct. And I think that also he does, he does not and will not play well with the Midwest and purple states that you would need to be a viable presidential contender. He brings nothing good to that conversation for them. I think he comes across like a slick Hollywood liberal who nobody really believes and nobody can put any faith in. And so I don't see that at all. The Democrats. Here's the thing. The Democrats, the reason they're scrambling so much right now, Clay. The Democrats are looking for somebody who the base knows will do whatever they want once they get into power, but can pretend to not be insane long enough to win an election and fool enough people in the middle that was actually what Biden's value was. And it's not because he's truly a moderate. It's because he's so old and grandfatherly and the whole thing. And they could create this mythology around him. And anybody who disagrees with this, Barack Obama ran on traditional marriage, ran on secure borders, ran on and then gets into office and is a communist. But point is, this is what they do, right? They need someone who can fake to the center and keep the left happy because they know the real game the whole time. Gavin Newsom is just a leftist. No one believes this guy has a moderate bone in his body.

[Clay Travis]

This is why I actually think they're going to end up with a nominee who's not a politician. I think they're going to try to find their version of Trump who doesn't have a long record of having said the opposite of what he claims to run on. And I'm not sure who that person is, but I think there's going to be a lot of billionaires in the wake of Trump who decide that they also want to run. And I don't know who it's again, I don't know who it's going to be, but I think somebody's going to come out of nowhere in the Democrat side and try to fight their way to the nomination. Okay. I want to tell you, by the way, I'm about to leave. I've got to go get on. Good excuse. I've got to go through security clearance to get on Air Force One to fly with President Trump this weekend to go watch the NCAA wrestling championships. I'm going to be sitting with him, Matt side on Saturday night, which will probably put ESPN into a really tough spot because are they going to show me alongside of Trump or not? I'm excited about that. We're going to set up a date for Trump to come back and be visiting with us on the radio in the near future. All that's still to come, but tensions are high in Israel as IDF forces enter the Gaza Strip seek the release of the remaining hostages. Just in the last day, Hamas attempted to fire multiple rockets into Israel's cities. It's a tenuous time in the Holy Land. The international fellowship of Christians and Jews has supported and will continue to support the people of Israel with life saving security essentials. Your gift today will help save lives by providing bomb shelters, armored security vehicles and ambulances, firefighting equipment, flak jackets, bulletproof vests, so much more. Your generous donation today will help ensure the people of Israel are safe and secure. In the days to come, give a gift to bless Israel and her people by visiting supportifcj.org that's one word supportifcj.org or you can call 888-488ifcj. That's 888488 ifcj and you will be glad that you did it. Trust me, they can use your support supportifcj.org do it today.

[Nate Silver]

Sometimes all you can do is laugh and they do a lot of it with the Sunday hang.

[Clay Travis]

Join Clay and Buck as they laugh.

[Nate Silver]

It up in the Clay and Buck.

[Clay Travis]

Podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on chumbacasino.com I looked over the person sitting next to me and you.

[Buck Sexton]

Know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino.

[Clay Travis]

Everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba Casino is home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free, anytime, anywhere. So sign up [e-mail] to claim your free welcome bonus. That's chumbacasino.com and live the Chumba Life.

[Nate Silver]

Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary VGW Group Void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply. I'm Nate Silver. And I'm Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players, and on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics. And we talk about betting from betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team. We've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets, and we share what we've learned with you. Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research. I bet almost the entirety of the 2022, 23 NBA season, all the regular season and about half the playoffs. And I learned that, I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then, but then things change. Now that March Madness is upon us. We're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, welcome back into Clay and Buck. I'm riding it out here solo for the last half hour or so of the show because Clay had to run to get on Air Force One. Gonna have a great time with Trump at the NCAA Wrestling Championship, which I was not aware that was going on, but I am learning something new every day about sports on this show. We will also get to our friend Ned Ryan here in a moment about a new documentary that he's got out that's really interesting, but I wanted to play this. Joe Borelli is a friend of the show. Been a friend of mine now for, gosh, I don't know, over a decade. Staten island city councilman and knows New York City politics very well, but he goes on CNN and he mixes it up as only a Staten island guy can. You know, he doesn't take any guff, any nonsense. And he was with. Had an exchange with former DNC spokesperson. I don't know how to say that. I'm pretty good with this stuff, but Xochitl Hochital, I don't know. Hino Hosa. That part I can get. And they had an exchange about this whole Elon Musk getting defense secrets thing. This is cut five to it.

[Clay Travis]

I'm the crazy one at the table.

[Nate Silver]

But I'm actually comfortable with someone who is incredibly effective at putting small objects and large objects into orbit over China.

[Buck Sexton]

Are you comfortable?

[Nate Silver]

Are you comfortable with potentially Elon Musk.

[Clay Travis]

Showing these plans or giving intelligence?

[Buck Sexton]

I am saying that is why.

[Nate Silver]

That is why, as Abby was saying. This is why Abby was saying.

[Buck Sexton]

It's on a need to know basis.

[Nate Silver]

Need to know basis, because only a handful of people had this information. Not only that, I was a former Justice Department official up until two months.

[Buck Sexton]

Ago, and I had a security clearance.

[Nate Silver]

What I will tell you is you let the woman. I was talking here. You interrupted me.

[Buck Sexton]

Hey, you hear that? He's like, hey, you interrupted me. You don't bring that into Joe Borelli's house. He was talking. She interrupted him. That's the way that I've had that happen to me before at cnn, where people say, don't interrupt me when they've interrupted you. You know what I mean? Crazy. That happens. They love the Libs, love to do that. And then they accuse you of mansplaining, as she did there. But this whole theory that we had Sean Parnell on before, because just so you could hear it from the guy whose job is to tell the people of America what's happening at the Pentagon, that this is a total nonsense, there was no Special war with China briefing for Elon planned. And Elon already has, as I said, a top secret compartmented clearance. So the government, the government gives him a lot of faith. I mean, there's already. He's an American citizen. All right, so despite what the left likes to say, now all of a sudden, oh, he's really a South African. Are we playing that game now? The Democrats, you'll notice, they'll play that game and assume that we don't pay attention and don't see what's really going on. But this is what they are left with because they simply do not have any worthwhile arguments against what's really going on right now. And I just think it's, it's madness, honestly. And they're going to continue to go down this pathway because it's all that they've got. And I mean, just making up attacks now, which is what they did with Elon. But good for our buddy Joe Borelli. You can't bring that into Staten Island's house. That's not going to fly.

[Nate Silver]

All right.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Nate Silver]

Well, I mean, one of the reasons I wanted to do a buck was it's a companion to the book, but to really show people and give them real clarity on the fact that rule of the bureaucrat, as Elon mentioned a few weeks ago, that's not a bug, that's a feature that was always intended by progressives for the last hundred years and has nothing to do with representative government, has nothing to do with our constitutional republic. And what I wanted to do is cover some of the same themes in the book, but also have conversations with senators and with congressmen and with other people that have been in D.C. inside the belly of Leviathan to really discuss how D.C. works. And I think when people watch the documentary, they're going to understand with real clarity from the mouths of elected officials. Yeah, we don't really actually do the governing in this town. We don't do the real legislating. We pass these four and five thousand page bills, we send them over to the unelected bureaucrats in the Article 2 branch. We of our own volition, sub delegate legislative authority to them to let them with their statutes and regulations do the real governing of this country. And then to make matters worse, Buck, they're blindly funding these unelected, out of control bureaucrats blindly and then not demanding any oversight, not demanding accountability or transparency at all. And it's become one of those things that I think is pretty hard to miss these days watching what's going on in D.C. but I hope that the American people get real clarity because it's because of the American people awakening that they will inspire Congress to actually do what they're supposed to do, to actually legislate and inspire the President, who has unbelievable amounts of moral and political courage, to keep going on the path that he's going on and then to brace the judges, which is of course a huge issue in the present moment, to maybe just do their Article 3 constitutional duty. Because the American people, I think are going to understand that administrative power is a revival of absolute power and is a tremendous threat to their civil liberties, tremendous threat to our future freedom and prosperity. So once the American people wake up and understand what's going on and then demand these things of their elected officials, I think it's the beginning of, beginning of the end of administrative power.

[Buck Sexton]

How do we deal with the threshold that seems to have been. Well, it has been artificially created by Congress itself that we have to get to 60 in the Senate to get any real legislation through because of the filibuster, because Ned, I just.

[Nate Silver]

Right.

[Buck Sexton]

It feels like the Democrats are the party of the administrative state. They have ceded the administrative state with their ideologues all, and we haven't even talked about the judges yet, but the administrative state with all these ideologues. And so the Democrat Party is just not going to, no matter how outrageous the spending is at these places, no matter how useless they are, they're not going to come along with us. Right. So what do we do about that?

[Nate Silver]

Well, well, I would say I probably come from a little bit different angle, Buck, because we already know Democrats are a lost cause. The problem being, and the problem that has been for decades in D.C. is that too many Republicans have gone along with it. They've accepted the premise that somehow this administrative state is a legitimate form of government and that they should continue to fund it and cede their control to these unelected bureaucrats. So while I understand that the problem is Democrats, in many ways, I would argue that in many ways it's been the Republicans in Congress who have been, I don't want to say that Congress has been the villain of the 20th century, but in many ways we have an administrative state and the unelected bureaucrats and out of control spending and I would argue again, abuse of our civil liberties and authoritarianism because Congress has, of its own volition, ceded its control. And that's not just Democrats, Republicans. And so I would say the first step in getting us to the right place is for Republicans across the board to go, yeah, administrative state is deeply unconstitutional. It's deeply un American. We are going to demand that we give back our sub delegated legislative authority and actually do the governing, actually do the legislating instead of really, really passing the buck to these unelected bureaucrats to avoid making hard decisions. So let's get Republicans on the same page and then we can discuss how we're going to dismantle the Democratic Party moving forward.

[Buck Sexton]

We're with Ned Ryan, founder and CEO of American Majority. He's got a new documentary out, American Leviathan, which you can watch on X. It is posted on X also atclay&buck.com the Judiciary as the protector of the administrative state. This is one of the biggest, and you know, I know you were ready for this. All the veterans of Trump's first term, everybody who was in that fight remembers the hashtag resistance judges. And unfortunately they were, they're successful even when they lose, right, Ned? Because if they drag it out and they, they burn time off the clock, they're getting some of what they want, even if the Supreme Court takes it up and strikes them down, as has happened many times in the past. So what's the best strategy for this? What, what can be done so that they aren't able to run out the clock on the efforts to rein in the administrative state?

[Nate Silver]

So you're absolutely correct. I mean, this, this is a continuance of lawfare, sadly, by the Article 3 judicial branch, the lower level judges, to prevent Trump from actually implementing his agenda. And they are acting as a protector of the administrative state. So a couple of things. You know, I hope that Donald Trump, and you can see this coming out of his doj, that he is going to obviously fight back as quickly as possible. I kind of like him to, to basically channel Andrew Jackson, obviously, that apocryphal story, but it's kind of the feeling, the spirit that I want Trump to have. You've made your decisions, now try enforcing them. Because the Article 3, what's going happening right now, Buck, is these lower level judges are overstepping their constitutional bounds and trying to dictate to the head of the Article 2 branch what is his constitutional right and authority, whether it's on foreign policy or domestic policy or who he can hire, what he can do with the various departments and agencies that are under him inside the Article two branches. And so he's got to, he essentially has to tell them, that's great. I'm going to continue down this path. It would be nice if Congress actually stepped up to the plate. I think impeaching judges would be a little too far for most of those people in Congress because they're not exactly profiles in courage. But I would argue if they could find some small sliver of political courage. Why don't we think about defunding the lower courts? Because that's Congress's constitutional right to do that. But I think ultimately in the short term, you know, John Roberts is actually going to find, have to find it within himself to go, hey, for the sake of the legitimacy of the Article 3 Judicial Branch, the Supreme Court is going to have to step in and put in some pretty strong guardrails and say, you can't do this. You're overstepping your constitutional bounds. And to be honest, Buck, I think John Roberts doing that probably 50, 50. So I think we're going to, we're in for a couple of interesting weeks and months ahead. But I think Donald Trump is making it very clear in the last couple days he's not going to let them prevent him implementing the will of the American People. I mean, he was elected to enact a very specific agenda that was painted out in bold, bright colors last fall. And these judges are attempting to defy the will of the people as being implemented through Donald Trump's agenda. So I think Trump's going to be pretty aggressive on this, but it would be nice if John Roberts stepped up to the plate. But I have my doubts.

[Buck Sexton]

Where do you think the state of progressive authoritarianism is right now? Because it certainly is the case that the Democrat Party is in a rough spot, which is great, very exciting, probably, probably the roughest spot it's been in a long time, which is a lovely thing. But the ideology that they have and the machinery that they have to push it, I mean, obviously the administrative state is a huge part of it. Do you feel like this is the first opening we have to do real damage to them? Do you worry that if we don't get it done, they'll just come, come right back and do the same stuff? I mean, how do you view it from. From the side of, of the, the opposition here? I mean, are. Are. Where do you think they fall in this whole situation?

[Nate Silver]

Well, I think you can see from their behavior, they realize this is an existential threat. I mean, politics is their religion, Buck. I mean, the administrative state is their. Their holy of holies, their vehicle for salvation. Politics is the religion. And when they look at Donald Trump and Elon Musk, they see them as existential threats to those things that they hold so valuable, and that really has. Is the undergirding for their entire movement. So I know that they view this as an existential threat to the continuance of their movement, to the continuance of the progressive administrative state. And so I don't think, just to be clear, I don't think you're going to see any dialing back of the violence or the rhetoric, because we know that Trump derangement syndrome is an incurable disease. And I think Elon Musk derangement syndrome is an incurable disease. And the only way I think you see it stop is rather to be serious legal consequences, which you can start to see rumblings of that coming out of the Trump administration. But they are in disarray. And the thing that I am, I am trying to figure out books, are there any rational Democrats left inside the party because the progressive movement has eaten it from within? They are the Democratic Party, the progressive movement. Is. Is there any ability for a rational Democrat to be able to stand up and go, hey, we are going in the absolute wrong path? We need to pivot out of this. I suspect they won't be able to, not in the near term. I think this is something where the black hole of progressive ideology is completely sucking in whatever vestiges of rational thought might be left inside the Democratic Party and moving towards kind of an annihilation. But that to me is a very good thing, Buck, because I think the only way you get back to a sense and a real sense of normalcy in this country is for the left to be beaten into unconditional surrender and never be allowed near political power again. As you start to destroy these various institutions like the indoctrination centers, like the administrative state, going after the corporate propagandists. Because for the sake of the future of our country and prosperity and freedom and happiness, the progressive movement writ large has to be either shoved so far into the corner that it's a minimal voice in our society or it ceases to exist.

[Buck Sexton]

I always make the case, Ned, that the good news about this is nobody should feel like if we were to crush the administrative state, if Trump, Elon, Doge, maybe even the Republican Party writ large were to mobilize and really make major progress on this mission and for this initiative, the people that are crying and all the gnashing of teeth and all the, oh, we're so upset, it actually will be better for them too. This is what this is. Everybody wins. They may not realize it, but America will be a more prosperous, freer and better place if we don't have this nonsensical Leviathan, as your documentary is titled, American Leviathan. Trampling on our rights and just our day to day all the time.

[Nate Silver]

It is something. So you bring up something I think pretty interesting, Buck. I mean, I'm just thinking, I've been thinking about and I said some things public already. I'll say it again here. You know, Elon and Doge started as we're going to go after waste, fraud and abuse. And then he realizes in this journey of his, you can kind of see this epiphany of Elon along the way. Wait, we have the rule of bureaucrats? Well, yeah, that was always the point of progressives and now we've gotten the point of it really feels like the administrative state and the government writ large has become a leftist money laundering slush fund in which they're trying to advance their ideology and really, truly undermine this country. I mean, a lot of the stuff that they're funding I believe to be truly anti American and very aggressively going after not only this country and our foundational principles, but the American people's way of life. And it will be for the best if we end the administrative state. But I think we got to be realistic about it, Buck. I mean, this took 100 years to get to this point. When you think about the founding of the administrative state really in the first term of Woodrow Wilson, we're over 100 years into this disastrous experiment. We're not going to get out of overnight, but it is going to require tremendous political courage. And Donald Trump and Elon Musk have it in spades. We've got to figure out how Congress somehow gets injected with that courage as well to be able to do the right things and actually say we're not going to allow this anymore and for the will of the American people. Right? We're not going to allow this, this unconstitutional, unrepresentative form of government to continue on in this country because again, it has nothing to do with our constitutional tradition.

[Buck Sexton]

Ned Ryan, founder, CEO of American Majority, American Leviathan the Birth of the Administrative State and Progressive Authoritarianism is his new documentary. It's on X. You can also watch. We have it [e-mail] Ned, great work as always, my friend. Good to talk to you.

[Nate Silver]

I appreciate it. Thanks, Buck.

[Buck Sexton]

We will close out here in a couple secs with a couple minutes with the latest talkbacks and calls from you. But in the meantime, you can't defend the words of our Constitution if you don't know them. Hillsdale College can help you with that. And you don't even have to be a student. Hillsdale has created dozens of courses, including one under Constitution, all available online in video format. It's all free, too. Millions of Americans have already taken one or more of these courses. They've got nearly 40 of them, each series with multiple episodes that unpack topics like the history of world wars, the enduring values of a free market economy, or how great civilizations like Rome came to be and what led to their demise. That's all. In addition to the Constitution 101 course, go online to Clayand Buck4Hillsdale.com that's ClayandBuck4Hillsdale.com there's no cost and it's easy to get started. ClayandBuck4HillsDale.com to register. Go check it out today.

[Nate Silver]

Keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast. Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nate Silver and I'M Maria Konnikova. We're both journalists and professional poker players. And on our podcast Risky Business, we talk about taking risks in everything from poker to politics. And we talk about betting. From betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team, we've learned a lot about taking risks through our own research and sometimes even our own bets. And we share what we've learned with you. Are you still doing sports betting? I had no idea that you'd wagered over a million dollars for your research. I bet almost the entirety of the 20, 22, 23 NBA season, all the regular season and about half the playoffs. And I learned that, I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where it was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then, but then things change. Now that Marge Madness is upon us, we're talking Braca strategies and whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

Closing up shop here for the weekend on Clay and Buck momentarily. I just want to say thank you to all of you for listening this week. I just thought we had great shows, great calls, emails. This is a team sport, all of you that are listening and so many of you who also give us your thoughts, ideas, occasionally. Some guidance and corrections come from all of you as well, which we appreciate. So thank you for that. It is a, it is a blessing for Clay and me to be able to do this show for all of you day in and day out. Remember, you can go to the Clay and Buck Podcast Network. So we've got the Clay and Buck show broken down by hour. You've also got 47, which is the best political segments from the week about Trump agenda stuff, the Sunday hang, and then a whole bunch of fantastic podcast hosts. Carol Markowitz, Tudor Dixon, Lisa Booth. We got Ryan Garduski. We got a new podcast that'll be launching in a few weeks. I think a lot of you'll be very excited about. So it's really your one stop shop. Different kinds of voices all coming together on a fantastic podcast network. Just subscribe. It's free. Subscribe to that Clay and Buck Podcast network and for those who are radio listeners, it's great to be able to listen on demand, you know, when you're doing errands or chores or you know, building the, you know, Building the shed in the yard. Whatever you got going on, put in those headphones and hang out with us. All right? We've got Joel in Michigan with a call. What's up, Joel?

[Nate Silver]

Hey, Buck. Minus Clay, show Buck I got a match made in freedom and liberty for Crockett Coffee. If you remember years, a couple years ago, during Governor Whitmer's crackdown on us during COVID Cafe Rosetta in Calamit, Michigan, stayed open, resisted all the draconian things you want to do to us, and taking away our freedoms and liberties. They stayed open and served coffee and food to the people of the beautiful Keweenaw Peninsula, the UP Where Clay was talking about till he left us to go talk to someone more important. But I think Crockett Coffee and Cafe Rosetta would make a match made for freedom and liberty, Buck. And it was funny that Clay mentioned that, and that's where I'm calling from and love what you guys are doing. And it was just funny. I was telling you copyright there, that it's kind of a. Kind of not a coincidence, but, like, what you guys do and what they. What they do.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you. Well, hopefully you're already a Crockett Coffee subscriber, Joel, since you're bringing it up on your call. Good, man. Good.

[Nate Silver]

Have a good weekend.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. I thought he was saying something. Okay. Well, thank you, Joel. We kind of lost you there for a second. David in Washington wants to speak to us. What's up, David? Hey, yeah, say, I wanted to call and weigh in on the developments of dissolving the Department of Education at the federal level. I think this is a wonderful thing. This is coming from me, who four years ago, I was a high school English teacher. And when you guys talked about April 2020, it was like lightning rod to my brain, because I remember it like it was yesterday.

[Nate Silver]

Governor Inslee.

[Buck Sexton]

Governor Inslee out here in Washington.

[Nate Silver]

He ended the school year in March.

[Buck Sexton]

For the rest of the year, and my heart just sank.

[Nate Silver]

I knew what that meant. But we came back the next fall.

[Buck Sexton]

Wearing masks, and I ended up speaking out against it and getting fired. I appealed, won the appeal on free speech grounds and promptly resigned and went back to my previous career in real estate.

[Nate Silver]

And I couldn't be happier.

[Buck Sexton]

So just to say, like, teachers aren't a monolithic group.

[Nate Silver]

I had so many friends and colleagues.

[Buck Sexton]

That said, man, that's so great what you're doing. I wish I could do something like that. But they had no other options. So just to say, I think Big Ed in America has become like a welfare program for kids and families. All right, my man. Thank you. We're at the end of the show. Thank you. Have a great weekend, everyone. Ever wake up feeling lousy knowing something is off with your body? You don't have time for guesswork. You need viome. Forget all the generic health fads. Viome doesn't tell you what you want to hear. It tells you what's actually going on inside your body. By analyzing your GUT microbiome, viome delivers a custom health plan that's as unique as your DNA. It's science, not nonsense.

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Nate Silver]

And I'm Maria Konnikova. On our podcast, Risky Business, we talk everything from politics to poker and from betting on elections to betting on your favorite basketball team. Sports bettors need a bit more street smarts, because there's this whole second side to sports betting of how do you actually. How do you get your money down good if people think that you're a winning better? And now that March Madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies, odds, how to maybe actually win your office pool. You can listen to Risky business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.