Hour 3 - They Really Said That?

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode Title: Hour 3 - They Really Said That?
Date: October 1, 2025
Hosts: Clay Travis
Guest: Tudor Dixon (Michigan-based host, Clay & Buck Podcast Network)
Producer Segments, Talkbacks, and Callers: Dr. Mark, Lisa from Logan, Utah

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Episode Overview

In this energetic third hour, Clay Travis (while Buck Sexton is in Taiwan) is joined by Michigan conservative media figure Tudor Dixon. The episode revolves around the importance of Michigan as a political battleground, cultural dynamics influencing young Americans (especially Gen Z), pressing national political issues (such as government funding), and the interplay of cultural shifts and electoral politics. The hour features spirited commentary, political strategy, generational reflections, memorable personal stories, and several listener/caller insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Northern Michigan: Beauty and Battleground

[00:04–04:55]

• Clay welcomes Tudor Dixon, recalls their recent trip to scenic Mackinac Island, and highlights Northern Michigan's unexpectedly Caribbean-like beauty.
• Tudor elaborates:
  • "If you have never seen the Great Lakes before, Lake Michigan is incredible ... Torch Lake is just incredible. It’s like the Caribbean. It’s bright green. It’s very clear. It’s just unreal that this actually exists in the northern part of the country." (Tudor Dixon, 01:15)

Michigan’s Political Stakes

• Clay and Tudor agree Michigan is possibly the top battleground state for upcoming Senate and gubernatorial races.
• Tudor urges out-of-state conservatives to support Michigan's candidates, highlighting the importance of ousting “radical Democrats” and supporting GOP contenders like Mike Rogers for Senate.
  • "We have great Republicans. Our Democrats are insane. Do not let this happen." (Tudor Dixon, 04:00)

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2. Culture Wars: Young Americans, Family Values, & Pushing Back

[04:55–11:14]

• Clay shifts to cultural influence on young people—citing American Eagle's successful Sydney Sweeney ad campaign—and queries Tudor’s views as a mom of four daughters.
• Tudor expresses optimism that conservative, family-oriented values are resurging with Gen Z:
  • "We are punching back when it comes to family values...the change that we’ve seen from the millennial generation to this next generation…Gen Z is very conservative." (Tudor Dixon, 07:20)

Turning Point USA Experience

• Tudor recounts meeting with Turning Point activists at Northern Michigan University:
  • The campus is "pretty liberal," but their conservative chapter is booming, even amid “table” confrontations ("You’re fascist!") and shocking faculty behavior (a professor poured coffee on a club leader).
  • "[This] generation is standing up against it... they want to meet someone young... have kids... honor those traditional American values. But the interesting part is that the professors haven’t let this go yet." (Tudor Dixon, 07:50)

Evolving Gender Dynamics

• Clay, raising sons, wonders if young men’s cultural leadership is influencing young women.
• Tudor observes Christian schools exploding and young people embracing both career aspirations and traditional relationships, countering messages from previous generations:
  • “There's this permission again for girls to say ... sometimes you want your husband to say, 'I've got you.' And there are days when your husband's also going to need you to take care of him. ... It’s okay to say you have a partner who adores you. You should be adored.” (Tudor Dixon, 09:48)

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3. National Politics: Viral Memes, Budget Battles, & Media Double Standards

[13:57–26:03]

Viral Political Memes

[13:57–17:20]

• Clay dissects social media “sombrero memes” mocking Democrat Hakeem Jeffries’ immigration stances. Senator JD Vance finds these memes funny, suggesting levity and political ribbing are compatible with good-faith negotiations.

Government Funding & Democrat Strategy

• Clay details how emergency COVID funding is morphing into a permanent entitlement, criticizing the Democrat strategy of labeling spending rollbacks as “cuts that will kill people.”
  • "Their game plan: Get it funded once and then if you ever take it back, it's a cut that is going to lead to everybody dying in America. That's basically what they argue." (Clay Travis, 16:50)

Charlie Kirk’s Influence After Assassination Attempt

[18:26–18:52]

• A touching talkback from Lisa in Utah describing the turnout at a Charlie Kirk event: “Over 6,500 people. It was loud, it was electric ... my 87-year-old mother ... cried the whole time because she loves America, she loves Trump, she loves JD.”

Media Hypocrisy on Cognitive Decline

[21:25–21:34; 21:34–23:43]

• Clay mocks MSNBC's sudden concern with Trump’s cognitive health while ignoring Biden’s, playing a clip of Rachel Maddow describing Trump’s “very dramatic mental decline.” Clay notes the absurd double standard: “Trump does all day long, basically rolling press conferences... Biden couldn't even be out after dark because his cognitive decline was so real.”

Persuasion and Political Conversion

• Clay shares his interview with Paul Feinbaum, who grew up in a “dyed-in-the-wool liberal” Jewish New York family and transitioned to Republican politics.
  • “My mother... hung up the phone [when I said I voted Republican]. My mother hanging up on me still stings.” (Paul Feinbaum, 24:40)
• Clay argues people “change their minds” through strong, rational persuasion, not just team loyalty: “Politics is downstream from culture.”

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4. Listener Engagement and College Culture Clash

[34:04–39:01]

Not All Professors Are the Same—A Call from Dr. Mark

• Dr. Mark, an associate dean, calls in to say, “Not all professors are that bad... I love it when parents come to campus... They’re going to learn how to think, not what to think.” (Dr. Mark, 34:29–35:22)
• Clay shares a story about a college tour beginning with a "land acknowledgment," leading his son to cross that college off the list—an accusation of cultural performativity over substance.

Why Sports (and Culture) Matter

• Responding to a listener puzzled by sports references, Clay articulates how cultural force—sports, media, celebrity—influences politics more than arguments about “tax policy":
  • "Politics is downstream from culture... Culture dictates who wins elections." (Clay Travis, 38:30)
  • “You can't win elections without winning in larger cultural battles.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Michigan’s Stakes: "Whoever wins Michigan is going to be the next president of the United States in 2028." —Clay Travis [01:53]
• On Generation Z: “Gen Z is very conservative... they're up against it ... professors haven't let this go yet. So this kid... one of the professors came and poured coffee on him. That's what we're fighting.” —Tudor Dixon [07:50]
• On Double Standards: “Trump does all day long, basically rolling press conferences... Biden couldn't even be out after dark because his cognitive decline was so real. They never talked about it on MSNBC. Now they're suddenly saying ... Trump, his behavior is unacceptable in public.” —Clay Travis [21:34]
• Persuasion: “There are tons of you out there right now with friends and family that still think this is Bill Clinton’s Democrat Party. ... The Democrat Party’s gone insane and we weren’t willing to hop on the train to crazy town.” —Clay Travis [26:03]
• Culture’s Primacy: "You can't win elections without winning in larger cultural battles. So, yes, I love the military, but you know how to make the military even more badass? Elect people like Donald Trump..." —Clay Travis [38:30]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:04 — Welcome & Michigan’s natural beauty with Tudor Dixon
• 02:38 — The high stakes of Michigan’s coming elections
• 05:44 — Gen Z, American Eagle, & the resurgence of family values
• 07:30 — Turning Point activism & faculty hostility
• 09:18 — Girls, boys, and shifting gender norms in culture
• 13:57 — Viral “sombrero” memes & Senate funding debate
• 18:26 — Lisa from Logan, UT: Charlie Kirk event story
• 21:25 — MSNBC’s focus on Trump’s “mental decline”
• 24:08 — Paul Feinbaum’s conversion from Democrat to Republican
• 34:15 — Dr. Mark: Not all professors are indoctrinators
• 35:22 — Clay’s story: college tour land acknowledgment culture clash
• 38:30 — “Politics is downstream from culture”

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Tone and Style

• Conversational, irreverent, often humorous debate mixed with passionate calls to political activism.
• Personal, family, and local anecdotes underline larger political themes.
• Frequent direct appeals to listeners—inviting civic participation and engagement in both political and cultural arenas.

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This hour provides a blend of political analysis, generational commentary, grassroots stories, media critique, and pragmatic advice—always rooted in the sense that, for the show’s hosts and guests, the battle for America’s future is as much about changing culture as it is about winning elections.

Transcript

[Tudor Dixon]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show final hour of the day for Wednesday. We'll be back with you tomorrow. And Friday Buck is in Taiwan. We'll be back with you on Monday. We are joined now by our friend Tudor Dixon from Michigan. I was with her about 10 days ago or so up at Mackinac island, one of the most beautiful places in in the entire United States. Northern Michigan in general, especially in the summer and the fall. I'm not a cold weather guy. Some of you are. Is one of the most spectacular places in the nation. I would never have heard about it if I hadn't gotten married to my wife Laura, who is a Michigander tutor. You went to the University of Kentucky, I believe. Condolences on the fact that they basically have no football program anymore. But you have been in Michigan for some time now as well as fun to hang out with you. For people who don't know about Northern Michigan, what would you tell them?

[Tudor Dixon]

I mean, you have summed it up very nicely. It is beautiful. I think what people don't know about Michigan in general is that we have these gorgeous beaches. I've said to people, we have these amazing beaches and they're like, you're crazy. You're nowhere near the ocean. But if you have never seen the Great Lakes before, Lake Michigan is incredible. If you go up to Northern Michigan, we have these, we have lakes up there. Torch Lake is just incredible. It's like the Caribbean. It's bright green. It's very clear. It's just unreal that this actually exists in the northern part of the country. And the weather in the summer is gorgeous. But this is the time we were actually, I was in Mackinac last weekend with you. But this past weekend we went to the Upper Peninsula and we went traveling through the Upper Peninsula, met with the Turning Point group up at Northern Michigan University. It is just gorgeous up there.

[Clay Travis]

Gorgeous for people. I said this when we talked to the group up there and they were awesome. And it was fantastic to meet so many people at the event at Mackinac island that we did. Michigan, I would argue is maybe the number one battleground now in America. And I know a lot of people talk about Pennsylvania, but if you look at the Senate races that are coming up, if you look at the governor's race that is coming up and obviously as we look ahead already to 2028, whoever wins Michigan is going to be the next president of the United States in 2028. How are things looking for Republicans on the ground? What should all of the people in Michigan listening to us right now know and or do? Tudor?

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, I think the point that you're making is very key. Michigan is absolutely the number one battleground state. And that means that whether it is a Republican that wins or a Democrat that wins, there is the potential in any of these seats for them to one day become more powerful in Washington D.C. we've had a history of sending Democrats to Washington D.C. you know, Jennifer Granholm was the Governor of Michigan. She became the Energy Secretary. You know, Pete Buttigieg is a Traverse City resident. He was Transportation Secretary. You do not want to continue to make these radical Democrats famous in Washington D.C. or, or heaven forbid, give them more power. And so that's why I want people to think about these seats that are open in Michigan right now, whether it is the Governor's race or the Senate race. We've got Mike Rogers running in the Senate. That is a key seat. We have to take that back. It's an open seat right now, which is very important because that means we on the Republican side. The President has come out and endorsed Mike Rogers. He is the candidate. On the Democrat side. They have a three way primary. They are really going to struggle with money and they're going to batter each other up by the time they get to that general. So if you can come out and support Mike Rogers, that is critical right now. This is a seat that we can win in the Senate that we didn't have before. Our congressional seats are just as important. We're looking at the 10th district to see who's going to step in there. But we've got Tom Barrett, who is an amazing guy. He's going to be fighting, he's a freshman this term. He's going to be fighting to keep his seat. And I want to say he's really, really focused on the American people. When he had constituents that were stuck in a prison in Mexico, he flew there and got them out. When I needed help with a friend who had adopted a special needs child out of Africa and couldn't get her home, he immediately stepped in and helped. Those are the kinds of people that you want to have going to Washington. In Michigan, we have great Republicans. Our Democrats are insane. Do not let this happen. If you are from outside of the state, please. We don't have a lot of resources here financially. Please help out the people of Michigan to win these races because they are so critical.

[Clay Travis]

We're talking to Tudor Dixon. She's a part of the Clay and Buck Podcast network. You can hear her show every single day and out there every single week for sure. What do you see in terms of culture impact? I was talking. I know you've got. I think it's four daughters, if I'm not mistaken. I was talking earlier about the American Eagle Sydney Sweeney jeans campaign. There's a big article in the Wall Street Journal about the fact that they added a million customers and that the jeans all got sold out. I think you've got a couple of teenage girls, if I'm not mistaken. What do you think of the culture that surrounds them on a day to day basis? And do you feel like we are punching back and winning as a mom or how do you see things playing out where you are in Michigan?

[Tudor Dixon]

I totally feel like we're punching back and winning. We've been huge fans of American Eagle for a long time and I'll tell you, it is mostly because they carry short jeans and we're very short people. So that has been. That was great when the girls were like, oh my gosh, this is the popular brand and we already buy it, you know, but also just to recognize that it's okay to be feminine. It's okay to be. To look at someone and say, that's the kind of person I want to be. You know, I want to look good, I want to. It's okay to want to look good and teenagers want to want to look good. So that's okay to continue to promote that. But also I think that we are punching back when it comes to family values. And that's something that obviously in the past few weeks, we've seen so many people come out and honor the work that Charlie Kirk did. But really what I see them, out of everything that he talked about, what I see them really like globbing onto is that idea that you can get married, you can have a family, you can have those traditional family values. And that's a good thing. That's really what drives the country, what builds the country. And going to talk to the turning point kids, was really powerful because the change that we've seen from the millennial generation to this next generation, when you go from millennials to Gen Z, Gen Z is very conservative. And this chapter in Northern Michigan, Michigan is a pretty. It's in Marquette, it's a pretty liberal university. And they said they just ended up with a new, whole new chapter come in, 220 members and they're up against it. They said they put out a table on their. And they had people coming by and screaming, you're fascist. You're fascist. In the meantime, other people are just standing in line, signing up, so people are not so timid anymore. I think that's what we're seeing in this newest generation is that they want to say, you know what? I want to meet someone young. I want to have a legacy, and that's in children. I want to have kids. I want to honor that, those traditional American values. But the interesting part is that the professors haven't let this go yet. So this kid that started this chapter up in Northern Michigan, he. He put out his table and one of the professors came and poured coffee on him. That's what we're fighting. And these. This generation is standing up against it. So if you can punch back against your professors and their radical ideology, I think we're winning them over. We're winning the next generation over.

[Clay Travis]

I mentioned that you had girls. I've got boys, boys in particular. And I see this through the young boys, young men that I have in my own family that we're raising are kind of over what I would call the bs. My wife Laura has said, and I wrote about this some in the new book that I've got coming out, that she thinks a lot of young women are going to follow the young boys because they're going to get exposed to the ideas that they have. And candidly, they're going to date to your point, some of them are going to grow up and get married together. How much of that do you buy into? Because you've got the young girls. Do you feel like that's happening in their culture? In many ways, as it has already happened. We've seen it happen with young boys.

[Tudor Dixon]

I think so because we were in a slightly different situation. Our girls are in Christian school. But I think that the reason, I think that is because the Christian schools are just exploding. There's just so much growth in our Christian schools. They're having to expand. I'm actually looking at my kids school, school right now as they take over the entire field to build a new building because there's so many parents who have chosen that Christian lifestyle over the public schools. But even the public schools, a lot of the kids in our area are going into church. The young men are going to church like they haven't before, and they're attending youth group. And I do think that there is this permission again for girls to say, okay, I want to have a career, I want to get married, but there's going to be times when I want a boy to open the door for me and to love me and to respect me. And that's not weakness on his end, and that's not weakness on my end. And that's something that is going to really be hard to pull back from what my generation did and what my mom's generation did, where women were told, don't let men honor you or love you or do or hold you up on a pedestal because you should be equal. Well, you know, sometimes you want your husband to say, I've got you. I'm going to take care of you. And there are days when your husband's also going to need you to take care of him. You know, you need a partner. It's okay to say you have a partner who adores you. You should be adored.

[Clay Travis]

Amen. And I appreciate you tutor and we adore your podcast being a part of the Clay and Buck podcast. And for people out there who don't know how to find it, give him a shout out. Let them know what you talk about on a daily basis.

[Tudor Dixon]

Yeah, check it out. It's, I mean, you can find it on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. We're on rumble. We're on YouTube. This Friday, we'll have a new episode with Congressman Tim Burchett. He's awesome. He's talking about what's going on in Washington, D.C. but we also go through Memphis and the importance of making sure we got these, these National Guard members out there helping to take care of some of this crime. Crime is such an issue in the United States. And he is, he is no nonsense and he's funny. So you should tune in.

[Clay Travis]

Outstanding stuff. Tudor Dixon. Go follow her on social media. Check out the podcast network. And Tudor, it was great to see you up in Michigan. Hope to have you on again soon.

[Tudor Dixon]

Thanks for coming. Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

Want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. This coming weekend, Americans nationwide will be showing their support for Israel on the eve of the second anniversary of October 7th, often referred to as Israel's 9 11. That's the day 1200 Israelis were brutally murdered. 250 more taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. On Sunday. You can be part of a movement called Flags of Fellowship, which is organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Millions of Americans across the country will plant an Israeli flag in honor and solidarity with the victims of October 7th. You can also donate a flag, make a statement, join the Flags of Fellowship movement. Visit the fellowship [e-mail] to find out how you can stand with Israel. That's IFCJ.org. you know them as conservative radio hosts. Now just get to know them as guys on the Sunday Hang podcast with Clay and Buck. Find it in their podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We're rolling through the Wednesday edition of the program. Let's go to cut 30, which is JD Vance being asked about the really hysterical sombrero memes of Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader for the Democrat Party. Listen to his response. The President's been posting some images of Leader Jeffries and Senator Schumer recently. You've said that you're interested in good faith negotiations with these leaders, but you know, what message does that send? Is it helpful to post pictures of Leader Jeffries in a sombrero if you're trying to have good faith talks with him? Oh, I think it's funny. The President style joking and we're having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats positions and even, you know, poking some of some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves. I mean, I'll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now. I make the solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop. Sorry again, I understand a lot of you may not have seen them, but they have gone massively viral on social media and the concept is that Hakeem Jeffries is actually a Mexican and that is why he is fighting so hard for illegal immigrants to have health care. That might sound weird and it may not translate on the radio, but trust me, these are very funny memes where they have put Hakeem Jeffries into a sombrero and are regularly mocking the position. Now, all of this money is not going to illegal immigrants, but some of this money is. And the big picture point is this was supposed to be a short term funding bill that was designed to help during the time of COVID Since then it has, as Democrat plans always are. The in this situation, they now basically are arguing that this is an entitlement that the government is obligated to fund forever and that this additional $450 billion subsidy, which again was only passed during COVID as a supplement designed to help during that particular time when the budget got blown up, when the spending rose out of control. Credit to Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin who laid out, hey, we would have a super balanced budget if we just returned to the size of government we had before COVID But the Democrat gamble is once they can get it funded, once it's in the budget, they will be able to label it as a cut anytime we try to restrict that spending. That's their game plan. Get it funded once and then if you ever take it back, it's a cut that is going to lead to everybody dying in America. That's basically what they argue. That is their argument every time. They are playing on the fact that if they get it passed once, then it becomes an entitlement expense and if it ever gets restrained in any way, they are able to label it as a cut. And that's why they didn't fund it for years into the future because they knew how expensive it was. They said, oh, we'll only do this for a few years. And then as soon as you go back in time you say, ok, well that few years is up. The crisis of COVID has passed. The excuse, the emergency spending bills, there's no way to, to rationalize or justify them anymore. As soon as that situation gets here, what do they revert to? Oh, this is a cut. A lot of people are going to die. Republicans don't care whether you live or die. That's their argument. Their argument very often comes back to people will die if this has changed. And, and that is the world in which we are living right now. So give me an update guys on the the calls, if you would. I know we had a bunch of people who were waiting. In the meantime, I'm going to hop in here and hit some of the talkbacks. We had A bunch of them. This is Lisa from Logan, Utah.

[Tudor Dixon]

Ff It's Lisa from Logan, Utah. We were at the Turning Point celebration for Charlie Kirk last night. Over 6,500 people. It was loud, it was electric, it was so awesome. I can't believe how great it was to be there and support Charlie. I just want to let you know my 87 year old mother who had a stroke a year ago was there and she cried the whole time because she loves America, she loves Trump, she loves jd.

[Dr. Mark]

Thank you.

[Clay Travis]

Well, that's awesome. I do think one of the big outcomes of Charlie Kirk's assassination, there are many of them. But I think a lot of older people are learning what Charlie was saying and they are finding out that they were huge Charlie Kirk fans. They just had no idea that he actually existed because he's focused so much of his message on young people. But I am hearing increasingly numbers of people who said I wouldn't watch the video. I really like this guy. I didn't even know he existed. And certainly we've seen that on social media where Charlie Kirk's following has exploded. There's a lot of good you can say about PureTalk cell phone service provider. Been with us on this show since day one. Not only do they support military veterans but they also employ 100% US based customer support team. We appreciate them for that. But also encourage and support free speech and love that they are doing the same as well. You can switch to Pure talk from AT&T T Mobile or Verizon. You can save $1,000 a year. How much would an extra thousand dollars in your pocket mean at the end of the year? Here's how you switch. Keep same phone and same phone number. £250 say Clay and Buck. That's £250 say Clay and Buck. Welcome back in Clay. Travis Buck Sexton show this. I got a couple of clips that are fun for you. First of all, I thought and I'm going to be just have to out myself here, I thought that after covering for Joe Biden and his clear cognitive decline for years that on MSNBC they would have to say, you know what, we're not going to try to rerun Trump 1.0 when we argued all the time for the 25th amendment and then Joe Biden was cognitively and mentally and physically incapable of being president. And instead so, so we ignored all that. So we can't go back to the same Trump's not able to be president. I was wrong. Rachel Maddow Lawrence o' Donnell bashed Trump over his issues. And they say Trump is not intellectually capable basically of being president. He's got cognitive decline. This is what they really are selling their audience after not saying anything about Biden for years. Cut 24. We are watching publicly a very dramatic mental decline in Donald Trump. This is a sharp cliff that he's just fallen off within the last fortnight, especially over this particular weekend of social media posting.

[Tudor Dixon]

And it's not just like transgressive or offensive or bad. It's also just weird. It's really weird stuff. Like there's. There's something weird going on up there.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. It's inexplicable and it is absolutely worthy of a family intervention. There's no other family in America that would let a 79 year old do things like this publicly. They would absolutely intervene. It would be the only thing every family member wanted to do. They would do it urgently. You got to share that clip from the Clay and Buck account team. You could, if you're watching on video, you could see my jaw drop. Trump does all day long, basically rolling press conferences. Well, he. Where he will answer any question under the sun. Biden couldn't even be out after dark because his cognitive decline was so real. They never talked about it on msnbc. Now they're suddenly saying, oh, Trump, his behavior is unacceptable in public. No one would ever let a 79 year old behaving this way. Biden was 81. Right. I think I'm correct. And they let him do all sorts of things, clearly demonstrating that his brain didn't work and MSNBC didn't say anything. And now Trump, who has basically a rolling press conference all day long every day. Oh, wow. Look what's going on here. Uh, let me play a couple of cuts for you as well. Um, this interview that I did with Paul Feinbaum has gone everywhere and I. Some people say I've talked about how to me, the goal of talking about current events, politics should be persuading people that you're right. Because I believe that there are a lot of people out there who will change their opinions on things if you make the argument in a way that they can understand it. And there are lots of different ways to make those arguments. But basically, politics is the art of communication and decision making. And a huge part of any political decision is the decision, what are you going to do? But you also have to explain why you're doing it and why it matters. And Paul Feinbaum talked with me about the fact that he was raised in New York City by a family from New York City Jewish family. They moved to Memphis. They were dyed in the wool liberals. And what happened in 1994 when he called his mom for the first time and said, I voted Republican, mom, listen to this. What do you think the reaction to this process will be like for you, Clay?

[Tudor Dixon]

There.

[Paul Feinbaum]

There might be some surprise, but because I don't think anybody knows what I am, Clay. I grew up the son of. To liberal New York Jews.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Who came down South.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Yeah. My sister was born in New York in. Not long before my. My mother died in 1994. I called her on election Day and she said, well, who did you vote for? And I said, I voted for. This was an off year election.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. The 94 was the Republican red to wave.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I told her I'd voted for the Republican. And my mother, who I love dearly, one of the most important people, maybe the most important person in my life because my dad died at 15. She hung up the phone. I have one of my best friends I grew up with. I told a number of years ago I was going to be on Fox News. It was a story in Birmingham. You may remember Natalie Holloway.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I called him and I said, I'm going to be on Greta's show tonight on fox. He said, I refuse to watch it. So, I mean, I grew up around.

[Clay Travis]

A lot of this.

[Paul Feinbaum]

My mother hanging up on me still stings. And she might hang up if she.

[Clay Travis]

Knew you were going to run for the Senate in Alabama, but that's okay.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I mean, you come from a place. I mean, Donald Trump was a Democrat, too.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, I was a Democrat.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I'm not running away from that. Yeah, I understand. When you're, when you're a journalist, there's a perception, but there's also such a thing as growing up and maturing and moving past the ideals that you were taught as a young person and believed in as a teenager. And I've evolved. My wife is a Republican.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Her family are Republicans, and so am I. But it's not something I talk about. And a lot of my friends wouldn't probably even know that because I have, until this moment, I've never discussed it.

[Clay Travis]

So people change their minds. How do people change their minds? You convince them that the things that they used to believe are no longer true. There are tons of you out there right now with friends and family that still think this is Bill Clinton's Democrat Party. They still think this is Jimmy Carter's Democrat Party. They don't pay attention to what Democrats actually say. They pick the team and they Turn their brain off. And they've continued to hit that button because they haven't really paid attention to the fact that the Democrat party of the 70s and the 80s and the 90s and even the early 2000s, all of the people that believed what those guys believe would be Republicans. Now, you'll go back and look Bill Clinton 92, Bill Clinton 96. Heck, look at the clips of Chuck Schumer back then. Look at the clips of Joe Biden back then. They're saying everything Donald Trump is saying now. A lot of us, and I would put myself in this camp, haven't moved very much on issues. It's just the Democrat Party's gone insane and we weren't willing to hop on the train to crazy town. And so I believe there are tens of millions of people, a lot of them, you guys are listening to me right now. That in 1990s, may not have listened to Rush Limbaugh. In the early 2000s may not have listened to Rush Limbaugh. But over time, and Covid was, for many people, I think, that push point where it radicalized a lot of us and where it demonstrated how lost the Democrat Party has become in many ways. I mean, I've made this argument for a long time. I think it's the best argument you can make, other than the fact that clearly it's not true. But when somebody says, Trump's a fascist, Trump wants to be a dictator, we all know that's a laughable argument. But you can actually push back with this simple question that they won't have an answer to. If that were actually true, why didn't Trump take over everything during the early days of COVID in 2020, Trump could have said, under my national authority, I'm mandating all the. What did Trump do then? A lot of you are upset with the choices Trump made in the early days of COVID but most of it was just deferring to local state politicians. He led every state and every mayor make their own determinations about what the best decisions were for their communities. Democrats were begging to be regulated then. They were begging to be dictated to. They were demanding that a guy on a paddleboard on the ocean be arrested. They were demanding that kids on hiking trails be handcuffed. They were begging for federal authority for big government to come in and way down its heavy hand. Never in most of our lives, with the possible exception of the immediate aftermath of 9 11, has a president had a time when he could have taken more power and more authority than right. In the immediate aftermath of COVID in the spring and summer of 2020, what did Trump do when he had that opportunity to take almost complete and total power in the United States? He deferred to state and local authorities, in fact, to such an extent that I think you can criticize him not for being a dictator, but for being too committed to the principles of federalism, such that he did not take over all of the power that was waiting to be grabbed there. You know who did? Joe Biden. So anybody out there who says, oh, Trump's going to be a dictator, just ask, well, why didn't he dictate when for basically the time in American history when a president could have taken more power than almost ever before in the history of this republic, Trump actually deferred and said, let's let local governments and local leaders make decisions instead of federalizing his leadership. It's a tough one to respond to. We gotta cut government shutdowns going on. This is what happens. This is what you hear. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt has recorded a message. They can't answer the phones. Federal workers can't do their jobs because of the Chuck Schumer shut down. This is what it sounds like if you call the White House.

[Tudor Dixon]

Thank you for calling the White House. Commentary. Hello, America. This is White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt. Democrats in Congress have shut down the federal government because they care more about funding health care for illegal immigrants than they care about serving you, the American people. Until Democrats vote for the clean Republican backed continuing resolution to reopen the government, the White House is unable to answer your call or respond to your questions. We look forward to hearing from you again very soon. And in the meantime, please know President Trump will never stop fighting for you. Thank you and God bless you.

[Clay Travis]

That's Caroline Levitt. That's what you get when you call the White House comment line. Boy, can you imagine some of the comments that line gets probably even crazier than some of the comments we get. We come back, we'll have some fun. We'll close up shop on the Wednesday edition of the program. But I want to tell you, last weekend in New York City, the Tunnel of the Towers foundation had their annual tunnel to towers 5k run and walk held each year on the last Sunday of September. What began with 1500 people in 2002 is now one of the top 5k runs in the country, drawing 40,000 people. It retraces firefighter Stephen Siller's final footsteps. That day, after abandoning his car, he ran with 60 pounds of gear from the foot of the battery tunnel to the Twin Towers. He never made it out. The 5K pays homage to the 343 FDNY firefighters, law enforcement officers and thousands of civilians who lost their lives on 9 11. Proceeds from the event support the foundation's programs, including those benefiting first responders and catastrophically injured service members. Producer Ali and Cash Patel, among others, have done this event and said it's one of the most powerful and moving 5Ks they've ever seen. When you come out of the tunnel, there are firefighters service members lining the road holding photos of all those we lost. You can support the great work tunnel the Towers does by going to t2t.org and donating $11 a month. Again, that's t2t.orgt the number 2t 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.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. Let's see, we've Dr. Mark, Associate Dean at a college in Mississippi. What you got for us?

[Dr. Mark]

Dr. Mark hey, thanks for taking my call. Much appreciated. Just want people to know that not all professors are that bad, right? It's important that that we know that. I find myself in social situations having to introduce myself.

[Clay Travis]

But what do you do?

[Dr. Mark]

I'm a professor and I say look and I'm gonna have to tell them, well, I'm not one of those kind of professors. So I think a lot of us are getting a bad rap. But more Importantly, I think that it's, it's really important for parents to get involved in the college selection process. I love it when parents come to campus. I love it when they ask questions. I just don't want parents to think that, you know, I'm going to send them to my old alma mater. I'm sure the buildings are all the same, but the people inside are all different. So ask questions. When you go on these trips, ask, what's the leadership like? What will my kids learn? I know the right. I really understand that parents have put, you know, 17, 18 years worth of hard work in raising their kid. And when they come to my college, you know, they're not going to get full of left wing ideologies. They're just gonna, they're gonna get a great education. They're gonna learn how to think, not what to think. So just wanted to throw that out there.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you for the call. Look, I'm in the process of going through. My oldest is a senior in high school, so we're going through the act, the sec, the college sat. He may end up at an SEC school, but we're going through the process of the college application visits. I don't want to name the school because I worry for what I do about causing my kids challenge when it comes to the applications that they are putting in. Candidly, because I don't know who's reading applications. They may have no idea who I am. They may see my name and be like, I hate that guy. They may like me. I don't. I'm not optimistic that it's always going to be in my favor of my kids. So I try not to say where they're applying. So I'm not going to say the school. First thing that happened, this is an elite institution. Was touring with my oldest son, who's a senior. Before they began the tour, we had a land acknowledgment. Elite institution, one of the top in the country. And I looked around, I thought I was being pranked. I thought to myself, there's, there's no way this is possibly real. Before they said anything about the school, before they talked about anything having to do with the university at all, they said, before we begin this tour, let's have a land acknowledgement. I thought I was being pranked. My son, he looked at me like, hey, dad, can you believe this is going on? He's not going to be applying to that school. His choice, not mine. He was just like, if they start a campus tour with a land acknowledgement, that's not the kind of culture that I want to be in for the next four years. I have to imagine, and he's a young man, that there are a lot of young men and women out there having that same kind of reaction. I can't believe that would be a positive thing. Let's see. EE is that who's up next on the talk back line? What you got for us, guys? Maybe sometime you could explain to us why sports is so important. You keep talking about sports, sports, sports. What does that have to do with anything? And why should we care about sports? I don't understand that part. Why don't you talk about military as much as you talk about the sports? That's more important. Military is real. Yeah, it's weird. This is the kind of guy who doesn't ever understand why he gets his ass kicked in elections. Honestly, this is A lot of you out there are having to understand that politics is downstream from culture. The military is way more important. Do you know how you end up with Pete Hegson, Seth as the Secretary of War and Donald Trump as the President of the United States? You don't win it by winning arguments necessarily about tax policy. You change the culture. Culture dictates who wins elections. Trump is a perfect example of this. The guy was a reality television star who people got comfortable with. Look at Ronald Reagan was a movie star. Culture wins elections. Culture, culture, culture. You can't win elections without winning sports, without winning in larger cultural battles. So, yes, I love the military, but you know how to make the military even more badass? Elect people like Donald Trump who put people like Pete Hegseth in control. Love you guys.

[Tudor Dixon]

This is an iHeart podcast.