Team 47 - Make America Smart Again

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Team 47 – Make America Smart Again
Date: February 15, 2026
Guest: Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focuses on the state of American education, the importance of historical literacy, and the launch of the Presidential 1776 Award—a sweeping national civics competition. Clay and Buck are joined by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, with whom they dig into contemporary educational challenges, innovative successes at the state level, the politicization of schools, and efforts to address historical illiteracy among young Americans, all against the backdrop of America’s 250th birthday celebration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Launch of the Presidential 1776 Award and Historical Literacy

[02:44]

• Linda McMahon announces a new initiative—the Presidential 1776 Award, a national civics competition designed to combat historical illiteracy among youth.
  • Open to students, the contest consists of a “world’s impossible” online test:
    4,000 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.
  • The competition is structured with rounds (similar to a spelling bee), culminating in a live final in Washington, D.C.
  • Top prizes: $150,000 (1st), $75,000 (2nd), $25,000 (3rd).
  • The goal is to spark excitement around civics and history, leveraging the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

Linda McMahon [03:36]:

“The 1776 award, in conjunction with our 250th birthday for the country... is to generate interest, [the President] wanted to create the civics award... students are going to sign up to take the world's impossible test.”

Clay Travis & Buck Sexton express enthusiasm for trying the test themselves, joking about competing against media personalities.
Clay Travis [06:30]:

“It would be you and me versus Don Lemon... I would smoke any of the libs out there.”

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2. Reforming American Education Under the Trump Administration

[07:13]

• McMahon discusses executive orders aimed at returning educational control to the states and dismantling unnecessary federal bureaucracy.
  • Plan: Move responsibilities away from Department of Education, allowing states/parents more agency.
  • Historical context: Department of Education not established until 1980; $3 trillion spent since with declining national scores.
  • Vision: Education closest to the child is best—led by states, local superintendents, teachers, and parents.

Linda McMahon [07:32]:

“Instead of all the money that is appropriated by Congress, flowing through the Department of Education and into the states... it is my goal to move the different agencies... to other agencies... The best education is that that's closest to the child... So this, the dismantling, if you will, of the department... will make it more efficient.”

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3. The "Mississippi Miracle" and Educational Innovation

[09:08]

• Buck Sexton highlights Mississippi's dramatic improvement in literacy rates due to a return to phonics-based, "old school" reading instruction.
  • Mississippi rejected “newfangled” methods for proven teaching techniques.
  • The approach now being adopted by other states.

Linda McMahon [10:10]:

“They adopted the science of reading. It is exactly what you said it was, going back to the way reading was originally taught... based on phonics... So the science of reading as it has been adopted has proven to be so successful.”

• McMahon shares she is touring all 50 states to build a toolkit of proven educational strategies.
• Emphasizes the competitive nature of states/governors and the diversity of successful school models: public, charter, private, religious, homeschooling, “micro-schools,” and even AI-augmented schools.

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4. Politicization and Protests in Schools

[13:01]

• Clay questions why schools have become “shock troops of the far left,” using Minneapolis protests as context.
• McMahon calls the trend “outrageous” and suggests federal funding could be at risk for schools canceling learning for unrelated protests.

Linda McMahon [13:30]:

“If we look at what the scores are, you know, in Minnesota, they're not sterling at all... I think it’s outrageous. And if that were to continue... those schools could be... in jeopardy of having lost federal funding.”

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5. The Broader State of Education: Innovation, Virtual Learning, and Declining Standards

[19:37]

• Clay and Buck reflect on how technological innovation (e.g., online courses, AI), school choice, and state-level experimentation are shifting the educational landscape.
• Criticism of traditional public school models as “babysitting/daycare,” especially with extended hours but limited true learning.
• The “Mississippi Miracle” held up as a template for state-driven (not federal) innovation.

Buck Sexton [20:34]:

“I think that it's largely like a glorified babysitting service for a lot of kids... The just one size fits all mass public education approach... is a bad... plan.”

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6. Super Bowl Halftime, Shared Culture, and Language

[26:58]

• Lively discussion of the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bad Bunny, the resulting viewer drop-off when the show was conducted primarily in Spanish, and the broader question of language and shared national experiences.
• Clay argues the NFL’s choice missed the mark, as “shared” events matter:
  • Halftime should be a unifying English-language experience.
  • The show had the “largest ever” viewership loss in Super Bowl history during halftime.

Clay Travis [32:48]:

“The NFL should be trying to reach the broadest possible audience... American cultural experiences that are shared matter. Having something that everybody is experiencing together as one is something that... should be aspirational.”

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7. Colonialism, Historical Blind Spots, and the 1619 Project

[33:11] – End

• Clay and Buck launch into an unsparing look at misremembered or ignored history:
  • Mock the idea that Spanish is “the language of anti-colonialism,” reminding listeners of the brutality of Spanish and Portuguese colonial powers.
  • Highlight the prevalence and history of the transatlantic slave trade, emphasizing that Portugal led—transporting ~5 million Africans, mostly to Brazil.
  • British abolitionism discussed, including their significant role in ending the transatlantic slave trade and America’s Civil War as “massive penance.”
  • Clay and Buck criticize the 1619 Project for rooting American history solely in the legacy of slavery.

Buck Sexton [36:24]:

“It's actually, I think, symptomatic of... one of the great major issues that we have in this country, which is historical illiteracy and the inability to understand our country, but basically the whole landscape of the world historically.”

• Further commentary on global slavery, abolition dates, and lack of global context in U.S. educational discourse.
• Discussion of contemporary slavery in countries like Nigeria, Oman, and Mauritania.
• Historical “toolkit” is presumed essential in restoring real civic literacy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the need for civics education:

  “Historical literacy is a major issue among young people in the United States today.”
  — Buck Sexton [02:44]

• On state innovation in education:

  “States being laboratories... this is innovation that occurred at the state level... Mississippi Miracle.”
  — Linda McMahon [10:10]

• On Super Bowl halftime controversy:

  “Making selections on a halftime show that alienates the vast majority... is a poor decision by the NFL.”
  — Clay Travis [32:48]

• On rewriting history and the 1619 Project:

  "The entire purpose of much of left wing cultural argument... is to... root all of American history and indeed all of Western civilization to slavery, which began in 1619... Therefore nothing that occurred in America is legitimate."
  — Buck Sexton [36:24]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Presidential 1776 Civics Competition Overview: [02:44]–[05:52]
• Clay & Buck Joke About Taking the Test: [06:17]–[07:02]
• Education Policy & State Control: [07:13]–[09:08]
• Mississippi’s Phonics-Based Miracle: [09:08]–[13:01]
• School Protest and Politicization: [13:01]–[14:22]
• Clay & Buck Education Philosophies: [19:37]–[22:42]
• Super Bowl Halftime/Lost Viewers Discussion: [26:58]–[32:48]
• Colonialism, Language, and Historical Literacy: [33:11]–[36:24]
• Global Slave Trade Context & Modern Slavery: [39:11]–[41:26]

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Tone & Style

• Casual and humorous banter, especially between Clay and Buck.
• Wry, occasionally self-deprecating, and combative when discussing politics and media.
• Earnest and policy-focused during the interview with Secretary McMahon.
• Frequently invokes history with “teacher” or “explainer” energy, often sprinkled with pop culture or sports references.

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Takeaway

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show delivers a critical look at American education, aiming to “make America smart again” by confronting historical illiteracy, advocating for local/state control, and fostering real civic engagement—all while providing energetic, unscripted takes on news, culture, and history. The episode underscores the need for reforms driven by evidence, not ideology, and highlights the pitfalls of historical amnesia, both in schools and in public discourse.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

And Buck starts now. Both Buck and I love American history. We are huge history nerds. We regularly talk about it a ton. And we are joined by someone else who is a major history aficionado. She is Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education of the United States. And we are now celebrating America 250. And we've been talking about America 250 quite a bit on the program, even though we're early into the year. And Secretary McMahon, we appreciate you coming on. Right now, you are announcing a presidential 1776 award. Historical literacy is a major issue among young people in the United States today. Tell us what this competition will do and what you're hoping it will create.

[Linda McMahon]

Well, thanks so much for having me on, and I appreciate the fact that you are both such historical buffs and put such emphasis on it, because I can tell you it's not been emphasized much in our country, as we see, unfortunately, through our scores across the country, when kids are tested on their civics or historical knowledge. And so this is part of the president's initiative. This 1776 award, in conjunction with the celebration, is our 250th birthday for the country. And so to generate interest, he wanted to create the civics award. So the registration is open right now for students who want to enroll. And what they do is they're going to sign up to take the world's impossible test. I have 90 minutes online to answer 4,000 questions. That's called impossible Test.

[Buck Sexton]

Wow.

[Linda McMahon]

And I would think it would be, but it's, you know, ever how many they get, not how many they answer, but how many they answer correctly. Of course, you know, will determine the winner in each round. So it's a three round competition, and the top winners are going to receive the top, very top winner will receive a scholarship of $150,000. And second place is 75,000 and third place is 25,000. And so, you know, it's conducted a little bit like a national spelling bee. There'll be the first round of competition, and then we'll have regionals and districts, and then three winners will come to Washington, D.C. in June of this year and we'll have the final competition and then the awards will be made. So it's created a lot of excitement. So we're very happy. We're sending notices out to teachers, to organizations, to schools, to principals, to everyone. And Getting it online so that as many people can be notified that it's a fun thing to do with a great potential reward so they can go to Presidential 1776 Award.

[Buck Sexton]

Have you thought about giving media this test? Because when you're describing this, I actually think this would be real. I would like to take it. I know I'm not eligible, but. 4,000 questions, 90 minutes. I think it would be really fun if you got some media out there that cover the. The White House and beyond. I would take this. I think it would be interesting to see what kind of scores people might post.

[Linda McMahon]

Well, Travis, I think you should just launch your own initiative to do that.

[Buck Sexton]

This is not a bad idea. Buck, would you take this test? Would you sit down? 90 minute American History 1776 test. I think I would take it.

[Clay Travis]

It would be you and me. You and me versus Don Lemon. And.

[Buck Sexton]

I would. I would put you and I on the 1776 Test as a team up against any duo in media in the country. I think we would win. Do you think anybody could beat us that actually has a day show or.

[Clay Travis]

My normal humility. Secretary McMahon disappears on this one clay, and I would smoke any of the libs out there.

[Linda McMahon]

So, yeah, it would be the Clay and Buck civics challenge. I like this.

[Buck Sexton]

This would be fun. I don't think anybody would actually take us on, but I will take it. Secretary McMahon, we will reach out for you and see if we can set up a time to take this and see if we can smoke everybody out there.

[Clay Travis]

I also want to ask you, as you're running a very large. A very large agency of the government, what are you doing with education these days? The big thing. It's massive. It's huge. Secretary, how are you gonna fix education in America under the Trump administration?

[Linda McMahon]

Well, you know, the president's executive order is to return education to the states and take bureaucracy that exists in Washington out of our education process. So, in other words, instead of all of the money that is appropriated by Congress, flowing through the Department of Education and into the states, which does create more regulation, more red tape, et cetera, it is my goal to move the different agencies or departments, if you will, within the Department of Education to other agencies of the United States government, which is where they existed before there was a department. You know, if. You guys. I know you guys know this fact, but the Department of Education was not established until 1980, and since that time, we spent $3 trillion on education just throwing more money at the problem and watched our national scores continue to decline. So we're clearly doing something wrong. And the president believes, and I agree with him, that the best education is that that's closest to the child, that it is controlled by the state superintendents and district superintendents and teachers and most importantly, parents who have then insight into what is being taught to their children. So this, the dismantling, if you will, of the department and moving it to other agencies will make it more efficient. And I do believe that there'll be greater satisfaction with what's going to be happening with education once this job is completed.

[Buck Sexton]

One of the things that I think is most interesting and maybe extraordinary when it comes to educational accomplishment is what the state of Mississippi has done. They, and I know you probably have studied it quite a lot. I don't think most of the audience out there has gotten, become aware of it, but basically they went back to committing, and you can maybe explain better than me, but to old school style teaching and abandoned many of the quote unquote, newfangled methods of instruction for children. And as a result, the kids in Mississippi, many of whom are drastically under underprivileged, you know, relative to socioeconomic status in the rest of the country, have seen their results skyrocket. And now other southern states in particular are copying them. What are they doing? Are you encouraged by what you've seen there? And is this a good example of the laboratory of state education giving us things that could work, for instance, in California, where the results are not good?

[Linda McMahon]

You're exactly right in that this does prove the point about states being laboratories, because this is innovation that occurred at the state level, not at the federal level level. This was not mandated by the federal government. And what the state of Mississippi did, and it's actually called the Mississippi Miracle. They adopted the science of reading. And it is exactly what you said it was, going back to the way reading was originally taught. Now, of course there are some updates to the process, et cetera, but it's based on phonics. It's based on sounding out words and sounding out combinations of letters so that kids can learn to read. They're not just doing sight reading of whole words or concepts, which is what's really been, I think, the downfall of our literacy numbers throughout the country. And if children cannot read by the time they finish the third grade, then they are never going to be able to be successful because they'll just get farther and farther behind. So the science of reading as it has been adopted has proven to be so successful. And sometimes this is done in connection with what are called classical schools. That are doing exactly what you just. Clay, I think it was you. What you were describing is going back to sort of the way schools were taught, you know, before. Now that's working in many communities. Some communities, you know, have. Have different kinds of schools. You know, there are charter schools, magnet schools, there are religious schools, there's homeschooling, and so in micro schools. And what I'm doing is touring all 50 states. I've been to about 30 now, and I have visited all of these many kinds of schools. I've even been to the Alpha School in Austin, Texas, which has its first two hours of instruction in the morning through AI, which is really like an individual tutoring session. And then the rest of the day are spent on applying the applications of what they learned. So my goal at the end of this term, or as we are turning education back over to the states, is to develop a toolkit of what has worked in most of these states and to just hand it over to the different states and say, look, these are the things that I've seen that work. This is how they work. This is who's doing it. Please be in contact with them if you so choose. And you know what, governors and state superintendents, they're pretty competitive. No governor likes to see another state get ahead of him, you know, in terms of the success, especially, you know, with kids in education. So I think we're going to have a good impact. The beneficiaries of what we are doing will be our children and schools, you know, in general. And I'm very excited about what we're doing.

[Clay Travis]

Secretary of Education Lyndon McMahon with us now. And Ms. Secretary, when we saw the Minneapolis ICE protests, there was all this school closures, administrative and teaching staff going out to protest. Why is it that this just happens? And there seems to be some acceptance that the school system is like the protest shock troops of the far left in this country.

[Linda McMahon]

Well, I can tell you, if you just look at those protests from a common sense standpoint, and I, as a parent, if I were there now, I can't stand in the shoes of the parents who were there, but I would think, why is my child not in school that day? And if we look at what the scores are, you know, in Minnesota, they're not sterling at all, if you will. I would want my children to be in school learning how to read, how to do math, how to solve their science problems, and not out on the street in the bitter cold protesting and objecting to something that they might not even fully understand. I think it's outrageous. And if that were to continue, I can tell you that there would be investigation by us and those schools could be, you know, in jeopardy of having lost federal funding.

[Buck Sexton]

Secretary of education Linda McMahon one more time. I'm going to try. Maybe you can have somebody on your team reach out. I would like to take this test and see how I would do. But we encourage so many people out there with kids and grandkids that are committed to history and want to learn more on the 250th anniversary of this country to compete. That competition has an incredible award, as you just told us. How can they do that one more time?

[Linda McMahon]

Well, the, the enrollment period is now through February 21st. About a couple of more weeks, you can go online at presidential1776award.org to register and then shortly thereafter, they'll be taking the test. And it will be a 90 minute test to see how many 4000 questions they can answer correctly. And these are, these are just historical fact questions. You know, this is if anybody has any concerns that they're partisan politics. They are not at all. This is just based on facts and history.

[Buck Sexton]

Awesome.

[Clay Travis]

Secretary of Education McMahon, appreciate you making the time for us today. Thank you so much.

[Linda McMahon]

Lots of fun. Thanks for your desire to participate. We're going to make this happen, Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm in. I'm looking forward to it.

[Linda McMahon]

All righty.

[Clay Travis]

My man's. He's going to swim from Alcatraz Island. He's going to take the impossible history test. You know, we got to get Clay jumping out of planes for our YouTube channel soon.

[Buck Sexton]

I haven't taken a history test, I don't think, buck, since the AP US History Test back in 1997. So we'll see whether the old brain can retain any of of the of the knowledge from the test back in the day.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

Is team 47 with Clay and Buck.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. And we had quite a nice chat there with Secretary of education Linda McMahon. And I do think that. I think education is. I just had a long talk actually, Clay, with a couple of friends of mine, fellow fellow dads. Their kids are a little older than mine, but younger than yours. So in that like sort of 5 to 10 range. So. And we're talking about schools and how between virtual learning, AI, the collapse of prestige university as a ticket to sort of riches and glory, you know, all these different factors. I think the good news is that there's more of a willingness for people to innovate on education and do what's best for kids. I have a lot of criticism of the education system, just as an observer. I think that it's largely a.

[Buck Sexton]

I.

[Clay Travis]

Think that it's largely like a glorified babysitting service for a lot of kids. It's effectively daycare for kids who are too old to be in daycare and the elimination of standards and all these things that go on. The notion that children in the first, second, third grade should be in school like I was from 8am until 4pm that's just so that parents have daycare. That's not good. You're not learning for eight hours a day as a kid at that age. So anyway, I have a lot of. I have some kind of radical ideas on this and I talk to people, friends of mine who are conservatives who specialize in education reform. And I think that there's a. Now is a time for people to really focus on what do you need to know? What are the best ways to learn what you need to know. And the just one size fits all mass public education approach that a lot of Democrats like is. Is a bad. Well, they don't actually like it. They want their kids to go to the fancy public school and then whatever else to go to the failing public schools, but it's not a good, it's not a good plan. So it's a big topic, but I think there's a lot of opportunity. You can watch lecture series from Yale University Classics professors online for free.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

How different is that from being in the class? You know, like, at some point, what are you not. What do you not have access to? I.

[Buck Sexton]

This is, I mean, there's a huge topic of discussion here. It's one thing I, I am the Mississippi miracle that we referenced. In an ideal world, the educational system would be dynamic. We would see lots of different states trying a wide variety of things to try to figure out how to educate kids to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, largely the teachers union just argues that they need to be paid more and work less and that does not inure to the benefit of your average kid. And the difference between everybody knows this a really good school public or private. I was a public school Kid K to 12. My kids went public school K to 6 and now they're in a private school. But the difference between a an okay school and a great school is seismic.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, you and Nate Borgazzi have got to be like the pride of the Nashville public school system, buddy. You know, two, two hometown kids who made it good.

[Buck Sexton]

I think Nate went to a private school, but he didn't go to like a super I don't want to throw Nate Baragatsky under the bus. Uh oh, but he didn't go like look, it's Nashville. A lot of the private schools were not super elite either. So I don't want to throw him under the bus. But yeah, I went public school K to 12.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Ben Ferguson]

For the next 60 seconds, can you hit pause on your life and just think about this? Every day, millions of children face a crushing reality. A constant, defeating message echoes in their empty stomachs and their desperate eyes. It is that you don't matter. Poverty doesn't just steal food and shelter. It stills hope, dignity and the fundamental belief that they are love. But there's another message, one of boundless love and hope. Through Compassion International, you can change the child's story forever. You can sponsor a child just like I do. You can introduce them to a loving heavenly father. You can equip them with education, health care and the support to overcome poverty. This isn't just about one child. It's about transforming families, revitalizing communities and changing nations. It's about proving that every, every child truly matters. So help give a child a future. Give them hope. Visit compassion.com today. That's compassion.com you're listening to Team 47.

[Buck Sexton]

With Clay and Buck. Okay, let's dive into something that is a little bit fun, but also yet another thing we were right about. So the data has come out. Buck on the super bowl. And I said, bad bunny, bad choice for the super bowl. And people are still attacking me over this. I said, hey, you know what? The super bowl halftime show should be in Spanish. Should not be in Spanish, should be in English. And I Said, I just did Piers Morgan show right before this show started, so it's going to be up in a little bit. But I told Piers Morgan because Pierce was like, well, what would you say if Pavarotti were the halftime performer? I said, that would be a poor choice. Pierce, I don't even even.

[Clay Travis]

Come on.

[Buck Sexton]

Even. Even if it is the greatest opera singer of all time, I don't think it would be a smart decision for the NFL to have an opera singer.

[Clay Travis]

No Pavarotti doing the national anthem. That would be cool. Like, you know, there's.

[Buck Sexton]

He's doing it in English. If it's a national anthem, I don't think it would be smart to do the national anthem in Italian. So. Although it would be maybe interesting to hear the data has come out. Buck bad bunny lost 10 million viewers, the most people that have ever turned off or left the super bowl for a halftime show in the history of the super bowl. Ok. And so I think this is a clear sign. Turning Point USA obviously got whatever it was, 6 million live streamers on their YouTube channel, and other people just decided to bail. I've said this before. It always has fascinated me. Almost always, the super bowl viewership peaks at halftime. So for those of you out there that say, well, I don't know why you care. I don't usually the biggest possible audience that is watching the super bowl watches at halftime. There are lots of people, as many of you know, because this is what frustrates me about the Super Bowl. As a big sports fan, tons of people come rolling into super bowl parties that have never watched an NFL game all year. And they talk loudly and they distract me from being able to actually watch the game because I watch games all year. People like Buck, they come in and they're just chirping.

[Clay Travis]

I knew, I knew this was going to turn into a little clay jiu jitsu move to put me in the Camorra, because I don't actually watch chirping.

[Buck Sexton]

In the background about all the other things going on in their life. And I'm like, I'm trying to hear what they're saying. I'm trying to watch the game. So. But it is the case that there were the most people to ever turn off the super bowl in the history of the Super Bowl.

[Clay Travis]

Can I ask you a real question? Like, because I actually, when I've gone with you to college football games, I try not to ask a million questions. And you're actually very, very kind to explain the basics. So I have some idea what the heck is going on do you ever have to just be like, hey, guys, I need radio silence? Like, I can't answer. I can't answer all of your questions while I'm watching. If you're in sort of a group set, like, how do you handle that? Because I would assume everyone's like, clay, what do you think about that wide receiver choice? Clay, what do you think about the assistant coach who's doing the blahbity blah?

[Buck Sexton]

You are going to appreciate this. And I might be the only person on the planet who does this. I want to hear what the coaches say in the halftime interview, and I also want to hear in a post game interview what the coaches and players say. So the game ends and there's bedlam all around and regularly by poor kids, regularly. I'm like, hey, pipe down over there. I'm trying to hear what he's saying in the post game interview or the halftime interview because occasionally you get information, you know, players injured and the coach is jogging off. And you can try to deduce from the interview. I don't know what percentage of people out there are like me and want to actually hear the interview. Now the other thing, Buck that I will say is, and I don't know how many people are like me in this way, when my team is playing poorly and it's a team that I actually care about, I mute the broadcast. My wife has been making fun of me for this for years. And I don't want to hear announcers basically cheering on the other team and talking about how amazing they look. I can watch a game without announcers and tell every single thing I need to know, by and large about the game, with the exception of sometimes, like I said, an interview with somebody on the field. So I will often sit in complete silence watching games during, during. While I'm sitting in front of my television, my wife will walk in, she'll be like, why? You're just sitting in a room, it's completely silent watching a game. Like, yeah, the game's not going well. I don't need to hear the announcers, you know, pile on about how crappy my team's playing. So I would say in general, I want the information, if it's useful, to be, to be, to get from the, from the interviews. But yeah, like this, this, this idea. I do think it's a. People are gonna say, well, why does this matter? What is the lesson that should be drawn from it? I think it's that the NFL should be trying to reach the broadest possible audience and some people are going to roll their eyes about this. But I do think American cultural experiences that are shared matter. Having something that everybody is experiencing together as one is something that that is should be aspirational. We have relatively few of those. And making selections on a halftime show that alienates the vast majority of the viewership because they have no idea what's being said or what's being done and is a poor decision by the NFL. And I think they should reconsider going forward and try to get people very basically who speak English to perform at the halftime show.

[Clay Travis]

And I just have to say there's also been this. I like that he Bad bunny. What his name is. His last name is Ocasio, right?

[Buck Sexton]

I have no idea what his actual name is. I'm pretty sure his name is aoc. Are they brother and sister?

[Clay Travis]

Pretty well. I was wondering if there's some relation there. But I thought it was interesting that there was this. Well, Spanish is now the language of anti colonialism. That is truly hilarious.

[Buck Sexton]

Oh, that is a funny.

[Clay Travis]

That is a hilarious take that you are seeing online now from some people, like, well, of course, like, this is. Spanish is the language like against. Against oppression of and the oppression of native people. So it's like. So I had to do. I had to take to Twitter on this one or to X to be like, guys, nobody showed up with more brutal. And by the way, Spain, I love my time in Spain. I think Spain is a beautiful country, an amazing place. I think it probably saved Western civilization, Battle of Lepanto a whole bunch. You know, the tours with Charles Martel. There's a whole lot. I'm very pro Spain, just to be clear. I think what Spain did for the world was a great Catholic country for hundreds of years. And it did amazing things. That all said, the Spanish showed up in the New World and they were like, we're going to take all your stuff. We're going to kill a lot of you. And anybody who doesn't do what we say, we're definitely killing you and burning down your whole village. It wasn't like the Puritans arriving in Massachusetts trading corn with the natives at Thanksgiving or whatever it was.

[Buck Sexton]

I hadn't seen this that people are saying that Spanish is the anti colonial language. Oh, it's very.

[Clay Travis]

Oh yeah. Spanish is now the language of the oppressed or something. I'm like, well, you got to learn a little bit about how we got here, everybody. So yes, it turns out if you learn your history, I mean, the Spanish, there's a reason they're called the Conquistadors, they weren't showing up to like just settle. They realized that this, and this is how they funded the Spanish empire by just taking all of the gold. And there was tremendous gold, particularly with the Incas, but also with the Aztecs. They just took all their stuff. They had treasure galleons going back to Spain to pay for the Spanish empire and its wars in Europe. And they were absolutely brutal. Like, this is, it's just so funny to me that people are thinking this and then people are like, yeah, but what about the British and their role in the transatlantic slave trade? I'm like, oh no, that's true. The British for a couple of hundred years were the second worst when it came to the transatlantic slave trade. Anyone, anyone at home want to know who they act by far, by far the, the biggest perpetrator of the transatlantic slave trade? The Portuguese. And where do they take all of the slaves? Mostly Brazil, the Caribbean and parts of South America, but mostly Brazil, by far number one. So I just think it's interesting. Spain, Portugal, now we think of them as like, you know, like the, the motherland for Latin America and everything else, but man, they were the, they were the colonial powers par excellence and they were rough. They were playing for keeps back in the day.

[Buck Sexton]

It's also funny because anyone that actually turns talks about reparations. The idea is that the United States should be the sole payer of reparations. When to your point, Buck, Europe is actually responsible overwhelmingly for all of slavery in Africa. And of course people only focus on slaves from Africa. Right. Despite the fact that for thousands the.

[Clay Travis]

Barbary pirate slave trade in white Christians, which went on millions of people and went on for hundreds of years, went as far. The North African slavers went as far as Iceland and Ireland picking off white people to sell into slavery. And this isn't, this isn't taught in schools and people, you tell them this, they'll be like, that's not true. Google it.

[Buck Sexton]

Actually, better Crockett, you'll see all true. It's actually, I think, symptomatic of one of the great major issues that we have in this country, which is historical illiteracy and the inability to understand our country, but basically the whole landscape of the world historically, everything. I mean this is really, I mean this is intentional. The entire purpose of much of left wing cultural argument is to. They made it explicit with the 1619 Project Root all of American history and indeed all of Western civilization to slavery, which began in 1619, which is why they tried to with Nikole Hannah Jones, New York Times. Try to argue, hey, the real focus of America is not 1776, when we got independence. It's actually 1619. Because America is founded in the original sin of slavery, and therefore nothing that occurred in America is legitimate. We can burn down the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, all of the great heroes of American life, they are illegitimate because the true founding of America happened in 1690. Very, very intentional.

[Clay Travis]

Also. Also, I also got a hot take for you on this one.

[Okta Representative]

I love.

[Clay Travis]

We get into the history stuff here, right? A little hot take for everybody. First of all, as you know, I talked about Dahomey and West Africa and what actually happened there with the slave trade where there were slave states and Dahomey was actually one of the most prominent in all of West Africa. Effectively black Africans enslaving black Africans and then selling them to the white slavers. That was a huge thing that doesn' get talked about or is not really a part of the history, but something else I think is so interesting. Clay. Ok, so you look, by the way, Portugal, does any. Did anyone know, ask yourself this. Did you know that Portugal was responsible for taking 5 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to Brazil and that that was by far. Very few people know this. You know, do you think Portugal is walking around like, hey, we should be like apologizing and doing a lot of reparations? No, they're all just like, the reparations.

[Buck Sexton]

Should all be paid overwhelmingly by the European colonizing countries.

[Clay Travis]

But the other part of this is something else left out is the massive penance, if you will, that the British played or engaged in by effectively saying, not only are we not doing slavery anymore, we're going to use our resources from our. The British people and shut down all slavery off of the coast of Africa. Like, if we. If you're a slave ship, we're coming for you. So the British played a massive role in ending the slave trade starting in the early 1800s. So even before here in America and then in America, we fought a huge, massive civil war. With how many casualties, clay?

[Buck Sexton]

In total, 600,000 people died in a time when the population of the United States was I think, only like 15 million or some 20 million, like a huge percentage of people died.

[Clay Travis]

The British became a global anti slavery force. America said, we can't allow this anymore here. And then we had a very, you know, very bloody civil war to end that. To end that practice. What do the Portuguese and the Spanish do? You know, I mean, I'm just saying, like, where's their. Where's Their huge cost in blood and treasure to make up for this stuff anyway.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, I mean, anybody who studies this, it is. Again, we are historically illiterate as a country. When you actually study the history of the United States and frankly, the history of the world, you have a little bit more depth to be able to discuss many different issues.

[Clay Travis]

Here's something else for my. For some of my Latin American friends down here, including a lot of Brazilians. You know, when. You know, when Brazil abolished slavery, Clay.

[Buck Sexton]

Formally, It was like 1940 or something, right?

[Clay Travis]

Well, 1888, but late. That's late in the process.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, go pull it. Pull it up. I mean, I'll ask Rock. Some countries did not. That you know of, did not abolish slavery until like World War II era.

[Clay Travis]

Well, this is the. There's a note. There's a note here that while they formally abolished it legally, Clay, thousands of people continued to work in effectively slave conditions for decades after the formal abolition in Brazil. But point here being everybody you all know. Oh, 16, 19, Project Portugal. How many people knew that? Just saying.

[Buck Sexton]

I just groked it. So we'll find out. Some of these countries you're going to hear and you're going to be like, what? Like, this is an unbelievable. Nigeria, for instance, Buck, did not end slavery until 1936. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there are people alive who were slaves in Nigeria. There you go. But I'll hit you with a couple of other of those that you probably don't hear about very much. You're listening to Team 47 with clay and Buck.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck. Man, we got a lot to talk about. So we just got deep into that history conversation, which I hope.

[Buck Sexton]

I hope you let me hit you with some more countries, Buck, because we were saying you pointed out.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, yeah, go for it.

[Buck Sexton]

Slavery, 1888. Here are some. I mentioned that Nigeria in the 1930s, Oman, much of the Middle East, 1970. United Arab Emirates, 1964. Saudi Arabia, 1962, Mauritania, 1981. So again, and. And we should point out, too, because some of you are popping off in there and making a point. There are still people who are enslaved in the. You in the world today. Right. Like there are people that are in.

[Clay Travis]

In Sudan. There are countries where there's still active slavery practices. Yeah. By the way, African countries in particular, where that is still going on. And it's usually Arab Muslims or ethnic Arab Muslims who are enslaving black Africans, which also, you know, New York Times doesn't like to talk about. That very much. Also, Clay, you mentioned Nigeria. Nigeria is in the opening chapter of this book, manufacturing delusion because I was there chasing the group. This is a true story. Obviously it's in the book chasing the group that would become Boko Haram in the earliest days and checking out the radicalization that was involved the mosques in parts of Nigeria where nobody goes because it's super dangerous. And yeah, I think you should get a copy of the book, my friends. Go to clayandbuck.com if you want. You can get the special video download. Clay. We're entering the shamelessness zone, my friend. I need everyone listening to this show to buy this book. It's actually really good and I wrote it. Clay and I write our books, which especially in the days of AI, I think this is going to be Clay. It's going to be a very unusual thing for people to write their books, but I wrote it, wrote every word. How the left uses brainwashing, indoctrination and propaganda, manufacturing delusions for the people who.

[Buck Sexton]

Want to get the audiobook.

[Clay Travis]

I did the audio, which Clay also told me was going to take a long time and drive me nuts. But it was really fun. Actually, when it was done doing it wasn't that fun. Took forever. But the audiobook is me, your voice, yours truly, voicing it. So there we go. Clay, everything you said about this process was true, by the way. It takes forever and I need everyone to buy the book or else I will be sad because it's a really good book.

[Buck Sexton]

It's a lot of work. Go buy Buck's book. It'll be out on Tuesday. We'll be right back with all of you. Thanks for listening to Team 47 with clay and Buck.

[Clay Travis]

Sometimes we all need to slow down and reconnect with what matters most. Life can feel overwhelming, but encouragement and guidance are closer than you think. @intouch.org you'll find biblical teaching, daily devotionals and timeless sermons from Dr. Charles Stanley. These resources are designed to strengthen your faith, renew your hope, and give you confidence for life. If you're seeking peace, strength, or simply a reminder of God's presence, visit intouch.org today. You'll be glad you did.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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[Okta Representative]

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[Clay Travis]

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