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Clay Travis
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Martha Stewart
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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
Yeah, I. So I think of everything probabilistically like this. I think there is a world where some mal actor could have intentionally decided, hey, I want this to go out there. I want there to be an intentionally a negative outcome from this leaking. So I wouldn't discount that. I don't see a direct benefit of why China would have intentionally leaked it unless. And again, this. I understand why so many people go down conspiracy rabbit holes, Buck. Because when the conspiracy ends up being right as often as it was during COVID then I understand why there's a deep suspicion and a susceptibility for conspiracies to spread. The only real argument I've seen that would make any sense is that China wanted to undercut Trump. The United States was roaring in February and January of 2020. Trump was coming into his full fruition. Economically, I think Trump if Covid never happens, I think Trump wins reelection easily and that somehow China decided we're going to disrupt the entire world and we're going to intentionally leak Covid into, into the, into the global economy. I don't find that to be likely. But if it were going to be an argument of it being an intentional lab leak, that's the only real motivation that I could see made sense from a Chinese perspective. But I, I think the most likely outcome is it leaked and then they covered it up. And Fauci completely panicked because he knew that American tax dollars had been used to help fund the gain of function research and that they immediately tried to put in the code red. This is to to kill this story. This is where Fauci to your point Buck, not only do I think he was a malignant force inside of government, he was the highest paid and one of the longest tenured figures in all of our government. And so he knew.
Clay Travis
Highly suspicious. Just, just to tell you this right now, when you are the single most overpaid federal government employee, something's up. Like I don't, I just don't trust you. I don't care who you are. Ok. When you're making more than double what the president makes and you're not. He wasn't even that. People always think he was the head clay of NIH or the cdc. He was the head of NIAD which was like a subunit of nih. How does this guy the highest paid guy ever.
Buck Sexton
Some people, and you've got people who work at your, at your place of employment who do this aren't really great at their jobs but they're really good at manipulating the bureaucracy, getting that next
Clay Travis
promotion 100 by the way. It's play next step. This is a plague within the federal bureaucracy. The worst people look at Comey, look at Brennan, look at these people, look at Fauci, look at these people that have made their way to the top of these bureaucracies. They're not smart, they're not good at their jobs and yet they wield enormous power. The best people that I knew, with some exceptions but the best people that I knew within the CIA and they know this too, they all leave. And this is going to sound self congratulatory or like oh I was one of them but everyone leaves clay five to seven years in because you get
Buck Sexton
surf out over the bureaucracy and the and how hard it is to do anything.
Clay Travis
Yeah. Yeah. After five, you're like, I've done some cool stuff, but I've been ground down by the stupid bureaucracy and the idiots who run the security office here, who. All they do is harass people, and they never catch the actual spies, and I'm just done with it. Five to seven years. I can still go to grad school. I could still start a new job. I could. You know, that's the. That's the. And I don't know, some people will tell me that they've seen that in their own bureaucracies, within the government, but I can tell you in the intelligence community, 100% the case.
Buck Sexton
What I will say I appreciate our caller on this front, so I don't think so. I think Foushee immediately knew how to manipulate the levers of government. I knew how he knew how to grease bureaucracy. Remember, he had a great deal of power over federal funds, the distribution of them to so many different organizations, and. And so he had manipulated all that. He had a crew that he could help cover it up. Let me just say this, though. I simultaneously do not judge anyone who believes that it was an intentional leak. And I understand skepticism over it, because there is so much that we were told about COVID We can run through 20 things, probably buck, where you and I were out there saying, I don't know, you know, like, remember we played the clip when suddenly, even on the left, it was Jon Stewart who went on with Colbert, and he ridiculed the idea that this was anything other than a lab leak. And suddenly everyone in that Colbert audience who had been hectoring and lecturing all of us for saying, hey, I'm not sure the official narrative lines up. They were laughing along with Jon Stewart as he punctured the absurdity of the series of stories that they had bought, which were all untrue. And so I think that whole era, there were so many lies told that I understand why anyone would think there are additional lies being told and why there are additional story angles that we haven't gotten to the bottom of.
Clay Travis
I just want to note, you know, if someone calls in, even if they're an esteemed and appreciated listener, which all of you are, and they say something that I truly think is just wrong or incorrect, we'll say, so we're not always right. I mean, we're pretty much always right, but we're not always right. But we would say. Or I would say. And you would say, respectively, no, I'm sorry, I think that that's wrong. Or that's incorrect. I'm not saying the gentleman who called in is wrong. I'm just saying I'm not there on the analysis. Yeah, I open to the possibility, you know, I am. I am absolutely there, as I think everybody is, that it came from that lab. Obviously, I still think it's more likely than not that it was a. An accidental release, than it was an intentional release, because the motivations to me still go for door number one and not door number two. But, you know, I'm open to being persuaded otherwise. That's where I would. That's where I would put that. And as for Foushee, it's just amazing when you go back and read all the propaganda about this guy early on, because I think people forget Trump had to look to this guy and look to the health bureaucracies early on with the idea that, come on, we're all on the same team here. Like, we just don't want people getting sick. We don't want things to happen that are terrible in society. This is in a partisan moment, Right?
Buck Sexton
Wrong.
Clay Travis
That was, I think, one of the biggest misapprehensions early on. And I think that Trump, which is. I don't blame him for this. And that's why I hate this thing they do, by the way, Clay, they'll say, well, Trump shut down schools or Trump did this. It's like what you did in April or May of 2020 versus what was done a year later by Biden are night and day in terms of the data, what we had seen, what we had been through, what we had learned, all this other stuff, and they always intentionally conflate this. Trump looked to the health bureaucracies early on when we were told that in Italy, people were all on ventilators and everyone's dying, and this is so terrible, and what are we going to do? And Foushee was clearly a partisan actor who at the first opportunity started to undermine and eventually betray Donald Trump. Now, people said he should have fired Foushee. Well, that would have just created. That would have been the comey martyr complex on steroids. It would have been. He got rid of the top health guy during a pandemic. So Trump was in an impossible position with that early on. I think that's a fair way to. To. To grade what was happening there. And I spoke to Trump in the Oval Office in May of 2020 about COVID mostly. Also about CIA stuff, but mostly about COVID And he said, look, we're going to let states. He wanted to let the federal system play federalist system play out or states could do things and then we could compare the data. And I think that that was a very sound approach to it early on. And yet the health bureaucrats effectively seize the narrative and seize control. And I think they helped deliver the election to Biden.
Buck Sexton
Two things. One, your point on deferring to federalism. There's never a time when someone could have taken over. Look at what Biden did a year later. More dictatorial powers than Trump had the opportunity to take on in the spring of 2020 and the summer of 2020. And he mostly deferred to individual states and mayors to this. I'm going to go back to the caller. This is the other part of the timing that, that I think is suspect. And this is why I said one, if China had done it intentionally, it would be designed for, for Trump. The fact that it to, to harm him in a political election year. The fact that Covid hit in the spring of a presidential election year was also the worst possible time for Covid to hit. By which I mean, if Covid hits in 21 after Trump has won reelection, I think there is far less insanity if Covid hits in 22, even though it's a midterm election, far less insanity if Covid hits in 23, far less insanity. The fact that it hit in the spring of an election year when Trump was cruising to re election and it led to, and I always feel like I need to put it in quotation marks, 81 million votes for Joe Biden. And even Democrats are starting to look around. Even the most strident, oh, anti Trump Democrats, buck. They're starting to look at that. 81 million in the wake of this past election, compared to Obama in 12, compared to how people voted in 16. There's no one, I think, with a functional brain that believes that Joe Biden got 81 million legal votes at this point. This is, there's the math. It's like steroids in baseball when you had guys who used to hit 20 home runs and then one year they hit 50 and you looked at a picture of them and you said, boy, they put a lot of muscle on in the off season. Biden 2020 was for elections what steroids was to baseball. He cheated. There's not 81 million real votes out there now. What exactly is that number? I think even Democrats are starting to look around. I don't think they'll get to 81 million votes in 2028.
Clay Travis
And let's remind everyone they have what you just said. Now, Clay, I don't think it will now but a couple of years ago that would have gotten this, this bounced off of YouTube. Yeah, our clip would be removed from YouTube. They removed an interview we did with the former president from YouTube.
Buck Sexton
Yes.
Clay Travis
Over election stuff. Remember that?
Buck Sexton
Oh yeah. They took, they took rand Paul interview. YouTube took a rand Paul interview about COVID off with us and they took the former president of the United States. They would not allow us to post our President Trump interview.
Clay Travis
This show was censored to the point where we had a sitting senator and a former and future president not allowed to say what they wanted to say. And we were and we were pulled off, pulled off the biggest platform video platform online tells you a lot.
Buck Sexton
Look, Patton will forever be remembered for leading from the front. I'm reading all about World War II right now. Soldiers idea of a general. Men fought hard for him because he fought hard himself. Had some pretty good quotes out there too. Colorful language. It's foolish and wrong as we come up on Memorial Day weekend. It's foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, he said. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. This Memorial Day honored the legacy of our men and women left behind. Remember their courage, reflect on their sacrifice and recognize the responsibility that comes with the freedom they secured for all of us. Citizenship in this country shouldn't be passive. It certainly wasn't in Patton's time. It's not just about the rights we enjoy. It's about the duty we care to enjoy them. A duty to our country, to our communities and to each other. Our friends at Americans for Prosperity take that duty seriously. We know you take it seriously too. Does your neighbor, your friends? It's time to make sure they do as well. If you believe we all share a responsibility to preserve what makes this country strong, go to AFP clay.com for your free guide on how you and your community can get involved. That's AFP clay.com AFP clay.com paid for by Americans for Prosperity. If you truly care, pass along this
Clay Travis
common sense to family and friends.
Buck Sexton
Clay and Buck owning the airwave Support
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for the show comes from public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI, it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this
Martha Stewart
is Martha Stewart from the Martha Stewart Podcast. Ever wonder how to make hosting look effortless? Here's a secret when prepping for cooking and baking, get ahead of the mess with new Reynolds Kitchens Countertop prep paper. Just lightly wet the counter so the paper grips. Lay it down and drips and spills stay on the paper, not on your counter. Cleanup is as simple as lifting it away to reveal clean counters. Effortless it is thanks to Reynolds Kitchens Countertop Prep paper Wet it, set it, prep it Done. Available in the Reynolds Wrap aisle at Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco.
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
what do we think about Michael Jackson music? Did you see the most recent stuff? This is tough buddy.
Buck Sexton
We're not canceling Michael Jackson on the show. Laura Travis would be furious. She says music's too good. He was never convicted. It's Number one movie in America right now, the Michael Jackson movie. Oh, yeah. Did you know they came out with a. I guess it's a biopic, right? Would be the way that it's described. And it's the number one movie in America. It's everywhere. So I don't. I don't think Now, R. Kelly, I don't think we should do Trapped in a Closet. Coming back out of. Remember when he did like 40 versions of Trapped in a Closet or whatever it was back in the day? R. Kelly, I think he's still in prison, maybe for the rest of his life. But Michael Jackson, the music is just too good. And so, no, I think we. I think we got to keep playing it. I. My 15 year old asked this week, he said, hey, Dad, I want to go see the new Michael Jackson movie. So I think it's the number one movie in America right now.
Clay Travis
I guess maybe that's also coinciding with why there's the interest in these most recent allegations, too, because it's the number one movie.
Buck Sexton
Oh, that's. It has. It has circulated back as a. As a story. Certainly because of that. Also, I was mentioned to you off air. I'm gonna go see Nate Bargazi's new movie. It's got its premiere tonight in Nashville. Probably the most famous comedian out there. And we'll see.
Clay Travis
Thank you for taking us into, like, wholesome and. Yeah, I was gonna say, God loving. Wonderful direction.
Buck Sexton
Really good, dad. Really good. Good guy. Family comedy. I'm gonna go see that tonight.
Clay Travis
That'll be great. Honestly, I think Nate. Nate's show, which I saw here in. In Florida, was the most fun comedy show I've ever been to. And it was. It's just so nice. I can't tell you how many times played, especially with my parents back in the day when I would see them in New York, or we'd say, you know what, let's throw on something. And you put on something on Netflix. And so much comedy is so, like, gross and debauched and you can't watch it with, you know, my parents are not just. Or your kids, but, you know. Yeah, well, definitely not your kids. But, you know, you know, my mom and dad, even I was embarrassed for some of this stuff. I tried to watch an Amy Schumer movie with my parents, and we didn't turn it off. Turn it off. Crazy. Nate Bargazi is the opposite of that. He's the best. So anytime you watch him really good,
Buck Sexton
I'll give you a review tomorrow. But I'm headed out there later tonight with my wife. So I think it'll be good.
Clay Travis
Speaking truth and having fun. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
Buck Sexton
Sexton, welcome back in Clay travis, BUCK Sexton show We are expecting to be joined by the leading candidates to become the next governor of Florida, Byron Donald. He is making contact with the team coming up here in a bit. We can mention that so far, Buck, in terms of the redistricting story, which is a big part of what is going on with with Florida, where they've redistricted and now they think they're going to have 24 Republican seats compared to 20 before. So they've added four Republican seats that the state of Florida as Ron DeSantis's eight year tenure is coming up on its close, got redistricting done. Tennessee has redistricted. It appears that South Carolina is not going to redistrict and Mississippi is not going to redistrict. And either for those of you out there saying, okay, why those states in particular, because they had and still do evidently racially gerrymandered districts that could be open to being redrawn. But Byron Donalds is with us now and we'll start there. The redistricting battle is underway. Congressman, you are, I think, going to be the next governor of the state of Florida. What do you think about the new map that Florida has put in place?
Byron Donalds
The governor, Governor DeSantis, did the absolute right thing. If you look at what's happened in Florida to Florida, a couple things. One, everybody already knows our state has increased in size since the 2020 census. No doubt about that. Second thing is we still believe that the Biden administration actually was playing games with the census and playing games with apportionment. We think Florida should have got an additional seat. That did not occur. I think what we did was right in the state of Florida. Also look at the decision in the Louisiana case from the Supreme Court ending racial gerrymandering in the United States of America because yes, racial, racial, pro racial discrimination to no matter what, no matter what reason is unconstitutional and should be illegal and not allowed. That's a fact. And so we're very happy with what the governor and the legislature were able to get done, I think to broader redistricting. I think you see, Hakeem Jeffries is now out saying that they're now going to go to blue states and they want the blue states to gerrymander even further. And by the way, let's be clear, blue states have been gerrymandering for politics way longer than red states have way longer New York's maps. The state of Massachusetts does not have any Republicans in it whatsoever. You can go to Illinois, where they basically strip mine Chicago to make the suburbs blue districts because they use Chicago's Democrat base to make a bunch of other seats go away. California has been doing this for a long time. So only when Republicans say, okay, enough's enough, we're going to start doing what you do now they're upset and now they're going to go further. But we're going to win anyway, and that's just the way it's going to be.
Buck Sexton
Joy Reid called you a house pet of the Republican Party. I'm reading directly from her quote. I want to let you respond to it. She said, he lets white men pat him on the head in the United States of Representative, United States House of Representatives. You represent, by the way, I think, a majority white district in South Florida. You, I believe, are going to be the next governor of the state of Florida. People of all different races are going to vote for you as part of that. What was your reaction when you saw what she said about you? And I'm sure she's not the only one saying things like that about you as this campaign rolls on.
Byron Donalds
Well, I think that's one of the reasons she doesn't even have her show anymore because one, she's never really been that entertaining. Two, she's not really that good at her. And so she has to resort to these type of tropes in order to get attention. I find it to really be disgusting. And, you know, it is what it is. As far as I'm concerned. I'm going to keep doing my job. And what I stand for are free markets, free enterprise, secure borders, common sense, you know, protecting girls in their sports, making sure that we protect the puberty of young kids. And in having a sensible economic system where whether you're black or you're white or you're Hispanic, you have an opportunity to build the American dream for yourself. That's what I support and that's what the people who have voted for me in the past support. And let's be very clear, that's what the vast majority of Americans support, whether they're a Republican or a Democrat. What Joy Reid does is what too many Democrats have been doing for far too long. They play these racial games, these racial politics to use the paths of America to try to keep political power. And I think it's disgusting. I think people are over it. They just want common sense solutions for the issues facing America. And you know, he doesn't come with any solutions. So she has to do this kind of craziness. So I don't really care about her. It is what it is, you know. You know, look, I'm sitting here in my office. One thing I know is that if you're doing something right, people take shots at you. That's just the way it is.
Clay Travis
Appreciate you being with us, Byron. It's Buck Florida residents, one of the, one of the migration that has helped turn your state. I know you're a Florida guy through and through, but we have now taken it to a 1.4, 1.5 million Republican registration advantage. So the, the. The American migrants from elsewhere to Florida have helped make this place nice and bright red. You are the likeliest, based on all the polls, to take over as governor. For Governor DeSantis, to borrow from Clay's world a little bit, this would be like being the coach who takes over after Bear Bryant retires or something. Right, Clay? Bear Bryant was very good, isn't it?
Buck Sexton
Very good back in the day? Yes.
Clay Travis
Yes. One of the best coaches. That's the only SEC football coach I could think of. You're going to be taking over for this coach, and you're going to have a state that the rest of red America, whether they're in a blue state or red state, is looking to for a lot of leadership. Now, I'm not trying to, you know, say you got a lot of pressure here, big shoes and all that. I think you know that, Byron, but what is top of the agenda? I mean, there's the continuation of what's happening now in Florida, which it sounds like you and currently Governor DeSantis are aligned on the big issues. But what is top of your agenda to keep Florida in this position where it's just leading the way on fiscal governance, on bringing people here who want business to thrive, who want all these things? Like, what's the top of the list for you?
Byron Donalds
Well, first, you know, Governor DeSantis has done a great job leading our state. Needs to be commended for all his work the last seven and a half years. But I think what's top of mind for me is what efficiency. Everybody saw the mess in Minnesota. We're starting to hear more and more reports about the different places where federal money and state money is being misspent, misallocated, or there's outright fraud. I think the future of not just Florida governance, but really in the entire country is using every tool possible to weed out a fraud, to weed out wasted money like we have to make sure that services are being provided, but we just can't waste taxpayer money. The other thing is modernizing a lot of our internal operations, like government built today and moving forward has to move at the speed of business, not at the speed of government, because time's money, time is money, and money is expensive. And so we want to be a very efficient government, make sure that we're doing the necessary checks that we have to do. But we're going to be efficient with people's time, with people's resources. And I believe that's going to continue to have Florida be the best state in the country, built on the foundation being left to us by Governor DeSantis of, you know, law and order, common sense, conservative policy, policies that allow a society to thrive. We're going to just build on that and make sure our state is even more efficient than it has been in the past.
Buck Sexton
There's a huge Cuban population, as you well know, in South Florida, but really all over the state. We've got to figure out what to do with Cuba. Now that Venezuela has largely been liberated from the Maduro regime, what do you think should happen with Cuba?
Byron Donalds
I think we need a free. A free Cuba. I want to see the regime go away. I want to see it fall. I think it's time for Diaz Canal to go. We want to see a Cuba that respects property rights, respects religious liberty, economic liberty, personal liberties, free speech. We want to see the political prisoners that they still have released. And we think these things are possible, especially with the work that President Trump and Secretary Rubio are doing. We think these things are possible. And a free Cuba will have a friend in Florida. But it's got to be free. It's got to respect individual liberty, and there will be a friend for them in Florida.
Clay Travis
Let me ask you this. If the President of the United States, the Commander in chief, Byron, who I know you know and has endorsed you, and so this isn't really a far cry from what may happen or what might have happened if you're with him at Mar a Lago or the White House, or I guess these days, it would be Bedminster. He said, you know, Byron, we have a plan very similar with Maduro, where we could send in a tier one unit, whether it's Delta or the seals, and we could take into custody a few of the top leaders of the Cuba Communist regime and make them face justice for a whole range of things here in the US Would you tell them to give the go order?
Byron Donalds
Yes, I would. Look, let's be very clear about what's happening 90 miles off the coast of Florida. You have a communist dictatorship that's been in place since the 60s which has been an ally to our enemies on the globe, on the world stage. And that is a fact. And so I think it's time for the regime to fall. I do.
Buck Sexton
What would you tell President Trump and you may have already talked with him about it, he is, what is it, 145, I think in the morning right now in Beijing. He's landed in China for the state visit. What do you expect to come out of that state visit? What do you hope we get out of it?
Byron Donalds
Well, I mean, look, a couple of things. One, obviously the president has to is working through to finalize whatever deals we need to get done with the Chinese. Two, what's kind of looming in the background is this conflict with Iran. And I think that obviously because of this trade horror moves, being in a position that it's in which is raising global oil prices. I think that definitely is in the interest of the Chinese to be able to get resolved as quickly as we can. And we need to make sure that they don't have a nuclear weapon. I think the one thing that's been so misleading from the press, you know, they keep saying, oh, the president doesn't have a goal in what's happening with Iran and that's not true. He's been clear from the beginning they cannot have nuclear weapons, period, end of story, full stop. And so I think that potentially with what happens in Beijing over the next couple days, we might be able to get a solution on that front as well. And I think that'll be good when it comes to not just global security, but obviously global oil markets.
Clay Travis
Byron Donalds running for governor. Congressman Donalds, appreciate you being with us here, sir. Best of luck to you. We'll talk to you again soon.
Byron Donalds
Listen, thanks guys. Appreciate you. Take it easy.
Buck Sexton
I think he's going to win and I think he's going to do a good job. But we're going to because we, unlike the View, allow people to make the case of why you should vote for them. We're making it as clear and transparent as we can be. We're going to let everybody talk to you who's running for office when we have one candidate on, unlike the View. So you pay attention to that going forward. Fast growing trees. I'm looking out right now at many different awesome, some would say spectacular trees that are growing in my yard. And that's partly due to fast growing trees. Dot com. These guys are blown away by how much you love trees, plants, shrubs. So many of you out there are signing up that every time we share what producer Ali has bought, they sell out. So I'm not gonna name any particular plant, tree or shrub in this particular ad because I don't want you guys to flood and go by exactly what I just told you. But Ali just got her mother in law something called. Well, I'm gonna say it now. Perfecto Mundo. That was close. Close to something else. The Perfecto Mundo. I don't even know what that is, but I bet it is gonna sell out. Now on Fast Growing Trees. Ali says it's awesome. Her mother in law loved it. Make sure that you spell it correctly. It starts perfect. Perfecto Mundo on fast growing trees.com look they have the alive and thrive guarantee. It is awesome. Right now any tree, plant or shrub you want you get for 20 off when you use my name Clay. So go to fastgrowingtrees.com check it out, put in your zip code and they will tell you whether you live in South Florida like Buck does, whether you live in Nashville like I do, whether you're in the New York City area, whether you're in la, San Francisco, Seattle, heck, anywhere all over Texas, down on the border, wherever you may be, they will tell you Arizona. Very different plants. What works perfectly in your particular zip code. Get hooked up today at fast growingtrees.com my name C L A Y for 20 off. That's fast growing trees.com code clay laugh. Learn. Hang with the guys right there when
Clay Travis
you need them most. Clay and Buck just preset them on the iHeart app.
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Buck Sexton
Travis Buck Sexton show all right, I wanted to mention this because I know that many of you were following this case. I don't remember if we talked about it that much, but in South Carolina, the Alex Murdoch double murder conviction has been overturned. He's going to get a new trial and some of you are like, I don't care about this story at all.
Byron Donalds
The.
Buck Sexton
The numbers on this thing were through the roof. Again, he was convicted of double murder, killing his wife and one of his kids. Right. If I remember correctly, the team in New York can correct me if I'm wrong on that. I believe that was. And there was a whole sordid family history of the Murdoch family in South Carolina potentially getting away with a variety of different alleged crimes. The evidence that was allowed to be introduced at his trial should not have been some of the evidence, some of the individuals. I haven't done a big read on this. This is just reading the headlines. Some of you are going to be insanely well versed in this because you have followed this case very much. I do know, Buck, was it Netflix that had the crazy popular Murdoch family documentary that was one of the top most watched shows that they've had out? I think it was Netflix.
Clay Travis
Did you see the documentary?
Buck Sexton
I think I did. I think Laura and I watched it.
Clay Travis
I remember they're sorry. It's very, very dark.
Buck Sexton
Very macabre. Yes.
Clay Travis
Very, very, you know, demonic of a documentary. But I just say there's one scene where like, the son, who is obviously a brat, like, shoves aside his girlfriend and is like, your dad's not even man enough to make enough money so your mom could stay home. And then he proceeded to like hit the boat full throttle and ran them into a bridge. Do you remember this?
Buck Sexton
I mean, crazy. I mean, that story was the whole family and all of the sordid shenanigans that they were allegedly involved in another trial. So this is, remember the eps, not the Epstein, the Weinstein case in New York. All of that got tossed, right? All of the convictions because they put improper testimony into the record. Why do I bring this up? These are big screw ups for high profile cases. To get the entire thing toss. The South Carolina Supreme Court again has ruled that he has to get a new double murder trial. Same thing happened with Harvey Weinstein. I believe it was in New York, right, where they tossed all the convictions that he got in New York.
Clay Travis
I'm gonna say it did play. Yeah, they tossed some of the Harvey Weinstein New York convictions. But Clay, they, they did play into, I think a bit of the, like, you know, here, if you know the sheriff in South Carolina, you can just get away. You know, they also, a lot of the, the coastal people really enjoyed the Murdoch story because it was playing to a stereotype of like, in the deep south, you can get away with anything if your family is connected. And you know, so that was part of, I think, why it was such a frenzy.
Buck Sexton
It was a little bit of the midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, where you have a unique location that also ties in with the murder mystery. I was out to dinner last night. We were having a conversation. The true crime podcast audience is truly overwhelming and they now do all these crime con events. And I think the true crime world is even more popular than it ever has been in the past. And so that case again, the South Carolina Supreme Court tying it in politically. If they are willing in New York to overturn the conviction of Harvey Weinstein, if they are willing in South Carolina to overturn the conviction of Murdoch, I think those are two guys that did, did commit crimes. I still believe, Buck, that eventually in New York we're going to get an overturning of all of the convictions that happened of President Trump related to bookkeeping shenanigans that was prosecuted by Alvin Bragg. And I do think that's going to happen at some point in the years ahead. When we come back, awful story in the New York Times about Israel.
Martha Stewart
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Episode: Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H2 – Have You Followed This True Crime?
Date: May 16, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts
This episode features Clay Travis and Buck Sexton navigating current political, legal, and cultural issues with their signature blend of insight and humor. The hour spans heavy-hitting topics—ranging from the origins of COVID-19, distrust in US federal health bureaucracy, redistricting in Florida, racial politics in the media, Cuba policy, and the retrials of infamous criminal cases like Alex Murdaugh’s. The episode includes an interview with Rep. Byron Donalds, the leading candidate for governor of Florida, and a discussion of the cultural phenomenon around true crime media.
Timestamps: 02:19 – 13:42
Timestamps: 15:18 – 18:17
Timestamps: 25:00 – 27:59
Guest: Byron Donalds (Rep., FL)
Timestamps: 27:59 – 30:01
Timestamps: 30:01 – 35:55
Timestamps: 34:40 – 35:55
Timestamps: 41:51 – 46:08
Timestamps: 22:34 – 24:54
| Time | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|----------------|-------| | 03:34 | Clay Travis | "The most likely outcome is it leaked and then they covered it up. And Fauci completely panicked because he knew American tax dollars had been used to help fund the gain of function research." | | 13:43 | Buck Sexton | "Fauci was clearly a partisan actor who at the first opportunity started to undermine and eventually betray Donald Trump." | | 15:48 | Clay Travis | "There’s no one, I think, with a functional brain that believes that Joe Biden got 81 million legal votes at this point." | | 27:18 | Byron Donalds | "Only when Republicans say, okay, enough’s enough, we’re going to start doing what you do — now they’re upset, and now they’re going to go further. But we’re going to win anyway." | | 28:40 | Byron Donalds | “I find it to really be disgusting … What Joy Reid does is what too many Democrats have been doing for far too long. They play these racial games, these racial politics to use the paths of America to try to keep political power.” | | 31:25 | Byron Donalds | “Government built today and moving forward has to move at the speed of business, not at the speed of government, because time’s money, time is money, and money is expensive." | | 34:20 | Byron Donalds | “I think it’s time for the [Cuban] regime to fall. I do.” | | 44:57 | Buck Sexton | “The true crime podcast audience is truly overwhelming … If [the system] is overturning a Murdoch or a Weinstein conviction, it tells you how fraught high-profile cases can be.” |
The conversation balances irreverent wit and partisan, direct critique. Clay and Buck's signature style brings humor to heated political debates and pop culture, while their interview with Byron Donalds is supportive but pointed. Their language is candid, sometimes hyperbolic, but always accessible, aiming to engage listeners whether they follow politics daily or not.
This episode encapsulates the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show’s appeal: pointed political commentary, cultural skepticism, real-time news reactions, and a dose of humor. The COVID origin debate, federal bureaucracy bashing, redistricting, media bias, and true crime’s cultural power are all unpacked with vigor, culminating in a robust, revealing conversation with Rep. Byron Donalds about Florida’s future and the state of American politics.