Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H2 - The Best of Clay and Buck

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Weekly Review H2: The Best of Clay and Buck

Date: December 27, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Hosts: Clay Travis, Buck Sexton
Guest: Bill O’Reilly

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Episode Overview

This "Best Of" episode is a lively review of major news, cultural trends, and historical curiosities, blending the signature banter and humor of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. The widespan discussion ranges from high-profile art heists in Europe and the economics of weddings and engagement rings, to the legacies of U.S. presidents and conspiracy theories around the death of General Patton. Bill O’Reilly joins for a deep-dive into presidential rankings and historical intrigue. The tone is conversational, irreverent, and grounded in personal opinion and experience.

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Key Discussion Points

1. French Crown Jewels Heist: “Like a Nicolas Cage Movie”

[02:37 – 07:30]

• Clay opens with incredulity over the theft of the French crown jewels, comparing it to a scene from a “Nicolas Cage movie.”
• Clay points out France’s repeated failures: “If you were France…don’t you think you would have said, hey, let’s make sure that none of our priceless artifacts ever get stolen again?” ([03:27])
• The robbery’s boldness is discussed: “They were there for…seven to ten minutes, which is a really long time to be in the most secure museum in your country.” ([04:04])
• Clay and Buck jokingly speculate on potential wealthy buyers or robbery masterminds, invoking “Thomas Crown Affair” and Kobe Bryant’s famous apology diamond.
• Memorable Clay line: “If you get caught with a 20-carat emerald, I just happen to have this that I found…like, you know, the crown jewels. I don’t know what you do with these.” ([05:05-06:56])

2. Engagement Rings, Weddings, and Financial Advice

[07:30 – 15:24; 18:46 – 22:30]

• Spirited debate on the size and value of engagement rings, the rise of lab-created diamonds, and spending for weddings:
  • Buck: “Do not go into debt for diamonds, for vacations, or for anything that, you know…” ([10:33])
  • Clay: “If the girl is going to be upset about the size of the ring, you need to run in the other direction.” ([21:37])
  • Both hosts advise putting money toward a house rather than lavish weddings.
• Anecdotes highlight weddings “costing $300,000 and lasting only six months” ([13:42]; Buck).
• Clay emphasizes the importance of credit ratings: “Knowing a guy’s credit rating is almost more valuable than anything else.” ([15:20])
• Listener Ken shares practical advice: giving children a set wedding budget and letting them keep what they don’t spend ([19:14]). “Boy, did they change their tune and start cutting back on costs. And they kept the balance for payment on a house.” (Ken, [19:44])

3. Bill O’Reilly: Presidential Legacies

[22:30 – 30:52]

• Clay frames Trump as “the most consequential figure of the 21st century,” just behind Reagan.
• O’Reilly recounts conversations with Trump about presidential rankings:
  • “He’s never going to be number one. Abraham Lincoln will always be the best president…” (O’Reilly, [25:08])
  • “You’re in the top ten right now, and you’re the hardest-working president of all time. No president has ever approached the work ethic of Donald Trump. And it’s not even close.” ([25:08])
  • Critique of Biden: “In four years, Joe Biden did not solve one problem in this country, not one…Biden’s number two [worst].” ([26:18])
• Sharp humor on Whoopi Goldberg’s political opinions: “We have to take Whoopi Goldberg seriously because she was in a movie called Ghost where she could see everything…” (O’Reilly, [23:42])
• Buck interjects with light sarcasm regarding Hunter Biden’s legal issues ([27:04]).

4. The Economics of Affordability and Presidential Tours

[28:15 – 30:52]

• O’Reilly describes Trump calling to “yell at me for ten minutes” regarding affordability impacting elections, referencing midterm losses and the importance of addressing economic concerns:
  • “Insurance costs are killing working Americans, killing them. Health insurance, car insurance, house insurance.” (O’Reilly, [29:44])
  • “All he has to do is go back to 2018 midterms. He got whacked. Trump got whacked and Obama got whacked. And midterms are very difficult to hold power.” ([28:58])
• O’Reilly: “The economy is in pretty good shape. Stock market’s good, 401k people, retirement plan people prospering; you can get a job if you want it. Wages are up. Bacon is up…” ([29:30])

5. The Death of General Patton: Accident or Soviet Plot?

[30:52 – 41:22]

• Clay and Buck revisit a previous caller’s question about Patton’s death, leading to O’Reilly outlining the mystery and his book “Killing Patton”:
  • “Many very strange things happened to George Patton. None of them added up. He should not have died in that hospital in Luxembourg.” (O’Reilly, [31:20])
  • Discusses Soviet motivation to assassinate Patton (“Stalin, Soviet Union. And they had access because they were our allies…” [31:35])
  • The only resolution is to exhume Patton’s body and test for poison ([33:06]).
• A subsequent caller claims his father was Patton’s driver, insisting there’s “no conspiracy,” but admits “Patton was starting to do a lot better, and then he died just all of a sudden.” ([37:49, 38:37])
• O’Reilly: “I’m not saying that Patton was murdered because I cannot prove it. What I am saying is that you could find out if this general was poisoned or not. And nobody apparently wants to do that.” ([39:13])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Clay Travis on French museum security:
  “If you, if you were France and you had had previously the Mona Lisa stolen out of the same museum a hundred years ago, don’t you think you would have said, hey, let’s make sure that none of our priceless artifacts ever get stolen again?” ([03:27])

• Buck Sexton’s advice to men:
  “Do not go into debt for diamonds, for vacations, or for anything that… you know.” ([10:33])

• Clay Travis on wedding economics:
  “Way less of a wedding, way less of a ring, and use money to try and buy a place, like somewhere to live for you.” ([11:33])

• Bill O’Reilly on Trump’s work ethic:
  “You’re the hardest-working president of all time. No president has ever approached the work ethic of Donald Trump. And it’s not even close.” ([25:08])

• Bill O’Reilly on Patton:
  “Many very strange things happened to George Patton… None of them added up. He should not have died in that hospital in Luxembourg.” ([31:20])

• Listener Ken’s practical dad move:
  “…anything that’s left over you can keep and boy, did they change their tune and start cutting back on costs. And they kept the balance for payment on a house.” (Ken, [19:44])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 02:37: Clay & Buck discuss the French crown jewels heist.
• 07:30 – 15:24: Engagement rings, lab diamonds, wedding spending.
• 18:46: Listeners call in with wedding financing stories.
• 22:30: Bill O’Reilly joins; presidential legacies, Trump vs. Lincoln, Biden’s ranking.
• 30:52: O’Reilly on Trump’s affordability tour and midterm risks.
• 31:11: Discussion of General Patton’s death; O’Reilly’s investigative take.
• 37:49: Caller claims his father was Patton’s driver.
• 41:22: O’Reilly closes with book recommendations and a Trump anecdote.

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Tone and Style

• Conversational and spirited, with playful banter and sarcasm.
• Direct, with hosts and guest not afraid to share blunt opinions.
• Engaging personal stories and anecdotes from both the hosts and listeners.
• O’Reilly’s contributions are a mix of humor, historical gravitas, and self-promotion.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a mix of humor and serious reflection, covering everything from art heists to personal finance and presidential history. Clay and Buck’s rapport shines as they offer practical advice, comic relief, and cultural commentary. Bill O’Reilly provides authoritative insight on presidential history and World War II intrigue. If you enjoy topical, unfiltered discussion with a dose of wit and history, this “Best Of” is a can’t-miss.

Transcript

[Buck Sexton]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Now you can stream your favorite live.

[Clay Travis]

Sports so you can be there live for the biggest moments.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Touchdown and catch.

[Clay Travis]

History in the making. Fox 1 We live for live streaming now.

[Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000.

[Bill O'Reilly]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Clay Travis]

Pressure is coming down.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th.

[Clay Travis]

Watch the trailer on trainergames.com did you.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

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[Clay Travis]

Clay Travis with the Clay and Buck show wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[Buck Sexton]

Buck Sexton here the entire Clay and Buck show wish you and your family a warm Christmas season and a joy joyful New Year. Thank you for listening.

[Clay Travis]

This is the best of with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Everybody, by the way is reacting. Everybody thinks it's as crazy as you and I do Buck, it's an embarrassment to France that they could steal the crown jewels. If somebody could go in and steal. This sounds like a Nicholas Cage movie because it is the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, I would say, yeah, we really blew it here. I would guess that's probably the top thing that could be stolen in America. The French crown jewels just being stolen is embarrassing. As part of all my reading about the French crown jewels being stolen, I forgot, you know, they stole the Mona Lisa in the early 1900s. So if you, if you were France and you had had previously the Mona Lisa stolen out of the same museum a hundred years ago, don't you think you would have said, hey, let's make sure that none of our priceless artifacts ever get stolen again. And yet France somehow allowed this to occur. And, and to your point, Buck, it was the middle of the day, they just pulled in a lift, they went in through the second floor window. They were there for, I've seen different reports, seven to 10 minutes, which is a really long time to be in the most secure museum in your country. It should be. And then they left on motorcycles and now they have no idea where they are. And you mentioned, you know, it's hard to sell these and I think that's probably true. But my expert knowledge from the very high end television show Outer Banks, one possibility would be that they just melt this down for the jewels. But that doesn't seem like such a good move because the problem plays historical value.

[Buck Sexton]

You, you can't, you can't melt the jewel. These are diamonds and emeralds, so you're not going to melt those down, right? You got to keep them whole. Can you, do you melt diamonds?

[Clay Travis]

I don't think you can melt. Well, I think you melt the gold and then you isolate all of the diamonds for the value.

[Buck Sexton]

But these diamonds and these emeralds are going to be so big that like you're not, you're not going to go on the, on the open market. You're like, hey, I just happen to have this 20 carat emerald that I found. You know, I just feel like I.

[Clay Travis]

Am simultaneously impressed by the chutzpah of the robbers because I mean, they decided we're going to steal the French crown jewels and they managed to do it. I would imagine that they have been preparing for this for some time. Although the report is they dropped one of the most valuable assets like the, one of the crowns, I think, or something. And so it was left behind and damaged. But I wonder, do you think this is some insanely wealthy person who funds this? Because what is the motivation here other than embarrassing the French government? Because I can't imagine that it pays actually that well. Unless there's some super rich billionaire who just decided he had to have the Empress's. The Empress's necklace. Right.

[Buck Sexton]

It's like you're going all Thomas Crown affair. Like maybe there's somebody out there who's.

[Clay Travis]

Just so bored with his life, he's.

[Buck Sexton]

Like, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to steal the French crown jewels out of the Louvre. So I don't know, I wonder if some Middle Eastern sheikh or something that's.

[Clay Travis]

Kind of my thought wonder wants so.

[Buck Sexton]

Badly to have the French crown jewels in his. In his safe that he would. But that, that's.

[Clay Travis]

I got it running.

[Buck Sexton]

You're running high risks here.

[Clay Travis]

If that's true, it's not the, you know, Middle Eastern ruler.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah. Also just there's more fun to like go buy yourself a European soccer team or something. You know what I mean? Do what all the other super rich foreign guys do. I mean, you know, the crown jewels. I don't know what you do with these.

[Clay Travis]

My thought is if it's true that it was some Middle Eastern sheikh or something that says, hey, go get the, the Empress Josephine's, you know, necklace. This is kind of the Middle Eastern sheikh equivalent of when Kobe bought his wife the $12 million ring after he got caught cheating on her. Like one of those Middle Eastern sheiks did something really bad. And he's like, she's like, the only way I'll stay with you is if you get me the Empress Josephine's necklace. And he's like, all right, I guess we got to get the Empress Josephine's necklace. Right? Like, do you remember Kobe when he got caught? Actually wasn't.

[Buck Sexton]

That was after the woman, the woman accused him of raping her.

[Clay Travis]

Yes, right. A forcible rape. And his wife stayed with him after the rape accusation. But they had a press conference and she showed up with a diamond that was like a 20 carat. 20. Somebody look up how big the diamond?

[Buck Sexton]

I think it was like four carats. Clay. I don't think it was.

[Clay Travis]

I think it was like 20 carats.

[Buck Sexton]

Is like a, is like a football.

[Clay Travis]

I think she basically showed up with a, with a flashlight sized diamond. I mean like it blinded everyone. At the press conference. They were like, why did you decide to stay with Kobe? And she like raised her hand and four people lost their eyesight when they caught the reflection from the diamond. Eight.

[Buck Sexton]

It was Eight. So we kind of split the difference between us.

[Clay Travis]

I said four.

[Buck Sexton]

You said 20 is eight, Clay. A 20. A 20 carat ring would be like.

[Clay Travis]

A baseball that's too big. An 8 carat ring is a ridiculous ring. And this was pre. All the fake diamonds, right? Like the diamond industry has to.

[Buck Sexton]

Hold on a second, hold on a second. They're not fake diamonds you're talking about necessarily. There are such things as fake diamonds. You're talking about lab diamonds.

[Clay Travis]

Correct.

[Buck Sexton]

And I know some people in the jewel business and they're real diamonds. They're just made under laboratory conditions.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, oh, yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Much less expensive than natural diamonds. And no one's hands get chopped off in Africa by the warlords who are trying to mine them. You know the blood diamond stuff.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. No, it's basically destroyed the diamond industry because they're able to produce these synthetic diamonds, I think is the technical term that instead of fake, that people to a large extent can't tell the difference. I believe lab diamonds is synthetic. Is that a right word too? I don't know. By the way, that's probably accurate.

[Buck Sexton]

But I'm just saying that they're usually.

[Clay Travis]

Lab diamonds is how they're lab grown diamonds. I think I remember this when I.

[Buck Sexton]

Was buying Carrie her engagement ring and people were. I did not go lab. I probably should have gone lab because that was. I told her this. The most expensive thing I ever bought in my life ever, because I didn't own a home. Was. Was my wife's engagement room.

[Clay Travis]

Well, this is also where you didn't get married till after you already made money. See, I didn't have any money, I don't think. By the way, Kobe's ring was valued at $4 million 20 years ago. So this is probably close to a $10 million ring in Modern. You know, the way that Biden inflation has gone. I didn't have much money when I got engaged. In fact, I think I certainly had a negative next a negative net worth when I got engaged. So it was a lot of money to me, but it wasn't a lot of money in the larger context. You, on the other hand, you get married, you're already. You had to produce a good ring because you got real money now.

[Buck Sexton]

So. Well, they do this thing of three months of salary. That's crazy. Which is insane. But guys, all right, I'm gonna tell you something, right? For all the gu. We don't have a lot of unmarried guys listening who are still want to get married. We have some. But you know, I think a lot We. We specialize. Our audience is overwhelmingly going to be people who are married or have been married.

[Clay Travis]

Right. I think that's true.

[Buck Sexton]

We don't have a lot of guys in their 20s and 30s in particular who are, like, looking to get married. But for any of you out there, I'm going to tell you a few things. Do not go into debt for. For diamonds, for vacations, for or for anything that. That. That. You know.

[Clay Travis]

How about weddings? Do not go in debt for weddings or rings.

[Buck Sexton]

This is the next thing I was going to say, because you. You brought up, like, yeah, I'd already had. I'd achieved, you know, a little bit of professional success when Carrie and I got married.

[Clay Travis]

And.

[Buck Sexton]

And we. I mean, I'll tell you, like, our. Our wedding cost less than. It basically costs like the national average, but we're doing it in New York City and Miami beach cost less than a third of what the average wedding would cost. Because I don't understand in those places because, you know, why are people spending all this money on this stuff? I think this is crazy, the pressure you get. You know, you shouldn't have to get Napoleon's Empress Josephine crown jewels for a lady to love you. You know what I mean?

[Clay Travis]

This is.

[Buck Sexton]

Come on, now.

[Clay Travis]

No, it's totally true. Look, I would tell everybody out there, and I know there's a lot of dads and moms nodding along right now. I would. I would encourage you have way less of a wedding, way less of a ring, and use money to try and buy a place, like somewhere to live for you. Put that into the house fund instead. I'm going to tell my kids this. I don't even know what the rules are. Now. I've got three boys. It used to be that you're not paying.

[Buck Sexton]

You're not paying for any wedding.

[Clay Travis]

By the way, technically, I'm paying for all the weddings. I bet that's probably. That's pro. That's probably. I'm going to end up paying for a lot of the weddings, but I'm telling my boys, hey, you should.

[Buck Sexton]

They're going to go to your new house and 30A and be like, you know what, Clay? I'm going to let you. I'm the father of the bride here, but I'm going to let you pay for the wedding, buddy. I think I can see Mexico from here.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, I think. Yeah, you can almost see Mexico. You get up there pretty high. You know what I've learned, Buck? Rooftop pool there. The bugs don't get that high. It's a problem. I didn't know. Like, the, the bugs get in the pool when you're down low. The higher up in the sky you go, the bugs. Bugs don't fly that high. But it's something that I've learned. There's no bugs in the pool. The high. Like, if you got a high level pool, there's no bugs. It's like everything gets better, but I'm going to end up paying. But I'm going to tell my kids now. I've already talked to them. Hey, weddings are great. It's fun to celebrate them. But I will. I would rather help give you the money that I would spend on the wedding to be in part of your house fund, which actually benefits you and as a good investment. Then just throw a crazy extravagant wedding, which, by the way, just to be fair, a lot of weddings don't last. A lot of marriages don't last that long.

[Buck Sexton]

All right, well, let's just, let's not get too.

[Clay Travis]

Imagine if you were a dad and a mom and you spent 100k on a wedding, and 2 years later your kids are getting divorced. I would want a refund on my 100k.

[Buck Sexton]

I was a. I was a plus one to a. I was a plus one to a very extravagant wedding in Long island that lasted they. They were married six months. So I've. I've.

[Clay Travis]

What do you think the wedding cost?

[Buck Sexton]

300 grand, probably.

[Clay Travis]

So imagine. I mean, this is insane. Imagine that you. And. And not even for the people who throw it on. I think you should have to return the gifts and get your money back. You only last six months. I mean, whatever wedding register you got, like, why. Why should you not get your money back on the gift, too?

[Buck Sexton]

But I'll just tell you, for all the. For the guys out there, if you, if you give the ring and you get any sense or, you know, you say, will you marry me? You get any sense that the ring itself is some kind of issue and.

[Clay Travis]

Or, yeah, you need to hear via.

[Buck Sexton]

The grapevine that, like the, like, the answer is a yes, but the ring is disappointing. Don't do it, boys.

[Clay Travis]

You need to do it.

[Buck Sexton]

Run. It's not good. Really? Yep. You need to know. You need to know. And I wonder if some of the ladies are going to weigh in on this one. They know. They know we've. We've got. We got a lot of wise ladies who listen in here and they know.

[Clay Travis]

I feel the same way on the ring. Would you rather have an expensive ring or a husband who is going to be thinking about the long range future here and he's trying to think of a place to buy. He wants to start a house fund. I've said this before, I do think it's funny. I I for girls out there, if you got daughters, if you got granddaughters, knowing a guy's credit rating, I think is almost more valuable than anything else. I'm talking about if you're getting married to a guy who's 28 or 32 or 34, you know, in that range, does he have a decent credit rating? That's where I that's what I would want to know. The job matters, but also is he capable of understanding basic finance such that his credit rating is going to be able to help get you a mortgage? That's what I'd want to know. If I was a chick, I'd be like, okay, it's great, you know, you're six foot, you got a decent salary. What's your credit rating?

[Buck Sexton]

Clay is what we would call a hopeless romantic. So there you go. He's like, hey baby, what's your credit rating?

[Clay Travis]

I want to know. I Want to know.

[Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000.

[Bill O'Reilly]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Clay Travis]

Pressure is coming down.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Trainer games on Prime Video January 8th.

[Clay Travis]

Watch the trailer on trainergames.com did you know?

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice top laptop brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com iheart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

[Announcer]

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Max support 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 EFTs 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 try transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA 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 investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures A new year.

[Announcer]

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[Buck Sexton]

Buck Sexton here and the entire Clay and Buck show. Wish you and your family a warm Christmas season and a joyful new year.

[Clay Travis]

You're listening to the Best of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome back into Clay and Buck Crockett Coffee, my friends. Go sign up. Subscribe Great to switch to Crockett for this fall season and you will love it. And you'll also be getting some exclusives on gear, on books, on all kinds of things. When you subscribe, go to crockettcoffee.com 10% of our profits goes to Tunnel the Towers Foundation. Ken in Michigan wants to talk about wedding stuff. Ken by all means sir.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Hey, love listening to you guys. When my two daughters got married, when they were planning their wedding, my wife and I sat down with them and our potential son in law and negotiated a fair, a nice but fair wedding cost. And when we got done I said okay, you're gonna get half the money up front. You get the other half on your wedding day and anything that's left over you can keep and boy, did they change their tune and start cutting back on costs. And they kept the balance for payment on a house.

[Clay Travis]

I love this. I love this advice. I mean, if you got rational kids that are getting married out there, if you're the kid that is listening to us right now, who is going to get married one day, financial issues, going to sound like an old man now. Often derail marriages more than almost anything. Right. Couples fight over money. There's very strong chance that you and your spouse may have different standards of expenses or understanding of how money should be allocated. And so starting off with something that is a common goal, being able to build a home and not starting off in debt, My goodness. I just. The choices that people make. Can you imagine Buck getting married and owing 50k to help pay off your wedding? I would.

[Buck Sexton]

Not worth it. Guys, we're here. We're here to help you out with this. Not worth it. You'd have a night. My. My actual wedding, we had 25 people.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

My actual wedding, we had 25 people. Basic. I think that was the number. Carrie might correct me. She would know better than me. It was something like that and we loved it. It was perfect. And everyone had a great time. So, you know, it was in the church, it was our families, and that was it. And that was all we needed. Now we threw a big party. But when you're just throwing a party without all the wedding stuff, you know, Clay, you came to that. Yeah, that's. We had 180 people at a party, but the expense wasn't that much because it was a three hour party.

[Clay Travis]

That's right.

[Buck Sexton]

It's not. The thing with weddings is you get into all this other stuff and it gets all.

[Clay Travis]

Well, they also play up on everybody's insecurity by saying, well, you could choose not to do this, but most people do, you know. And look, if you are fortunate enough to have the money as a dad or mom and you want to throw a big party, that's fine. You can spend money however you want it. Exactly.

[Buck Sexton]

Anyone who has the money to burn. We're not telling you what to do with that. I'm just saying it's not worth it. To go into debt.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

Which people do. Which is bonkers. It's like going into debt for a vacation. How do you enjoy your vacation when you're running up a $20,000 credit card debt on it? It's nuts.

[Clay Travis]

It's nuts. And again, I would echo what Buck said. If the girl is going to be upset about the size of the ring you need to run in the other direction.

[Buck Sexton]

Not going to get, it's not going to get better, guys. It's not going to get better.

[Clay Travis]

And by the way, maybe you end up having success in life and you want to give your wife a bigger ring somewhere down as a testament to the success you've had together. I think that's a cool idea.

[Buck Sexton]

But I have a deal with Carrie because, you know, she, she quit her job to take care of Speed and to, you know, run the household. I can get her gifts and things for Christmas, like, you know, things like a little jewelry and stuff like that. But she's like, well, if I get you a gift, isn't it just with your money? And I'm like, yes. That's why don't do it. Just keep being a great wife. And I mean it. You know, don't, don't get me a Rolex. I don't need a Rolex. I don't even want to wear a fancy watch. I'm fine.

[Clay Travis]

I only shop at Costco, so I don't even know what I'd want. You're enjoying the best of program with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. We are joined now by Bill O'Reilly. You can find him certainly all over the Internet [e-mail] he's got regular articles there. He is a best selling author who has got one bestseller after another. And we were just actually talking about Whoopi Goldberg. Said, Bill, that Trump will just have no legacy whatsoever and he will vanish on the idiot show the View that she enjoys appearing on. And Buck and I both feel like Trump is definitely the most consequential figure of the 21st century. And Bill, I said I would put Trump right now behind only Reagan in my life as the best president. Now, you're a little bit older than me, but I was born in the last year of Jimmy Carter's presidency. You're a history guy, though. Where would you put Trump and how do you assess Biden since we know Biden's 10 years over? How do you think history views this era, those guys?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, first of all, we have to take Whoopi Goldberg seriously because she was in a movie called Ghost where she could see everything that happened. So I'm sure that carried over to her real life. And we know she has a PhD in history and political science, a combination which is extraordinary. So we can't just dismiss Ms. Goldberg out of hand. I'm being, of course, facetious. I read a book called Confronting the Presidents, which is right behind Confronting Evil, which is out now, we twinned them up. By the way, you can get both books on Billorilly.com for a very fine price. Now, every time I see President Trump, and the last time was five days ago in the White House, so he spent 40 minutes with him. He's asking me the same question that you just asked me. So what's my legacy? Am I number one yet? And, you know, I. I can't be blunt. He's never going to be number one. Abraham Lincoln will always be the best president the United States.

[Clay Travis]

So hold up. The President. You're in the Oval Office. This is, this is a great scene. You're in the Oval Office with the President, and the president, who trusts your historical acumen, is saying, hey, Bill, how do you rank? This is very, very funny. So he's asking you directly, hey, where do I rank right now? And you told him, I mean, I love this. You told him what exactly?

[Bill O'Reilly]

I told him that, you know, he's going, I should be number one. That's the same anymix. I said, you'll never be number one. You know me. I mean, I don't pander to anybody. I said, you're never going to be number one. Because Lincoln was so extraordinary and held the Union together when few other presidents would have been able to do that. But you're in the top 10 right now, and you're the hardest working president of all time. No president has ever approached the work ethic of Donald Trump. And it's not even close. There's not even a close second to that. And I said, but a lot of your policies are yet to be known as far as their effectiveness is concerned. You got the border in your pocket. Okay? And you also have accomplishments because you followed the second worst president in our history, Joe Biden. Only James Buchanan, who led up to Lincoln and who was an abject coward and allowed the south to arm itself for four years. Preparation of the war of rebellion. And Buchanan did nothing, knew it, was too afraid to do anything about it. Worst president ever. Biden's number two. Why? Because in four years, Joe Biden did not solve one problem in this country, not one. And all my liberal friends who voted for him and Kamala Harris, when I say to them very politely, because I don't get angry about political differences, that's foolish. When I say, all right, give me one thing that he did.

[Buck Sexton]

Joe. I'm sorry, Bill, I got to jump in real quick. You're leaving out that President Biden solved Hunter's legal issues, which, to be Fair. He swooped in on that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay, well, I'll, I'll debate you on that anytime you want, but they, the people who voted for him cannot come up with one.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, well, they certainly don't care that Hunter got a pardon or if they do, I think they don't like it.

[Clay Travis]

But you're right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

If it were Donald Trump Jr. President Trump would have done the same thing. So I'm an honest guy.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Bill O'Reilly]

All right. So Trump has.

[Buck Sexton]

I was kidding about the pardon thing. I'm not, I'm not trying to divert you from what you're saying. He clearly is a terrible president who didn't managed to solve much of anything. But I also wanted to ask you, Bill, if I could. The president, the current president, who you say is excellent, not number one, he probably was a little miffed at that, but that's ok. He's an excellent president. He's going on a affordability tour of sorts, going to eastern Pennsylvania, because I think there's a recognition even in this White House that despite the excellent policies, there's frustration with the economy. On affordability, do you think Trump's making the right move here by going, do you think that this is something that the White House can successfully address so we don't lose the control of a house in the midterms?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, on the night before Thanksgiving, I was at the Islander hockey game and the puck was about to drop, and I got a phone call from President Trump right at the game. Now, when a president calls you, you got to take the call. He can't go to voicemail. All right? So I got a private office, the owner of the team is a friend of mine, and President Trump can proceed to yell at me for 10 minutes, all right. Which is not unusual. And when he gets going, you can't interrupt. Essence of the disenchantment with O'Reilly was that I was reporting that the affordability situation could very much hurt him because it all he has to do is go back to 2018 midterms. He got whacked. Trump got whacked and Obama got whacked. And midterms are very difficult to hold power. And the press is pounding every second. Affordability, affordability, affordability. Now, the stats are not bad for Trump. They're not, in fact, on the no Spin news tonight. I'll lay them all out for you. But if you have a specific stat you want, I'll give it to you. Now, the economy is in pretty good shape. Stock market's good, 401k people, retirement plan people prospering you can get a job if you want it. Wages are up. Bacon is up. If you like bacon, you're paying more for bacon. Okay? But a whole number of other foods are down. So this is a contrived thing with one exception. Insurance costs are killing working Americans, killing them. Health insurance, car insurance, house insurance. After President Trump got through yelling at me, I said, all right, it's my job to report what's happening, Mr. President, of course you're not going to like some of it, but I'm fair. This is what you have to do. You got to get out there and you got to tell people in 26, here's what we're going to do to bring down these prices. Very specifically so I think he followed my advice, but I'm sure he got that advice from other people as well. I'm not taking credit for it. And he's out in Pennsylvania tonight.

[Clay Travis]

Bill, this is a little bit of a pivot, but the last time we had you on, we had a caller who wanted us to ask you about Patton's death and whether you bought into, and I know you wrote about the death of Patton in your killing series, what you thought about his death.

[Buck Sexton]

He wrote a book killing Patton.

[Clay Travis]

In fact, whether what your take is on that death and what occurred.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay, first of all, you get all the books. And this is a shameless plug, but you guys are nice. You can get all 13 killing books in the two confronting books in one package on billoriley.com which will save you hundreds of dollars in Christmas gift expenses because people want these books. Okay? So you get 15, you dole them out. You add up the money that you spent on that as opposed to what you would spend on 15 individual gifts. You're way ahead. Billo reilly.com killing Patton. We walked through the whole career of the best American general in World War II, second best in history next to John Pershing. Pershing was the best. Okay? Patton was second at the end of his life. Many very strange things happened to George Patton. None of them added up. He should not have died in that hospital in Luxembourg. So a lot of people, including me, suspect that he was murdered. Who would want to murder him? Russia, Stalin, Soviet Union. And they had access because you remember they were our allies in World War II because Patton wanted to fight them. He did not want to stop because he knew that the Soviet Union was going to be replace Hitler and the Nazis as our main enemy.

[Clay Travis]

So when you say he was killed, sorry to cut you off. Do you mean in the, oh, poisoned in the wake of the car accident while he was recovering.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay, poisoned in the hospital and the car accident itself did not make any sense and we trace it in killing Pat, you can it did not make any sense. So anyway that I'm not a conspiracy guy. You guys know that I don't deal with that. I am a reporter and what I lay out is 100% accurate. The only resolution to this is to exhume the general's body which is in Europe and test. They did that for Zachary Taylor. Zachary Taylor got that treatment. Then they won't do it for Patton.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, we have a caller.

[Announcer]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

This is where mindset comes in.

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[Clay Travis]

Pressure is coming down.

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[Clay Travis]

Watch the trailer on trainergames.com did you.

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Max support 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 EFTs 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 try transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member finra 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 investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures A new year.

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[Clay Travis]

Clay Travis with the Clay and Buck show wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. You're listening to the Best of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. We are joined now by Bill O'Reilly. You can find him certainly all over the Internet [e-mail] he's got regular articles there. He is a best selling author who has got one bestseller after another.

[Buck Sexton]

Bill, we had a caller who called in who said, who claimed that his father was the driver for the car when Patton was in that accident you mentioned. Just wanted you to hear this. This is 31.

[Clay Travis]

You say your dad was driving the car when Patton was killed, when he died in the car accident?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yes, he was.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, well, what did your dad tell you about that?

[Bill O'Reilly]

He actually died nine days later. He was driving a 38 Cadillac limo and Patton was sitting in the back on the edge of the seat as usual, and they were waiting for a train to pass. And he passed, he pulled away, got up to about 25 miles an hour and there was a personnel carrier about a quarter mile down the road that pulled out at the same time. And when they got to each other, the personnel carrier turned right into the Cadillac and Patton flew forward, hit his forehead on the partition between the front, the back, scalped his Scalp himself and broke his neck.

[Clay Travis]

And so from your perspective, your dad told you there is no conspiracy. There is for people out there that have bought not believe that this was a traffic accident and it was a freak accident in some way based on the speed the Patton died.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, my dad never talked about any conspiracies about it or anything like that. But I mean there's three drunk ti's that all disappeared. You know, they were in the personnel carrier and you know, Patton was starting to do a lot better and then he died just all of a sudden.

[Buck Sexton]

Phil, take it away. What do you make of it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Man? I believe that his father was the driver. The three soldiers he cited that. That is unbelievable evidence. I mean when you get a general, a four star dying in this kind of a circumstance, you would interview everybody and nothing was done. Nothing was done. Washington feared Patton. That would be Harry Truman, the Democratic Party, because Patton was going to run for president. He was going to come back to the United States and run just as Eisenhower did. And Eisenhower of course won. And so there were a lot of reasons that Patton had a lot of enemies. But the big enemy was Stalin and Stalin had access. So I'm not saying that Patton was murdered because I cannot prove it. What I am saying is that you could find out if this general was poisoned or not. And nobody is apparently wants to do that.

[Buck Sexton]

So that's the, but the, the, the point about he had a turn for the worse in the hospital. I mean that was, it's interesting that he was, it seemed he was getting better then all of a sudden. And so you're saying that all of a sudden to you is very suspicious. You'd like to get to the bottom.

[Clay Travis]

Of it or people to get to.

[Buck Sexton]

The bottom of it with the testing of Patton's remains.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah. If you read Killing Patton, anybody very interested in this subject, should we really walk through it in a non hysterical way? So we have all the eyewitness reports in there and you know, in my style, my style is I'm not boring you. I am moving this story along but I'm not a guy who ordinarily buys into this stuff. But here you had motive, you had accessibility, you had enemies both abroad and at home. And George is a tough guy. He was a big strong guy and it just doesn't stack.

[Clay Travis]

Bill, thank you for hanging out with us here. Good Christmas gift as you said. Bill O'Reilly.com for not only killing Patton but many of the other books in the series as well.

[Buck Sexton]

Get the whole series. It's going to get you a great deal.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Bill O'Reilly.com well, I appreciate you having me on guys all year. I wish you the best on the holiday season. One just a footnote real quick. I know you got to hit a break. President Trump asked me to give him Confronting Evil specifically for the chapter on Putin because we trace what has happened to Putin. He's not the same guy that Trump was dealing with in the first term. And the President wrote me a really nice note after he read Confronting Evil. So I just want you people to know that that is out there.

[Clay Travis]

That's outstanding. Thank you for the background stories. We'll talk to you again probably after the first of the New Year. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to you.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay guys, you too. Have fun. Thank you.

[Announcer]

10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave leave here with an IFIT contract worth $250,000.

[Bill O'Reilly]

This is where mindset comes in.

[Announcer]

Someone will be eliminated.

[Clay Travis]

Pressure is coming down.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th.

[Clay Travis]

Watch the trailer on trainergames.com did you.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

Know Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10 upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice top laptop brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com iheart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

[Announcer]

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Max support 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, 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 EFTs 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 SIP 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 investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures ever wish.

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[Bill O'Reilly]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

Guaranteed Human.