Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H3 - FL Lieutenant Gov. Jay Collins

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Weekly Review with FL Lieutenant Gov. Jay Collins

Episode Date: October 25, 2025
Host: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Guest: Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins
Summary Coverage: Middle hour (H3)

Overview

In this lively episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton broadcast from Fort Wayne, Indiana, celebrating a local affiliate’s 100th anniversary and diving into the biggest news stories of the week. The episode’s central focus is a discussion with Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, who shares insights into Florida politics, property taxes, and the state’s rising influence as a conservative beacon. The hosts also debate the latest political scandals and the shifting landscape of American politics, all with their trademark humor and candor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Maine Senate Race and Political Scandal

• [00:22 – 09:52]
  • Scandal Unfolds: Clay recounts a controversy involving Democrat Graham Platner in Maine’s Senate primary—Platner, a former Marine, revealed he had a Nazi "death’s head" tattoo he got while drunk in 2007 and has since covered it up.
  • Party Double Standards: Clay and Buck argue that if a Republican had a similar story, the media reaction and consequences would be far more severe.
  • Cultural References: They parallel the scandal to a scene from "Succession" (TV show) and riff on cancel culture:
    • Buck: “You never got a Nazi tattoo on your chest, right?” (06:12)
  • Identity Politics: Clay discusses the fracturing of the Democratic “identity coalition” and how changes in the political landscape have undermined old strategies.
    • Clay: “The whole idea with opening the borders was that it was going to give Democrats a perpetual win ... has now blown up in their face.” (08:40)

2. Shifting Political Strategies & Media Satire

• [09:52 – 13:33]
  • Term Dilution: Buck observes that accusations like “Nazi” and “fascist” are so common now that they've lost their sting.
    • Buck: “They've desensitized us to claims that people are Nazis or fascists because they say it so often...” (09:52)
  • Attention Economy: The hosts joke that political fame now often comes from saying outrageous things on social media or podcasts.
    • Buck: “Get famous on crazy and then translate that into a movement and into dollars.” (13:17)
  • Democrat Messaging: They mention Jasmine Crockett’s rise via outlandish statements and joke about Gavin Newsom “evolving” away from his prior positions for a presidential run.

3. Interview with FL Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins

• [21:27 – 30:10]
  • Good Governance in Florida
    • Clay opens by lauding Ron DeSantis’s leadership and asks Collins how Floridians can maintain state governance success.
    • Jay Collins: “Say what you mean, mean what you say, follow up with actions. That is a great recipe for good governance.” (22:03)
  • Property Tax Reform
    • Issue Raised: Buck probes Florida’s desire to abolish property taxes on homesteaded properties, arguing true ownership is impossible under perpetual taxation.
      • Buck: “You have to continuously rent [your house] from state and or local government... it's problematic.” (23:34)
    • Jay Collins: Pushes for a ballot initiative to exempt homeowners, stating it’s only “6-8% of county budgets” and solvable without harming services.
      • Collins: “No one's going to cut the cops, no one's going to cut the firefighters, no one's going to cut education... it's doable.” (25:09)
  • In-Migration & Florida’s Conservative Status
    • Clay asks about Florida’s new arrivals fleeing progressive states, especially if NYC elects a “communist” mayor.
    • Jay Collins: “We are the conservative proving grounds of America... I think Florida is a light, right? We are shining on that because we're leading the way.” (26:46)
    • Collins sharply criticizes NYC’s political trajectory, predicting “a caravan” of more Northeast transplants if radical leadership continues.
  • On Gubernatorial Ambitions
    • Buck asks if Jay will run for governor as DeSantis is term-limited.
    • Jay Collins: “We really finalized kind of our approach here and we're chewing on what our decision is going to be. So I would say stay tuned, we'll have some information to share here soonish.” (28:18)
  • What’s Next for DeSantis?
    • Jay Collins: “He’s a conservative juggernaut... there will be a lot of opportunities. Not really sure where he’s going to go, but I’d bring some popcorn and watch.” (29:21)

4. Trump, Shutdown, and Health Care Costs

• [16:39 – 19:25]
  • Trump stands firm on the government shutdown, refusing to negotiate with Democrats unless they “open up the country.”
    • Trump Audio Clip: “I will only meet if they let the country open... people want to go back to work.” (17:29)
  • Critique of health care subsidies: The hosts agree subsidies often drive prices up, making health care more costly for everyone.
    • Clay & Buck: Discuss Jon Stewart’s acknowledgment of this point, but mock his belated realization.

5. Political Satire and Listener Engagement

• [33:21 – 36:49]
  • Hosts rib on political “good looks,” with jokes about Gavin Newsom, Chuck Schumer, and Illinois’s Governor Pritzker.
  • They also mock Joy Behar’s claim she wouldn’t let a Trump supporter save her via the Heimlich:
    • Clay: “I would give Joy Behar the Heimlich... That’s just how much of a gentleman I am.” (35:46)
  • Listeners call in to criticize New York politics ("You people are back-crap crazy…") and the show references New Yorkers fleeing to Florida and the pitfalls of local political extremism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Say what you mean, mean what you say, follow up with actions. That is a great recipe for good governance.”
  — Jay Collins, on DeSantis and Florida’s political ethos (22:03)

• “The whole idea with opening the borders was that it was going to give Democrats a perpetual win ... [but] has now blown up in their face.”
  — Clay Travis on the collapse of the Democrats’ identity politics strategy (08:40)

• “They've desensitized us to claims that people are Nazis or fascists because they say it so often...”
  — Buck Sexton on the overuse and dilution of serious accusations (09:52)

• “Get famous on crazy and then translate that into a movement and into dollars.”
  — Buck Sexton on modern political/media tactics (13:17)

• “We are the conservative proving grounds of America. That's who we are ... I think Florida is a light.”
  — Jay Collins on Florida’s outsized role in national politics (26:46)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:22 – Maine’s Senate race and Nazi tattoo scandal discussion
• 03:11 – Jay Collins interjects initial skepticism about the scandal’s reality
• 08:40 – Identity politics coalition collapse
• 09:52 – “Nazi” and “fascist” labels lose meaning
• 13:17 – Fame and outrageousness in politics/media
• 21:27 – Lt. Gov. Jay Collins interview begins
• 22:03 – Recipe for good governance in Florida
• 23:34 – Debate on true home ownership and property taxes
• 25:09–25:48 – Collins on funding services without property taxes
• 26:46 – Florida as the conservative proving ground, migration from blue states
• 28:18 – Collins addresses possible governor run (“soonish”)
• 29:21 – What’s next for DeSantis?
• 17:29 – Trump shutdown audio; refusal to negotiate
• 35:46 – Clay: “I would give Joy Behar the Heimlich...”
• 36:23 – Listener from Minnesota slams NYC politics

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Tone & Style Notes

The episode features the hosts’ classic sarcastic humor, quick-witted banter, and pointed political commentary. Jay Collins speaks with military directness and practical optimism about Florida’s future, contrasting with the hosts’ more satirical takedowns of national news and political figures. The energy is lively, occasionally bombastic, and infused with cultural references, sports analogies, and moments of self-deprecation.

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Useful For:

• Catching up on debates over property tax reform and Florida’s political future
• Understanding the political climate in key states (Maine, Texas, Florida, NYC)
• Hearing how political media personalities satirize modern outrage cycles and scandal culture
• Getting Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ inside perspective on Florida’s leadership and upcoming decisions

Transcript

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show podcast. Welcome back in Clay Travis, BUCK SEXTON show we are excited to be coming to you from Fort Wayne, Indiana, 100th anniversary of our affiliate station here.

[Jay Collins]

Whoa, whoa.

[Clay Travis]

You can listen to us on 92.3 FM in this area, 11:90am and we're going to be having a big event to help themselves celebrate when we finish the program today. We've been talking about 13 days away from voters officially deciding in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City who will be leading them going forward. But there's also starting the process and it's becoming a big deal in many of the different states where all of you are listening to us right now for the primaries associated with 2026. And for instance, Texas has got a ton of big elections coming up in March which will be here very soon, about six months from now. And one of the top battleground states of 2026 is going to be Maine. And Susan Collins has been the senator for Maine Republican for a long time. People expected her to lose. If you remember this well, Buck, in 2020 she was seen as a huge underdog, never led in any poll and then won comfortably. Now there are a couple of people running against her. Janet Mills, the current governor, you may remember her in Maine as the person who has been defending boys, being able to play in girls sports and in particular got into an argument at the White House with President Trump over this issue. She now is in the race to try and become the nominee. On the Democrat side, she is running against a guy, Buck, named Graham Platner. And Graham Platner has a series of scandals going on right now. But this is a story that came out yesterday, a little bit after we got done with the show is when I saw it. He is a far left wing candidate and he is 41 years old. He was a Marine. And he says, I'd like to apologize because I got drunk one night. I'm paraphrasing him and decided to get a death's head symbol which is called, I've never even seen this before, a toten cope. I'm not even sure exactly how Tottenkoff I'm not sure how you pronounce this. It is a symbol adopted by Nazi SS units who guarded concentration camps in World War II. He says, My bad, I got drunk one night. I didn't know what it was. He said he got super drunk in 2007 and he chose a terrifying looking skull. He now has had to apologize for his Nazi skull.

[Jay Collins]

I can't believe this is real.

[Clay Travis]

For his Nazi skull tattoo. And he has gone and gotten a new tattoo to cover up the Nazi skull tattoo. Now he also has all these different posts that they caught from his accounts on Reddit that are considered to be offensive. But I can only imagine the campaign staff when they said, hey, people are telling us that you have a Nazi skull tattoo. That's not true. Right?

[Buck Sexton]

That's what you're expecting to get shot down, right? Oh, of course not.

[Clay Travis]

He's like, oh, yeah, sorry. This one time in the Marines, I got drunk and I got a Nazi skull tattoo. This is a tough one, I think, for the people of Maine to deal with. But this is a Democrat and he wants everybody to know that. Now it's been almost 20 years that he had the Nazi skull tattoo. He's not actually a Nazi. And he now has gone and gotten a new tattoo to replace the Nazi skull tattoo. Now the controversy is a bunch of people are saying, this is a direct quote. He's not an idiot. He's a military history buff. This is a direct quote from one of his friends, his former political director, who says, this was a hundred percent intentional. And all of this came out because there were a lot of photos of him where he was evidently a bartender and he would take his shirt off.

[Buck Sexton]

And so he would show off the tattoo. He knew it was a Nazi tattoo.

[Clay Travis]

That's right.

[Buck Sexton]

And where do we go with this now? I.

[Clay Travis]

He is now running against Janet Mills and he wants to run against Susan Collins as the Democrat nominee. I. I just think this is an all timer for the scandal bucket. If there were a Republican, they said about Pete Hegseth that his cross tattoo, the Jerusalem cross, I believe, was actually a Nazi symbol. Can you imagine if there were a Republican running who had had a Nazi chest tattoo since 2007? And he said, oh, I didn't know. I just got drunk one night and what, Accidentally got a Nazi symbol tattoo.

[Buck Sexton]

Funny, because it reminds me of the scene in Succession, a show that you and I both like a lot where who's the guy who's married to Shiv.

[Clay Travis]

What's his name? Tom.

[Buck Sexton]

Tom. Tom Wambskam sits down with the. Now it's supposed to be a Republican, of course, in the show, it's a very left wing show and it's politics. And so everyone who's bad is Republican. But he sits down, this Republican guy, and he's like, have you ever read Mein Kampf? And the guy's like a couple of times. And he's like, a couple of times. I like, first time wasn't really enough for you. And he's just like, a lot of terrible things happen, Tom. You know, millions of Poles died, millions of German soldiers died, millions of Russians. He's like, I think you're missing some from the till there, buddy.

[Donald Trump (audio clip)]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, but it's interesting. Cause this. Now you have a Democrat running who could be having that same conversation, except it's you.

[Advertisement Voice]

You.

[Buck Sexton]

You don't have a. You never got a Nazi tattoo on your chest. Right. You'd be like, well, actually, I kind of did get a Nazi tattoo on my chest.

[Clay Travis]

You in the Democrat Party now to have gotten a Nazi tattoo on your chest? Certainly. I mean, if. If Mamdani can't say, hey, Hamas should put down their weapons. It also reminds me of this, a great line.

[Buck Sexton]

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem were quite close, if you look back at that.

[Clay Travis]

So if you remember the situation in succession, I thought about you when this scene happens. But they're like, what kind of group of people is this? And he was like, it's the kind of group of people where you don't have. I'm paraphrasing. Where you don't have to pretend that you liked Hamilton. Like, it was a big gathering. He's like, how would you describe these people? It's a huge group of people from New York who don't pretend that they like.

[Buck Sexton]

Funny that someone says that. Because I always hated Hamilton and always thought the whole thing was totally the emperor has no clothes. And everyone had to pretend that this was so great. And I stand by that 100%.

[Clay Travis]

I have been arguing for some time that I want to do a country and western version of the Obama administration and have white people play Barack and Michelle Obama. Because race is just a social construct. And it doesn't matter what the race is. Of anyone playing a historical figure and see what the reaction would be in New York City. Because I tend to think a country western version of the Obama administration being played by white people would absolutely drive them all insane. But it would be fun to contrast with Hamilton or Bridget. Was it Bridgerton?

[Buck Sexton]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

Where they do like Pride and Prejudice, except race doesn't matter.

[Buck Sexton]

And it actually matters a lot. It's just you got to have as few white people as possible.

[Clay Travis]

Or the. What's the. What's the Viking? Where they have like a black female Viking and you're supposed.

[Buck Sexton]

Something or other, which is their version of like a lord or an earl. Jarl was a Black woman in. In, you know, 8, 850 AD. Not a lot of that going on actually in the Viking.

[Clay Travis]

Viking, I was going to say it's probably pretty rare, but that would be fun. And it would call into question what I think all of this represents is the rapidly collapsing identity politics coalition that Barack Obama believed that he had built, which was going to be generationally enduring because really, Buck, if you go back and you say, okay, how did this all start? The whole idea with opening the borders was that it was going to give Democrats a perpetual win in all national politics forever.

[Buck Sexton]

Specifically wanted to make the country less white. I mean this was the Democratically. They see this as a political advantage. The fewer white, the fewer white people in America, the stronger the Democrat party becomes.

[Clay Travis]

Which has now blown up in their face because Trump won Hispanic men and nearly 1 Hispanic women in 2024, which was a calculation that Democrats never ever thought could possibly become a reality. And what you are seeing is a lot of people of good sense of all different backgrounds are saying, I'm over this craziness. But I do think the fact that the main Democrat primary has now descended into a discussion about Nazi tattoos on the chest of their top left wing candidate is somewhat representative because people are saying, oh, he's going to have to disavow. My first thought was when I saw this actually is being a Nazi disqualifying for the left. Now I, I think there are some people who are like, you know, maybe we misunderstood Hitler a little bit. I mean, it's crazy, but that's where they are. And when you see all the protests on the college campuses, which mercifully are over, there's a lot of people that support this.

[Buck Sexton]

Democrats have also made, as a, in general, I think made the American people far less sensitive. Or maybe they've desensitized us to claims that people are Nazis or fascists because they say it so often about people who are not that now I think at some level it gets, you know, oh, another person who's being accused but is. He really says he's not. You know, I don't think that this has the same sting that it would have before. They say that Donald Trump, they say the President of the United States is a fascist and they mean a national Socialist fascist. They're not, not, they're not comparing them to Mussolini, they're comparing them to Hitler. And I think that very clearly this is, this is the fallback that they have. This is the, the, the Democrat when there's nothing that they can say other than I Don't like you or I hate you. Fascist is the go to term. Even though they know nothing about fascism, they know nothing about fascist movements. And if anything, the people that claim to be antifa are are among the most fascistic you'd ever find. All dressed alike, punching people in the face for saying things they don't like on the streets. That, that seems like fascism, if you know anything about fascism. But the one thing about Democrats, you have to remember, Clay, or leftists, no understanding of irony whatsoever because they have actually no accountability and no self awareness. So irony goes way over their heads.

[Clay Travis]

So that battle is going on and it is going to be interesting to see who ends up winning a lot of these Democrat primary battles. I don't know, do we have the audio yet or have we been able to track it down? Jasmine Crockett is now saying, oh yeah, that she may enter the Senate race in Texas, which is one of the greatest gifts Republicans could have, because she would win, I think, the Senate nomination for Democrats and then get smoked in the actual race.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, let's, let's just take a moment here. I think that increasingly in politics there are people who realize this is true of podcasting too. You can get a lot of attention by saying crazy things. And then once you've built that audience, you can try to take them in a different direction or you can say, well, I'm not as crazy anymore, but thanks for all the subscribers or thanks for all the donors in politics. Right? So Jasmine Crockett, by saying outlandish things, has become something of a political household name. People know her now that would not have known her before. And as we know, once she gets to the level where people start writing big checks to her and if she's going to be running in a Senate primary, it could be, it could be good politics for her. Up to this point, we might, we'll see, to have been as outlandish as she is because it makes her famous. And fame and politics have never been more intertwined, I think, than they are now, especially given the way that social media amplifies the craziest messages. And like I said, I mean, these.

[Clay Travis]

Days, if somebody was telling me, hey.

[Buck Sexton]

I want to start a podcast, you know, from scratch, and they're like, what do you think I should do? I'd be like, you know, just say the craziest stuff imaginable that will get people interested and don't worry about any of it being true or verifiable until later on. Just say wild stuff. I mean, Donnie, say Abraham Lincoln was actually a chameleon from like a. For, you know, from some planet somewhere else. I mean an actual like lizard chameleon, right? Like say that he was and then.

[Clay Travis]

Say that you have sources that you.

[Buck Sexton]

Can'T reveal and say that you are actually just doing the research that no.

[Clay Travis]

One else is doing.

[Buck Sexton]

You'll build an audience because people be fascinated by this. And then you can be like, yeah, I don't know about that. Let's talk about what you know. Let's talk about the price of oil. Like then you can switch. Same thing is true in politics now get famous on crazy and then translate that into a movement and into dollars.

[Clay Travis]

I don't think there's any doubt. Look, Mamdani is just trying to say now that a lot of the things that he said in the past, he didn't actually mean. Gavin Newsom's entire presidential campaign will be, oh yeah, well I said that, but I've evolved since then. I mean, that's clearly going to be his game plan to try to get elected president is. I don't believe any of the things that I argued for the past decade.

[Buck Sexton]

Basically that insurance buttoned all the way.

[Clay Travis]

Down, which people like me.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what I mean?

[Clay Travis]

Just, he does have a debonair look about him.

[Buck Sexton]

Gavin's just got to wax that chest, make sure he keeps it ready for prime time. All right. With all the traveling that I've been doing, I miss my Cozy Earth sheets. Cozy Earth makes amazing sheets, blankets, clothing, even PJs. I've got cozy Earth sheets on my bed right now at home with my wife and Ginger. Yes, Ginger sleeps in the bed with us. But for the baby, by the way, we have for a little speed we have sheets on his crib too because Cozy Earth makes those. These bamboo sheets from Cozy Earth will transform your sleep.

[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Your bed visit.

[Buck Sexton]

Cozier.

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Donald Trump (audio clip)]

I'd love to meet with them. I just want them to open up the country first. You know, the country is so hot right now and they've never voted against, you know, continuation. They've never voted again. They've never done that. They're doing this because they have Trump derangement syndrome. But I will, I would love to meet, I would like to meet with both of them. But I set one little caveat. I will only meet if they let the country Open that, let the country open. The people want to go back to work, they want to be served, they want to, they need the services of some people and a lot of people need the money, the payroll. So I'll do it. As soon as they open up the.

[Buck Sexton]

Country, I'd like to meet, open up the country. We can have a conversation then. But Trump is not allowing Democrats to, to take the treasury hostage here. And I think he's in the right. I think he's been in the right all along on this. And Democrats, you know, Clay, one thing that they've always counted on is at the end of the day, they've been able to convince people that they are better on health care because they've just created this endless slush fund of taxpayer money that goes into health care while it's getting more expensive and getting worse for everybody all the time. The subsidies issue is actually a big issue and it could be a big issue in the midterms too if people realize how screwed up and expensive and crappy Obamacare exchanges really are based on the way they're set up. Without all this government money that's funneling in on top of what's already there, the Democrats biggest legislative achievement of the last decade is actually a disaster.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, and I actually give credit to Jon Stewart who we played yesterday pointing that out, that when you provide subsidies, you often just drive up the cost of what otherwise.

[Buck Sexton]

But he was making fun of every, he was pushing this stuff though. This is what drives me insane. He should say, I'm sorry everybody, I'm Jon Stewart.

[Clay Travis]

I'm a moron.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm the reason you have Obamacare. I made fun of all the Republicans for wanting grandma to die of cancer.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, no, I'm not saying that he is right now when he was interviewing Bernie Sanders, he was pointing out why these premiums have been skyrocketing and why every human basically is frustrated with their insurance company on a regular basis. Because you have no idea what a market based cost should be for anything and because you can't even figure out, you switch insurance providers, things cost different amounts. The whole insurance industry as it pertains to healthcare is broken. You can stay connected with your aging parents anytime, anywhere with a pair of rapid radio's modern day walkie talkies. They're easy to use. Great additional way to stay connected. You can get a pair, send one off to your parents home, keep one for yourself. They work right out of the box. You press a button, boom. Instant communication nationwide LTE coverage, walkie talkies, 100% private. No contracts, no monthly fees. You get a pure reliable connection. They offer modern convenience with the ease of the old school walkie talkie. Do you remember running around with those GI Joe walkie talkies back in the day? Maybe playing with your neighbors? We've got my fifth grader has a rapid radio walkie talkie. We let him go around in the neighborhood. We can stay in touch with him. But he's too young to have his own cell phone. That can make a lot of sense. Maybe you have elderly family members. Maybe you just want a five day charge in the event of a catastrophe. Get hooked up right now. Rapidradios.com 60% off. That's rapid radios.com we are joined now by Florida's Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, decorated Green Beret, former state senator. He's speaking at the University of Florida Turning Point event tonight. And I know you're the Lieutenant Governor, but there's kind of a job opening going on right now at the University of Florida. When it comes to head coach, I would imagine there'll be a little discussion about that at the turning point of it.

[Jay Collins]

You know, I think there just might be. It's a big deal down in Gainesville. We'll see what happens.

[Clay Travis]

All right. So you are the lieutenant governor. Obviously. We've had Ron DeSantis on this program a ton over the years. He's done a fantastic job. James Utmyer has done a great job as the attorney General. Buck is a resident of the state of Florida. So he is one of your constituents right now. As you look forward to what's coming, what can Floridians do to ensure that they end up in the same good governance universe that they're in right now?

[Jay Collins]

Well, that's a great question. And I'll tell you what, it comes down to a couple things. One, you got to dig in and know who you're voting for. You got to look at track record. It's not just about saying that we're going to get things, saying we're going to do things. You got to get things done. Say what you mean, mean what you say. Follow up with actions. Those are the things that matter. The thing that has made Governor DeSantis who he is, he is man of action. He says it, he means it, he does it, and then he follows up and holds people accountable. That is a great recipe for good governance.

[Buck Sexton]

Lt. Governor Collins, appreciate you being here. And yes, I am a proud new Floridian, although I like to point out that my wife is a born and raised original Floridian. So, you know, I get a little bit of, a little bit of extra authenticity there. Now in South Florida, a Gator grad and her family actually lives in Tallahassee. So I get to spend a fair. I'm one of the few people I know of who doesn't work for the government of Florida, but spends a fair amount of time in Tallahassee and doesn't go to college there. But anyway, on the property tax issue, I want to ask you about this, and I'm asking it because I actually think there's a broader philosophical point here that applies to people all across the country. The notion that you can never really own your home and that you have to continuously rent it from state and or local government, I think is problematic. I think the notion that you can't just own a place and stay there and that you are subject to the, the constant possibility of price hikes, etc. Is, is not where we should be. And I know that Governor DeSantis really wants to get rid of property tax. I know it happens at like the county and local level. Who's standing in the way of this and how can we get this actually done?

[Jay Collins]

Yeah. So I 100% agree with you. The American dream is to own your home and you never really own it if the government can take it from you. So what we want to do is exempt homesteaded properties from property tax. Cut and dried. That's got to be a ballot initiative. You know, we'll run. We're going to push for legislation to be done to run it through there and do all of our math to take care of this. But it's going to have to go on the ballot. People have to show up. They're going to have to check the box, vote yes if they want that to happen. But it's incumbent on us to do a good job of presenting this. The Governor is going to bring out his approach with details here shortly. And when he does, you know, I would love to come back on here and hit his talking points, what he's going to do. But the fact of the matter is this. It's a de minimis amount of the money dedicated that comes to property tax that's dedicated to homesteaded properties between 6 and 8% of most counties budgets. Those are the numbers we're seeing right now. That's solvable, that's achievable to get the government out of your home state.

[Buck Sexton]

This is what's so important. I think, I think, Lieutenant Governor, people hear this and they say, oh, but what about fire and police and like, you know, and what about schools? What you're telling me is no, that can be, that can be funded by other means.

[Jay Collins]

100%. There are ways to make this happen. That's a small amount of your property tax budget that comes from homesteaded properties. No one's going to cut the cops, no one's going to cut the firefighters, no one's going to cut education. That will not happen in Florida. We back those people, we stand by them. We lead the nation in many of those things. So what do you do? We're going to measure a little bit. We're going to go in and fafo as we call it, or doge as the federal government calls it, and clean up our spending in some of these municipalities. We're going to find ways to save via how we purchase and then, you know, we're going to go in and make sure those numbers make sense. It's got to go on the ballot. People got to show up. This is completely doable, I've been told.

[Buck Sexton]

I just said this excites me because it would give us yet another leg up on these fancy Tennesseans who all are on Clay's team here for what? The best new red state to move to, for, for people especially from the Northeast. So, you know, we need to, we need to stay competitive here with Tennessee in the great state of Florida. Go ahead, Clay.

[Clay Travis]

Jay Collins, lieutenant governor of Florida with us right now. Speaking of competitive, when you see that New York City may be poised to elect a communist in Momdani as mayor, do you look around and just expect. We already know that there's been a huge influx of New Yorkers to Florida. Buck is a good example. But there are probably millions of people who live in Florida now that, that had northeastern upper, you know, grew up in the Northeast. Do you look at that and say, well, we got a bunch more coming. Do you pay attention to other states like that and know Florida is seen as a bastion of freedom, man, we're.

[Jay Collins]

The conservative proving grounds of America. That's who we are. America is that shining city on the hill that I think Florida is a light, right? We are shining on that because we're leading the way. We're highlighting what's white in America. The fact of the matter is this, look, I'm a one legged, I'm a God fearing, gun loving, freedom defending, one legged, retired Green Beret, 23 years I worked with the ESU, the NYPD, the NYFD. We buried friends across the globe because of the war. On terror of all the cities in this nation. Why on earth does Mamdani have to be elected in that city? Do we really have to learn this lesson face first? How ridiculous is this? He's a watered down communist. And we gotta learn this in the city that never sleeps in New York City? It's absolutely bonkers. It's wrong. And yeah, you're gonna see a stream of a caravan of people come in fleeing New York just like during COVID because of his horrible leadership. He's gonna gut. You know, there's work to do.

[Buck Sexton]

We're speaking to Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins of Florida. And Lieutenant Governor, as the name implies, you are second in state leadership. Our fantastic Governor Ron DeSantis, who you work very closely with, is unfortunately going to be termed out here. I know they had the no Kings rally. I don't know. DeSantis is king of Florida. Sounds nice to a lot of us, but the rules are the rules. But you, sir, would seem to be in a fantastic position to pick up the scepter and continue the legacy. Can you speak to that? Are you thinking about a governor's run?

[Jay Collins]

Yeah, we're thinking long and hard about this. We've taken a very methodic approach to this. I had kind of a three phased approach. You know, it's a family decision. You got to make sure that my kids and my wife, the things I care about most are straight and ready, that the support structure around that in my local community is prepped and ready. And then it comes down to leadership after who I believe is the goat. Our greatest governor in the state's history. Frankly, probably the greatest governor in our nation's history. He's amazing. He's done an incredible job. Will my approach, my type of leadership be what's best for Florida? It's a we thing, not a me thing. And I'll tell you, we really finalized kind of our approach here and we're chewing on what our decision is going to be. So I would say stay tuned, we'll have some information to share here soonish.

[Buck Sexton]

Soonish, he says.

[Clay Travis]

Okay, what do you think Ron DeSantis is going to do next? He's been obviously an incredibly successful governor. As Buck said, he is term limited out. So come next year, his, his tenure as governor will be over. What do you expect to see him do?

[Jay Collins]

Well, I'll tell you what, the one thing I know about him, he is, he's a conservative juggernaut, right? He is brilliant. He is hard working. No matter what he does, he's going to make a difference because he's going to lead. He knows what matters, he fights for it, and then people get alongside him. You know, there will be a lot of opportunities. Not really sure where he's going to go yet, but I'll tell you, I'd bring some popcorn and watch because he's going to do something pretty amazing, I'm sure.

[Clay Travis]

Well, we wish you well at the University of Florida at the Turning Point event tonight in Gainesville. We know we have a lot of Florida Gator fans listening. I hope at some point they end up with a football coach again, because as a Tennessee fan, I'm not that ecstatic for them to get another football coach. I'm fine with them not having one. But, Lieutenant Governor, we appreciate the time. Good luck at the event tonight. We're glad you're doing it.

[Jay Collins]

Hey, I appreciate y'.

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All.

[Jay Collins]

Thank you. Event's gonna be great. And God bless both of you. Appreciate it.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you, sir. You, too. The number of babies that are at risk of abortion remains very high day in and day out of this country. Now, that's a tragedy, but it's not one that we have to just sit and suffer in silence while it occurs because the people who are working, the good men and women at Preborn clinics nationwide are saving babies, including one right here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In fact, Preborn's nonprofit small headquarters office is based right here in Indiana. Their individual actions and efforts this year have combined to save the lives of more than 67,000 babies. And with your help, they think they can close out this year saving the lives of 70,000 tiny babies. This year alone, the team of people working at Preborn provide pregnant mothers who come into their clinics with support and assistance so that they will see the light and choose life for their precious unborn baby. I've seen it firsthand at the Preborn clinic in the Hialeah community, right near my house in Miami. One way that preborn achieves this process, really a critical way, because it's a first step in the process, is the free ultrasound that they give these moms when they come in. It's not a trick or a gimmick. It's just the honest experience of hearing that baby's heart at no cost to the mom walking in. And then the offer of assistance, love and support so that mom knows she can bring that baby into this world and not be alone. It's a turning point for so many women, and they accomplish this with just an expense of $28 per ultrasound. You can help save a tiny baby's life today. Preborn clinics operate in communities across our nation where abortion rates are the highest. So they are on the front lines. To donate securely, $28 one time, $28 monthly. Whatever you can spare. To donate Securely, just dial pound250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound250. Say baby or visit preborn.com buck preborn.com buck Sponsored by Prebor all right, we're closing up shop today on Clay and Buck. Great time to remind you to check out the Clay and Buck podcast network. Please also subscribe to Crocket coffee. Go to crocketcoffee.com 10 of the profits goes to our friends at Talent the Towers. Delicious coffee delivered right to your door. America's coffee. Coffee that loves freedom, not the communist swill that you will get out there from so many other of these big corporate brands. We got some VIP emails flooding our inbox, including this one Clay VIP email from Sherry. Buck, I think you need glasses. Newsom doesn't look debonair. He looks smarmy. Well, I think you are trashing Clay Chardonnay, buddy, first and foremost so that we need to put out there. And also I'm not saying that I think Newsom is debonair. I'm saying that Newsom thinks that Newsom is a dashing and handsome and gallant fellow. Look, I mean he's a, he's a pretty good looking guy. Let's not be weird here, okay? You could be good looking and still have terrible politics.

[Clay Travis]

Also, the standard is politicians. I mean, Chuck Schumer, no offense, I don't think anybody's like, let's we gotta throw our panties in Chuck Schumer's direction. The standard of good looking politician is not necessarily super high.

[Buck Sexton]

And, and I'm just wondering about this. Casting no stones here. I got a, I got a little chubby after I got married and you know, had to, had to fight, had to fight that battle. So I'm, I'm very sympathetic. Pritzker, if he runs, does he stay heavy? P. You know, does he decide that he's going to keep on doing what he's doing or does he do the, you know.

[Clay Travis]

No, I think, I think it's a Jonah Hill situation. Not that he's.

[Buck Sexton]

Jonah Hill might not recognize him. He could, he could lose probably 100 to 150 pounds. That's, that's kind of where Pritzker is. He would look, I really mean this. He would look like a different person to the point where I think it might almost be Jarring to voters if he did that.

[Clay Travis]

I think that he sees his physical appearance as somehow more connective with the audience than it would be if he's skinny. It sounds crazy, but I think that's the way he's thinking. Speaking of crazy, Joy Behar. We have not heard. Producer Ali. Has the View responded to our gallant offer to appear on the show since they said we're too intimidated by all of the intelligent women on the program. That was the argument they made. No response has yet come from the View to our gallant offer to come.

[Buck Sexton]

On or our numerous offers to Cuomo.

[Clay Travis]

Cuomo. No response to Cuomo either. We got some talk backs on that. Maybe I'll play that in a sec. But first, I want you all to hear Joy Behar talked, in an incredible coincidence, about choking to death today on the program. Listen.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, I don't know.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

I wouldn't even let him give me a Heimlich maneuver.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, that's how little I would.

[Jay Collins]

I feel about people.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't know.

[Advertisement Voice]

Well, in a MAGA supporter is like.

[Clay Travis]

Calling you right now.

[Advertisement Voice]

I got it.

[Clay Travis]

Somebody tell that MAGA man I'm not sleeping with you anymore. All right, so Joy Behar said she wouldn't let a Trump supporter give her the Heimlich. I would give Joy Behar the Heimlich. That's just how much of a gentleman I am. I wouldn't let her die on an endless shrimp special at Red Lobster. I would. I would save her life.

[Buck Sexton]

Now you're a humanitarian.

[Clay Travis]

I am just too kind.

[Buck Sexton]

We have podcast listener Adam from Minnesota. He wants to weigh in on the New York race play.

[Clay Travis]

GG this is Adam from Minnesota. I know I'm not from New York, and I don't understand the complexities of New York politics because they're clearly so different than everywhere else and blah, blah, blah. Those two ladies that called and talked to you, they are exhibit A as to why New York has lost their mind. You people are back. Crap crazy, and you can't even see it. Curtis will never, ever win. You've got to let it go.

[Buck Sexton]

Whoa. Minnesota coming off the top rope after nyc.

[Clay Travis]

Minnesota. Nice. Not so nice on a couple of our New York City callers. Female callers who called in earlier, I.

[Buck Sexton]

Think, when they burned the downtown of your biggest city. You know, maybe you're a little surly afterwards for a while as a Minnesotan. You know, once. Once you've had some of the riots and stuff that they've had there. It's not all like the mom from Bobby's world. Oh, don't you know they're scarred.

[Clay Travis]

John in Oklahoma City F Time for a sofa upgrade?

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[Buck Sexton]

All right, come on. Playing buck. You guys ended Mike Pence. Of course Cuomo scared you guys. Fair point. But also to be fair, it was really Clay. I was just sitting here trying to throw in the towel for Mike Pence. And Clay, like Ivan Drago decided no, he was going to get in one more shot.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I just think Mike Pence should have been better prepared for maybe the most important question at that stage of his presidential campaign. We're in Indiana, a state that Mike Pence was governor of. I think he could probably win statewide office again here in Indiana, maybe, But I don't think he has any national political future.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, because he went full Ivan Drago, you know, and we all know what happened to Apollo Creed. I love Apollo Creed.

[Clay Travis]

I would welcome at this point. And we've had win some Sears on. We've had Jason Miaras, we've had Citarelli. I would welcome certainly Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Lee. Well, heck, Momdani would never come on.

[Buck Sexton]

We've invited them both on. Not Mandani, but we've invited Cuomo and Sliwa on. So please, no more emails about why haven't we've invited. We've asked, we've asked, we've asked. We're asking. So we're trying to give the people that we need to get on here on here, but we can't force them. So there's that.

[Clay Travis]

Well, if they were trying to truly make a difference, we have one of the biggest audiences in New York City, thanks to all of you that listen on W. A ton of listeners who are very fired up about the New York City mayors race. And we are perfectly willing to give all of those people an opportunity for everybody out there to make their best decision. But even if New York picks the communist, things are going to be fine.

[Buck Sexton]

It's going to be all right, because.

[Clay Travis]

New York may go under the waters and disappear as a significant city. The rest of America will benefit.

[Buck Sexton]

No, I was going to say New York is tough. You're resilient. All right? You're the Big Apple. You got this.

[Clay Travis]

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on the.

[Buck Sexton]

Front lines of truth.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

This is an I Heart podcast.