Weekly Review With Clay and Buck H3 - Iran Flips Us the Bird

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – Weekly Review H3: "Iran Flips Us the Bird"

Date: April 11, 2026
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Theme: U.S.–Iran Negotiations, Strait of Hormuz Crisis, and Fragile Ceasefire

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Episode Overview

This hour finds Clay Travis and Buck Sexton digging deep into the tense and ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran, focusing on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the public/private contrasts in Iran’s negotiating posture, and political ramifications at home and abroad. With typical energy and candor, they tackle the White House’s narrative, media coverage, and the strategic and domestic consequences of the current U.S–Iran standoff. Callers weigh in with their reactions on the handling of the crisis, with Clay and Buck riffing on politics, international diplomacy, military posture, and even pop culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Public vs. Private Iran Negotiations

• (03:08 – 05:18)
  • Clay kicks off with White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt’s press statements (audio cuts played) emphasizing a gap between what Iran says publicly and what it communicates privately.
  • Caroline Levitt (04:04): “What they're saying publicly is different privately ... the president's expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately ... in these reports publicly are false.”
  • Buck and Clay scrutinize this gap, cautioning that observable facts—like the free movement of ships—are easier to verify than diplomatic rhetoric.

2. Iran’s Maximalist Demands and U.S. Response

• (05:18 – 06:59)
  • Caroline Levitt denounces Iran’s initial "10 point plan" as ”fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded,” while emphasizing the U.S. is sticking to its red lines, especially Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
  • Levitt (05:53): “It was literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump and his negotiating team ... The idea that President Trump would ever accept an Iranian wish list as a deal is completely absurd.”
  • Buck is skeptical about administration spin: “My sense is, I feel a little bit of a spin coming ... we'll see ... they're not going to do it, guys.” (08:35)
  • Clay predicts both sides will claim victory — the U.S. touting restrictions, Iran arguing it gave up nothing (09:38–10:10).

3. Verifiability and Trust

• (10:10 – 12:17)
  • Trust but verify: Both hosts agree, the acid test is whether tankers begin traversing the Strait of Hormuz. Market optimism, as reflected by dropping oil prices, is one tangible indicator.
  • Buck: “Trump’s red line is that they're going to give up ... [but] it's not just like, 'oh, yeah, we'll do that, and then they can lie about it.' Right. Because that wouldn't be acceptable either.” (08:55–09:06)
  • Clay: “If the ships aren't coming through, then the argument of the Strait of Hormuz is 100% open is not accurate.” (12:14)

4. Iran’s Long-Game Strategy and U.S. Political Calculations

• (13:24 – 14:54)
  • Clay notes Iran's incentive to wait out Trump:
    • "Iran knows worst case scenario for them, Trump is out in January 29. Who is the most likely successor to Trump right now? J.D. Vance." (13:24)
    • “The advantage that evil dictators have is evil dictators can think longer than a four year cycle or a six month cycle.” (14:24)
  • Buck quips: "Now you sound like an Iranian bad guy who knows who he's selling his pistachios to." (14:18)
  • Both hosts reflect on how dictatorships outlast democratic timeframes in negotiations.

5. Results of the Air Campaign and Broader Strategic Implications

• (16:11 – 18:00)
  • Buck argues that, while a major war has been averted, U.S. goals (nuclear Iran prevention, regime change) remain unfulfilled.
  • Buck (16:10): “We didn’t lose hundreds or thousands of American soldiers ... But people are going to tell you ... that's not what the purpose of this air campaign was ... the Israelis, by the way, are very annoyed about this.”
  • Clay highlights the ongoing crisis in Lebanon and the original expectations of regime change, as reported in the New York Times (17:10–17:46).

6. Media Coverage, Oil Markets, and White House Messaging

• (27:07 – 31:15)
  • Clay calls out left-leaning media’s selective outrage—claiming Trump’s either risking war or backing down—in response to the ceasefire.
  • He cites a tweet flipping the script, illustrating how strategic gains should be viewed in context.
  • Clay: “Whatever the President does, they're going to attack him. He's bellicose ...then Trump says, hey, we've reached a ceasefire ... They don't really have an opinion, they're just anti-Trump.” (27:07)
  • Positive stock market and collapsing oil prices are not featured on CNN or MSNBC, which, according to Clay, is indicative of media bias.

7. Listener Calls: Public Sentiment on War and Negotiations

• (22:30 – 23:13, 31:15 – 32:40)
  • Greg from Orlando asks why the Strait of Hormuz matters for the U.S.—Clay explains the global impact of oil supply disruptions.
    • Clay: “Oil has a global marketplace ... if there are suddenly eight [barrels] on the market ... the overall cost increases ... we want as much free flow of oil and gas as possible.” (23:13)
  • Caller Jimmy from South Carolina cautions against an overly patient approach—urges decisive follow-through to “get the job done” and avoid further U.S. troop casualties. (31:15–32:40)

8. Conservatives’ Frustrations with “No Man Left Behind” Politics

• (32:40 – 34:46)
  • Clay lampoons MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell for policing the phrase “no man left behind”—noting the focus should be on action, not semantics.
  • “No man left behind flows way better than no man or woman left behind. It's also a phrase that has been used for a very, very long time in military.” (34:46)

9. More Listener Reactions: Trust, Skepticism, and Realism

• (40:09 – 43:23)
  • Listeners align along the Clay (optimist)–Buck (skeptic) spectrum:
    • Allen from Charleston: “Without regime change in Iran, really, what have we accomplished? In the long term? Nothing.” (40:09)
    • Steve in Florida: “Buck, you're 100% right ... my gut tells me that it's not [a good deal].” (40:36)
    • Jay in Kentucky: “Find [Buck] too pessimistic and [Clay] too optimistic ... it'll be somewhere in the middle.” (41:40)
    • Tony in North Carolina: “They can endure the suffering more than we can ... Sun Tzu, know the enemy and know yourself.” (42:32)

10. Final Thoughts and Show Highlights

• (43:23 – 45:28)
  • The hosts riff on trust issues, using humor (e.g., trusting sell-by dates on raw chicken) to dramatize the real risk for oil shippers in a war zone.
  • Park and Rec fans in the audience enjoy Buck’s pop culture reference, closing the show on a lighter note—“Ron Swanson of the intelligence division.” (44:55–45:21)

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Notable Quotes

• Caroline Levitt (White House, on Iran):
  “What they're saying publicly is different privately ... the president's expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately ... these reports publicly are false.” (04:04)

• Buck Sexton (on White House spin):
  “I feel a little bit of a spin coming from this White House ... they're not going to do it, guys.” (08:35)

• Clay Travis (on Iran's leverage and long game):
  “The advantage that evil dictators have is evil dictators can think longer than a four year cycle or a six month cycle.” (14:24)

• Buck Sexton (on limited upsides of U.S. actions):
  “We didn’t lose hundreds or thousands of American soldiers ... But ... that's not what the purpose of this air campaign was.” (16:10)

• Clay Travis (on media bias):
  “Whatever the President does, they're going to attack him.” (27:07)
  “The price of oil and gas has collapsed by nearly $20 ... there is not a ticker showing either on CNN.” (29:00)

• Caller Allen (on regime change):
  “Without regime change in Iran, really, what have we accomplished? In the long term? Nothing.” (40:09)

• Clay Travis (on “No man left behind”):
  “No man left behind flows way better than no man or woman left behind ... Is there a single woman in this audience offended by the phrase?” (34:46)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:08 – Start of the hour; context on Iran’s public/private messaging.
• 04:04 – Caroline Levitt addresses the gap between Iran’s public/private statements.
• 05:53 – Levitt dismisses Iran’s initial 10-point plan.
• 08:35 – Buck voices skepticism of White House narrative and Iranian compliance.
• 09:38 – Clay predicts both sides will claim a win, without real change.
• 12:14 – Clay on “trust but verify” regarding Hormuz shipping.
• 13:24 – Discussion of Iran’s incentive to wait out U.S. presidents.
• 16:10 – Buck on the strategic outcome of the air campaign.
• 17:10 – Lebanon and Israel’s perspective enter the analysis.
• 23:13 – Clay explains the importance of global oil flows.
• 27:07 – Clay critiques media coverage of Trump’s actions.
• 31:15 – Caller Jimmy urges Trump to follow through militarily.
• 40:09 – Listener Allen on regime change and long-term impact.
• 42:32 – Tony in North Carolina on Iran’s ability to endure.
• 44:55 – Buck recounts being compared to “Ron Swanson,” closing with listener praise.

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Tone, Style & Engagement

The discussion is sharp, irreverent, and filled with wry humor—typical of Clay and Buck’s interplay. Skepticism, pragmatism, and a streak of American patriotism thread through the episode, balanced by input from a highly engaged (and opinionated) audience.

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Key Takeaways

• The gap between official and “real” negotiation stances remains a focal concern.
• Skepticism reigns about Iranian compliance and the political spin from all sides.
• The administration touts military success, but regime change and nuclear restrictions are still elusive.
• Public trust can be measured by tangible outcomes (e.g., oil flow, market reactions), not just rhetoric.
• Both hosts agree that authoritarian regimes, like Iran’s, can play the long game better than democracies.
• Listener input reflects frustration, skepticism, and media distrust—but also humor and cultural references.

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For listeners who missed the episode: You’ll come away with a strong sense of the complexities and high-stakes cynicism in U.S.–Iran negotiations, the challenge of selling victories domestically and internationally, persistent divisions in American media and politics, and the relatable anxieties and hopes of the Clay & Buck community.

Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

three Wednesday edition, Clay and Buck show a lot of different details all coming down just recently with Caroline Levitt in the White House press briefing. And I have got a series of these to update you all with these. I believe these are in the order in which they were occurring. And then we've got a ton of your talkbacks that we will play and 800-282-2882. We will take some of your calls as well. Okay. And Buck, this is one of the big points of discussion we got into in the first hour. To what extent is the public and private commentary different from Iran? How can you rely on what is being said? Caroline Levitt, cut 26 says that what Iran is saying publicly is different from what they are saying privately.

[Caroline Levitt]

Cut 26 with respect to the first reporting out of Iranian state media. The president was made aware of those reports before I came to the podium. That is completely unacceptable. And again, this is a case of what they're saying publicly is different privately. We have seen an uptick of traffic in the strait today and I will reiterate the president's expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately, quickly and safely. That is his expectation. It has been relayed to him privately that that is what's taking place in these reports publicly are false.

[Clay Travis]

Okay. This is an easy one that we can test, Buck. Either there's going to be a lot of ships that are coming through the state Strait of Hormuz safely or there's not. And if there's not, it's a pretty good sign that that is dishonest that they are actually still curtailing traffic substantially.

[Buck Sexton]

My sense also is that she's referring to also here referring to the position that the Iranians are taking on the deal points and is that included in that response there?

[Clay Travis]

We've got an additional cut on that, I think, which is her saying the 10 point request is just not accurate and we are not agreeing there.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, but this is where the public private dichotomy matters so much. Right. Because they're saying the White House is telling us, oh, don't worry, behind closed doors, the Iranians are way more compliant and willing to play ball on these things than. Because what they put out, to be clear, and we can, I guess we might as well play this, what the Iranians put out as their deal position is a giant extended finger in our direction. It is, it is a maximalist, maximalist points on their side that they are taking here. This is 28. Here's Caroline Levitt on this.

[Caroline Levitt]

I've seen a lot of inaccurate coverage today from the media about these negotiations and these plans already. So let me be clear and correct the record. The Iranians originally put forward a 10 point plan that was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded. It was literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump and his negotiating team. Many outlets in this room have falsely reported on that plan as being acceptable to the United States, and that is false. With the President's deadline fast approaching and the United States military completely decimating Iran with each passing hour, the regime acknowledged reality to the negotiating team. They put forward a more reasonable and entirely different and condensed plan to the President and his team. President Trump and the team determined the new modified plan was a workable basis on which to negotiate and to align it with our own 15 point proposal. The President's red lines, namely the end of Iranian enrichment in Iran, have not changed. And the idea that President Trump would ever accept an Iranian wish list as a deal is completely absurd.

[Buck Sexton]

I don't think anyone. Well, I mean, we certainly haven't. I haven't seen anyone say that the 10 points put forward by Iran were accepted by the White House. So I think that's a little bit of a red herring. No one's saying that we've agreed to that. Not even CNN or New York Times is saying we've agreed to that. But that is what was put out there. Look, everyone, we are very pro Trump and very pro America and very pro humanity in these matters here. Clay and I can certainly agree on that. Anti death, anti, anti death, anti innocent people suffering, anti chaos, mass hysteria, dogs and cats living together. We don't like any of those things. I'm going to have to now step in. I'm a little, I'll tell you this, I feel I should have been louder about dhs. Secretary Noem was a horrible choice and it was an outrageously bad case. People might say, oh, it doesn't matter, really, how many deportations have we gotten done? Really? How's our immigration stuff looking from the deportation perspective and how much time has been lost and how. Anyway, so I feel like I gave Trump because he's Trump and he won. I was like, you know what? His team, his picks. Who am I to. Who am I to judge? No, I knew. I knew, and you all knew that I knew on this one. Clay, how's our whole ending the Ukraine war thing in one day going? Not going. How's our whole getting Kim Jong Un to open a whole new universe of the talks with Trump? And, yeah, he's not firing off rocket. I'm not saying nothing has been done or there's not concessions or whatever, but hasn't happened. Ok, Russian. Russian aggression against Ukraine still ongoing. I am sorry. I'm feeling a little bit of a spin coming from this White House on this, where they're saying. Oh, no, what they're saying in private. We'll see, we'll see. Trump's red line is that they're going to give up. They're going to agree to formally remember to agree to give up the nuclear program comes with things like getting rid of their enriched uranium, like allowing inspectors, you know, there are actual processes. It's not just like, oh, yeah, we'll do that, and then they can lie about it. Right. Because that wouldn't be acceptable either. They're not going to do it, guys.

[Clay Travis]

I hope I'm wrong.

[Buck Sexton]

I'll come and I'll tell you. I'll be like, oh, in two weeks, you know what they're going to say? We're getting closer. We're getting close. Great progress has been made. Jared Kushner is nailing this thing down. Great progress has been made. Okay, we'll see. Hopefully the straight opens. That's a big part of it, Clay. But I think they will open the straight because now they're in the negotiation phase and that's their leverage against us.

[Clay Travis]

That's why I think the end result, this is my prediction, is going to be both sides agree to just kind of put down arms and leave things where they are. And our argument is that Iran has agreed that they're going to stop and we think that the uranium is underground and unreachable. And then Iran is saying to their people, hey, you know, they came for us and we haven't given up anything.

[Buck Sexton]

That may be true. This is a little different from what we're talking about the first hour. Clay, I could see what you're saying happened, but keep in mind, that is not achieving a non nuclear Iran. And that is not what that is. Though, though.

[Clay Travis]

But I, yes, but that what that allows. This is what I'm thinking is going to end up being the end result. Because the only other option is this like right there, two options for how that thing ends. We go on the ground with our, you know, somebody was with our nerds who have to actually get the canisters right. We go on the ground in Iran, which was, there was a report, I think in the Wall Street Journal that we were considering doing this. We seize it all, we bring it back, we hold it up and we're like, we got it, here it is. And they can't use this anymore. The other option, which I think I agree with you on this, is Iran just agrees to give it to us. I can't foresee a world in which Iran is humiliated enough to just hand over all of the uranium and all of their literal physical capacity to try to make nuclear weapons. Here's the other question that, that I think is, is going to, is going to loom large here. And, and that is something I bet again we're, we're gonna get a good sign for what is the public posture versus what is the private posture. Ships are either going to come through or they're not. And if the ships aren't coming through, then the argument of the Strait of Hormuz is 100% open and is not accurate. And we can determine that now. The price of oil and gas has come down $20, which suggests that there is some optimism that the flow of oil and gas is going to continue. But, but I think that's a, that's the number one trust but verify component here is are the ships coming through? And that's what I would want to see as the, hey, you can be trusted component of this early stage negotiation with jd, Vance, Witkoff and Kushner headed to Pakistan.

[Buck Sexton]

I, I just, these, these Iranians, man, they're wily cats. These guys know what I'm telling, this is what they're going to do. They're going to say, hold, hold on a sec, and they're going to put out, they're going to use the mechanisms they have to put out statements to whether it's, you know, through the running it through press in the Middle east or wherever. I mean, they can put it on X for all. It doesn't, doesn't really matter. They'll say, hey, hey guys, we open the straight. We're negotiating, we're negotiating, we're figuring it out, we're figuring it out. And then as a little bit of time moves on, you know what they're going to say? They're going to say, you know what, Trump, you really don't want us to shut down this straight with you guys having the midterms coming up. So, you know, I think they think the leverage has switched to their side on this. I really do. And if we start bombing, we're going, we're bombing them through fourth of July weekend this summer. You think that's going to be a good look? This was promised to be four to six weeks. We are at the deadline, this is where we are now. And we're sending in Jared and Witkoff to Islamabad apparently to figure this whole thing out via Pakistan. I don't know, man. So I think you're right. I think they're going to open the straight up. But the point is they're going to open this straight up and then they're going to say, yeah, everything else stays.

[Clay Travis]

Here's the larger issue. This is where I actually agree with you 100%. Midterms are an issue. But let's move beyond, let's actually think bigger picture, longer range. Iran knows worst case scenario for them. Trump is out in January of 29. Who is the most likely successor to Trump right now?

[Caller]

J.D.

[Clay Travis]

vance. What did J.D. vance argue in the New York Times piece that came out today? That he didn't want to do anything to Iran. If I'm Iranian leadership right now, I'm saying, hey, two and a half years, it may be rough, Trump may come after us, but if we get JD we can work with JD and by the way, Democrats, we saw Obama bit over backwards and gave butterfly kisses to the Iranian leadership. So the concern is Trump's the only bad guy they have to deal with and it's only two and a half years.

[Buck Sexton]

Now you sound like, now you sound like an Iranian bad guy who knows who he's selling his pistachios to.

[Clay Travis]

You know what I'm saying? I mean you're, I mean this is, this is the long range. And I do think the advantage that evil dictators have is evil dictators can think longer than a four year cycle or a six month cycle. And this is why my argument for, you know, this is why I like kings. If you got a good king, you get him for like 40 years. You know, you got a good president,

[Buck Sexton]

you only even Socrates was like the best government is just having a perfect person in charge of everything. Unfortunately, there's no perfect person.

[Clay Travis]

But, but Trump, the best possible person that we could have is only here for eight years. And my God, can you imagine what will happen if Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom is in office in January of 29? They're not going to do anything. So that's the ultimate, I think, challenge that Trump has is two and a half years is nothing. The older you get, the less two and a half years is. And then you add on the religious fundamentalism and those guys think in hundreds and thousands of years that's, you know, they're thinking about conquering the world in 2800, not worrying about what the next three years are going to look like.

[Buck Sexton]

That's. My beard is getting a little longer. His Farsi is getting a little bit clearer. Like he's, you're, Dude, I think you're, you're edging at least towards seeing, I think how this can go sideways really fast, which is even, even if you're right about the feelings on the, you know, the state of the negotiations right now, let's just say that there is some private. There are so many ways that this thing gets, gets screwed up. Now. Here, here's the, I'll give you my biggest upside to this, is that our downside has been quite limited. That is, and that's why the ending this thing now is, is I think, the right move.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

But I think it's basically ending now. And I think we walk away. They think they won, we think we won, and this is the way this thing moves forward. I don't think there's going to be a nuclear deal at the end of this. We didn't lose hundreds or thousands of American soldiers fighting. We didn't get into a six month or six year, heaven forbid war like this. This is manageable where it is now. So that's, to me, the upside of this. But people are going to tell you if this is the end state where we are right now, which is the straight opens and there's negotiations going forward. That's not what the purpose of this, of this air campaign was. Just to be clear, that's, that's not, maybe they're going to get there and that in that case, great, I'll say they get there. But it was not, we're going to negotiate more over this stuff. And the Strait of Hormuz is open and we destroyed a lot of their military stuff, which we did do. And it was an amazing display of American military power. But that is not what, that is not what this was all about. And I think that's why The Israelis, by the way, are very annoyed about this current situation based on the reporting that we've seen.

[Clay Travis]

And by the way, Lebanon is still going to become an issue because there's still fighting going on there and they're saying that's supposed to be a part of the ceasefire. The other thing is, and again, I really encourage people, not always we say this to read that New York Times piece, Israel told Trump that there would be regime change, meaning the ayatollahs would be out if we did this. Now the Trump advisors, Marco Rubio didn't buy it, according to the reporting. JD Vance didn't endorse this in any way.

[Buck Sexton]

People listen to the show now. I've never bought it. I've always been like, I don't think that's going to happen. It's not going to happen.

[Clay Travis]

So Trump is now saying regime change is a new leader, which technically is accurate, but it isn't a new Democratic leader. It's just a different religious fundamentalist.

[Buck Sexton]

When you're talking about things like this, you don't want to turn into being clever with your comms. You want it to be clear, mission accomplished, move on to, to other things like here at home. But we'll come back into this. We'll play more of your talk backs. We'll get into more of this conversation for sure. Inflation, my friends, it just chips away, eats away at your savings. It's been happening for decades, as you know. But there's something you can do.

[Clay Travis]

Gold.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

playing Buck on the iHeart app.

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[Buck Sexton]

Welcome in, everybody. Back to the Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. Let's take some calls. Greg in Orlando, Florida. Orlando, Florida. Some people are saying it's a beautiful place, but Greg, you'd know that better than anybody. What's going on, Greg?

[Caller]

Yes, sir. Love this. Love the state.

[Buck Sexton]

Love you guys.

[Caller]

Truck driver. Privilege of listening to you every day your whole show. So I love.

[Buck Sexton]

Thank you so much.

[Caller]

No problem. What I wanted to say or ask was with the necessity of getting the straight of the Hormuz open, why is that so important when such a small percentage that actually hits our shores?

[Buck Sexton]

So that's actually a very interesting question, Clay. And I wouldn't you. You take this because we only got about 30 seconds before we got to go to a break. You go for it, Clay.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, it's a great question from Greg. And we've been talking a lot about this. Oil has a global marketplace. And so the way to think about this is if there are simplify a 10 barrels of oil on the market, then the cost is going to be X. If there are suddenly eight on the market, then because there's fewer amounts of oil in the marketplace, the overall cost increases. So it's a global supply. We don't have to rely on that oil to arrive on our shores to be able to put into our cars and trucks. But if it isn't in the global marketplace, the overall price of oil and gas increases. And so we want as much free flow of oil and gas as possible. And then you add in the fact that OPEC is a cartel and they can control the distribution of oil and gas. And we've had good relations with them, but that is always an issue. And we will talk about this more on the flip side, but it is a very good question. And I want to tell you all about Lifelock right now. Lifelock is, is dealing with consistent all the time cyber hacks. And our information is out there on the dark web all the time, and people are using that information to take advantage of it. And that's what LifeLock is all about. They detect and alert you to potential identity threats you might not spot on your own like cyber criminals pretending to be you. And if you become a victim of identity theft, a dedicated US Based restoration specialist at Lifelock will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Easy. To help protect yourself with Lifelock, join now and save 40 off your first year with my name Clay as the promo code, call 1-800-LIFELOCK or go online to lifelock.com use promo code CLAY for 40% off. That's lifelock.com promo code CLAY for 40 percent off. Terms apply. Do it today. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. Buck doing a quick FOX News hits which you may see on television in the near future promoting his book. He'll be back for the end of the program. But I did want to hit a couple of of these. Let's see, cut 30 we told you this already but JD Vance, Steve Whitcop, Jared Kushner headed to Pakistan. That was announced by Caroline Levitt.

[Caroline Levitt]

Cut 30 I can announce that the president is dispatching his negotiating team led by the Vice president of the United States, J.D. vance, Special Envoy Witkoff and Mr. Kushner to Islamabad for talks this weekend. The first round of those talks will take place on Saturday morning local time and we know, we look forward to those in person meetings.

[Clay Travis]

Cuts, let's see, 29 as well. Caroline Levitt going after a reporter over the question of moral high ground. This is cut 29. Yesterday, the President threatened to destroy Iran's

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civilization, the entire civilization, not the Iranian

[Clay Travis]

Iranian government, but the Iranian civilization, Iranian people. The US has been a moral leader for most of its history by fighting

[Okta Ad]

wars against other governments, not against civilizations.

[Clay Travis]

How can the president claim that America

[Buck Sexton]

can ever have the moral high ground

[Clay Travis]

if he's threatening to destroy civilizations and not casting wars as fights against other governments?

[Caroline Levitt]

Andrew, I think you should take a look at the actions of this, this president over the course of the past six weeks and the actions of our brave men and women in our United States military who have taken out the essentially taken out the military of a rogue Islamic regime that has chanted death to America for 47 years, that has killed and maimed thousands of American soldiers over the course of the last five decades. The president absolutely has the moral high ground over the Iranian terrorist regime. And for you to even suggest otherwise is frankly insulting.

[Clay Travis]

Pretty strong response there. And remember, stock market is soaring today. The oil and gas prices are collapsing. Yesterday, left wingers were telling you and some people on the right as well. Oh, my goodness, President Trump's going to lead us to nuclear war. That was their talking point yesterday until a ceasefire was announced and then they flipped to, oh, Trump's a coward. He won't follow through on anything. This is predicted. We told you that that was likely going to happen here. But it's just evidence of the fact that whatever the President does, they're going to attack him. He's bellicose. And suggests that he's going to rain down holy hell on Iran. Oh, my goodness, he's going to nuclear. He's going to lead to nuclear war. This is unacceptable. It is a moral, moral collapse of American authority. And then Trump says, hey, we've reached a ceasefire. And the response on the left is, see, he's a coward. He didn't actually deploy nuclear bombs. They don't really have an opinion. They're just anti Trump. And this is posted by someone named. I don't know him personally, Drew, Pablo. But I thought this was a good tweet and I shared it a little bit earlier because some people are saying, oh, my goodness, Iran won this war. Right? There are people out there that are saying, Iran won the war. And Drew Pavlo here says, let's flip the scenario for just a moment. Imagine Iran killed Trump in the first five minutes of the war, established air superiority over the U.S. mainland, wiped out the entire U.S. air Force, the U.S. navy, killed half of our cabinet, flattened the U.S. military industrial complex, then started building runways in Missouri to land Iranian troops on our soil without losing a single casualty, to rescue one of the few people that we had actually managed to shoot down. Would anyone say that was a US Victory if we managed to keep the Panama Canal closed somewhat? Would anyone out there be like, look at this huge strategic victory? I do think it's important sometimes to flip the script and analyze things, though. That was well said by him, and I think it contextualizes how much dishonesty you're going to get. I'll give you another one. I watch on the quad box, every screen so that I can see how stories are being covered. CNN and msnbc, Mississippi, now, they have constantly, constantly been sharing the price of oil and gas, the impact of the stock market, all of these things. As I am speaking to you right now, the stock market is up around 1200 points. The Dow, the S P500, up around 3%. One of the most successful days imaginable on the stock market. The price of oil and gas has collapsed by nearly $20. There is not a ticker showing both of those on cnn, neither of those have been featured at all during the entirety of the show that we have done today. Now, if you're going to cover when negative things happen to the stock market or when negative things, meaning the price goes up of oil and gas, if you were just an honest arbiter and broker of how the overall market was responding, you would have to cover when things go really well and when things go really poorly, because that's what an honest journalistic enterprise would do. Neither CNN nor MSNBC is doing that. They aren't showing anything positive in the market reactions right now. Instead, they are continuing to lead with so many different negative stories out there. Even in the midst of all of this, Jimmy in South Carolina has been waiting a little while. Jimmy, what you got for us?

[Caller]

Hey, I appreciate you taking my call. Listen, one of the things that I think that the American people are not going to be able to stomach is if we keep playing this, wink, wink, I think Trump needs to go in. I love the president, but I think he needs to go in and get the job done. Because if we lose any troops in two weeks and then it holds off and then again we lose troops, I don't think the American people are going to stand for that. And the second thing is.

[Clay Travis]

Well, hold on, let me ask, let me pause you there, Jimmy. What would you want to do? You'd want to put boots on the ground, go seize the uranium? What do you mean by finish the job? What would you want him to do?

[Caller]

Well, whatever he has already in mind what he was going to do before he put this cease fire on. You know, I'm not a military expert, so I'm not going to, you know, try to say I want him to go in and annihilate them. I'm not, you know, war hog like that, but I just think that they have a game plan. Stick with it. Don't, don't call an audible now on this because I don't think the American people are going to be able to go. Two weeks we lose a troop or two, and then another two weeks we wait and then we lose some more troops. I think the American people want him to go ahead and do what he, that's what they voted him for. He's a man of his word. He says what he means and he means what he says. And the second thing is we may not be so lucky the next time if they shoot down a pilot, we may not be able to go in and get him or her out. And that gives them a lot of leverage. So I just think that we need to be careful. I need, I think we need to move forward and get the job done.

[Clay Travis]

Thank you. Let's listen. I clip this because I thought it was also indicative of what you might be hearing if you are out there in the larger marketplace. Lawrence o' Donnell on msnbc. To be fair, I think it's officially M s now. He's upset because Pete Hegseth keeps saying no man left behind when it could be a woman who is left behind. This is what you would have heard if you were watching MSNBC last night. That brilliant rescue was described by the Secretary of Defense and by General Dan Kane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a long standing American military rule of never leaving anyone behind. We leave no man behind. That is of course the old school version of the idea back when only men flew American military planes. General Dan Kane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put it this way, we leave no one behind. The general knows, unlike Pete Hegseth, that that could have been a woman they were trying to rescue and it might be a woman the next time. I just, I can't believe this is real. And look, this is why I'm very anti policing language because it's never done in good faith. Does Lawrence o' Donnell really think that if this had been a woman in an airplane that needed to be rescued, that Pete Hegseth would have not rescued her, that Donald Trump wouldn't have put all of the United States military might behind ensuring that we rescued no man left behind. No one left behind. It just no man left behind flows way better than no man or woman left behind. It's also a phrase that has been used for a very, very long time in military. Most people fighting in combat roles are still men. I just of all of the things that you could be upset about that you could decide that you need to address. The phrasing there, I think is indicative of how Democrats have just frankly lost men and a lot of women. Is there a single woman in this audience offended by the phrase no man left behind? This is where we are. Look, we'll come back and we will play some more of your talkbacks and we will also finish off the the program with potentially a couple of your calls. But we actually are going to try something new. You guys have been signing up for new trees and plants at a phenomenal record. Fast growing trees had a call recently and they were in disbelief, frankly, over how many products you guys have been buying. It's fantastic. Audience is huge, responsive to Advertisers, thank you. It's a good. And we're doing something a little bit different here. This is producer Ali's idea. So if it doesn't work, then it's entirely her fault. If it does work, then I'm going to take all the credit for it. That's how this works. And I believe we have a talk back from one of our listeners, Lisa, who just moved to Brentwood, Tennessee, which is basically where I live, from California. And she had this to say. Play it.

[Caroline Levitt]

This is Lisa of Brentwood, Tennessee. I just moved here from California and I wanted some rose bushes. So I ordered them from Fast Growing Trees and they arrived and they are absolutely gorgeous. Big, lush, healthy, have buds on them. As soon as I can put them in the ground, I'm sure they'll be blooming. It's a wonderful product because they have more than trees, they have flowers too.

[Clay Travis]

There you go. I have not ordered any flowers yet, but Lisa at in Brentwood, Tennessee calling in and saying she had done what we told you to do, which is go check out fast fast growingtrees.com use code CLAY. Get 20 off everything and you can have beautiful roses, plants, trees delivered right to your house with the Thrive and alive guarantee. You're gonna love it. Just like she did. Fast Growing Trees. Code Clay. That is Fast Growing Trees. Code Clay. Good job by producer Ali, which means I did a great job there. We'll be back to close off the show next. News, politics, sports and a little fun thrown in there too. Clay and Buck.

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[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show okay, let's get into a bunch of your talkbacks. I love the degree to which all of you fire away with these talk backs. And we have got a ton of them. Allen in Charleston, South Carolina. Buck finishing up an event, but he agrees with Buck saying what have we actually accomplished? Cut garage.

[Buck Sexton]

Buck, you are so right. Without regime change in Iran, really, what have we accomplished? In the long term? Nothing. They'll continue to lie. They'll rearm with ballistic missiles. They'll get a nuclear warhead from North Korea. Or make one they will. And their citizens will still be under the yoke of religious fanatics. So tell me what's really changed? Because until you get the religious fanatics out of there, the death to America crowd, we have not done anything.

[Clay Travis]

Anything. Okay, Steve in Florida also says Buck's right. Cut K. Hey guys, this Is Steve calling from Cape Coral in the free state of Florida. I agree with buck. Buck, you're 100% right. I'm as skeptical as you are about this. I really hope that Clay is right. However, my gut tells me that it is not and that the people that we're negotiating with over there, while they may be the single A or double a third string, they're still part of the regime. Jay in Kentucky says Buck's too pessimistic and I'm too optimistic. Cut in. Name's Jay from Kentucky. As a retired military officer, I find myself usually agreeing with Buck on most issues. But the Iran issue, I find him way too pessimistic and underestimating our capabilities. Although I do find Clay too optimistic and I feel it will be somewhere in the middle, maybe towards Clay side.

[Buck Sexton]

Could I offer Clay that, that this could be now the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show. Not too hot, not too cold, just right.

[Clay Travis]

There you go, the perfect porridge. A bunch more. Tony in North Carolina says, and this is something that I actually agree with and we ended up, I do think Iran is more willing to play the long game and that is one of the plays here. And Tony In North Carolina 106.1 FM says this Clay, you're killing me. You're looking at this through a very American lens. They can endure the suffering more than we can. Remember Sun Tzu, know the enemy and know yourself. You need not fear the results of a hundred battles going. Sun Tzu on us is, is, you know, kind of playing the, the proverbial military intelligence trump card.

[Buck Sexton]

A lot of Sun Tzu and clause of its fans in this audience, I could tell you a lot.

[Clay Travis]

So, so look, we will see. I guess my position is I think we're going to know a lot by tomorrow. When it comes to the straight of Hormuz, how many ships are coming through. And remember, saying it's open is different than people trusting that it's open. Because I will say, you know, if you own $100 million ship, your company does, or you are the CEO sitting at the top of the flowchart who has to make a decision, do we go or not go, that requires trust, right? And you have to believe that the Iranians are being honest when the when or the Americans are or anybody else you're negotiating with, when they say, hey, you're good to go. Now that's a little bit nerve wracking.

[Buck Sexton]

My wife won't even trust the sell by date on the chicken that's in the fridge. If it has been open for a day or two such that I have to. I'm the smell. I'm the smeller of the raw chicken. Do you have this job too, ever? I, I. She won't trust the cell, but I'm like, honey, the cell by date is fine.

[Clay Travis]

My wife doesn't trust that I can smell anything.

[Buck Sexton]

She says, smell the chicken, and I say, okay, I'll smell the chicken. My point is, that's the kind of precaution we take in this household on raw chicken. I can't imagine moving God knows how many gallons of oil through a war zone. That's. That's risky stuff.

[Clay Travis]

You, you.

[Buck Sexton]

It's not just enough to be told it's okay. The sell by date may not be good enough.

[Clay Travis]

It's hard to go to sleep, I would imagine, on an oil tanker when you are going through an active war zone and you know that if somebody tosses a cigarette in the wrong direction, the whole thing can go up in smoke. To say nothing of. Of what could happen with drone warfare in some way. Let's close with a positive here. You've got some Parks and Recs fans. Buck cut B. This is Danny in Los Angeles. I just got home from work, put on the show, and in the third

[Buck Sexton]

hour, I hear Buck drop a Parks

[Clay Travis]

and Rec reference to the reasonable lists, which was a great throwback. Buck, I have to admit, that was very fun to listen to, and I don't think you look like Ron Swanson,

[Buck Sexton]

but I think we can agree that

[Clay Travis]

the way Ron thinks about government on that show, I think we can both agree that's a. That's a nice way to think about it.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay, can I just tell you a couple? First of all, Danny, thank you for the shout out on this one. I learned about Parkston Rec because when I was assigned to work in the intel division, the nypd, there was one of my colleagues who came up me, she's like, I feel like you think this place does nothing but fail. You're like the Ron Swanson of the intelligence division. And I had no idea what she was talking about. Also, comma, people don't think I look like him. They think I look like Adam Scott, the other guy.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Is that really. Is that real, guys? Oh, man. Are we going out on that one?

[Clay Travis]

Oh, I don't know. Adam Scott, the golfer is really good looking. That's not a bad Masters is starting. That's somebody you could be compared to.

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