Bonus: Daily Review with Clay and Buck - May 12 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: Verdict with Ted Cruz (Bonus: Daily Review with Clay and Buck – May 12, 2026)

Episode Overview

This episode of “Verdict with Ted Cruz” features a crossover with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, focusing on the key political and economic stories leading up to the 2026 midterm elections. Key topics include rising gas prices and inflation, U.S.-Iran tensions and their impact, changes in Congressional redistricting, the LA mayoral race, national demographic shifts, political polarization, and an interview with Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt. The hosts provide sharp commentary on the strategic dilemmas facing Democrats and Republicans, with a tone that blends skepticism, sarcasm, and urgency about the state of the nation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Top Headlines & Issues Setting the Stage

• 2026 Midterm Context: Both parties are adjusting strategies amidst economic woes and global uncertainty.
• Gas Prices & Inflation: Energy costs remain at the center of voters’ concerns, seen as potentially decisive in fall elections.
• U.S.-Iran Standoff: Ongoing negotiations, threats to oil supply, and U.S. military posture add to domestic pressures.
• Rising Republican Fortunes in Polls: Notably, Marco Rubio surges ahead in the GOP primary, while Democrats struggle with candidate quality.
• Redistricting Battles: Legal decisions overturning racial gerrymandering—especially in places like Tennessee—are upending both parties’ calculations.

“Affordability, inflation, that is the number one story right now, high gas prices. And the question is how soon can that be reconciled?”
— Clay Travis [04:45]

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2. Economic Woes: Inflation, Gas Prices, and the Iran Variable

• Direct Link Between Iran Crisis and High Gas Prices: Buck emphasizes that absent a real resolution or deal with Iran, energy prices may remain elevated, directly impacting voters' moods.
  • Iran’s extreme negotiation demands—such as control of the Strait of Hormuz—are viewed as non-starters.
  • Economic pressure is more acute in Iran, but the ripple effect causes “a big drag on Republican fortunes.”

“I don’t know how the price of gas comes down 50%. Also, I’m not hearing enough from this White House about immigration enforcement.” — Buck Sexton [06:38]

• Election Framing: Both agree 2026 will be a "what’s going on at home" election, with the economy and security concerns trumping other issues.

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3. Midterm Election Dynamics & Party Strategies

• Democratic Weaknesses:
  • Democrats lack a compelling platform beyond attacking ICE or opposing Trump.
  • Left-wing infighting, declining candidate quality, and intraparty disputes (notably antisemitism concerns, as seen with Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court justice switching parties) are underlined.

“It’s not so much that the Democrats are surging in popularity, it is that they are dealing with their own degree of unpopularity.”
— Clay Travis [11:43]

• Republican Messaging:
  • Strong emphasis on economic recovery, border enforcement, and energy independence.
  • Hope for short-term stabilization internationally to focus on domestic messaging until November.

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4. Political Polarization and Shifting Demographics

• Generational Realignments:
  • Population exodus from blue states like Illinois, NY, and California puts Democrats at a long-term disadvantage post-2030 census.
  • Increasing Republican strength in previously purple states—e.g., Michigan and Pennsylvania.

“They know Trump's going to leave power in '28... The maps that are going to get redrawn in 2030 and who is in power when that census happens—is potentially the existential threat to the Democrat Party.”
— Clay Travis [25:00]

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5. LA Mayoral Race & Urban Crime Debates

• Mayor’s Race Becomes National Referendum on Crime:
  • With Karen Bass and Nithya Raman skipping debates, Spencer Pratt (the “mini-Trump” outsider) is positioned as the sensible alternative to leftist incumbents.
  • Ongoing crime, especially in affluent areas (ex., stabbings at Whole Foods in Venice Beach), is depicted as fallout from progressive policies.

“They're calling him a fascist because he thinks he can do a better job than the horrible job that they have done. I feel like this is Democrats encapsulated.”
— Buck Sexton [27:40]

• National Analogy:
  • LA’s trajectory compared to New York’s turnaround post-Giuliani and potential for either further decline or a reformer victory.

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6. Crime, Empathy, and Social Justice Debates

• Critique of Progressive Justice:
  • Letting repeat violent offenders out—supposedly in the name of social justice—seen as endangering voters.

“Refusing to put violent people behind bars is not kind because ultimately it leads to directly what happened with that 76-year-old in New York City.” — Clay Travis [33:49]

• Empathy for Victims: Arguing that “actual empathy” demands prioritizing victims over criminals.

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7. Redistricting, Race, & Media Narratives

• Supreme Court’s Ban on Racial Gerrymandering:
  • Both hosts reject claims this disenfranchises minorities, citing election of black Republicans in majority white districts (e.g., Tim Scott in SC, Wesley Hunt in TX).
  • Mock CNN’s racial rhetoric as manipulative and disconnected from reality.

“This racial dynamic is pretty nasty of Bakari Sellers. Also... in Memphis... you know who he usually beats in the race when he represents Memphis? Black woman has been the last couple of times.”
— Clay Travis [40:55]

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8. Notable Political Personalities & Identity Performance

• Justin Pearson Case Study:
  • Playful comparison of his measured college persona v. current activist rhetoric, as an example of political performativity and shifting incentives in politics.

“From Carlton Banks to Malcolm X in the blink of an eye. Pretty amazing.”
— Buck Sexton [45:21]

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9. Senator Eric Schmidt Interview (53:18–67:39)

• Electoral Landscape:
  • Schmidt is confident about Republicans holding the Senate, with an eye on swaying House races through legal battles over district maps.
• Gas Prices/Iran:
  • Sees price spike as temporary and tied to foreign policy, but notes sharper contrast with prior Democratic policies.
• Censorship Litigation:
  • Updates on Missouri v. Biden, advocating stronger private rights of action against government censorship.
• Gerrymandering Fallout:
  • Predicts significant shifts in states like California and Illinois as racial gerrymandered maps are struck down.
• College Sports/NIL Reform:
  • Outlines congressional efforts to manage college athletics revenue, protect Olympic (non-revenue) sports, and create a fairer system for student-athletes.
• Border Security & Sanctuary City Policy:
  • Highlights recent stats: 18,000 criminal illegal aliens released in sanctuary jurisdictions in one year, arguing for tougher federal action.

“We got to understand what this is... If we're serious about this and integrity of our elections, the Save America act, we have to get it done, but we have to be willing to spend the time on it, and that's really where it's going to be.”
— Sen. Eric Schmidt [65:59]

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10. American Exceptionalism & 250th Anniversary

• Buck Sexton’s Optimistic Monologue [20:08–24:28]:
  • Celebrates America’s “champion” status, rejecting leftist pessimism, and links national pride to upcoming 250th anniversary.
  • Sarcastic reference to “The Newsroom” as emblematic of liberal self-critique.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Inflation & Gas Prices:
  “Absent high gas prices in this Iran adventurism, what are the Democrats running on?”
  — Buck Sexton [08:50]

• On Democratic Messaging:
  "They're still trying to make ‘abolish ICE,’ which is an awful argument for them. They really have nothing.”
  — Clay Travis [08:48]

• On “Moderate” Democrats:
  “If you’re a Democrat who is not in lockstep... they freak out. There is no space anymore for a Democrat, moderate or a Democrat who, you know, is a centrist.”
  — Buck Sexton [13:02]

• On the LA Mayor’s Race:
  “They're calling him a fascist because he thinks that he can do a better job than the horrible job they have done.”
  — Buck Sexton [27:40]

• On Crime Policy:
  “The empathetic thing to do is to protect innocent people who have done nothing wrong, not to protect criminals.”
  — Clay Travis [35:11]

• On Redistricting & Race:
  "I think the exposure of it. But look, the reality is this is what tyrants have done since the beginning of time. The first thing they go for is your ability to dissent and then they come for your guns.”
  — Sen. Eric Schmidt [58:15]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:58 — Show starts, political headlines preview
• 04:45 — Inflation and gas prices as dominant issues
• 06:38 — Iran standoff and implications for energy costs
• 11:45 — Democratic paralysis and “abolish ICE” platform
• 20:08 — Buck’s American exceptionalism monologue
• 27:40 — LA mayoral race and debate as microcosm of national politics
• 33:49 — Violent crime, justice system failures, empathy debate
• 40:55 — CNN/Bakari Sellers criticism, race and voting rights
• 45:21 — Justin Pearson example: performance vs. principle in politics
• 53:18 — Interview with Senator Eric Schmidt
• 58:15 — Litigation against government censorship, redistricting
• 64:52 — Congressional action on college athletics/NIL reform
• 65:59 — Integrity of elections/Save America Act
• 67:36 — End of Senator Schmidt segment

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Overall Tone and Takeaways

The episode is marked by urgency and ideological clarity. Hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton maintain a confrontational approach toward progressive policies, especially on crime, economics, and redistricting. They express optimism about Republican prospects in the midterms, worry about systemic shifts favoring the right, and aim to bolster listener pride in American accomplishments. Humor, sarcasm, and cultural references lighten the mood while underlining serious policy disputes.

Listeners get an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at political strategies, legal battles over redistricting, and the way national issues play out in local races—all with the hosts’ trademark mixture of skepticism, punchy rhetoric, and patriotism.

Transcript

[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Go to PureTalk.com Clay that's PureTalk.com Clay PureTalk, America's wireless company. Welcome in Tuesday edition. Clay. Travis, Buck Sexton show I am in D.C. we will have a couple of senators here in studio with us, Eric Schmidt from Missouri at the bottom of this hour and the third hour, Senator Ron Johnson from the great state of Wisconsin. All of that underway. So we will get the absolute latest from Capitol Hill. President Trump prepares and is underway, I believe, for his official for his official trip to China. We will discuss everything surrounding that big inflation numbers that are out as a result of gas prices being up. We will discuss Marco Rubio has surged past JD Vance as the leader in the Republican primary according to one poll that was released today. We will discuss whether we buy that or not. Aoc, by the way, is the Democrat leading contender, Westmoreland, who many people said were the governor of Maryland, just up the road from where I am right now, weighed in on trans related issues and showed that he, alongside of basically every other Democrat is actually still crazy. And in Tennessee, where we are in the midst of a redistricting battle, we will discuss the opposition there as all of that is underway, I will say, Buck, there are numbers out that are very positive. We have talked some about this. But in the state of Michigan, Mike Rogers is going to be the Republican nominee and it increasingly is looking like a man named Abdul EL Sayed is going to be the nominee for the Democrat Party in Michigan. That is not a good sign for Michiganders if they are hoping the Democrats are going to waltz to victory. In fact, I actually think this is a sign along with Maine and where Democrats are going to nominate a guy with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, that people are losing their minds a little bit on the left and picking candidates that are not of a particularly high quality. But right now, and we'll play this cut for you in a little bit. CNN has a big poll about Democrats versus Republicans. But Buck, not surprisingly, in the wake of the inflation numbers that come out, affordability, inflation, that is the number one story right now, high gas prices. And the question is how soon can that reconciled. Is that kind of how you see the read right now, that gas prices need to come down in the fall?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, yes, gas prices certainly need to come down. And apologies for my voice, everybody, in advance. I'm obviously fighting through a little bit of a cold. It does happen even here in South Florida. No matter how warm it is, you can still catch a cold virus because the temperature has nothing to do with it. It turns out, I think, that the reality of the midterm election already is very apparent to people, which is that it's going to be a what's going on here at home election, no different probably than any other midterm you can think of when we're not involved in a major war. And this sort of war we have with Iran could in fact be a big drag on Republican fortunes. Maybe, maybe not. One thing has become apparent, though, Clay. Skepticism of a an imminent Iran deal was well warranted. There is no deal on the table. Have you seen the things that the Iranians are demanding as their red lines? This is not like we're Trump is saying we are close. And the only way that that line can be believed is if what the Iranians are saying publicly is entirely different from what they're saying privately. But in this kind of a negotiation, why would they do that? Because there would be a tremendous amount of whiplash at home where they're saying one thing and then they go and do another. Clay, they're saying they want reparations, they want official control of the Strait of Hormuz, they want an end to all U.S. u.S. Sanctions against them. None of these things are going to happen. And they're saying without that, there's no deal. So we believe that we're going to strangle them with this sort of blockade. They think they can continue to do what they're doing. And Trump now is weighing military escalation once again. I don't think the Iranians are that scared this time around of military escalation because their leadership, whatever's left of it, is going to be staying underground and they feel like they weathered the biggest shot that we've got. What are we going to do now to hurt them more? So I'm a little concerned about the price of gas as it pertains to all this is the point. And I've been concerned about it all long absent a real deal. I don't know how the price of gas comes down 50%. Also, I'm not hearing enough from this White House in my opinion, about immigration enforcement. I don't know if that's because it's not happening in the same way post Minneapolis. But if that's the case, I think we've got another problem. And the inflation situation, obviously energy is driving this, but inflation jumped up a bit, which is not a good look either. So these things I think Clay, are fixable or at least addressable before the actual votes are cast in the midterm. But we think about it this way. Absent high gas prices in this Iran adventurism, what are the Democrats running on?

[Clay Travis]

They're still trying to make abolish ice, which is an awful argument for them. They really have nothing. Which is why if we can get gas prices back down and get some form of resolution in Iran between now and November. And by the way, Buck, on your mow the grass theory, we could get some form of resolution in November, have the election and then bomb Iran again in December. Right? I mean this, this resolution can be relatively short lived in terms of

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whether

[Clay Travis]

or not we're going to get a long term solution. Can we get a short term solution through the midterms which then gives President Trump more freedom? I've been saying this for a long time. I think Trump is going to want a large, some sort of finality associated stroke. And to me, seizing the so called nuclear dust and bringing it out of Iran I think is going to have a cinematic quality that leads President Trump to believe that that is the perfect ending to this whole thing. Now we still have the straight of Hormuz related issue in that is Iran going to stop threatening ships such that all of them can get out? There was a big article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, Buck, about all of the guys, they're almost all men who are trapped on these boats and can't leave and they're running out of food and water and supplies on these boats because they're not anticipating that they're going to be held up for months as they are right now. And so the expectation was that they would have long been gone. So there is a little bit of a humanitarian related crisis that is brewing on these individual ships. Meanwhile, Iran's economy is basically completely collapsed. Inflation is, I think it's 70% right now in that to the extent that it can even be measured, people are being fired like crazy from private sector jobs. Public employees have not been paid in months. So I do think the question is what sort of economic pain can Iran endure comparatively? We're not really, I mean the price of oil and gas is up and that stinks. But the Actual stock market keeps setting record highs. Unemployment is low here. So we're not bearing anywhere near the same sort of economic crisis that Iran is. So I think balancing out how this gets resolved is to a large extent, what's going to define the midterms. I will say that there is a lot of hate on the Democrat Party. So it's not so much that the Democrats are surging in popularity, it is that they are dealing with also their own degree of unpopularity.

[Buck Sexton]

Yes. And it is interesting to see, by the way, the way that Fetterman has it both ways. Clay Fetterman is the Democrat that we're always saying, oh, he's so reasonable. He sounds reasonable. He doesn't vote in a reasonable fashion. Or rather, he votes with Democrats 93% of the time. You see him. Yeah, I think he's on with Bill Maher. This is cut 13. Listen to this. I know you're not a believer in marriage, but if you married to someone and you agree 93% of the time, that's probably be a pretty great marriage.

[Guest or Caller]

And I mystify it by.

[Buck Sexton]

And what's also on the other side,

[Guest or Caller]

I've had Republican friends, you know, in

[Buck Sexton]

office say they're like, you know, our internals.

[Guest or Caller]

You're more popular with our people than we are.

[Clay Travis]

How.

[Guest or Caller]

And I don't understand that either.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, when I vote 93% like a damn lie, and I'm more popular with Republicans, I can't explain it. I truly don't. And I myself in a strange. In a strange place, 93% with Democrats. And yet he's supposed to be the reason. In fact, what you find, Clay, is that if you're a Democrat who is not in lockstep with them on everything, they freak out. There is no space anymore for a Democrat, moderate or a Democrat who, you know, is a centrist on any of these things. Even in a state like Pennsylvania, where clearly it makes sense for Fetterman's own political future to at least say these things publicly. Now, he has broken with his party on a few votes. That's why it's 93%, not 100%. Plenty of Democrats are 100%, but I just think it's indicative of where their party is right now that they still in every way push for the same ideas that I think got them a big loss in 2024. Clay, they believe they just need another shot. Yeah, they believe they need a shot without Trump on the top. They believe that if they can get the House, they can slow Trump down enough that he's going to become irrelevant for the last two years of his presidency. I mean, I see the strategy here, but you know, the thing about crazy is doing the same thing and hoping you get a different result. Oh, the Democrats are crazy and then some because they want to do all the same things with all the same results.

[Clay Travis]

A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice just left the Democrat Party over anti Semitism concerns. And Fetterman said yesterday this is a post that he put up, but it kind of builds on what you're saying. I know David. That's the Supreme Court justice and his legendary father Cyril, as I've affirmed, I'm not changing my party, but I fully understand David's personal choice. The Democrat Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem. Now, Buck, that is intriguing. I was talking with someone in Pennsylvania who knows their politics really well recently, and they said there's almost a 0% chance that Fetterman can be the nominee for the Democrat Party as a senator in Pennsylvania in 2028. That's two years away and he'll be up for reelection after serving a six year term. And it's possible Fetterman doesn't like the Senate that much and chooses not to run. And but what that person told me was I think there's a decent chance he runs as an independent. And then the math becomes very intriguing. Now, to your point, is he an independent that caucuses with Democrats? Okay, maybe. But is he an independent that would be open to caucusing some with Republicans? Is he a true independent? How that would shake out is something to certainly pay attention to because Pennsylvania has moved significantly to the right. They elected Dave McCormick two years ago. President Trump won the state comfortably, 150,000 votes. Ish. I think, if I'm not mistaken. And so it will be interesting to see how the Democrats handle Fetterman because this will all start up as soon as the midterms are over. As we've talked about quite a lot, the 2028 election starts in January of 2027. So it's going to be here much faster than a lot of people realize.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Buck Sexton]

clay and Buck kicks off now. Thanks for being here everybody. All across the US of A clay, you know the 250th is coming up soon.

[Clay Travis]

Oh yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Gonna be very exciting. Some people are saying the most exciting. Gonna be huge. It's gonna be beautiful. We're gonna have a fantastic 250th anniversary of this amazing country of ours. And look, there's a ton to celebrate and you should always take a moment even while we're here doing politics and current events and talking about challenges and different ideologies and things that should be done differently and failures. We're about to get into failure of the LA mayor and how people in LA should make a different choice here and go with Spencer Pratt. We're about to get into all that. But first, just note if you're listening to this and you are an American and you are alive. Which I guess would be a precondition for you to be listening to this. You're very lucky, actually. This is the best country. We are the best country in the world. I always laugh when they show that. You know that clip, it's what's his name? The guy from Dumb and Dumber who's in it from the newsroom where the girl. First of all, they have a very Attractive, like, blonde would be sorority girl. The girl's probably, like, 30. But, you know, I'm talking about in the newsroom show where she goes, why is America the best country in the world? And I forget the name of the. He's the guy. Not. Not Jim Carrey. Jeff Daniels. I was going to say Jeff Bridges. Jeff Daniels. Thank you. Jeff Daniels. Jeff Daniels is like, we're not the greatest country. And it's just this smug lib idiocy of, like, we're behind in literacy. We're.

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[Buck Sexton]

You know, we have the highest incarceration. All this stuff. It's like, first of all, you could smash that stupid take in about two seconds if you actually paid attention to what's going on in the world. But more to the point, it's absurd when you think about the greatness of America, when you think about what this country has done, not only for Americans, but for the human race, for the entire world. And then we always said, do this thing. Yeah, we're imperfect. Well, of course we're imperfect, but we're still awesome. We're still number one.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

When Michael Jordan was at his peak in the NBA, was he always going like, I know I'm imperfect, but no, he's like, I'm a champion. I'm pretty amazing. America's a champion. We're pretty amazing. So don't forget that. While we're getting into all this stuff. You see that clay? You see all that? Can you just feel all that optimism wafting?

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot of positivity from you. For the top of the second hour. You got a. Maybe a little bit of a fever. You're playing hurt.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

And maybe it's the cold meds talking there, the Sudafed coming through, but this is the best country in the world by far. Not even close. Nothing else even scratches in our direction. And we should just take a moment of that and, you know, the world should be thankful that China is not. We're going to talk a lot about China coming up. Obviously, the Xi Jinping Trump summit is happening. I think he arrives Clay Wednesday night and then Thursday. And there'll be a lot of back and forth with Trump and Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping wants. With Taiwan at the very top of the agenda, so we will get into all those details. China could be the global hegemon. You know, you could have the Chinese Communist Party in a position to basically destroy any country's economy, kill every. Everybody in the country if they wanted to. I Mean, China could be as powerful as America theoretically. And then what would it, what would it be like for humanity? Where would freedom be globally? So, you know, we. I don't think we spend enough time talking about. And I don't mean we on this show. I just mean Americans in general. There should be. Yeah. The price of eggs, the price of gas may be a little high right now. It's still a great. It's still the greatest country in the world. So that's your backdrop. Now I understand day to day problems are real and they exist. This is like, you know, telling people, Clay, that things could be worse. You could be living in the middle of the thirty Years War and everyone around you is being raped, pillaged, murdered or dying of cholera. Yeah, that doesn't really help us right now, though. Right. I mean, there's historical perspective and then there's just losing yourself in narratives that have nothing to do with the moment. This is the greatest country in the world. And we are coming up on the 2 50th, and I do think it, I think some reflection on that for all of us is. And we'll do more as we get closer, but it's necessary context for the challenges that we talk about and also to remind ourselves why it's so important that we not let this place fall apart.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, I think all of that is true. And I also. Yesterday Buck was talking about this midterm in terms of looking years ahead. And I understand everything is immediate and we have very sort of goldfish attention spans in the United States, which likely have been, has been exacerbated by TikTok and reels on Instagram and everything else. The amount of deep thoughts thought that is typically corresponding with policy is quite rare. But I think one reason that what all you just laid out, one reason why Democrats are so desperate here in 2026, is not only because Trump's in power, but they know Trump's going to leave power in 28. This is so significant. The maps that are going to get redrawn in 2030 and who is in power when that census happens is potentially the existential threat to the Democrat Party. Because if the numbers look and continue to move in the direction that they are now, where everybody is moving to red states and you have Illinois and New York and California overwhelmingly losing residents, the math for Democrats to win as the party currently exists almost becomes impossible starting in 2030. I mean, across the board for the House, for Senate and certainly for the presidency when you look at the Electoral College. So I think there is A desperate fear that is palpable right now in the Democrat Party because they're not just staring down the potential of losing an election. They have a generational shift that is occurring that is moving against them in a profound way. And they have to put up substantial roadblocks or else they could basically be census to a large extent, out of power.

[Buck Sexton]

So now on the la, and remember, there's a Los Angeles race. There's also the California governor's race, Los Angeles mayor debate News here, which I thought was really interesting. Nithya Rahman and Karen Bass have at the last minute pulled out of their next debate. Clay. They're going to say that this is scheduling, we're busy, whatever. There's no way they do this without knowing that to a lot of people it looks like they are ducking for cover. They are trying to get away from the attention on this race because the more people, I understand it's just people in Los Angeles who are voting, but the more national attention there is, the more local attention there will be as well, because people can. Everywhere they turn now, this LA mayor's race is getting real, real coverage in the media and they're also showing you, I think, the kind of arguments that they're making are in such bad faith. They're really looking for the deranged and delusional left to come to their rescue on this one. Mayor, mayoral candidate Nithya Rahman. This cut 37. This is what. How she refers to Spencer Pratt play it. But I also think it's a very real thing that we should take seriously and we need to grapple with and we need to offer it an honest response, response that's rooted in actually solving these problems. Otherwise people will turn to fascism, to mini Trump, which is who I think Spencer Pratt really represents. Fascism. Clay. So now they're trying to. They're trying to tie a guy, they. They let his house burn down with their incompetence, along with all of his neighbors, his entire neighbor. It's gone, by the way. It's never coming back either. Everyone in the Palisades knows this. It's never going to be what it was. It's gone forever. They let his neighborhood burn down. They let his hummingbird nests get scorched, go up in flames. And they're calling him a fascist because he thinks that he can do a better job than the horrible job that they have done. I feel like this is Democrats encapsulated.

[Clay Travis]

Yes. And look, the runoff is going to be down to two because it's highly unlikely anybody's going to get 50% plus one vote to be able to ensure that a runoff doesn't happen. Now, when either, either Spencer loses and you end up with two crazy left wing people or Spencer is one of the two that advances and it's going to be self evident what they're going to do to him. They're going to do the same thing to him that they did to Rick Caruso. And the question is, I was actually at dinner last night with Andrew Giuliani and we were talking about his dad and the fact that he came into power. And we were discussing this LA mayor race and a bunch of the guys at the table were LA residents. And the conversation was, have people gotten frustrated enough with the filth, with the homelessness, with the drug use in la? That. And maybe also writ large, when you look at the governor's race, the same sort of issues are applying in San Francisco and other big metropolitan areas that they're willing to do something different. And you've talked about this quite a lot, Buck, but the numbers on murder in New York City when Rudy Giuliani came into office, what, over 2,000 murders were happening every year, if I'm not mistaken, in New York City alone. And now the number's down around 250, 300. I mean, I think it went all the way to basically 200. They got a 90% reduction effectively in the overall murder rate. And you had Rudy Giuliani for eight years and then you had Bloomberg, I think, for 12 years. So you had an entire generation of sane leadership. The question that LA is going to face is are they going to pull a Chicago and are they going to go from Lori Lightfoot to Brandon Johnson like Chicago did, where you arguably, I think got even worse. Could you end up with somebody worse than Karen Bass? I think you could. Or are they going to recognize that it's time for a modern era? Rudy Giuliani in la. Spencer represents that. And I think what I don't remember, you may remember the campaign that Giuliani ran when he won the mayor's race for the first time. I think the thing that Spencer Pratt has done a really, really good job of is Buck. His ads and his social media is brilliant. It is just. And he's got people doing videos for him using AI. It feels like a next generation campaign where you're taking advantage of the modern technology and modern AI to tell a compelling story about something that is honestly universal for most people, which is, let's just have a safe city for women and children. What do we talk about on this program. The best way to judge a neighborhood, in my opinion, is would you let your wife or girlfriend go for a jog around dark? If the answer is no, you don't live in a safe neighborhood. If the answer is yes, you live in a safe neighborhood. And every. To me it cuts through the noise. Is your neighborhood safe? Is your city safe enough for. If your wife or your girlfriend goes for a jog, do you feel like she's going to be okay? And there are way too many parts of America where the answer is no.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, I said this yesterday, Clay, when you were en route to the studio. Three stabbings in Venice Beach, California in about three days. One of them was inside a Whole Foods and the Venice Beach Whole Foods. Yeah, this is a fancy, you know, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills. This is the Manhattan of la, if you will. Right. This is the, the highest rent district, the highest cost areas in Bel Air. I mean, I know there's a few and there's dangerous stuff that's happening and it doesn't even get a lot of outrage. It's just treated like it's part of the cityscape now. This is just the way that it works, the way that it happens. It actually does not have to be this way. This guy who went out into, what was it, Cambridge, shooting a rifle at people and then he got shot, but

[Clay Travis]

he'd been arrested, like we talked about this yesterday, Buck, with the guy who shoved the 76 year old on this down the subway steps in New York City.

[Buck Sexton]

They act like all these guys who have a dozen serious crimes in their background, including crimes of violence are worthy of a slap on the wrist because, you know, everybody makes mistakes. Not these mistakes. And the people that are putting these individuals back on the street until they throw, you know, see this guy who threw a senior citizen down the stairs and killed him. No reason. Just ran up behind an old person. New York subway.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Shoved him off.

[Buck Sexton]

Six year old. Yeah. Shoved him off the top of the. You know, we wouldn't really know about this stuff if all the video and surveillance stuff didn't exist and if X didn't allow us to share it so freely. We know who's doing the crime. We know the Democrats don't want to talk about it. We know that the people that are in charge of keeping us safe have screwed up and are actively making decisions. See, Clay, I think it's worse than they're not good at their jobs. And so these things happen. I think that whether it's mamdani or Karen Bass or name your Democrat. In any city in America, they make choices that result in old people being thrown down the stairs to their deaths in a violent and completely senseless end. Because that's the cost of social justice to them. That's the cost of not doing mass incarceration. That's the cost of the police not appearing racist. That's the cost they are willing to have other people pay.

[Clay Travis]

That's 100% right. And what I said yesterday, and this is, I think one of the messages that Spencer is hammering and we've been hammering it on this for a long time, refusing to put violent people behind bars is not kind because ultimately it leads to directly what happened with that 76 year old in New York City. Buck, There was a woman who that guy previously shoved in a subway and the quote yesterday that was out was that she didn't want to prosecute him because she didn't want to see another black guy in jail. So as a result she didn't prosecute him to the full extent of the law and he ended up killing somebody. And the numbers do reflect, and this is important, that if a violent person is allowed to stay on the streets, they're going to continue to engage in violent behavior. And, and so the actual, if you, if you want to be concerned about empathy, I would rather have empathy for innocent crime victims than criminals. And that is a huge part of how all of this is playing out in so many different cities. Almost everyone who engages in violent behavior, almost everyone who commits to a, to a crime like this, you knew what was going to happen. And you see it in la, you see it in New York, you see it in Chicago all the time.

[Buck Sexton]

So it's not, to me, it's not clay that it was avoidable. It should have been avoided. People in charge had a duty to avoid it. You know, it's a, that's a different thing.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I also think if you want to be empathetic, the empathetic thing to do is to protect innocent people who have done nothing wrong, not to protect criminals. And people are being taken advantage of by using their empathy against them. And I actually think if you just use that empathy and redirect it to the people that actually deserve it, it is the innocent people who are becoming victims of crime. That from people who should have never been on the streets. Born on America's darkest day of nine, 1125 years ago, tunnel the Towers foundation has been helping America's heroes ever since. Heroes like New York city Fire Department Lt. Edward McDonough Jr. He was a Marine Corps veteran. Lifelong public servant. He was on the front lines at ground Zero. In the days following 9 11. He cleared debris while serving his city with courage and dedication. He rose through the ranks of the New York City Fire Department, ultimately becoming a lieutenant and inspiring those around him with his leadership and humor. Edward battled 911 related cancer for more than three years before passing away. He leaves behind his wife Kimberly and their five kids. In this 25th anniversary year of 9 11, we continue to see the toll that day still is taking on heroes and their families. Tunnel Towers honored Edward by paying the McDonough family mortgage for help, more families like the McDonoughs. Your donation today can provide hope and stability to those who gave everything in service to our communities. Donate $11 a month and amplify your impact with a car or land donation. Go to t2t.org that's t the number 2t.org pre center pals Clay and Buck on the I Heart app. Welcome back in hour number three, Tuesday edition. Clay and Buck. I am up in D.C. see I was at the White House yesterday, saw a lot of our friends. Buck as Indiana was given the presidential seal of approval for their 160 football team. Perfect day on the South Lawn. A lot of fun. Good, good crowd and are they the

[Buck Sexton]

best college football team of all time? Are they the best college football team of all time? Is that fair?

[Clay Travis]

They are the the first college football team since 1894, I believe to go 16. And having said that, if you asked me right now who I think the best college football team of all time was, I think it would have been 15 and oh, LSU with Joe Burrow as the quarterback, a bevy of incredible talent on that team that won the national championship, I believe in 2019. That was one of the fat, the last events before COVID shut down everything. Buck LSU won the national title in New Orleans in the January, mid January, mid to late January of 2020. Then the super bowl happened and then all hell broke loose with COVID So good question. I think I would go 2019, LSU some may agree, some may disagree, but I think I would say that's the best team that I've seen. 2001 Miami, which actually was also an incredible team. Those would be a couple that I would put right near the top all time. Okay, we got a couple of different things that are going on out there. President Trump, I believe guys has boarded Marine One to head. He was fielding questions on the south lawn en route to the airport as he gets ready to Leave for China. So President Trump under underway on his way to fly. He's still taking questions, according to producer Ali. And we're, we'll see. We'll monitor this and see if there's any major news that comes out of him taking questions before he embarks on that long plane trip to China. Okay, Buck, I wanted to play this for you. We talked earlier about the fact that racial redistricting, racially motivated gerrymandering, has been essentially ruled to be in unconstitutional. Essentially. They didn't completely override it, but effectively they have.

[Buck Sexton]

It's kind of racist, really.

[Clay Travis]

It is in fact racist, arguably to be drawing things based on race. And so that was basically what the Supreme Court said. Here is cnn. Bakari Sellers. This is the argument he made last night.

[Guest or Caller]

Listen, if somebody fell asleep in 1896 and woke up today in 2026, they would simply say the only difference is now Negroes have a TV show and we wear nice suits. They, they swapped out Klan hoods for Brooks Brothers suits. And that is the problem. I mean, Plessy v. Ferguson was 7:1 and it gave birth to 50 years of Jim Crow. What we have with this court right now, what we're seeing is watching people who have fought and died and bled so that we would have access to the ballot box, so that we would have access to our voices being heard in Congress being ripped away. And I think that there is a casual laughter from people we believe to be our friends on the right who are showing us true colors today. Because the most sacred or one of the most sacred acts you have in the United States of America is the ability to cast a ballot and elect someone and send them to Congress, the state House or a mayoral seat that represents your interest. And now black folks throughout the south are being silenced. And I don't find that to be a laughing matter.

[Clay Travis]

This is pretty shameful, Buck, even for cnn, because this doesn't directly impact anybody's right to vote. And you'll notice that they got embarrassed because in Memphis, which is a district that has been redrawn now you have a guy named Steve Cohen who is a white Jewish guy that has been representing Memphis for a long time. And you know who he usually beats in the race when he represents Memphis?

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, black guys, black Republicans, black

[Clay Travis]

woman has been the last couple of times the nominee to run against him in Memphis. So this, this racial dynamic is pretty nasty of Bakari Sellers. I also think I wanted to play this because this is a guy named Justin Pearson. He is a Tennessee state Rep. Buck is laughing because he has seen these clips. But I just want to play these for you. This is the guy who is in Memphis and is saying that, that he is so terribly upset about what has happened. And I want to play for you a couple of different things here. This is Justin Pearson in 2016 being interviewed, and I want you to listen to him. He went to. What's the school that Mom Donnie went to? Colgate. Where did Mom Donnie go? Northeastern school. We'll look it up. He went to it.

[Buck Sexton]

Did you go to Bowdoin? I forget. Where did Mom Donnie go?

[Clay Travis]

He went to an elite, expensive northeast school. Same school Bow. Bowdoin.

[Buck Sexton]

I nailed it. Nailed it.

[Clay Travis]

All right, here's a good. Before we play this clip, Buck, I don't know if you're going to get this. Who is what is the Civil War connection for Bowdoin College in a significant way that we have talked about this month on this program?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, clearly it was General Bowdoin who helped Grant in the Vicksburg campaign. No, I have no idea. I think I should just get credit for knowing that it's not Bo Dwin or whatever.

[Clay Travis]

It's Bob.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

I would never have been able to correctly pronounce it except for the fact that Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who led the charge on the battle of Little Round top for the 20th Maine, he was a his alma mater. He was a professor at Bowdoin College when he left to go to go lead the 20th Maine. And then he came back and ended up being elected governor of Maine in a post post life zone.

[Buck Sexton]

Do you know who plays him in your favorite Gettysburg movie, which is based on the novel that you made me read or told me to read. Is very good.

[Clay Travis]

Made is the wrong. The Killer Angels.

[Buck Sexton]

Killer Angels. None other than Jeff Daniels, who also plays the smug media guy in the newsroom who says that America is not the greatest country in the world.

[Clay Travis]

Yes. Big circle.

[Buck Sexton]

So from saving the union at Gettysburg, Little Round top or whatever.

[Clay Travis]

Gettysburg, yeah. Little Round Top. Yeah.

[Buck Sexton]

Little thank you, Little Round Top to America's not the greatest country in the world, when a beautiful blonde woman asks him why it is the greatest country in the world. So how the mighty have fallen.

[Clay Travis]

I would also point out while we were, you know, taking shots at Jeff Daniels, Dumb and Dumber. The range of Jeff Daniels, to be fair, is pretty incredible. And now a lot of people see him. He does those pure Michigan commercials. He's the guy on the talking about how awesome of a place Michigan is to go visit. Okay, so this is where Justin Pearson Went to college. Bowdoin College. Buck I would bet is. What do you think, 85, $90,000 a year board tuition. I mean it's one of the most expensive colleges in America. And here is Justin Pearson speaking when he was on campus in Maine 2016.

[Justin Pearson]

Listen, Justin J. Pearson. And I'm running for president of bsg. There are a few reasons that we're running this campaign this year. One has to do with representation. How can we represent all voices in a conversation? I wanted to do this by partnering with organizations from the Bowdoin Democrats to the Bowdoin Republicans. I want to bring together different voices, dissenting voices, voices that may be more liberal or more conservative in order that we can reach a point of sort

[Buck Sexton]

of the radical middle here.

[Justin Pearson]

You've had three strikes laws, mass incarceration

[Clay Travis]

denied us of who we are and we are still here. And today you will take the only

[Justin Pearson]

majority black district from us. But I want you to know, and I want my nephew, sons and the

[Clay Travis]

future to know, no matter what you

[Justin Pearson]

do, no matter how much you try

[Clay Travis]

and break us and make us bid

[Buck Sexton]

and make us quit, we will still be here.

[Clay Travis]

Same guy, 10 years apart. That is in the, in the space of buck, just a decade from Carlton

[Buck Sexton]

Carlton Banks to Malcolm X in the blink of an eye. Pretty amazing.

[Clay Travis]

That is a great the Carlton Banks to Malcolm X comparison. It sounds ridiculous. You play it. What does it say? That there is not a political future for the first guy but there is a political future for the second guy. I would submit to you that that is not a sign of things going better. And look, here he is again. This district that he's so angry about is represented by a white Jewish guy in Memphis. Here he is cut 31. Tennessee has now put a new map in place. We'll see if it's legal. There's lots of challenges going out there to make Tennessee a 90 state so that it resembles more so the Northeast which is all Democrat. They don't allow any Republicans. Here's cut 31 from Justin Pearson.

[Justin Pearson]

This is the stealing of congressional districts. This is the stealing of people's voice to literally rig it so that he can win. You have the most unprincipled people who are in political offices right now. The same people who say they care about democracy and this is a republic and people should be able to choose their elections, elected officials. Their elected officials shouldn't be able to choose them. Those same Republicans who would say those lines are now the, the co conspirators along with this white supremacist president of the United States to take and to steal this election because he doesn't want to be impeached, because he doesn't want to be held accountable for the American citizens he killed with these ICE raids and the deportations that he has caused. He doesn't want to be held accountable. So they are literally rigging and stealing elections and congressional seats.

[Clay Travis]

So he sounds a little bit more like himself from Bowdoin College there in that argument. But again, the lack of racial gerrymandering, I think in the long run is going to be much better. Right? We'll get better quality of representatives. And this argument that we're in 1896, I mean, it's particularly pernicious, I think, Buck, from a guy like Bacari Sellers, who is from South Carolina. Tim Scott is a black senator from South Carolina. So you actually have in the state of South Carolina one of the three most powerful guys or gals, the governor and the two senators, I would argue probably are the three most powerful politicians in South Carolina. Tim Scott's been winning overwhelming election in the state of South Carolina. A guy that we have had on a lot on this program, Wesley Hunt, represents a majority white district in Texas right now. He ran for Senate, did not win. We got a Senate runoff going on in Texas. But I think he's been actually very eloquent talking about people want to have someone who will advocate for their interest irrespective of what the color of their skin is. And I think that is a strong message that has been sent in South Carolina. That's a strong message that's been said in Texas and, and the Bakari Sellers of the world. I mean, in his own home state of South Carolina, you can point to someone who disproves that, Eric. And one other bit in that same geographic region. That's where Clarence Thomas came from. And Clarence Thomas is soon going to be the longest serving Supreme Court justice in the history of our nation. He just, in the last week or so, Buck, we talked about this some, but he has moved into the second longest Supreme Court justice serve. And I believe in 2028 he will become the longest serving Supreme Court justice ever. So I actually look at those as very positive stories. And the fact that CNN would of course not cover that aspect of this or that nobody on CNN would point back to Bakari Sellers and say, wait a minute, Tim Scott's kind of got an important job in your home state. Why have you not talked about him? I think speaks to the dishonesty of the much of the rhetorics surrounding this.

[Buck Sexton]

I think that is all very accurate. I agree.

[Clay Travis]

I'm just right now Buck scrolling through to see if President Trump has made any more news as he's got a bunch of things.

[Buck Sexton]

We're going to dive into them here in a second. We have a bunch of clips from President Trump just now speaking to the press. We will bring you up to speed on the latest after a word from our sponsor.

[Clay Travis]

Clay yes, and our sponsor is the ifcj and there's going to be some news coming out of the Middle east and we will see what ends up happening with everything having to do with that negotiation. As President Trump's about to take a super long flight. Hopefully we will be able to limit the amount of bombs that are dropping in Israel. But right now the IFCJ is in the business of actually doing something really important. They help build bomb shelters. They help build hospitals that are more secure. They help build cars that have protection in them so that everybody can be taken care of. IFCJ on the ground in Israel, delivering food, caring for the vulnerable, reminding those they serve that they're not alone. You can help with prayer, donations, advocacy as well. Visit the website to help prayifcj.org that's prayifcj.org, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Prayifcj.org Level up your brain mental mogging

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[Clay Travis]

Just rolling in. He's got a super busy schedule. We appreciate the time. Missouri Senator Eric Schmidt Midterms are coming closer. I wanted to play this for you. This was on CNN a bit earlier. Cut 36. And I want to hear how you think this squares with what you hear from your constituents in Missouri. This is Harry Enton talking about, hey, people aren't that happy with Republicans right now, but Democrats are also historically unpopular.

[Buck Sexton]

I think this poll serves as a big time reality check for Democrats. And that is it ain't over yet. Especially with the redistricting. When we look ahead to the 2026 race for Congress, look, in March, Democrats are up by six points. Look at this.

[Clay Travis]

Now Democrats are up by three points.

[Buck Sexton]

And I want you to note the yellow lettering. No clear leader. It is within the margin of error. We talk about, you know, economic approval rating for the president. We talk about the net approval rating among registered voters. If we look among registered voters, the net approval rating, he's 36 points under. Where to go? There's no way. There's no way Republicans could possibly hold onto the House.

[Clay Travis]

But look at this. Which party is trusted more in the economy?

[Buck Sexton]

It's A tie among registered voters. Just because Donald Trump is unpopular doesn't make Democrats popular. And when you match Democrats against Republicans, all of a sudden it is a dead heat.

[Clay Travis]

All right, so does that square kind of with what you're seeing? How would you assess the Senate? How confident are you in Republicans maintaining control?

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

I mean, I think we're going to hold the Senate. The challenge for a midterm always is you don't have this true, like, binary choice like you do in a presidential where you've got the two leaders of the party going toe to toe and you have to make this kind of binary choice, which is why midterms are a little more harder to judge. But I do think that by the time we get to the fall, Republicans are going to make very clear the contrast. Right. What happened during the four years of Joe Biden? We had a wide open border, right, that's been closed. We're deporting people now. There are 15 million people here illegally. There's still more work to do. I mean, President Trump inherited a disaster of an economy. And to put that in perspective. So for those four years, the inflation adjusted wage growth was minus $5,000. It's now plus $1,500. It's not there yet. Like, we're not there yet. And we should be honest about that. But we're putting in place, I think, the things that are going to make Americans more prosperous. You look at the working families tax cut, a lot of that stuff's starting to kick in now. So I'm confident we're going to hold the Senate. I can't speak to the House. I mean, I think that's going to be a dog fight. But it is interesting now this, this, this decision by the Supreme Court last week. Oh, yeah, I've written doj. They ought to be on offense going after these districts that are, that are racially. You know, the motivation was race in California specifically. So not only winning sort of on this, the turf that they've always played on, it's all upside for us. You look at those New England states, they're all blue. There's 40% Republicans in those states. There's not a single congressman from that area. So we might as well play the game here. And now that you know, you can, the court said you can't have these racist maps, states like California and Illinois, the composition is going to change there, too.

[Buck Sexton]

Senator, it's Buck. Thanks for being with us. Yeah. We were just talking at the top of the show about gas prices up 50%, maybe more since the beginning of the Iran crisis. How much are you hearing from your state constituents that this is something that is high on their list of concerns? Is this as big a thing as we in the media seem to make of it, based on the polling, or do you think it's overblown? Do you think it has a big impact?

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Well, I don't want to minimize it. I mean, look, you know, I fill my car up with gas like everybody else, and it's higher than it was certainly six months ago. You know, some of these media types that. Not you guys, but who are, you know, making this the central story every day. I didn't hear any of them talking about it when gas prices were actually higher under Joe Biden. Right. So. But, but I think it's temporary. It needs to be temporary. I do think the president has clearly articulated a limited mission for Iran, which is make sure they don't have a nuclear weapon, take out their missile defense, take out their navy. It's led the way in a path for this negotiation that we're at. And they'll come down. It's a different scenario than when the Democrats, I think, had terrible energy policy that wasn't going to change. I think you can see the fact that prices will come down, but I'm not minimizing it. I don't like that they're higher than they were six months ago.

[Clay Travis]

When you. Look, you were the attorney general in Missouri yesterday. We had Alex Berenson on the United States government settled with him and acknowledged that Joe Biden back in the day and his administration was restricting what he could say about COVID You have filed a lawsuit there. I'm curious your reactions to two you kind of hinted at. One, the Calais, Louisiana decision. Was that what you expected? Which is ended basically racial gerrymandering. And. And then the second part of that. What do you think? Because we get a lot of questions about this would happen in the future. Is the law changed? Have the precedents been set to keep government from censoring in the event, God forbid we have another pandemic somewhere down the road, what can and cannot be said?

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yeah. So the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit that I filed, that went to the Supreme Court, that you got to remember, we've talked about. I've been on your show when this was happening. We filed it before Elon Musk had bought Twitter.

[Clay Travis]

Right.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Right before the Twitter files. So all this discovery that came out showed this vast censorship enterprise that existed and the Supreme Court kicked it. There was a. There a recent settlement agreement There restricting this kind of activity. So that will, that holds. That's a good thing. I do think we need to go further and make sure that like, for example, you have a private right of action. If your individual First Amendment right has been infringed by the government, you can go sue an individual bureaucrat who went and did that. That would change the incentive structure. But, but I think the exposure of it. But look, the reality is this is what tyrants have done since the beginning of time. The first thing they go for is your ability to dissent and then they come for your guns. I mean, it's like there's a playbook here. So I think we got to be vigilant on this. On the Voting Rights Act. Yeah, this is what I thought they would do. And it was pretty well telegraphed. And there's just no way with the admissions case that came down, you know, this sort of, this, this regime that the Democrats put in place that was only about power really is now crumbling down. This sort of race, the race obsessed and power hungry. And now the courts have said you can't have racist maps. Democrats ironically fought for those racist maps decades ago. Now they're still fighting for them. And it's going to have dramatic implications, not just in the Southeast, but in California, I think is next if DOJ up takes them to court.

[Buck Sexton]

Speaking of Senator Schmidt of Missouri and Senator, where. Where does it go, you think, with the. We've been talking about the redistricting and these fights now playing out. It seems like the Democrats might have misjudged things a bit in Virginia. I know Clay was talking yesterday on the show about how they're thinking about firing all of these state Supreme Court justices, effectively lowering, like retroactively lowering the mandatory retirement age, replacing them all just, just out with the bathwater and the baby, the whole thing, in order to try to achieve more power in that state. Is this just now, Is the status quo now just going to be maximal or maximum partizan gerrymandering in every state without apology and without reprieve? What do you think?

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Well, I would argue in kind of the new Republican Party under President Trump. One thing I think that will be remembered is his. Well, part of his legacy is that Republicans should fight back. I think for a long time, Republicans played a very different game than the Democrats. I referenced the New England states. That's why when this whole thing started, I was very clear it's all upside for us. We haven't played the same game that they played. And the courts have been clear that you can have maps that are political considerations. You can't have race be the consideration. And ironically, in California, this independent commission they established, which was to game the system. The mapmaker himself said that these districts were based on race, which is why DOJ should immediately be going at California and upend that map. So look, I think this is where we're at. And by the way, those Census numbers in 2020 were inflated to benefit Democrat states. You've seen the exodus out of places like Illinois and California and New York to Republican states. So I think over the next four years or so, it's gonna be pretty dramatic. So they say kind of structural astroturfing they've been doing for a long time is going to go away. Which is why you see Hakeem Jeffries sound like an insane person now. Like they understand what's going on. And now that we're in the game and we're fighting back, they know what that means for their grip on power, which is why they're so desperate.

[Clay Travis]

You walked in here and told me, hey, among many other things, you're working on. Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari was in your office. The commissioners of the Big Ten and the SEC are up here. FIFA World cup is kicking off. I think a lot of them are going to be at the Fox event that is going on tonight to celebrate that SCORE act leading brought up on the Hill. Is Congress going to be able to do anything? I know this has been a never ending question, Bucks, like what in the world's going on with nil? Is Congress going to pass anything? What is the progress? What is the prognosis?

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

I hope so. I'm more optimistic, I think, than some because I think that you've got got this governance piece which is effectively the SCORE Act. Right. It's transfer eligibility. The NCAA or some other institution has to have the legal protection, the antitrust exemption effectively to create these rules, because right now they can't. Which is why you see the chaos. And then the second piece of it, I think this revenue piece is very important. That White House report that came out or recommendations was similar. I was on your show to talk about the blueprint that I had which allowed for the pooling of media rights among college football programs to go in like the NFL does. I think if college football is at 4 billion all in right now, NBA's got half the eyeballs at 8 billion.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

You know, that's where you're going to get the revenue to save the Olympic sports and save the non revenue sports. So I Think that the combination of those two things that's the path to get 60 votes in the Senate. And so that's what I'm working on.

[Clay Travis]

Buck has got over 100 mile an hour serve. I don't know if he saw this story, but Arkansas.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Cut. Men's and women's tennis. I know it's just south of you in Missouri, but Buck, I don't know how much you're paying attention to this, but it is kind of interesting. A lot of the so called Olympic sports now are getting cut because they cost and they lose money on them. Right. Compared to football and basketball where you have big crowds. Buck, the Olympic sports, I mean your 100 mile an hour serve, I know you're still getting the shoulder loose and you got a little bit of a cold right now, but you got to protect tennis.

[Buck Sexton]

That's if tennis goes, civilization goes, the country falls apart. Yeah.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

How much eligibility you have left? Hopefully. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I think he still got off a little controversy.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Indiana had 25 year olds on there.

[Buck Sexton]

That's true.

[Clay Travis]

40 year old playing football recently.

[Buck Sexton]

The challenge for me, Clay, was the Olympic committee thought that it might be considered cheating if I shave down my hair because of the aerodynamics involved. So wondering if the swoop is considered a performance enhancing drug. They don't really know how to classify it. So I don't want to cause problems, Clay. So I may not be up for the next Olympics but I'm thinking about

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

it for the good of the country. You're. You're stepping away. I appreciate it. No, I think look, the model has been. Football has subsidized all these non revenue sports.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

And if you're losing money on football like Rutgers is this is just where it's going. And it is a little startling. And I brought it up because the Arkansas AD was in the office too and I asked him about it and it's just this is an SEC school.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Like this is not like New Mexico State.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

And I think what's going to happen if we don't step in and give this anti good Congress. Do I think Congress should be in the business of all this? That's not really what this is. I was skeptical, but Congress is the only entity that can give that antitrust exemption for them to pool and for them to have these rules. And I think that will ultimately be what saves college sports.

[Clay Travis]

What else should we know? Everybody out there save act. I'll ask you this.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

We get asked about it all the time. Any movement there? And the reason I asked Yesterday we were talking about this, and Buck mentioned what they were talking about doing with the Supreme Court in. In Virginia.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

Which was. Now they've said the Senate Majority leader, Buck, came out and said, that's too far even for us to fire effectively all seven of them. But I think Buck and I both agree that if Democrats take back control of the White House and the Senate, they'll just do away with filibuster once and for all. And so any Republican who's saying, I'm standing on principle and I'm standing on history, if they do that, then Democrats aren't going to care. And so that's what the number one concern, I think, probably, of this audience is. We're standing on principle, and Democrats are just going to stand on power.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yeah, it's about. We got. That's why I'm sort of getting at the map game. I mean, we got to understand what this is. Yeah. My time as AG Actually informed a lot of being here now in Washington because I saw the full complement of what the left was willing to do. Nonprofits, all the crazy stuff during COVID all of it. And so I certainly have that kind of mentality to sort of fight back. That's just been my experience. But, yeah, no doubt they'll add states to the Union. They'll pack the Supreme Court. They're not messing around here. And I think that if we want. If we're serious about this and integrity of our elections, the Save America act, we have to get it done, but we have to be willing to spend the time on it, and that's really where it's going to be. It's like, we got to spend the time on it, and that's where the fight is. The other issue that's probably, you know, in the next couple of weeks will be Democrats blocked all that ICE funding. We got everything else funded, but we're coming now on reconciliation, which is a simple majority now, to make sure they're funded for multiple years. So we're not gonna play this game with them anymore. These sanctuary jurisdictions. Here's a crazy stat that we saw the other day that we're gonna be part of this reconciliation process. 18,000. 18,000 criminal, illegal aliens have been released from prisons in sanctuary jurisdictions just in one year, just in the last year, because they don't think about that's what a sanctuary jurisdiction is. They will not tell law enforcement when a rapist who's an illegal immigrant's being released. Talk about, like, a moral inversion here. And so we ought to be fighting on this. So you talk about the midterms. Let's talk about that. Like let's talk about those kinds of issues too. And I think when you unpack where everybody is, when the ads are flying in September and October, I'm optimistic that we're gonna be able to hold the Senate and hopefully the House.

[Clay Travis]

Thanks for Senator Schmidt.

[Buck Sexton]

Appreciate you. Yeah, thank you so much.

[Senator Eric Schmidt]

Yep.

[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

Laugh.

[Buck Sexton]

Learn.

[Clay Travis]

Hang with the guys right there when you need them most. Clay and buck just preset them on the iHeart app.

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