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- [00:00]
Senator Dave McCormick
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Buck Sexton
Guaranteed human after reaching over $5,000 an ounce, gold prices have softened. What does that mean for you? It means this is a buying opportunity. Whether you haven't yet diversified your savings into gold or maybe you just want to buy more, Birch Gold Group can help you. The fundamentals are still out of whack. Surging oil prices keep inflation high, the national debt is still soaring, and central banks are still buying massive quantities of gold. That's why my belief in gold hasn't changed one bit. Educate yourself. Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on Gold when you text my name. Buck to 989898 there's no obligation, only useful information, including how you can own gold in a tax sheltered retirement account with an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. See if buying the dip makes sense for you right now. Text Buy Buck to the number 989-898. Claim your free info kit and diversify your savings with gold. Text Buck to 989-898 Pure Talk used to charge $55 for unlimited high speed data, but now it's just 34.99, giving you more for less.
- [01:13]
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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- [01:27]
Clay Travis
Go to PureTalk.com Clay that's PureTalk.com Clay PureTalk America's wireless company.
- [01:35]
Sponsor/Advertiser Voice
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosure is available at public.comdisclosures
- [02:37]
Clay Travis
Real
- [02:38]
Buck Sexton
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- [03:06]
Clay Travis
Welcome in. Appreciate all of you. Thursday Edition Clay and Buck Big news in China where it is what, 11:00pm I believe I didn't expected. I need them to be right off the top. 12pm 12pm in Beijing. I think they're 12 hours ahead of us. 12am and it's already Friday in Beijing. There have been tons of news stories come out of the state visit that is going on between President Trump and Chairman Xi of China and overall seems to be a great deal of positivity from day one of these discussions. As I am speaking to all of you, the stock market buck has had set yet again record all time highs and this has led to a just immense run the likes of which frankly we have rarely seen in the history of the stock market buck is a crazy stat for you. Last April, if you have had bought stock at the at the absolute lows when they told you Trump is going to destroy the economy, the S&P 500 had fallen just barely beneath 5,000 is my recollection, or right around 5,000. The S&P 500 is now up above 7,500. It is up over 50% in the space of one year. I think my math is correct there. The mathematicians out there who are smarter than me, from 5,000 to over 7,500, that's an unparalleled, unprecedented, incredible surge in overall stock market valuations. That means all of your 401ks record highs. That means all of your sundry retirement accounts. That means all your kids college funds. That means, I mean the amount of wealth that has been created in the last year alone across the entirety of the United States economic system is frankly almost without parallel in terms of one year 50% increase from bottoms in April of last year. It's crazy. And even if you didn't buy stock, if you just held on, you're up 50% since last April. That is wild. Okay, so super positivity associated with that. Now let's dive into the particular unique circumstances of the moment, Buck. And that is people out there saying valid, legitimate. Okay, Clay, how does that translate into my day to day cost? I understand stock markets at record highs. That's great. If you own stocks, which by the way, I bet 75, 80, maybe 90% of this audience does, is that a fair approximation? Over 60% of Americans own stocks now. And if you have any kind of retirement account at all, which all of you should have, because I, I hate to give a little bit of negativity here, but I think I can speak for you to Buck. I don't have a lot of faith in the Social Security system for urine minds, age people. If you're in your 40s, I'm not sure that Social Security that we're going to get anywhere near the money that we put in back out. We're just FYI. So I want to control the things the best of my ability. So I want to be invested in American commerce. Now, how does this all translate directly into the thing that people care about the most right now? Gas prices. Very positive stories here, Buck, that there is a basic, seems to be agreement that China is going to lean on Iran and basically say, hey, you've got to open up the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has said that China has agreed to talk to Iran. I saw a report, Buck, that 30 different ships today translated the Strait of Hormuz, sort of went through the Strait of, of Hormuz, came through many of them related to China. So Iran is at least listening to China when it comes to Chinese flagged ships and Chinese produce and, and oil and gas and everything else. The question is how much of that leaning will translate other areas and how quickly will the price of oil and gas come back? All of that is legitimate to be asked, but I think it's fair to say that day one of this big summit has gone quite well. How does that square with your take overall of day one? What is the biggest news story going on right now?
- [07:55]
Buck Sexton
Well, we have this official statement from the White House, which I think is a good jumping off point for how things are going. President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi of China. The two sides discuss ways to enhance economic cooperation between our two countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into our industries. Leaders from many of the United States largest companies joined a portion of the meeting. The President also highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursors into the United States, as well as increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products. The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy. President Xi also made clear China's opposition to the militarization of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use. And he expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China's dependence on the strait in the future. Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. So here's what I would say. First of all, if, if anyone could come away from the first day of the summit saying, oh, my gosh, this is a disaster, we would have big, big problems. These things, these kind of high level diplomatic talks are meant to, certainly in the early phase, meant to make both sides look good to the home team. Right. No one want. You don't want the other side to look bad, and you certainly don't want to look bad going into this. So there's going to be a lot of agreeing in principle, agreeing in general, you know, agreeing that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Okay, that's nice. That means nothing. A lot of the things here that are agreed upon in principle don't really mean anything other than, yeah, China will say that they're with us in theory on that, but we have to look at where the rubber meets the road. And that's still to be decided, I think. And you've noticed, Clay, and none of this was there any talk of, for example, Taiwan, which is going to be. And we'll talk to our friend Steve Yates about this later, a major sticking point in the actual takeaways and agreements here, at least in terms of tone, if not in terms of an actual solid anything. I mean, there probably will be only tone because they're not, they're going to say, you know, we like to play in the, in the gray zone in a whole bunch of ways. In the gray zone as it pertains to Taiwan, and so does China. So, yes, the stock market's super high today. That's good. Where are gas prices today? Did you check?
- [10:22]
Clay Travis
Are they about $100 a barrel? The futures, they've stayed effectively the same for the past several days. So when the war started, the futures were about $68 a barrel on gas.
- [10:36]
Buck Sexton
Ish.
- [10:37]
Clay Travis
At the end of February. They're right at $100 right now on the futures going forward.
- [10:43]
Buck Sexton
So 45 to 50% up, something like that is where they. Is where they are. That I really hope that that number starts to come down. You will note that in the Strait of Hormuz talk here, they both agree that it should be open ok. You know who doesn't agree that it should be open right now? Iran. So, you know, we can agree with China on a lot of things, and that's fine. There's no discussion here of the sticking point issues. This is, this is Clay, the high five. Hey, we can see eye to eye on the following things day. I think there's going to be more about where this is heading in the next few, you know, in the next 12 to 24 hours. And for example, Trump here was saying that he's really appreciative of the magnificent welcome play. This is cut five guys play.
- [11:34]
Senator Dave McCormick
This one was a fantastic day. And in particular, I want to thank President Xi, my friend, for this magnificent welcome. And it really was a magnificent welcome like none other and for so graciously hosting us on this very historic state visit. We had an extremely positive and productive conversations and meetings today with the Chinese delegation earlier. And this evening is another cherished opportunity to discuss among friends some of the things that we discussed today. All good for the United States and for China. And it was a great honor to be with you.
- [12:14]
Buck Sexton
So, Clay, I like that they're starting off with all the positives, all the agreement and these two men having a personal relationship. And they are the leaders of the two most powerful and important countries in the world. I think when they get into actual trade agreement stuff, Taiwan and a couple of other things, Trump will likely come out of this, I think within with a, a promise to continue the rare earth, you know, rare earth supply chain for us. So that will be a win. I'm trying to think of other areas of the actual takeaway part of this that will be on the good side. Remember, we, we had Trump got all this stuff going with China and agreements in the first term, and then Biden just basically didn't enforce any of it. So the other problem we have here is, as you've noted, she is going to be in charge for the foreseeable. Trump has to operate under a timetable here and a timetable is affected by the midterms coming up.
- [13:13]
Clay Travis
Trump talked with our buddy Sean Hannity, who'll be on many of these stations right after us. Sean is in Beijing right now. A couple of different cuts that I thought were significant from that conversation. I've sent one to producer Greg about Trump saying China has agreed to help with Strait of Hormuz traffic. And again, there are reports that 30 different ships have now cleared the Strait of Hormuz that are related to China, which would suggest that maybe there have been significant conversations behind the scenes between China and Iran. But here Trump said that the Chairman Xi had told him we will not be giving any military equipment to Iran. Cut one, the issue and you've been
- [13:56]
Buck Sexton
asked about it and you've spoken about it and that is China's support of Iran. How big a discussion was that today? We discussed it.
- [14:07]
Senator Dave McCormick
I mean when you say support, they're not fighting a war with us or anything. No, he said he's not going to give military equipment.
- [14:15]
Buck Sexton
That's a big statement.
- [14:15]
Senator Dave McCormick
He said that today.
- [14:16]
Buck Sexton
That's a big statement.
- [14:18]
Senator Dave McCormick
Said that strongly. But at the same time he said, you know, they buy a lot of their oil there and they'd like to keep doing that.
- [14:26]
Clay Travis
So again, this is what we talked about before and I think you got the benefit of actually seeing it. I suspect Buck that they will agree to disagree. I saw Marco Rubio had some sort of strong comments on what would happen with Taiwan and some people out there say why should we care? And I do think it's, it's worth pointing this out. If we don't get the semiconductors, if we don't get the chips, basically all of AI and all of the investment that's going on right now that is propelling much of the economic growth in this country would cease to exist. So China's in trouble because they don't produce a lot of oil and gas related to the Strait of Hormuz. We would be in trouble if China can controlled all of Taiwan's semiconductor chips. That's a pretty good way, I think of distilling, controlling the danger geopolitically that each country would face.
- [15:22]
Buck Sexton
Yeah, the modern economy as we know it would come to a screeching halt without the supply of chips from Taiwan. No one disagrees with that. I might add. There's no way around this. You can't take 90% of supply. They make 90% of the super high end chips. And people might say well why can't we do this? Or why can't other countries? Because they can't. Because the level of technology and know how that TSMC has is higher than really anywhere else in the world. No one else can do it. Remember, it's not just the tech and the know how. It's also to be able to do it at scale to keep their suppliers, you know, to keep up with demand, to, to keep that supply going. So, and there's, you know, it's an immensely complicated clay. When I sat with TSMC in September, I think they said, I want to say roughly there are 5,000 different supply chain elements that they rely on for their chips. I mean, think about that. All the different things they need to be able to make these chips, 5,000 different items that they have to get externally from Taiwan. Ok? So the level of complex. There is no more complex manufacturing in the, in the world than what is going on on the island of Taiwan. And they know it, and we know it, and China knows it, and it changes. You know, it's pretty remarkable that a small island with a population of about 20 million people has what is right now the most critical technology of the 21st century and has 90% of that market. So there's big things that are all in the mix here. And no one's really clear on, you know, whether, first of all, even if China tried to take over these labs, Clay, it's not clear that they could even operate them. So even if China invaded, could China even operate the labs that TSMC has? Would TSMC destroy a lot of its intellectual property because of, you know, there's a lot of things that people haven't really been able to, to assess and know the answers to.
- [17:20]
Clay Travis
I get a lot of people saying, why should we care about Taiwan? Taiwan. That's the answer. Because our government and our economy could not exist right now without the semiconductor chips that we are getting from Taiwan.
- [17:33]
Buck Sexton
If it became clear, if there were amphibious landing craft, missile strikes, airstrikes going on, if it was clear that invasion of Taiwan was happening, I think you would see the stock market drop 50% overnight and I think you would see a global depression within weeks.
- [17:49]
Clay Travis
Yes. So that's why we should care. Because some people are just like, I don't care. Why should we care what happens with China and Taiwan?
- [17:56]
Buck Sexton
Just say it brutally. Taiwan is not eastern Ukraine, my friends. It's not that we, we. You want to ignore this one, you can't ignore this one. There's no ignoring this. And there's no ignoring this and not, you know, propelling us into a Mad Max future very quickly. At least with the way things are now, maybe in 10 years, you know, but the way things are now, there's no way you can allow that.
- [18:16]
Clay Travis
Look, we are trying to your point, to onshore production of these semiconductor chips, but we're a long way to being able to have any sort of self sufficiency associated with it.
- [18:25]
Buck Sexton
And you can imagine Taiwan is like, I don't want to do that. Yeah, right, that's. That doesn't sound like a good plan for the Taiwanese. All right, look, no one wants to learn that their data has been part of an online breach. Scammers take advantage of that panic by sending fake emails urging you to act quickly, but don't fall for it. It's important to understand how cybercrime and identity theft are affecting our lives. Lots of places can accidentally expose your personal information, like a company you're doing business with that has your personal info. LifeLocks Online Identity theft protection is what you need. Their own online systems monitor millions of data points every second for risks to your identity. If they spot unusual activity involving your online identity, they're in touch with you via text, phone call, email, or all of them combined. And if you do become a victim of identity theft, a dedicated US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back terms apply. Easy to help protect yourself with LifeLock, join now and save 40% off your first year with my name Buck as your promo code. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK or go online to lifelock.com use promo code Buck for 40% off. Last learn hang with the guys right
- [19:28]
Clay Travis
there when you need them most, Clay
- [19:30]
Buck Sexton
and Buck just preset them on the iHeart app.
- [19:33]
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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- [20:00]
Buck Sexton
code free meat@truenaturemeats.com after reaching over $5,000 an ounce, gold prices have softened. What does that mean for you? It means this is a buying opportunity. Whether you haven't yet diversified your savings into gold or maybe you just want to buy more, Birch Gold Group can help you. The fundamentals are still out of whack. Surging oil prices keep inflation high, the national debt is still soaring, and central banks are still buying massive quantities of gold. That's why my belief in gold hasn't changed one bit. Educate yourself. Birchgold will send you a free info kit on gold when you text my name Buck to 9898 98. There's no obligation, only useful information, including how you can own gold in a tax sheltered retirement account with an A rating with the Better Business Bureau and tens of thousands of happy customers. See if buying the dip makes sense for you right now. Text buck to the number 989-898. Claim your free info kit and diversify your savings with gold text buck to 9,898 98. Paying 70, 80 $90 a month to Big Wireless for unlimited data is insane. Especially when PureTalk, my wireless company, is going to give you unlimited high speed data for just $34.99 a month. Yes, you heard me right. PureTalk just upgraded their plans because they believe you should have all the data you need at a price that won't break the bank. So today you can get talk, text and unlimited Data for just $34.99 a month.
- [21:28]
Clay Travis
You'll be on the same tower, same 5G network and have the same coverage as one of the big guys but for a of the price. And don't forget they have a 100% US customer service team. They're committed to delivering the best experience possible for their customers. Keep your phone, keep your number and switch in as little as 10 minutes. Go to PureTalk.com Clay to claim unlimited high speed data for just 34.99. Again, that's PureTalk.com Clay to switch to America's wireless company PureTalk.
- [22:02]
Sponsor/Advertiser Voice
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures welcome back in.
- [23:03]
Clay Travis
Is this Shaft? This is the Shaft music, isn't it?
- [23:06]
Buck Sexton
Is that Burn Baby Burn is what this Disco Inferno.
- [23:10]
Clay Travis
Oh yeah, Disco Inferno Clay, I thought this was the Shaft music. We haven't played this in a long
- [23:13]
Buck Sexton
time, you know what I mean? You gotta like you gotta leave the music to me. Sometimes you stay with the.
- [23:18]
Clay Travis
Most of the time.
- [23:19]
Buck Sexton
The sports ball, you know what I mean? Most of the time. Unless Taylor Swift is on.
- [23:24]
Clay Travis
The 90s. The 90s and Taylor Swift I'm pretty good at. Pretty good.
- [23:28]
Buck Sexton
Wait, but. But do you ever. Do you ever think about whenever we hear that song? We're going to get into Kamala in a second. I got to just jump in with this. You remember Ghostbusters when Lewis Tully, played by the fantastic Rick Moranis, a big comedic actor of particularly of the 80s. And he has the beautiful blonde come up to him and they're playing Burn Baby Burn in the background. And he says that he doesn't invite friends, only clients so he can do a tax write off for the party. And then he says who brought the dog? And the like the goblin thing like jumps out of the closet. It's great.
- [24:01]
Clay Travis
What is Rick Moranis's best role on the spot? I think it's that.
- [24:06]
Buck Sexton
I mean his biggest franchise was definitely Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
- [24:10]
Clay Travis
Honey. I think Honey, I struck the kids.
- [24:12]
Buck Sexton
Which. Which was. Which was huge. 80s movie. Huge. Huge. And then he also did. Was he Little Shop of Horrors, Little Shop Horse. Was he in like a movie? A football. Some kind of like a kids football movie. I came up what it's called. You know, I mean he's like a coach or something. Little Giant. Little Giants. Isn't that right? No.
- [24:31]
Clay Travis
Oh, yeah. Maybe. I don't know. I. This is going to. People are going to be. I don't think I've seen Little Giants.
- [24:38]
Buck Sexton
I am. Right. Yeah. Look at me with the sports ball reference.
- [24:43]
Clay Travis
Is he still alive?
- [24:45]
Buck Sexton
Oh, Rick. I used to play tennis with him. Yeah, he's great.
- [24:47]
Clay Travis
Okay, good. Great.
- [24:48]
Buck Sexton
Yeah, no, he's great.
- [24:50]
Clay Travis
I was nervous.
- [24:51]
Buck Sexton
He's actually. I think. I think he's actually been cast in something coming up. I think. I think they're gonna. I think they might be either. I forget. They're either bringing back Honey I Shrunk the Kids or something. So you know how they've had the Ghostbusters nostalgia. You've seen Ghostbusters movies, which you really enjoyed. The. The non. All female Ghostbuster all. They've been pretty good.
- [25:10]
Clay Travis
I thought that was good.
- [25:12]
Buck Sexton
No, the all female Ghostbuster was trash. But the other thing, the more recent one was pretty good. It was fun.
- [25:17]
Senator Dave McCormick
That.
- [25:18]
Buck Sexton
The one that they brought back. I forget. Paul Rudd's in it, I think. Right. That one.
- [25:21]
Clay Travis
He was in Spaceballs as well. For those of us who remember that Illustrious film.
- [25:28]
Buck Sexton
Oh, oh, that's right. Spaceballs. I had forgotten about about his work in Spaceballs. But the. The who brought the dog is only excelled in Ghostbusters lore by the doorman who goes a bear in his apartment and then the thing runs through the lobby. Remember that?
- [25:47]
Clay Travis
Anyway, I've seen Ghostbusters holds up really, really well. And speaking of I went last night. We'll get to Kamal at the top of the next. Next.
- [25:57]
Buck Sexton
Kamala will still be.
- [25:58]
Clay Travis
Kamala will still be good at the top of next hour. The I went to go see the new Nate Bargazzi movie the Breadwinner. Last night they had the premiere in Nashville at a movie theater. He said he used to go to Hollywood 27. For those of you know, Nashville was kind of a big movie theater that opened probably around like 95, something like that. We would go there in high school. It was a huge movie theater near downtown Nashville. Breadwinner. And I was thinking about this because. And it's interesting we brought up like honey, I shrunk the kids. Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters. It's a PG movie. They don't. That is not animated. They almost have stopped making. Think about this for a minute. For the larger culture out there. They almost have stopped making PG movies that are live action. That is not a Pixar movie, not a Disney movie, not some sort of definite children's movie. This show. And I was texting with Nate last night about it. This movie. He basically is gambling here. And Sony, I think who's distributing it has. Has the much bigger gamble. But there, there is still a market for parents to take kids. The whole family can go. I went and saw it last night. It is a 1980s era PG movie. Now. It's not Goonies, which is one of the greatest movies to ever been made, but it is a movie that you can take your 7 and 8 year old to and you can sit and watch it with them. And I guarantee you, you will not leave concerned about something that they saw in the movie and that you will all of you be able to laugh at it. I don't know if there is still a huge marketplace out there because again, so much of streaming has changed things. Every niche is served. And so we don't go as much after big colossal audiences as we did in the 80s and 90s. I still think there's probably a market for this. And I like this.
- [28:02]
Buck Sexton
I think you guys, what is coming back Spaceballs too. I thought, honey, I shrunk the kids on Rick Moranis is coming back in Spaceballs 2, which I think actually could be really good. So Spaceballs 2 coming soon to a. Well, I don't know how soon, but it will be coming to a theater near you. The other movie thing that we haven't talked about yet, but it is getting a lot of attention online and people feel very passionately about this because it has to do. It's a Christopher Nolan project. And Christopher Nolan is, I think, a wildly overrated director, I will tell you. Wildly overrated. I think he has made a few very good movies, which were really two of the Batman movies he did. Those are very, very good movies. I enjoyed them. I think they're pretty awesome. And, you know, they certainly answered the mail. They certainly got it done as superhero films. The third one was the one with bait, you know, was good. It was kind of. The whole thing was a little preposterous, though, actually, even for superhero stuff. Put that aside, though. I think some of his other stuff, really. I've never met anybody who could explain what Inception was. Really. It's just a lot of slow motion nonsense. The whole thing is absurd. Okay, Inception is not a good movie. Get mad at me. I'm right. You're wrong. Inception is not a good movie. He's making the Odyssey. And there have been some choices made in the. Have you seen this Clay? This is getting a lot of people.
- [29:26]
Clay Travis
I was talking about it last night with Laura. We were watching, waiting for the Nate Bargassi movie to start. I was saying, hey, have you seen some of the casting decisions that Christopher Nolan has made in the Odyssey? This is what we were talking about as we were sitting in the theater before the movie started.
- [29:41]
Buck Sexton
And. And the two things that have gotten the most attention are Helen of Troy. And this has been confirmed, I believe is. Has been cast as a. I think. I think she's from Africa. I don't think she's Africa.
- [29:56]
Clay Travis
I think that's right.
- [29:58]
Buck Sexton
A. A black actress is Helen of Troy. Some people are just sort of saying, you know, so we're doing this thing that Netflix always does where, remember Troy, Greeks. It's a part of the world. It's historical. This is a little bit like casting, which really happened. A black female as a Viking king in a NETFLIX show that I watched.
- [30:21]
Clay Travis
Yeah.
- [30:21]
Buck Sexton
So it's supposed to be the 8 hundreds in what is basically Denmark and Sweden. And there's a black woman who's in charge of all the white guys. That's a little. It takes you out of it kind of breaks the fourth wall. It takes you out of the realm of suspending your disbelief a little bit. But the other one that's getting even more attention. What do you think about this one?
- [30:41]
Clay Travis
It's crazy. Is this confirmed to be true? 100%.
- [30:45]
Buck Sexton
This one is not confirmed yet. Okay, so it could be a massive troll camp, trolling campaign, I think. But they're saying that Achilles, renowned as the greatest warrior of the ancient world. Right. And I. I think people looking back at the movie Troy with Brad Pitt, that's a great movie. I think we were. I think Roman Helmet Guy is his handle on Twitter. He. I think I got to give him credit for this. He was saying we got a little spoiled for a while. It was either Roman Helmet Guy or Matt Walsh, who are probably related because they're both like bearded, smart, grumpy guys that, like, appreciate the classics in history. But we had Braveheart, Troy, master and commander. We had all these epics coming out about.
- [31:31]
Clay Travis
Forget Gladiator. I think that's what actually snowed Troy under is it happened so close to Gladiator. And Gladiator was such a perfect epic that people. Yes.
- [31:42]
Buck Sexton
And this insight, whether it was Matt Walsh or Roman Helmet Guy, I totally agree with it. I think we got a little spoiled for a while where we just. People were making these epics and they're basically perfect movies. I mean, they're phenomenally well done, incredibly well. You know, I put Last the Mohicans, which is a little earlier, but I put that in that category of like a historic epic. I mean, there's some of these movies. Some of you put Mel Gibson's the Patriot in that category. You know, you know, if you want to kind of go more modern, Saving Private Ryan, but these movies that are truly epic in scope and that are amazing and stand the test of time. Troy, I think they were all made in about a 10 to 15 year span. Troy is definitely in that category. Clay the Odyssey now has. If you're wondering why we're talking about this, I don't know. Elliot Page, formerly. Right. Isn't that the name? No. Is it Elliot? Is that right?
- [32:32]
Clay Travis
Yeah. Elliot now used to be Ellen Page.
- [32:35]
Buck Sexton
Used to be Ellen Page. Clay just dead named Ellen Page. Elliot Page, who's a trans actor now or actress, who says he's a man
- [32:44]
Clay Travis
or whatever Ellen Page was in became famous as a girl comedic. Juno was a pretty good movie. I remember it. She got pregnant as a teenager. Right. That was the entire conceit. And then Ellen Page decided, no, no, no, I'm actually a dude and is now Elliot Page now Ellen Page Laura, my wife was saying, I didn't look at that. She's like 5 foot tall, weighs like a hundred pounds. I mean, it's tiny. And they are saying that they have put him, her, her, him, whichever you want to say in, as Achilles, who is one of the greatest warriors of all time. And this is the world in which we now live. If this.
- [33:29]
Buck Sexton
You know that Juno, Juno got a lot of criticism as a movie clay because she had the baby.
- [33:35]
Clay Travis
That's right. That's what I remember.
- [33:36]
Buck Sexton
People were. People were super angry because she should have aborted the baby because it was an unwanted pregnancy. What do you mean? You actually had. What do you mean? You brought life into the world. What do you mean? You made the right choice. So the leftist, the ghoulish left, very angry about Juno because she had the baby in the movie. You're not supposed to do that, you know, not according to the left. So now she's Achilles, though, as she's trans or that's what they're all saying. If this is the case, this movie is toast. However, it's very interesting. The rules for getting an Oscar.
- [34:11]
Clay Travis
Yeah.
- [34:12]
Buck Sexton
Are crazy.
- [34:13]
Clay Travis
Yes.
- [34:13]
Buck Sexton
And I'm wondering, you know, can we, can we page like doj Harmeet Dylan over in Civil Rights or whatever? Why are the Oscars allowed to have these rules? I don't understand. We know that we can't do this in college admissions anymore. Why can the Oscars say. And a lot of you are like, buck, who cares about the Oscars? You know? Yes. But also, we can't just seed all of culture to the other side. We did that for a long time, guys, by the way. And you know, we got Obama and eight years of, of socialist craziness. So let's not just like let the other side have all the movies, all the books, all the magazines, all the Internet, all the news. Let's actually fight back on this stuff a little bit here and there. Why should the Oscars be able to have straight up racial quotas for people to be able to win an award for a movie? I don't understand how that's even legal.
- [35:03]
Clay Travis
I agree with you. I think it should be looked into, by the way. And so if this is true, we don't know if it's 100% true. Braveheart, by the way. Buck 1995, Gladiator 2000, Troy 2004. I think that thesis is 100%. I think Gladiator was so good in particular that it, if Troy came out in 2020, I think people would have been Far more impressed by it than they were by it coming out in 2004 because it was so close to that epic, incredible film. But, no, look, this is something that I deeply believe in. I put my own money behind it, obviously. I started Outkick. I'm working on starting a new media company now as well. You have to win culture. You have to matter in culture. You can't just seed it. You can't just say, well, I don't know why you even care about this. You know, there's people who will get upset when they're. When sports is in the news with politics, when culture is in the news with politics. It's like when I started doing sports talk radio, Buck, 20 some odd years ago, whatever the heck it was. Now there were guys that would call in and say, just give me the scores. Why don't you just give me the scores? I'm like, well, I mean, the scores are easy to find. What matters is the context, the conversation that surrounds the scores. Basic facts are, are out there now. Sometimes they're hard to find. But you win with culture. Politics is downstream of culture. That's one of the most true things that I think has ever been said. The culture shift, I'm optimistic, has become significant. I think Nate Bargazi's movie the Breadwinner being made. I think the fact that the most popular comedian in America right now is a clean comedian is evidence of there being a desperate desire for something that people can share together. I think one reason sports has gotten popular, new ratings, highs, Buck, is because there is a desperate demand in this streaming age for still big events that we all come together and experience together. And so I think culture matters in that context in a massive way.
- [37:15]
Buck Sexton
I think Bergazzi and there are others who aren't as clean as his comedy is, but there are others who are actually doing, truly doing comedy now. Whereas we've gotten used to, particularly the late. The late night hosts are leftist commentators who make fun of people. That's what. Who make fun of Republicans. That's actually what they are. They're not comedians. They are leftist political commentators who make fun of Trump and people who vote for Trump. Nate Bragazzi is a comedian. Anyone can go to his shows and they will laugh because it is funny and it is meant for everyone. And that's actually the way it should be. It should be meant to make people laugh, not to be a constant lecture by dimwits who are reading off of a prompter. All right, when we talk about the people of Israel, we're talking about people connected to a promise. It's a promise made by God, one he's never broken and one that continues even today. And that matters, especially when the Israeli population has been subjected to ongoing missile and drone attacks, let alone the terror they experienced by Hamas several years ago. It's a call for all of us to respond and show our support. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews are the nonprofit organization that's built a bridge of support between Christians following the word of God and the Jewish population in need. IFCJ are on the ground in Israel. Their team delivers food, cares for the vulnerable and remind those who serve that they're not alone. Join us in praying for peace in the Middle east, throughout Israel and beyond. Visit this website, pray IFCJ.org that's pray IFCJ.org miss the show while you're on
- [38:41]
Clay Travis
the go, wind down your day with the Daily Review podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in the Travis Buck Sexton Show. We are joined now by our friend Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania had a great dinner at his house the night before the White House Correspondents Dinner. And actually we finished the dinner at your house, Senator. Thanks for having wife and I over among, among others, an awesome time. And your wife, Dina Powell McCormick, who is now at Facebook. We'll get into all the different political machinations on, on Pennsylvania and more and what's going on in the Senate. But she's in Beijing right now. Have you been able to talk to her, text with her, hear from her? What has she said about that state visit trip so far?
- [39:32]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah. Well, listen, thanks, Good, good to be with you guys. You know, I'm super proud of her. You know, she's the president of Meta, so it's a big deal. We haven't, I haven't had a chance to get much of a download on the trip. I just know she's there safe and she told me she was in the dinner and it was amazing. But you know, it's a, it's an important, it's an important trip. And you know, I always start this by saying I think, I think we gotta, we gotta talk about China is the true adversary that it is. Our starting point has to be that China is vying for global superpower to replace America. And so I really applaud the President's efforts at diplomacy. But we should have no doubt that we're dealing with a country that, that is seeking to displace America. And this summit with the president I think was, was focused on topics that we hopefully have mutual interest, but we, we shouldn't doubt that, that their goal is to, is to, is to get in front of us.
- [40:25]
Buck Sexton
How do you think the trade negotiations such as they're lined up here. How do you think that's going to shake out with all of this? My sense is from the preview analysis, China wants to push back pretty hard on some of the Trump tariffs. But they, and one of the tools they have in this is certainly the rare earth minerals supply chain issue. What do you think is likely to be at stake there and how are you hoping President Trump is able to bring this to a next level, a next stage?
- [41:01]
Senator Dave McCormick
Well, you know, there's nobody that's been calling balls and strikes, I think more accurately on the China relationship than President Trump over many decades. He's identified that we've had a very unfair relationship. I think the focus, you know, and I've been someone who said we should be very careful, we should be strategic in decoupling. And what I mean by that is not make ourselves dependent on China for anything that really matters to America's security. But we are unfortunately at the moment very dependent, particularly on rare earth metals, as you say. I think there's a couple things. One, it's not exactly trade, but I think we've made a lot of progress. And the president will double down on the fentanyl pre factors and stopping the flow of those into Mexico and into the United States. That's what has killed almost 100,000Americans a year for the last four or five years. I think it'll be a big focus on farm products, soybeans, big deal that China buys soybeans, buys natural gas, buys petroleum. And in a time when Iran is, and the strait is closed, I think American energy is going to be an area where we hopefully can find common ground. It sounds like from the reporting that there's been an agreement on the H200 chips from Nvidia, frankly, I'm not in favor of that. Respectfully, I disagree with that. I think it's not going to do anything but accelerate China's AI rise. But, but that was a decision I think made and that that's very valuable to China. I think that's probably allowing them to make some pretty significant concessions on the other side. And so, you know, I think the way I take about this, I talked about this, I think there's probably some tactical wins that the president's going to be able to bring back and say we've made real progress also Making sure that China lives up to the commitments it's made in the past.
- [42:49]
Clay Travis
You're traveling around all over the ultimate battleground state of Pennsylvania. Want to get kind of your read on what you see on the ground in Pennsylvania. You want a close election. Thankfully, Senate seat John Fetterman is also there. You have a very good relationship with Fetterman. I'm curious what you think his political future is going to be. And generally, when you're going around and talking to your constituents all over Pennsylvania, what are they telling you they care about the most as the midterms get closer and closer?
- [43:19]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah, I think it's. I mean, I think they feel mostly pretty good. Jobs, jobs, jobs. And the economy is the focus. I mean, they're certainly very, very focused on Iran and other things, but I think they're really seeing the benefit of a number of the big things President Trump has done, particularly energy dominance for an energy state. We're the second largest producer of energy. We're the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. So, Clay, if we, if we were a country, we would be number four. And I was in Pennsylvania last week. I visited, I visited shipping port. They're built. They're making a big coal conversion to natural gas. That's going to be 1.1 gigawatts, thousands of jobs building the energy capability and also the data centers. I also went to or I've got to download a Homer City. This is a place that they're. They're building 4.4 gigawatts of energy. That's 1% of domestic energy demand. So huge job creation from advanced manufacturing centers and energy. I think they're feeling some more money in their pockets because of the Working Families tax cut act. $3,500 on average, 11% more money in the pockets of folks. But I also think they're feeling that, that jump in gas prices. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, which a lot of Pennsylvanians are, $52,000 a year is the median income. And if gas goes up a buck and a quarter, man, you feel it. And so I don't want to downplay that they're feeling it. I think they know that we can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. So they support the president, but they're feeling the bite. And I think they're hoping, and I'm hoping that that will come to an end relatively quickly.
- [44:56]
Clay Travis
You have a good relationship with Senator Fetterman, also from Pennsylvania. I know he voted for your friend Kevin Warsh to be put on as chair of the new Fed board. What can you tell us about Fetterman? What do you see his future and about the new Fed chair?
- [45:11]
Senator Dave McCormick
You know, I. I've got a great relationship with him. I admire him. I think he's shown a lot of courage and independence. And, you know, he campaigned against me, but we forged a relationship where we both said, let's what. What do we need to do together to help Pennsylvania now? He, you know, we disagree on a lot.
- [45:28]
Buck Sexton
He.
- [45:29]
Senator Dave McCormick
He votes 80% of the time or more with Democrats. So it's not like we agree on everything, but we look for areas where we can do good things for Pennsylvania, whether it's fentanyl or whether it's funding for the highways or whatever it is. I always tease him. He's pretty popular in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, he's less. Less and less popular with his party. But if you looked across both parties and independents, he's more popular than I am. And I always say. I say, hey, you may be more popular with Republicans than I am, so who knows what his future holds? I'm not sure. I haven't. I've never asked him what he plans to do. I've never tried to encourage him to change parties. I think he needs to do what's best for him. But I think he's a pretty unique person. And the thing, it's interesting, Clay. I mean, of all the stuff we've done in Pennsylvania, the Energy and Innovation Summit, the jobs, the. All the investment that's coming, the thing people pull me aside and say the most about is the fact that he and I work together. And I think, you know, maybe it's because Pennsylvania is a purple state. I'm not sure, but people respect that. They're grateful for it. So I think he's a pretty formidable figure. I'm not sure what he'll do, but I'm. I'm wishing him the best.
- [46:38]
Buck Sexton
We're speaking to Senator David McCormick of Pennsylvania. A senator. Appreciate you being with us. And you unveiled something recently, the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act. So this has to do with federal permitting process? Yes. It doesn't sound like something that's going to blow everyone's mind, but actually, I'm sure it's incredibly important for the speed of business. It's one of these things where government should get in the way a whole heck of a lot less. What can you tell us about this?
- [47:05]
Senator Dave McCormick
Yeah, well, first of all, I may not have sex appeal, but this is a big deal. This is a big deal. Let me tell you Why I told President Trump this. And, and I think he, he agrees this isn't just energy policy. This is the single most important thing we could do for the economy. It's a really big deal. What, what's happening now is laws like the Clean Water act and NEPA and other things have been hijacked by the environmentalists, the environmental activists, to stop investment, to stop investment in projects like nuclear power plants and gas fired plants. And so what my legislation does is it streamlines permitting. It takes about six years to get a permit on average for an energy project in America. It took three and a half years to win World War II. This is ridiculous. And, and we have to, we have to stop it. And so what, what the bill does is it basically puts a limited amount of time for environmental review one year. It requires that if a, if there's a permit is approved, it's permanent. In other words, you can't re litigate it down the road. And finally, if you're going to disapprove a permit, you have to give a written justification of how approving the permit would be in violation of the law. Those seem so simple and common sense. If we were able to do that, it would unlock $1.5 trillion of capital that's sitting on the sidelines waiting for these projects. And you know, I was a CEO for a number of years. I was an investor. You can't live in this world of uncertainty where you allocate capital and then it gets re litigated. That's the reason three pipelines were canceled in Pennsylvania since 2019. So this could be a big deal for the economy. It's, it's, it's an area where I think we can find enough bipartisan support because the permitting, the accelerating of permitting would be across everything. It's nuclear, it's natural gas, it's coal, it would be solar, it would be wind. Whatever it is, it supports in all of the above energy strategy. It just extremes.
- [49:04]
Clay Travis
The permitting for all stock market is setting a record high. Today I shared that fact on social media. Every time I do, people say, yeah, that's great, Clay, but I don't feel it. Stock, obviously the oil and gas prices are up. It sometimes takes a while, as you well know. You're a business guy. The US Economy is an aircraft carrier that you're trying to turn. It takes a while for people to start to feel it. So I'm curious how you straddle this because Buck and I thinking about, I think about it a lot too. The numbers are actually Pretty good for the economy. AI growth so far is very positive. But when people don't feel that yet, when you are too optimistic, you risk seeming out of touch with the way that people feel. How do you reconcile on the ground data with really kind of emotional feels with larger economic trends? Because I do think things are getting better. But if people don't feel it, they can say, oh, you're out of touch. How do you balance it?
- [50:05]
Senator Dave McCormick
You're right. Well, I, I completely agree with you. And getting that messaging right, the truth is as follows. Things are better if you're a working family. Things are better if you're anybody in the economy, things are better than they were under Joe Biden. Inflation take away the last two months because of what's happening with Iran is significantly less than it was during the Biden administration, about half of what it was on average. Wage growth is about double. Wage growth was 2.5 under Biden, it's 4. Given the working Families Tax Cut act, Every family has $3,500 more in their pocket. The job numbers are strong. So the economy is getting better for you and there's a lot more on the horizon that's going to make it better. So that is true. The other thing that's true is that people are still feeling pinched and struggling, particularly in three areas. Energy prices, housing prices and health care cost. All three of those continue to grow. And, and that's putting a lot of pressure on folks. So we need to continue to do the things that President Trump has laid out. For example, the most favored nation provision on pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are 20% of health care costs, particularly have a huge impact on elders. The housing bill that came out of the Senate and the House, we're trying to find a common bill that we can send to the President's desk. Housing prices in Pennsylvania up 11% last year. So that's a pinch. And energy prices and that particularly the gas prices as a result of the conflict in Iran. The way to address that in the medium and long term is permitting reform and all the things that get more energy into our system. Our energy dominance is incredible. But energy demands growing. So as we build out this new energy, we have to build out more for consumers to take down prices, even though we're also supporting data centers and other things. So we got a lot of work to do. But the American people should feel confident that this economy is getting better. And, and they need to acknowledge that even as we also acknowledge there's more work to do.
- [52:16]
Buck Sexton
Super important question for you before we close, Senator make this, we can make this one quick. But Clay has this crazy idea that Kamala is going to be the Democrat nominee in 28, and I still think it's going to be Gavin Newsom. Can you just tell him that I'm right?
- [52:32]
Senator Dave McCormick
Listen, I mean, my, my two favorite guys. Here's what I will say. Here's what I would say. I, I, you know, campaigned alongside. I mean, not with her, but obviously she was in Pennsylvania the whole time. And, and I, she could not connect to the people of Pennsylvania. And I believe part of the reason Trump won and I won in Pennsylvania was Kamala Harris and Bob Casey could not say the word fracking. It could not come out of their mouth. They could not acknowledge this energy revolution, what was required. So she's going to have to get, she's going to have to get very much a PhD in what the issues are for working people before she's going to be able to win nationwide and certainly win in Pennsylvania. I can't speak for Gavin Newsom. All I know is when I listen to him on these podcasts and he talks about that, that tough upbringing he had and how he went to the school Hard knocks. I mean, it's hard for me to imagine that that's a guy that's going to connect with people on the fracking rig in Pennsylvania too. So I give them both a thumbs down. But, you know, what do I know?
- [53:32]
Clay Travis
Good stuff as always, Senator. Look forward to seeing you again, and thanks for the time.
- [53:37]
Senator Dave McCormick
All right, thanks, guys. Have a good day.
- [53:39]
Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
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- [58:17]
Clay Travis
in hour number three, Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show President Trump in Beijing. We have talked about it quite a lot. It is right now around 2 in the morning, Friday morning in Beijing. They are 12 hours ahead of us. The first day seems to have been going and have gone very well. A lot of conversation. We discussed it in the first hour of the program. I'm sure we will discuss it some with Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania who will join us at the bottom of the hour. His wife Dina Powell McCormick is in Beijing right now with President Trump as one of those executives that traveled with the President on the China state visit. We will see if Senator McCormick has gotten any feedback from his wife. Buck, one thing that I'm sure is going on is you've been to China before. What did you do about phones when you were in China? Because if I were Elon Musk or I was Dina Powell McCormick or it's him Cook, the CEO of Apple right now, Yinsen Huang all the Nvidia CEO. I imagine they had to get special phones, didn't they? Wouldn't you want a special phone when you went into China?
- [59:30]
Buck Sexton
I brought nothing electronic with me when I went to China at all, at all and I was advised not to and I knew about this from my previous life what the capabilities of the Chinese surveillance state are. And when I was there I rented a smartphone which of course could not use, could not go on Google or Facebook or these other sites. But I rented a smartphone and knew that everything that I did was under full surveillance the whole time. So that's the way that you have to operate when you're in charge.
- [60:04]
Clay Travis
Well, with.
- [60:05]
Buck Sexton
And you leave it behind. But you don't bring anything, you don't buy anything electronic. Heavens no. And bring it back with you either. You leave that smartphone there and you hope that they haven't been able to get into your passwords and stuff when you've accessed things overseas. So you got to be very, very careful because they will.
- [60:20]
Clay Travis
So you would, you would probably just Advise basically those CEOs to just not take communication devices while they're over there. And, and almost just because the piracy that goes on, the state espionage, the stealing of assets, I would probably just say don't even worry about trying to have a phone while you're in China. Or I would imagine the United States is creating some form of skiff. Right. That they are able to communicate from while the president is.
- [60:50]
Buck Sexton
We have secure, we have secure diplomatic and intelligence channels. Obviously, you know, the, the embassy is going to be able to communicate back to the, to, to our country without everything. At least we would hope everything being read and intercepted. But in terms of if. Yeah. Being over there as a civilian, you have to just assume that whatever you're doing is being collected and at least scanned by, you know, AI, etc. If not actively monitored by a person who works for the vast Chinese Ministry of Security.
- [61:24]
Clay Travis
So, yeah, so we will Talk with Dave McCormick about that trip and more. But I did want to not avoid or not ignore the fact that Democrats are increasingly getting crazier. I believe, and Buck thinks I'm crazy for this, that Kamala Harris is going to end up being the nominee in 2028 for the Democrat Party.
- [61:48]
Buck Sexton
This would make up for you believing that Michelle Obama was going to be parachuted in at the last second to take over the last election. So I'll give, I'll give you this, this way, this way. So I'm trying to, I'm trying to beat you before you make the Buck island comments here. This way you can make up for that one Clay, because this is a long distance call you are making that to me seems. I just cannot fathom that the Democrats would do that. But then again they did it the last time, so how crazy can it really be?
- [62:18]
Clay Travis
So she is now doing interviews. We all know how dangerous Kamala interviews can be. And I want you to listen to what she said. She said this is a conversation that we just need to brainstorm, I think is the phrase she, she uses. But she talks about expanding the Supreme Court, adding Puerto rico and Washington D.C. estates and potentially doing away with the Electoral College all in the, in the goal of dealing with, quote, red states and their radicalism. Listen to what Kamala said here. This is a moment where there are no bad ideas. No bad idea brainstorm is what I'd like to call it. And in that no bad ideas brainstorm, we talk about what we need to do and think about doing around the Electoral College. We talk about the idea of Supreme Court reform, which includes expanding the Supreme Court. We invite a conversation about multi member districts, that there are rules in place to actually penalize people for lying, to a Senate Judiciary Committee, that we agree that it is right to have ethics rules for Supreme Court justices and let's put those in place. Let's talk about statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C. these are the things I
- [63:42]
Senator Dave McCormick
think that we've got to do.
- [63:43]
Clay Travis
We've got to neutralize these red states from cheating, including blue states, expanding their maps.
- [63:53]
Senator Dave McCormick
What is this?
- [63:54]
Buck Sexton
With Kamala leaning into the, how do we put this more the urban vernacular, I guess you would say, you know, she's, she's talking a little more street, perhaps. How do you, how do we say this? What is the, what is this that she, we can all hear it. What is it that she is doing here?
- [64:12]
Clay Travis
She knows that black women are her base and she knows if black women do not leave her, she's going to be the nominee. And so I think she's, look, she is going to identity politics this and gender politics this, the likes of which we may never have seen before. Now, I like to believe that she is unelectable. But Buck, she was within 240,000 votes of beating Trump. I know Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, thankfully narrowly went for Trump, but she would have won a 270 to 268 electoral college victory even if she lost, as she did the popular vote to Trump. So look, listen to some of the things she said. First of all, she said we've got to neutralize red states from cheating and she wants to expand blue states, which I assume she means expand the congressional districts there. She talked about multi member congressional districts, which is actually kind of a radical idea that I haven't even heard talked about very much. Buck, that would mean expanding the House of Representatives. Right? We have right now every year the districts are growing for the House of Representatives. As long as the United States population is growing. And we have 500 and 435 members in the House. 218 is the majority. And so she's talking about expanding multi district. Well, that's big city. She wants more big city congressmen and women. She also randomly is saying we need to make it a crime. When you lie to the Senate Judiciary Committee, that is a crime. It's called perjury. Like when you raise your hand and swear to tell the whole truth, that is a courtroom proceeding, the equivalent of it when you're testifying to Congress.
- [66:05]
Buck Sexton
Wasn't she California Attorney General? Am I forgetting?
- [66:08]
Clay Travis
Not only was she California Attorney General Buck, she sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which makes this one of the dumbest takes that I have ever heard. She's calling for a criminalization of a crime that has already been criminalized and that people have been prosecuted for violating. Now, perjury, as we have talked about on this program before, is a very hard charge to prove because you have to prove knowledge, intent. Perjury is just a high standard. And so it is very difficult oftentimes to get a perjury conviction. But look, I mean, let's just focus on this. Puerto rico and Washington D.C. that would be four, in theory, four new Democrat seats. If we know, Buck, that Democrats will do away with the filibuster. What she is trying to do is say we need to get to 50 plus the president, which would get a tie break. And then we can add those two states that will get us to 54. And Democrats are then gambling that if they get four extra Senate seats, that they would be able to hold control of the Senate for many years to come, particularly if we abolish the Electoral College. I guess she would go straight popular vote at that point, which of course is interesting and ironic and a little bit funny because she lost the national popular vote to Trump. So she would have lost whether the Electoral College existed or not. Uh, obviously money would be spent very differently if the Electoral College were abolished and the winner take all system would be different. My point on all this is this is a radical. I understand she's probably gonna say the COVID is. Well, I'm just brainstorming ideas. I'm not saying I'm gonna endorse him, but expanding the Supreme Court, expanding the Senate, neutralizing red states from cheating, whatever that means, expanding potentially the House of Representatives. If Democrats get back into power. All of the time that you guys out there listening to me and Buck have spent fighting with each other is going to be so much wasted energy because you're fighting over subtle differences of political perspective. And Democrats will just drop a political neutron bomb on you and you've been in knife fights and instead you're going to have nuke weapons dropped on you.
- [68:29]
Buck Sexton
And, and it's, it's also an answer to anyone who has the question out there. Still, have the Democrats moderated? Have they pivoted? Have they shifted in response to Trump's 2024 win? Absolutely not. So you're wondering, hey, have they, have they learned their lesson? The lesson they've learned is as soon as they're in power, they are going to, to unleash the fury on us as much as they possibly can, get as crazy as they can. Everything that we can point to and say we've been, they've been proven wrong. They will go back and try to do those wrong things again, whether it's the border or crime or spending or anything. They will make a mess of all these things again. Which is why it's so important that the Republicans maintain power and that Trump stays on message and keeps the focus here with the agenda going forward to get as much done as possible so that whoever the Republican nominee is can run with a powerful party record and record of Trump achievements behind him or her probably going to be him, but nonetheless, that's where I see all of this. And Kamala Harris, she was speaking, by the way, Clay, I didn't know this. The team told me this. She was speaking to a quote, win with black women virtual meeting. So this is why her.
- [69:54]
Clay Travis
Your vernacular was noted. But again, I, she, as long as she knows this. And if I were at Kamala Harris's campaign manager, which would be an awful job, but if I were that person and I got paid a billion dollars, if Kamala were the nominee, I would say, kamala, this campaign is black women, directed black women. As long as they stay in your corner, you're going to be the nominee. There is nobody else that has a contingent of the Democrat electorate. This is why I'm saying poly market Cal sheet, like these prediction markets where you can go and you can wager on who the nominee is. You can get Kamala 10 to 1, she's only 10% chance right now. The favorite is Gavin Newsom. What's Gavin Newsom's base? That's never leaving him. I don't think it exists. Could he be more appealing?
- [70:47]
Buck Sexton
What are you talking about? Wine moms who are on marriage number three who are thinking, wow, that guy's handsome. See the wind blowing through his hair? What a silver fox look at how low that shirt is buttoned, I will
- [71:01]
Clay Travis
say our friend Alexi Lawless and Gavin Newsom, they do more. Alexi Law is going to be the head Fox commentator for the World Cup. We were hanging out this weekend, this week in D.C. alexi and Gavin, they have more unbuttoned dress shirts than anybody I've ever seen. Like, you can basically see their belly buttons. Like, you walk in and you're like, alexi needs to add, like, eight chains. I'm surprised Gavin Newsom hasn't gone with the. The long chain to. To further expose the navel for the unbuttoned shirt. Making jokes about all this. I really don't think Gavin Newsom has a base. I think a lot of black women are never leaving Kamala and Buck. I think there's a lot of white women, like that crazy woman who was fine with getting shoved down the stairs because she didn't want a black guy to get incarcerated. She's going to like Kamala, too, because it allows her to tell her friends, I'm going to support Kamala.
- [71:55]
Buck Sexton
I think the only. If. If Kamala is able to get around the Newsom speed bump, then I think that her chances get very real very quickly. I mean, it's really between those two in the state of California. And because think about the donors early on. I mean, they're going to be fighting over every. They're fighting over all the same political real estate right away.
- [72:20]
Clay Travis
Yes.
- [72:20]
Buck Sexton
Same donors. They're both from California. They're both going to be trying to use the networks that they have there. So we. We shall see.
- [72:27]
Clay Travis
I just buck again. People can tell me I'm crazy on this. Black women aren't leaving her and all that money matters for other attributes. But if you get into. You only need to win, like, 30% of the electorate to win most of these primaries.
- [72:42]
Buck Sexton
I'm just. Gavin's not. I'm. I still think Gavin's gonna be the nominee. And he's not drinking chardonnay with Clay anymore. Clay is a fair weather Gavin friend. That's that much we have established. No more.
- [72:51]
Clay Travis
I think that's fair. That is fair.
- [72:52]
Buck Sexton
No more trips to the Vineyard for Clay. That's for sure. All right. A week from today, we'll be getting ready for Memorial Day weekend. Do you know when the first national observance of Memorial Day took place and what it was called? Clay will probably know because he's a Civil War nerd. Memorial day started in 1868 and was originally called Decoration Day. It was a day set aside to decorate the grave sites of Union soldiers who died in the Civil war, more than 600,000 Decoration Day was officially changed to Memorial Day and established as a federal holiday by Congress in 1971. For a lot of people, it marks the kickoff to summer. But next week, when someone wishes you a happy Memorial Day weekend, take a moment to honor the legacy our men and women in uniform left behind. Remember their courage and pause to recognize the responsibility that comes with the freedom that they secured for all of us with their sacrifice. Sure, enjoy the time off if you're not working, but also remember to appreciate the rights we enjoy and how they came to be in this country because of that ultimate sacrifice that others made before us. Our friends and Americans for Prosperity take this all to heart. We know you do too, especially the military families in this audience. What about your neighbors and friends? Let's make sure they do as well. Americans for Prosperity has something to help with that. If you believe we all share a responsibility to preserve what makes this country strong, go to AFP Buck for your free guide on how you and your community can get involved. That website again is afp buck.com paid for by Americans for Prosperity.
- [74:23]
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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Senator Dave McCormick
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Clay Travis
Available in the Reynolds wrap aisle at
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Buck Sexton
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Clay Travis
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Clay Travis
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