December 17, 2025 • 48 mins
Vanity Unfair
A sharp critique of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ Vanity Fair interview, which Clay and Buck call a “colossal miscalculation.” They argue that granting extensive access to legacy media outlets like Vanity Fair is a strategic blunder, especially when the piece includes misleading claims about January 6 and cherry-picked quotes. The discussion highlights lessons learned from Trump’s first term, the administration’s media strategy, and why conservatives should avoid seeking validation from elite publications.
The conversation pivots to 2027 GOP dynamics, with Clay noting that JD Vance is positioned as a frontrunner for the Republican nomination, especially after Marco Rubio reportedly confirmed he won’t challenge Vance. The hosts also dissect internal tensions revealed in the Vanity Fair piece, including Susie Wiles’ harsh criticism of Pam Bondi over the Epstein controversy.
Thank You, Clay & Buck Audience
Clay and Buck reflect on the show’s growth in 2025, thanking listeners for helping expand to over 550 affiliate stations and previewing plans for more video content in 2026. From there, the conversation pivots to Zohran Mamdani’s controversial proposal for free buses in New York City, which he claims reduces assaults on drivers. Clay and Buck dismantle the logic behind this policy, arguing that eliminating fares incentivizes bad behavior and risks turning buses into “mobile homeless shelters.” They also discuss the broader implications of Mamdani’s socialist agenda and predict that any exodus from New York due to his policies will likely occur in spring and summer.
Sen. Rand Paul
An in-depth interview with Senator Rand Paul, covering critical issues from foreign policy to domestic economics. Senator Paul strongly opposes what he calls an “offensive war” in Venezuela, warning that U.S. military action to enforce a blockade and target suspected narco-boats amounts to regime change without congressional approval. He stresses constitutional limits on presidential war powers and criticizes the administration’s approach to interdiction, citing high error rates and ethical concerns about targeting unarmed individuals.
On Trump’s first year of his second term, Rand Paul gives the administration an “A triple plus” for securing the southern border and maintaining tax cuts, while blasting both parties for runaway spending and ballooning debt. He calls for a balanced budget and entitlement reform as urgent priorities heading into 2026. The discussion then shifts to healthcare policy, where Paul advocates for association health plans, interstate insurance purchasing, and universal health savings accounts to lower costs without taxpayer subsidies.
The hour also tackles America’s affordability crisis, with Paul linking soaring housing prices and inflation to reckless government spending and Federal Reserve monetary policy. He warns that rent control and socialist policies—like those embraced by New York’s new mayor—will worsen housing shortages and economic inequality. Clay and Buck underscore that affordability will dominate the 2026 midterms, framing it as a kitchen-table issue for millions of voters.
Remembering Clay's Uncle
Clay remembers his Uncle Kenneth, an 84-year-old Vietnam Vet, and reminds everyone to thank the veterans in their life and appreciate family while they are still with you.
Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8
For the latest updates from Clay & Buck, visit our website https://www.clayandbuck.com/
Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton:
<Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Whether you're lighting a candle on the Manora or placing
Baby Jesus in the Nativity.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
We hope your holiday is full of grace, wonder and.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Love and maybe even a little snow. Merry Christmas and
happy Honika from all of us at the Clay and
Buck Show. Welcome in Wednesday edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show.
This is Buck's final show of the year. He's like
a kid getting out for Christmas break, so sprint through
(00:30):
the clothes here. I'll be with you guys on Thursday
and Friday, and then it is officially into the holiday season.
We will have a lot of great guest hosts, as
we always do. We will get into some of that
down the line, but a bunch of different stories that
are out there. Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff,
did a Vanity Fair interview that is just a colossal
(00:53):
miss stake in terms of intent, delivery everything. We're going
to dive into some of it. We've got the Brown
University shooter. I know Buck that you talked about this
quite a bit yesterday, But the more this continues, the
stranger and stranger the entire story appears to me. And
(01:16):
we've got a lot of other different stories to run into,
but let's start with this Susie Wiles Vanity fair piece,
and I'll give you a couple of takes, Buck, and
you tell me if you sign on if you disagree.
I think this is Susie Wiles's biggest misstep since she
became chief of staff in one year now. I do think,
(01:38):
probably on a positive side, the overall fact that virtually
no one has lost his or her job in year
one of Trump two point zero is not discussed enough,
but is almost one hundred percent a function Buck. I
think of the lesson Trump learned in his first term,
(02:00):
which is, whenever somebody has some sort of controversy that
emerges about them and you decide to fire them, you're
not going to quell the criticism that comes from the
legacy media outlets. You're just going to get put more
blood in the water. They're going to come after somebody new.
We have talked about this a ton on the show.
(02:21):
Pete hex Set is probably the most attacked member of
the administration by far in year one. In second place,
I would say probably RFK Junior, and then I would
put Pambondi probably in there at third place. And then
other members of the administration have been attacked, but much
(02:42):
less significantly. And so the fact that she decided to
do this interview, that they all set for these elite,
vanity fair photo ops and they expected that it would
be in some way a fair reflection of the conversations
that took place, as just a colossal miscalculation. And what
(03:05):
I would say about this in general, Buck is, what
are you thinking.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You should never? Ever? Ever?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
There are a lot of Republican senators and congressmen and
their staffs who listen to this. I don't understand how
many people get bit by this. If you are giving
your time and effort and quotes to legacy media institutions,
the absolute least that they could do is share every
single thing that you said on the record and let
(03:39):
people go watch or listen to that. I think if
you're doing anything other than live interviews, anything other than
full form podcast interviews, you're totally misunderstanding the power dynamic
at play here. You can't talk all day and allow
them to cherry pick quotes. So I can't believe that
she would fall for this. I read it yesterday and
(04:02):
I just my jaw dropped over the fact that she
had given this writer this much control and power.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, I mean it's a blunder, but it's going to pass.
It doesn't really matter. There's nothing that no one's going
to get fired over this. It's not going to change.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But I do think it's instructive in that we keep
making the same blunders.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Shouldn't that be addressed?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So my theory about the show Game of Thrones, which
I think does very much descend into nihilism and maybe well, well,
in the final seasons it just collapses into nonsense. But
I think overall the show doesn't really have much as
much as I enjoyed, it doesn't really have a heart
and soul.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Although the takeaway I have from it.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Is that hubris is the is the ultimate sin, or
vanity is the ultimate sin. If you look at all
the characters that have really bad things happen to them,
that you that you're rooting for is what brings them down.
And I think one of the challenges that conservatives have
in general, and this isn't unique to this instance. We
see this with whenever some you know, third tier celebrity
(05:11):
says anything conservative and conservatives.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Go, oh my gosh, did you see this guy?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Who was playing the you know, number four lead in
a sitcom from the eighties. Now, there are some conservatives
who are from I mean from a you know, entertainment
enemy like James Woods is a brilliant guy and a
great commentator and a very accomplished actor. Right, I'm fine
with that, But I mean when people go after some
(05:37):
one thing that a person says, it's like, we want
to pat on the head so badly from somebody who's
cool and famous that.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Will just do anything for it.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
There was a bit of this also when in the
early days when people were so excited about Kanye and
his relationship and Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Trump.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was like, guys, slow your role with this a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Vanity fair is a prestige a prestige journal. I think
it's communist propaganda and it's written by the enemy. But
it's something that people see when they go into a fancy,
you know, doctor's office out on the table, or they
go to a fancy law office or something. And I
think it's very hard right now for a White House
that is racking up so many wins to think that
(06:17):
anybody could really puncture their balloon. Of greatness right now.
So I think there was a bit of I think
there was a bit of hubris in thinking that they
could maneuver around this and not get got. But I
also think that this is a tempest in a teapot.
Who really cares. Everyone's going to keep working together. Everyone
(06:38):
knows that this was a hit job, So what really,
what difference does it make?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
My concern is it's just, I mean, it's a judgment error.
And to your point, I don't even know anybody who
reads Vanity Fair, So I guess it would be nice
if Vanity Fair wrote an incredible profile about me. I
don't think anybody would see it, like if you know,
like I just, I don't think most of the people
(07:05):
that have any idea I exist even have opened to
Vanity Fair magazine.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So I'm wondering, Yeah, my big issue can give you.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I actually think there's something important from this too, though,
I mean, I hubris might be the thing that I
view as how they fell into this a little bit,
which I understand because the Trump administration has just completely
schalacked its opponents for the last year, I mean, ever
since the election. Are just they've been on defense, defense, defense,
The opponents of Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And this administration.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But I think this is a good reminder of Clay,
because I've been saying all along, Kamala lost by two
hundred and fifty thousand votes over a handful of states.
Basically in a country of three hundred and fifty million people,
give or take, that is a razor thin actual margin.
I know, the electoral college win was big, and it
was an incredible story with Trump, we've celebrated that all along.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
My point is merely.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
There's still a lot of people that would have voted
for Kamala, and there are a lot of people who
are going to vote for the next em and the
midterms are coming up, and the opposition is every bit
is dedicated. Yeah, they've been beaten a few rounds, Clay,
but they're about to get back in the ring. So
I think that this is a little bit of a
media haymaker that the Trump administration caught on the jaw,
(08:16):
and it's probably a good reminder as we go into
this midterm year. Yeah, the other side, they're still gunning
for us. Yeah, No, I think that's one hundred percent right.
I will say there were two bits of news that
I thought were interesting from the Vanity Fair piece. First
of all, again, let me just say it's a colossal
(08:36):
miscalculation that you would spend this much time with a
writer when his opening paragraph Bucks says nine people died
in the jan sixth terror attack.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Basically nine people. I mean, that's a complete and total lie.
I do think the fact that they reiterated yet again
that Marco Rubio is not going to run against jd
Vance and that he will support jd Vance if he runs.
Jd Vance is going to enter twenty twenty seven after
the midterms as I think the biggest favorite for a
(09:09):
nomination on the Republican side since go back in time
with me boy George hw Bush after Ronald Reagan? Would
would that be the I mean it will have been now.
I'm not saying that he's one hundred percent going to
be the nominee, but if Marco Rubio is not going
to run against him in twenty twenty seven, there is
going to be a patna of expectation surrounding jd Vance,
(09:34):
the likes.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Of did you just say Patna? I thought it was
pronounced Patna. I think it's Patina research P number.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
There'll be a number of expectation I think I pronounced
that one right, that is completely surrounding jd vance that
he's going to be an aura of expectation that he's
going to be the nominee. And then the second part, uh,
when we have our our fact check there on my pronunciation. Also,
this I thought was kind of interesting. Susie Wiles absolutely
(10:08):
hammered Pam Bondi on the Epstein thing quote. I think
she completely whiffed on appreciating that was the very targeted
group that cared about this. First she gave them binders
full of nothingness, and then she said the witness list
or the client list was on her desk. There is
no client list, and it's sure as hell wasn't on
(10:31):
her desk. I mean for the chief of staff to
just I mean, she's right in all that, but for
the chief of staff to pull out a two by
four and just whack the Attorney general on that, I
presume Susie Wiles said all that face to face with
Pambondy at some point in time too. But I did
think that was a pretty significant I kind of read
(10:52):
that and I was like, whoo, that was a pretty
significant two by four.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
But you have to also remember it is widely believed
US and Bondi have a close relationship stretching back to Florida.
It is widely believed that the reason Pambondi did not
get fired over that is Susie Wilds. So she threw
herself in front of Trump's very understandable rage at that
(11:19):
situation because it's totally unforced error. But you know, again, Clay, yes,
people are talking about it, so we have to talk
about it for a second. But I feel like we
cover it by just saying or rather it is covered
the topic. We've gotten what we want out of it
by reminding the administration that regime media. I know that
(11:40):
seems weird because Trump is the administration, but I mean
the forever regime, you know. The Democrat apparatus media or
will do everything they can to destroy Trump. They have
learned no lessons. They are no more ethical, they are
no more honest, and they really really want to impeach
him again. Make sure the Democrats have the House in
order to douce show and they want to push all
(12:02):
of them. There's nothing about what Biden did. The problem
that they have with Biden is merely that the border
was so bad and he was so inept and then
so clearly had dementia that he costs them power. But Clay,
all the policies that were being written in Biden's name
for him, they.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Want to pursue all that stuff again.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
They want to go right Vanity Fair wants to go
right back to the White House putting out statements about
how twelve year olds need gender reassignment surgery like they
want that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
So they've changed nothing.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I hope they have learned not to do this again.
But the fact that they had to learn this lesson again,
it's tough. By the way, big win for me and
the opener of the show. My pronunciation, according to Merriam
Webster Dictionary, is acceptable, as both pronunciations are acceptable. That
is according to producer Greg's research, which I've always said
(12:52):
producer Greg is an elite research talent.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I mean, you go you google it and it says
puck t nuh. So that is the American pronunciation pronunciation.
I've I've never heard it pronounce a different way. But
then I've learned something. I've learned something new. But Clay,
I feel like we could take a draw on that one,
so you can go both ways.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I feel very comfortable that I have pronounced something for
once in my life in an accurate way.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know what else?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I feel comfortable about the Cozy Earth blankets. They are
absolutely phenomenal. They have the blanket, they've also got the
bamboo sheets, perfect combination of luxury, comfort and relaxation all
in one. Fabrics are incredibly soft, smooth, and breevable. Whole
team's been raving about the Bubble Cuddle blankets. They are
the bubble Cuddle blanket. I mean that, first of all,
(13:41):
how could something called the bubble Cuddle Blanket not be
an absolutely incredible blanket. I mean it's like Smuckers, right,
Like it's got to be good with a name like that.
We've even heard from public people that say they're pets
love the Bubble Cuddle blankets. You will love them too.
Right now, use my name Clay. You get twenty percent
(14:03):
off right now at Cozyerth dot com code Clay. That's
Cozyerth dot com, code Clay, cozyearth dot com code Clay.
Get hooked up today twenty percent off.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Claytravis and Buck Sexton Mike drops that never sounded so good.
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app. Or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Welcome in everybody to the second hour of the Clay
Travis and Buck Sexton Show, and we are continuing with
our last week at live shows for the year.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Very very much want to say while I can, thank
you to all of you for helping us have such
a great year, or you are the reason we had such.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
A great year on the program. I know it's we're
still in the news cycle.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
We'll be getting into all this in a second, but
since I only have you for today and then Clay
going to be throwing a Christmas keg party for you
for the next couple of days afterwards, we've had a great, really,
honestly a great year on this show. It has been
an honor to be able to spend time with you
all every day. For y'all, as I'm allowed to say
now because so many of you are Southerners and you've
(15:17):
given me permission.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Well, you married a Southerner, so I think that helps
your ability to embrace the word y'all.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's true, and so we just want to say thank
you to all of you. Honestly, it's been a phenomenal year.
Our team in New York City is the absolute best.
Our audience is the absolute best, and we all hope
that we're doing a great job and that Rush is
smiling down on us from heaven thinking that we're carrying
on the legacy and holding the torch as best as
(15:44):
we can.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I can promise you we do that absolutely every
single day.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
And to build on that which is well said in
this will be when we come back in January together,
it'll be we're working on the fifth year. We added
eighty six stations this year. We have added, thanks to
you guys, over two hundred affiliate stations since we launched
this show in June of twenty twenty one. So that's
(16:09):
a testament to a lot of work going on behind
the scenes. I think we were around three fifty when
we launched ISH and now I know we are over
five hundred and fifty and added an absolute ton of
stations this year, and many of you are listening to
us all over the country on stations that work with
(16:31):
us in June of twenty twenty one, So thanks to
all those stations out there. Obviously, we want to be
on as many platforms as possible everywhere. Clay and Buck
podcast Network is rolling and we're going to have more
and more video for you as many people out there.
I never really would really believe this is where we
were headed, Buck, but a lot of people consume audio
(16:53):
on video. In fact, it's more popular to consume audio
on video now often than it is just playing audio,
particularly the younger you are. So we're going to be
adding in more and more video attributes of this program.
It's a big part of the twenty twenty six plan.
So we would like for you to be out there
subscribing to us on all those platforms, including YouTube, because
(17:16):
there's gonna be a lot more video coming for all
of you.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And I will say this, and this is definitely self serving,
but also one hundred percent true when any of you
come up and see me, as someone was jogging Clay
yesterday who listens to the show and stopped his jog
for a minute to come alongside me to chat a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Some ideas that I felt bad, like I'm interrupting your job.
It's like, well that right, block sext then I got it.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
But we always appreciate whenever you see any of us,
and you always should feel like you can come up
and talk to us, and we feel like we know you,
and you feel like you know us because you do,
because you spend so much time with us over the
course of the year, and some of you even a
couple of hours, two or three hours a day when
you have the time. I would also will say that
whenever we meet somebody who listens to this show, I
(18:02):
truly immediately this little thing in my brain goes, oh,
you're one of the good, smart conservatives who doesn't waste
his time with nonsense. So I'm just saying that is
honestly what I think. So I think it is to
your tremendous credit to all of you that with I
know there's so much noise out there. There's so much
stuff that is online, in particular these days, and there's
(18:25):
a lot of sort of petty nonsense and people getting
crazy and getting a little reckless. And you stay with
us here and you stay with the mission, and we
greatly appreciate that. So I wanted to say thank you.
And I do have a high opinion of each and
every one of you who listens to the show. So
that is from a bottom of the heart. All right,
(18:45):
now we can do some news you mentioned Mom Donnie.
Now I'm gonna tell you something there are people who
are claiming now Clay that since mom Donnie came into
New York, or rather since he won the election he
becomes mayor January one believe since he won that election,
there have actually been some people moving to New York
(19:06):
to experience Mom Donnism. There has not been the flood
of residents to or new residents to Florida that even
some realtor friends of mine were expecting. People tested they
want to know that the lifeboat is there. They did
not get into the lifeboat, though overwhelmingly I have not.
By the way, if you happen to be somebody who
(19:27):
has left New York because of Mom Donnie and moved anywhere,
let us know. The numbers show this is is a
very small group.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I will say that I think most of those people,
if they leave Buck, they're gonna let Mom Donnie try
it out. Most people have kids, they have grandkids. Moving
around Christmas is hard to do. So I think you'll
see if people are going to flee Mom Donnie's air
in New York, it will happen in the spring and summer.
So that's when I'm actually curious to see whether or
(19:58):
not there will be any sort of mass movement, because
you'll have a few months he gets inaugurated in January,
you'll have a few months to see how the process
of Mom Donnie is going, and then people's school years
get out and then they start to move. We'll play
the Mom Donnie. By the way, new videos being released
now as we speak of a person of interest leading
(20:21):
the news on Fox News, leading the news on MSNBC
right now in that Brown University shooting. So a little
bit better visualization. We'll try to share some of those
videos from the Clay and Buck account for any of
you out there that may be in that area or
just trying to figure out who that person of interest is.
(20:42):
But you were mentioning Mom Donnie, and I tease this buck.
Mom Donnie weighed in on how he thinks free buses
are actually going to make there be less issues on
public transportation, and it's a heck of a whopper that
he told here.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Listen, we made five bus routes free in New York City.
When we made those bus routes free, after a year,
assaults on bus drivers dropped by thirty eight point nine
percent on the bus driver. The bus drivers because unlike
the train, the Act of fare collection on the bus
happens on the bus, and bus drivers and unions have
(21:20):
shared anecdotally that about fifty percent of assaults happen around
the fair box. So when you eliminate the farebox, you
make for a safer experience for the bus driver for everyone.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Can I take mom donnism to its logical conclusion here?
You know where there can be scuffles in drug stores
and supermarkets and things like that by the front door
with security when people steal stuff. So you know what
we could do, Clay to eliminate scuffles with security. Just
make it legal for people to steal stuff. There we go.
(21:58):
That's another approach to this. Right, just say you know what,
you can take whatever you want. Now, I understand public service,
public transportation, they can change the feat schedule. But my
point here is you are just rewarding bad behavior and
thinking that that's going to stop the bad behavior. It's
just not true. This is a really stupid idea. And
also he does not have the funding for it, but
(22:20):
he's going to stay with this. I right, did you
ever ride public buses very much? When I've done a
ton of subway in my life. I mean, I was
a real subway guy. For a long time, I have
done very little. The New York City bus is a
is a humbling and often depressing experience.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Avoid the bus. We didn't have. We don't have a
subway in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
So as a kid and we did not have I
went to a public school in Nashville, but there were
no public school buses for my school from seven to
twelfth grade. H Martin Luther King was a school downtown Nashville.
So if you rode the bus, you rode the city bus.
So when school got out, a lot of us kids
(23:02):
would go and we would get on the city bus
and we would ride the city bus all over the city.
And I don't know, I look back now and I'm like, man,
I was twelve and I was just getting on the
city bus and I was just riding into downtown and
I was just walking around the city streets. There's zero
(23:24):
percent chance my wife would let our seventh graders do that.
I'm just saying, I think people have gotten more protective
of kids, and I think there are benefits and disadvantages
to it. There's a movement I know of parents out
there to have free range kids, to have kids out
and about in streets and cities more often.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
My point on this is.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Getting on the bus and paying and having your token
or having your bus pass and then having your fare.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Is something that makes it way safer.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I just say this is somebody who rode city
buses because otherwise vagrants when it's cold, if there is
no charge, we'll just get on the bus and they
will sit there and they'll never leave. And producer Alley
has talked about this. There are people who get on
the subway and they stink, and they're homeless, and it's cold,
and they just stay on. I don't understand in any way.
(24:19):
I bet Buck they did that pilot program. I bet
they did it on the nicest routes that you run
in the New York City area. I find it impossible
to believe that making all buses free is in any
way going to make it safer for the people who
are riding the buses, or that the environment's going to
(24:40):
be better. I just it does not comport with any
element of any experience that I've had as a city
bus rider. It's been a long time since I did it,
but the bus is not that expensive, and I cannot
imagine that there are that many people who would otherwise
ride that can't for a bus fair in some way.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
What kind of person do you think is physically assaulting
a bus driver. Do you think it's a person who
if only they had a free bus fare, they wouldn't
be laying hands on and becoming violent with a city employee.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
No, Okay, this.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Is a total misunderstanding from Mamdani or a really just
I think ignorance of what it's like for people who
live in low income, high crime neighborhoods where there are
people who are just going to get into trouble, they're
going to do things, they're going to break laws, they're
going to hurt people. Making the bus free, as I've
(25:43):
said all along, will turn them into mobile homeless shelters.
That's part one. So no one's now going to feel
like they want to be on the bus. And two also,
how much more redistribution of wealth and how much bigger
a debt does the City of New York want to
run up? So now this would be another thing that
other people have to pay for in a city that
already has a huge welfare state in addition to federal
(26:05):
benefits that people get. And I just think that it
shows that it's totally wrongheaded in its approach. We need
a society where people have greater personal accountability. We want
to promote a society where people are held responsible for
their actions and we are all treated as equals and
as adults, but we also have consequences for when we
(26:28):
violate that trust. That's the only way to make things better,
To placate the people who break the rules, are violent,
break the law.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It just encourages more of it. Totally.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
And I again I think your point on hey people,
there's not been a mass departure from New York. In general,
I think people exaggerate what they are going to do
when someone gets elected that they don't like be here
all the time. If Trump wins, I'm moving to Canada.
And to her credit, Rosie O'Donnell is like the only
(27:03):
person that has been famous that has left the country.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
She went to Ireland.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
I give her credit because she at least stood behind
her comments. She doesn't seem like she's doing very well
in Ireland, doesn't seem like the Irish people like her
that much, doesn't seem like her family's doing that well.
But she followed through on her promise, which most people
do not do. What I will say is I do
believe that in the spring and summer when school years end,
(27:29):
I think there are going to be a ton of
people in the New York City era area that will
kick the tires on potentially leaving.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
With that in mind, you.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Live through it, Buck, If you were willing to stay
in New York City through COVID, I don't know how
much worse things would have to get for you to
finally say this is my breaking point. For a lot
of people, the COVID restrictions was the breaking point. If
you're still in New York after five years, six years
of COVID going into next year, then I just don't
(27:59):
know understand how this is going to finally be the
tipping point that sends you off into a new horizon. Look,
Rapid radios can make a great Christmas gift modern day
walkie talkies, helping families stay connected even when there's a
service disruption or a power outage. Rapid radios work on
a nationwide LTE network, meaning you can talk with anyone
(28:22):
anywhere in the US with just a touch of a button.
When you give a pair of rapid radios, you're giving
away to stay in You're giving a way to stay
in touch in the best of times as well as
during emergencies. Rapid radios deliver peace of mind when it
matters most. No monthly fees, no complicated setup, just pre
programmed reliable communication when it counts. Rapid radios because every
(28:44):
just in case matters, Go to rapid radios dot com.
Make sure your famili's never out of reach. That's rapid
Radios dot Com. No promo code needed, Rapid radios communication redefined.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
You don't know what's you don't know right, but you
diuld On the Sunday had with Playing Buck.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Podcast, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck, and
we have Senator rand Paul with us.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Senator Paul, appreciate you being with us. Let's just jump
right into this.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
So now we have an embargo going or actually a blockade,
I'm sorry, a blockade going on of ships carrying oil
from Venezuela. We have a flotilla the likes of which
the Caribbean has not seen in quite some time of
US naval and other military power. We have a effectively
(29:35):
an ultimatum.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
From a duro. Is this regime change? What's going on?
Speaker 7 (29:40):
It looks like it's going to be regime change. It's
sort of regime change in the process. Personally, I think
that war should be a last resort, that we should
try to attempt to avoid war, and that we should
act in a way that we have to go to
war when we have to defend our country. So war
should be in self offense. And this, to me is
(30:02):
an offensive war. It's a war because we don't like
the government of Venezuela. You know, I don't like socialism.
I wrote a book called The Case against Socialism. In it,
I open in the beginning of the book talking about
gangs in Venezuela looking for food because the economy is
so desperate under socialism. But at the same time, we
could probably list two dozen countries around the world that
(30:25):
have either authoritarian rule or authoritarian socialist rule. And I
just don't think it's the job of the American soldier to,
you know, go around and spread freedom at the point
of a bayonet. So now I'm not for this war,
and I think it ought to be voted on by Congress.
The presidents under the constitution don't have the power to
initiate war without approval of Congress.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Where We're talking to Senator Ran Paul and there are
a ton of things going on out there as we
finish year one of Trump two point zero. What would
you if you were giving a letter grade, given the
fact that exams are going on all over the country
right now, what letter grade would you give President Trump
and his administration on year one two point zero? And
(31:08):
what do you think should be the top priorities when
Congress returns to action in January of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 7 (31:16):
Let's say a triple plus on controlling the border. And
in fact, they did so well and did it so
quickly that they've actually forgotten to tell the American people
they did it, so it's become accepted, you know, just
everybody expects now the border is controlled. But this was
a border that Biden was letting millions of people cross unattended,
many of them a danger to our community, and a
(31:40):
lawlessness at the border. He came in and within three
months controlled that. I think the mistake is that moved
on to other things instead of promoting and telling the
people about what the good job they did on the border,
on maintaining the tax cuts that I supported back in
twenty seventeen, A triple plus, great idea to continue those
(32:00):
tax cuts. On spending and deficit, you know, about the
same grade that all parties get. You know, Republicans and
Democrats have historically been terrible with the debt, and I
think the debt continues to accumulate at an alarming rate.
We now have over a trillion dollars in interest. So
I think they can do much better on spending and debt.
But on the taxation level, pretty good. And on the
(32:23):
border grade.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Now, you have been very vocal Senator Paul about these
strikes on suspected or alleged narco boats and mostly the Caribbean,
also some in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico.
Are there other senate colleagues on the Republican side who
share your concerns?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
And what would you like to see?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
What would the administration have to do, this White House
have to do for your concerns to be allayed regarding
these strikes.
Speaker 7 (32:55):
You know, one of the questions I've been putting forward
is are they armed? I mean, we have a long
standing tradition, not just here but around the world among
civilized people that we don't shoot unarmed people. So you know,
some questions came out, did we shoot shipwrecked people when
people are clinging the wreckage, and it's actually part of
our military law that we don't. We also usually don't
(33:16):
shoot unarmed people. So these boats that are alleged to
curing drugs, probably a lot of them do have drugs.
I'm not disputing that most of these boats don't have
the capability to even get to the United States. They
can go about one hundred miles and after be fuel.
So a lot of these drugs, if they are drugs,
are being distributed by unarmed people into some of the
(33:36):
Lower Caribbean islands. What we've done historically for crimes is
we capture you and prosecute you. It's difficult work, it's
not easy, but that's what we have always expected. Coast
Guard interdicts these boats routinely, still does, and the ratio
of boats that have drugs to those who don't is
about one in four of every boat that's boarded doesn't
(33:58):
have drugs. So that's a pretty high airr rate. To
expect that we're going to kill unarmed people based on
an air rate of about one and four being picking
up the wrong people. So I'm absolutely opposed to this.
I think that you know, there are some on the
Republican side who uneasy, but most voices have been somewhat
(34:19):
tamped down on the Republican side on any policy they
disagree with the president. But I think that makes us
weaker as a country. I think we all need to
be big enough to be able to have criticism even
within the party.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
What should happen on healthcare? I know you and the
President have been going back and forth on some disagreements
and issues, but there's talk that maybe the government's going
to shut down again. In January, I saw where Chuck
Schumer refused to say that he would not shut down.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
The government again.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Tell me if you think I'm wrong, Senator, but it
feels like to me that a big part of the
twenty twenty six Democrat plan as they get ready to
run in the midterms, is going to be shutting down
the governm meant arguing that Republicans all want to take
away everybody's health care and they want everybody to die.
I mean, we all know how this is going to
play out. It seems kind of clear to me. What
(35:09):
should happen, What will happen in the world of healthcare.
Speaker 7 (35:13):
Beyond healthcare, President Trump and I have a great deal
of agreement. We work together in the first administration to
craft an executive order that the intention was to allow
people to buy insurance across state lines, and insurance as
part of a co op or a collective like Sam's
Club or costc. The problem with the executive order is
(35:34):
the problem we all often have with executive orders is
the law's not changed. We try to bend the law
through an executive order, people sue in court. So all
the Democrat ag sued. They tied it up in court
and never really got to have its full effect. But
I've communicating with the President in the last couple of
weeks and he says he still favors this policy that
I've been pushing, and mine would basically cost nothing, didn't
(35:58):
cost the tax pay or anything. Just makes it legal
to buy a cross state lines and makes it legal
for anybody that wants to collect people together, particularly groups
that already exist like Amazon, Costcover, Sam's Club, to buy
insurance as a group. What would happen is you'd really
have no more individual market. So if you're an accountant
and you have three employees, you buy insurance for or
(36:19):
maybe you're a construction guid and you've got one hundred employees.
Why would you want to buy insurance on your own.
Why not join a private collective that negotiates better prices.
And I think we could really drive prices down if
you just take the subsidies that we're currently giving to
insurance companies and you give those subsidies to people's health
savings accounts. I think that's just a distinction without a difference.
(36:42):
You're still giving away money we don't have, and it's
still going to all wound up in an insurance company's pocket.
So my association health plans would bring prices down. The
other thing I would do is I wouldn't give taxpayer
money to health savings accounts, but I would let everyone
have a health savings account. Right now, only ten ten
percent of insurance plans sold. Is it legal to have
(37:03):
health savings account? People on Medicare cannot have health savings accounts.
I would let everybody in America have health savings account.
I get to think thing all going to do to
think about this is think about how many kids have braces.
I had three kids that all had braces, but I
did it with pre tax money through my health savings account.
It's not fair that only ten percent of the public
gets that we should let that great benefit accrue to everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
It's being the Senator Ran Paul of Kentucky and Senator
Affordability is the big catchword for what is a focus
of twenty twenty six policy and politics. People are already
projecting that the mid terms will take affordability in account
in a major way. And affordability is really just kitchen
table economics, right. This is a concept that we've been
(37:50):
dealing with for as long as American political parties have
been vying for attention and power. But what do you
see as the ways that the administration and to the
degree Congress, well, I'm not sure Congress is going to
be able to do much on this, But what do
you see as the best way forward, especially on the
housing issue, because it's so complicated, so important, and it
(38:13):
has gotten too expensive for the average American family to
be able to afford the median home in this country.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
What can be done? What should be done?
Speaker 7 (38:23):
Well, pip have have to realize the price of things
goes up because of the value of your dollar shrinks.
So part of the reason that President Trump won this
last time around was because it was becoming unaffordable to
live under Biden. Biden had about twenty percent inflation in
four years, and wages rose less less rapidly. So if
you add in a little bit of inflation under Trump
(38:44):
plus the twenty percent under Biden, it's about twenty five
percent inflation over the last five years. That twenty five percent.
Unless your wages went up twenty five percent, you've all
gotten four. So people are being squeezed it. Things are
less affordable because of the value of the dollar. Why
the dollar lose its value because of the debt. The
debt is bought by the Federal Reserve. They buy it
(39:05):
by introducing new dollars into circulation and devalues the dollars
we have. That's what price inflation is. It's not a mystery.
It comes from debt and then the printing of money
to pay for the debt. So I think they need
to explain it better and explain where inflation comes from,
and then you combat it basically by introducing balanced budgets
and less debt. Now, the problem is both parties are
(39:27):
terrible with debt. You know, Biden was terrible with it,
but really the previous Trump administration added eight trillion, then
Biden added eight trillion. We're on target to add another
eight or nine trillion under this administration. So we have
to do a better job at controlling debt and affordability
with housing. Part of it's the loss of the value
of the dollar, but part of it also is controls
(39:51):
that forbids you from you know, raising or improving the
value of things like rent control in New York is
a disaster. It's why you have no apartments and none
of them get fixed up because if you can only
charge four hundred dollars to live in Manhattan, guess what,
there's no money left over to do any of the repairs,
and so these apartments are just decaying in New York.
(40:12):
But people need to realize that rent control in New
York is the same thing they have in Venezuela. That's
why they have no food. So when you have price controls,
it's a variation of socialism. And they've just elected a
socialist mayor in New York. So I think they're going
to have to get a lot worse before it gets better,
until hopefully the young people of America will see socialism
(40:33):
for the disaster that it is.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
What is the one start? Yeah, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I was going to say, what is the one thing
Senator Paul that if you could get President Trump to
really dial in and focus on, for him to spearhead
and try to accomplish next year in advance in the midterms,
what would it.
Speaker 7 (40:49):
Be proposing a budget that balances, proposing to spend less money.
The hard and difficult part of that equation, though, is
that most of the money are entitlements. Two thirds of
the spending of governments entitlements. One third is military and
non military discretionary. That's what we vote on. So the
(41:11):
hard part about the deficit is the deficits about two trillion,
and the budget that Congress votes on is about two trillion,
so you get actually zero out. And I'm not proposing this,
but if you had zero military spending and zero discretionary
welfare spending, you'd balance your budget, which means basically the
taxes that come in are equivalent to all the mandatory
(41:31):
programs without the discretionary programs. So we are really behind
the eight ball. And this gets worse over time. I mean,
it's going to become an escalating problem that will at
some point spiral out of control, and it's fixable now
if you do something, if we gradually start fixing the entitlements.
But the President, as many of his predecessors have said, oh,
(41:54):
I'm not going to touch entitlements. It's the third rail.
So we're going to stay away from that. And then
when we have the discussion over the big beautiful bill,
some of us tried to fix medicaid in that bill
and say, look, they got to at least have the
same formula for the states that we once had, whether
the states pay part, federal government pays part. Instead, Obama
gear added all these fuel to medicaid and said, oh,
(42:15):
the federal government will pay the whole thing. And those
people are still on. And because it was free or
virtually free to the states, the states said, sure, we'll
welcome more people in medicaid, and more people join medicaid.
Everybody's gotten on food stamps, we serve Coca cola. The
people on food stamps we serve ding dogs, Twinkies, donuts.
I mean, it's just candy. You can buy candy on
(42:37):
food stamps. So we've got to do more on having
government live within its means.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Senator Ran Paul appreciate you, sir. Merry Christmas and we'll
talk to you in the new year.
Speaker 7 (42:50):
Sam. You guys, there's.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Another nonprofit that I can think of that's doing more
day in, day out to save the lives of babies
in the womb than pre Consider how their staff at
one of their clinics welcomed Victoria. Before she got to
a preborn clinic, Victoria had visited another clinic in her neighborhood.
She was scared, confused, and was handed the abortion pill.
But immediately she knew she was making a tragic mistake.
(43:14):
The weight of regret was so crushing she even thought
about ending her own life. Her continuing search led her
to a preborn clinic, though, where truth and clarity broke through.
Their loving staff members gave her immediate care and helped
her save not just her baby's life, but her own.
Victoria got truthful answers about matters related to her unborn
child that that preborn clinic, because when a mother hears it,
(43:35):
lives are saved. Just twenty eight dollars provides a free
ultrasound to women like Victoria. That single gift, that experience
of meeting her unborn child, makes all the difference. This
is your chance to make a difference too in this
holiday season. Pick up your phone dial pound two five
zero and say baby, that's pound two five zero. Say baby,
that's how you make a donation. Or to do it online,
(43:56):
it's really easy. Go to preborn dot com slash buck.
Preborn dot com slash b Uck sponsored by Preborn.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
Ws and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay
Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Welcome back in Play Travis buck Sexton Show. We're going
to be joined by Senator Ran Paul at the bottom
of the hour. I was out yesterday. I wanted to
mention this. So many of you said nice things, and
I appreciate it. My uncle Kenneth died at the age
of eighty four, and I was at his funeral in
(44:36):
East Tennessee. And he was a Vietnam Vet and worked
for Buck thirty years for South Central Bell, going around
working on phone lines all over the Chattanooga, Tennessee area.
And he was just such an amazing guy. And I
(44:58):
know there are many also Vietnam or veterans out there
that are listening to us right now. And I know
somewhat that has changed in the past couple of decades
about how we've responded to the people who fought in
that war. But I actually think we should be doing
(45:18):
a better job of saying thank you to everyone who
fought in that war. Certainly when they came back, they
were not embraced. It wasn't their choice to go to
that war. It wasn't their choice to be putting their
lives on the line, but they were willing to answer
when the country called. And my uncle is representative of
(45:39):
that generation. You know, he worked on helicopters, served in
in Vietnam, and as I was at his funeral yesterday,
he was supremely healthy for eighty three and a half years,
just got very sick in the last six months with cancer.
But I wanted as they had the flag at his casket,
(46:03):
as they were talking about his service there at the funeral,
I wanted to just think about that, say thank you
for the responses that people have shared out there in
the audience, but bigger than that, say thank you to
everyone out there listening to us right now that is
a Vietnam War vet. Because I think in many ways
(46:24):
we have largely neglected saying thank you for everybody out
there who put their lives on the line in that war.
So thank you for everybody. He had an amazing life,
phenomenal guy. I feel honored that I had the forty
six years of my life to be able to experience
with him. He was as good of an uncle as
anybody could be. And it's a holiday season comes up,
(46:48):
I would just encourage all of you, you know, hug
and kiss as many friends and family members as you can,
because we don't know when the holiday is going to
be the last one that we get to spend together.
Hopefully we all have a lot more, but last Christmas
was our last Christmas with him. Didn't know it, And
just would encourage everybody out there to say thank you
(47:10):
to the Vietnam Vets in your life, and also to
make sure that you don't neglect saying thank you to
anybody out there that is a member of your family
that you may not get to spend another Christmas with.
All Right, hopefully that wasn't too negative, but I just
wanted to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (47:27):
We got Senator Ran Paul who's coming up here in
a moment will feed us all the latest info from
Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
There's a lot you learned from living in DC in
the past and covering politics day to day and being
in the media world. And what you see is that
financial power often comes from political connectivity and the insiders
have a head start. But we're changing that. It's why
I started Money and Power and e newsletter that's totally
separate from this program. It's something I'm really committed to, though.
(47:56):
Just like this radio show, Money and Power is a
newsletter meant to give every day Americans access to the
kind of fast moving intelligence that you used to stay
locked behind closed doors. My team and I monitor DC
for every move, every spending bill, executive order, and keep
a close tab on what's happening out there in the
markets to give you actionable intelligence for investing purposes. Go
(48:18):
to join buck dot com to sign up for this
newsletter today, Money and Power eighty two percent off the
regular price. Go to join buck dot com. That's join
Buck dot Com paid for by Paradigm Press.
Whether you're lighting a candle on the Manora or placing
Baby Jesus in the Nativity.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
We hope your holiday is full of grace, wonder and.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Love and maybe even a little snow. Merry Christmas and
happy Honika from all of us at the Clay and
Buck Show. Welcome in Wednesday edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show.
This is Buck's final show of the year. He's like
a kid getting out for Christmas break, so sprint through
(00:30):
the clothes here. I'll be with you guys on Thursday
and Friday, and then it is officially into the holiday season.
We will have a lot of great guest hosts, as
we always do. We will get into some of that
down the line, but a bunch of different stories that
are out there. Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff,
did a Vanity Fair interview that is just a colossal
(00:53):
miss stake in terms of intent, delivery everything. We're going
to dive into some of it. We've got the Brown
University shooter. I know Buck that you talked about this
quite a bit yesterday, But the more this continues, the
stranger and stranger the entire story appears to me. And
(01:16):
we've got a lot of other different stories to run into,
but let's start with this Susie Wiles Vanity fair piece,
and I'll give you a couple of takes, Buck, and
you tell me if you sign on if you disagree.
I think this is Susie Wiles's biggest misstep since she
became chief of staff in one year now. I do think,
(01:38):
probably on a positive side, the overall fact that virtually
no one has lost his or her job in year
one of Trump two point zero is not discussed enough,
but is almost one hundred percent a function Buck. I
think of the lesson Trump learned in his first term,
(02:00):
which is, whenever somebody has some sort of controversy that
emerges about them and you decide to fire them, you're
not going to quell the criticism that comes from the
legacy media outlets. You're just going to get put more
blood in the water. They're going to come after somebody new.
We have talked about this a ton on the show.
(02:21):
Pete hex Set is probably the most attacked member of
the administration by far in year one. In second place,
I would say probably RFK Junior, and then I would
put Pambondi probably in there at third place. And then
other members of the administration have been attacked, but much
(02:42):
less significantly. And so the fact that she decided to
do this interview, that they all set for these elite,
vanity fair photo ops and they expected that it would
be in some way a fair reflection of the conversations
that took place, as just a colossal miscalculation. And what
(03:05):
I would say about this in general, Buck is, what
are you thinking.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
You should never? Ever? Ever?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
There are a lot of Republican senators and congressmen and
their staffs who listen to this. I don't understand how
many people get bit by this. If you are giving
your time and effort and quotes to legacy media institutions,
the absolute least that they could do is share every
single thing that you said on the record and let
(03:39):
people go watch or listen to that. I think if
you're doing anything other than live interviews, anything other than
full form podcast interviews, you're totally misunderstanding the power dynamic
at play here. You can't talk all day and allow
them to cherry pick quotes. So I can't believe that
she would fall for this. I read it yesterday and
(04:02):
I just my jaw dropped over the fact that she
had given this writer this much control and power.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, I mean it's a blunder, but it's going to pass.
It doesn't really matter. There's nothing that no one's going
to get fired over this. It's not going to change.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But I do think it's instructive in that we keep
making the same blunders.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Shouldn't that be addressed?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So my theory about the show Game of Thrones, which
I think does very much descend into nihilism and maybe well, well,
in the final seasons it just collapses into nonsense. But
I think overall the show doesn't really have much as
much as I enjoyed, it doesn't really have a heart
and soul.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Although the takeaway I have from it.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Is that hubris is the is the ultimate sin, or
vanity is the ultimate sin. If you look at all
the characters that have really bad things happen to them,
that you that you're rooting for is what brings them down.
And I think one of the challenges that conservatives have
in general, and this isn't unique to this instance. We
see this with whenever some you know, third tier celebrity
(05:11):
says anything conservative and conservatives.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Go, oh my gosh, did you see this guy?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Who was playing the you know, number four lead in
a sitcom from the eighties. Now, there are some conservatives
who are from I mean from a you know, entertainment
enemy like James Woods is a brilliant guy and a
great commentator and a very accomplished actor. Right, I'm fine
with that, But I mean when people go after some
(05:37):
one thing that a person says, it's like, we want
to pat on the head so badly from somebody who's
cool and famous that.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Will just do anything for it.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
There was a bit of this also when in the
early days when people were so excited about Kanye and
his relationship and Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Trump.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I was like, guys, slow your role with this a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Vanity fair is a prestige a prestige journal. I think
it's communist propaganda and it's written by the enemy. But
it's something that people see when they go into a fancy,
you know, doctor's office out on the table, or they
go to a fancy law office or something. And I
think it's very hard right now for a White House
that is racking up so many wins to think that
(06:17):
anybody could really puncture their balloon. Of greatness right now.
So I think there was a bit of I think
there was a bit of hubris in thinking that they
could maneuver around this and not get got. But I
also think that this is a tempest in a teapot.
Who really cares. Everyone's going to keep working together. Everyone
(06:38):
knows that this was a hit job, So what really,
what difference does it make?
Speaker 3 (06:44):
My concern is it's just, I mean, it's a judgment error.
And to your point, I don't even know anybody who
reads Vanity Fair, So I guess it would be nice
if Vanity Fair wrote an incredible profile about me. I
don't think anybody would see it, like if you know,
like I just, I don't think most of the people
(07:05):
that have any idea I exist even have opened to
Vanity Fair magazine.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So I'm wondering, Yeah, my big issue can give you.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I actually think there's something important from this too, though,
I mean, I hubris might be the thing that I
view as how they fell into this a little bit,
which I understand because the Trump administration has just completely
schalacked its opponents for the last year, I mean, ever
since the election. Are just they've been on defense, defense, defense,
The opponents of Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
And this administration.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
But I think this is a good reminder of Clay,
because I've been saying all along, Kamala lost by two
hundred and fifty thousand votes over a handful of states.
Basically in a country of three hundred and fifty million people,
give or take, that is a razor thin actual margin.
I know, the electoral college win was big, and it
was an incredible story with Trump, we've celebrated that all along.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
My point is merely.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
There's still a lot of people that would have voted
for Kamala, and there are a lot of people who
are going to vote for the next em and the
midterms are coming up, and the opposition is every bit
is dedicated. Yeah, they've been beaten a few rounds, Clay,
but they're about to get back in the ring. So
I think that this is a little bit of a
media haymaker that the Trump administration caught on the jaw,
(08:16):
and it's probably a good reminder as we go into
this midterm year. Yeah, the other side, they're still gunning
for us. Yeah, No, I think that's one hundred percent right.
I will say there were two bits of news that
I thought were interesting from the Vanity Fair piece. First
of all, again, let me just say it's a colossal
(08:36):
miscalculation that you would spend this much time with a
writer when his opening paragraph Bucks says nine people died
in the jan sixth terror attack.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Basically nine people. I mean, that's a complete and total lie.
I do think the fact that they reiterated yet again
that Marco Rubio is not going to run against jd
Vance and that he will support jd Vance if he runs.
Jd Vance is going to enter twenty twenty seven after
the midterms as I think the biggest favorite for a
(09:09):
nomination on the Republican side since go back in time
with me boy George hw Bush after Ronald Reagan? Would
would that be the I mean it will have been now.
I'm not saying that he's one hundred percent going to
be the nominee, but if Marco Rubio is not going
to run against him in twenty twenty seven, there is
going to be a patna of expectation surrounding jd Vance,
(09:34):
the likes.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Of did you just say Patna? I thought it was
pronounced Patna. I think it's Patina research P number.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
There'll be a number of expectation I think I pronounced
that one right, that is completely surrounding jd vance that
he's going to be an aura of expectation that he's
going to be the nominee. And then the second part, uh,
when we have our our fact check there on my pronunciation. Also,
this I thought was kind of interesting. Susie Wiles absolutely
(10:08):
hammered Pam Bondi on the Epstein thing quote. I think
she completely whiffed on appreciating that was the very targeted
group that cared about this. First she gave them binders
full of nothingness, and then she said the witness list
or the client list was on her desk. There is
no client list, and it's sure as hell wasn't on
(10:31):
her desk. I mean for the chief of staff to
just I mean, she's right in all that, but for
the chief of staff to pull out a two by
four and just whack the Attorney general on that, I
presume Susie Wiles said all that face to face with
Pambondy at some point in time too. But I did
think that was a pretty significant I kind of read
(10:52):
that and I was like, whoo, that was a pretty
significant two by four.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
But you have to also remember it is widely believed
US and Bondi have a close relationship stretching back to Florida.
It is widely believed that the reason Pambondi did not
get fired over that is Susie Wilds. So she threw
herself in front of Trump's very understandable rage at that
(11:19):
situation because it's totally unforced error. But you know, again, Clay, yes,
people are talking about it, so we have to talk
about it for a second. But I feel like we
cover it by just saying or rather it is covered
the topic. We've gotten what we want out of it
by reminding the administration that regime media. I know that
(11:40):
seems weird because Trump is the administration, but I mean
the forever regime, you know. The Democrat apparatus media or
will do everything they can to destroy Trump. They have
learned no lessons. They are no more ethical, they are
no more honest, and they really really want to impeach
him again. Make sure the Democrats have the House in
order to douce show and they want to push all
(12:02):
of them. There's nothing about what Biden did. The problem
that they have with Biden is merely that the border
was so bad and he was so inept and then
so clearly had dementia that he costs them power. But Clay,
all the policies that were being written in Biden's name
for him, they.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Want to pursue all that stuff again.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
They want to go right Vanity Fair wants to go
right back to the White House putting out statements about
how twelve year olds need gender reassignment surgery like they
want that.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
So they've changed nothing.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
I hope they have learned not to do this again.
But the fact that they had to learn this lesson again,
it's tough. By the way, big win for me and
the opener of the show. My pronunciation, according to Merriam
Webster Dictionary, is acceptable, as both pronunciations are acceptable. That
is according to producer Greg's research, which I've always said
(12:52):
producer Greg is an elite research talent.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I mean, you go you google it and it says
puck t nuh. So that is the American pronunciation pronunciation.
I've I've never heard it pronounce a different way. But
then I've learned something. I've learned something new. But Clay,
I feel like we could take a draw on that one,
so you can go both ways.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
I feel very comfortable that I have pronounced something for
once in my life in an accurate way.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know what else?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I feel comfortable about the Cozy Earth blankets. They are
absolutely phenomenal. They have the blanket, they've also got the
bamboo sheets, perfect combination of luxury, comfort and relaxation all
in one. Fabrics are incredibly soft, smooth, and breevable. Whole
team's been raving about the Bubble Cuddle blankets. They are
the bubble Cuddle blanket. I mean that, first of all,
(13:41):
how could something called the bubble Cuddle Blanket not be
an absolutely incredible blanket. I mean it's like Smuckers, right,
Like it's got to be good with a name like that.
We've even heard from public people that say they're pets
love the Bubble Cuddle blankets. You will love them too.
Right now, use my name Clay. You get twenty percent
(14:03):
off right now at Cozyerth dot com code Clay. That's
Cozyerth dot com, code Clay, cozyearth dot com code Clay.
Get hooked up today twenty percent off.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Claytravis and Buck Sexton Mike drops that never sounded so good.
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app. Or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Welcome in everybody to the second hour of the Clay
Travis and Buck Sexton Show, and we are continuing with
our last week at live shows for the year.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Very very much want to say while I can, thank
you to all of you for helping us have such
a great year, or you are the reason we had such.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
A great year on the program. I know it's we're
still in the news cycle.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
We'll be getting into all this in a second, but
since I only have you for today and then Clay
going to be throwing a Christmas keg party for you
for the next couple of days afterwards, we've had a great, really,
honestly a great year on this show. It has been
an honor to be able to spend time with you
all every day. For y'all, as I'm allowed to say
now because so many of you are Southerners and you've
(15:17):
given me permission.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Well, you married a Southerner, so I think that helps
your ability to embrace the word y'all.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's true, and so we just want to say thank
you to all of you. Honestly, it's been a phenomenal year.
Our team in New York City is the absolute best.
Our audience is the absolute best, and we all hope
that we're doing a great job and that Rush is
smiling down on us from heaven thinking that we're carrying
on the legacy and holding the torch as best as
(15:44):
we can.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And I can promise you we do that absolutely every
single day.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
And to build on that which is well said in
this will be when we come back in January together,
it'll be we're working on the fifth year. We added
eighty six stations this year. We have added, thanks to
you guys, over two hundred affiliate stations since we launched
this show in June of twenty twenty one. So that's
(16:09):
a testament to a lot of work going on behind
the scenes. I think we were around three fifty when
we launched ISH and now I know we are over
five hundred and fifty and added an absolute ton of
stations this year, and many of you are listening to
us all over the country on stations that work with
(16:31):
us in June of twenty twenty one, So thanks to
all those stations out there. Obviously, we want to be
on as many platforms as possible everywhere. Clay and Buck
podcast Network is rolling and we're going to have more
and more video for you as many people out there.
I never really would really believe this is where we
were headed, Buck, but a lot of people consume audio
(16:53):
on video. In fact, it's more popular to consume audio
on video now often than it is just playing audio,
particularly the younger you are. So we're going to be
adding in more and more video attributes of this program.
It's a big part of the twenty twenty six plan.
So we would like for you to be out there
subscribing to us on all those platforms, including YouTube, because
(17:16):
there's gonna be a lot more video coming for all
of you.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And I will say this, and this is definitely self serving,
but also one hundred percent true when any of you
come up and see me, as someone was jogging Clay
yesterday who listens to the show and stopped his jog
for a minute to come alongside me to chat a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Some ideas that I felt bad, like I'm interrupting your job.
It's like, well that right, block sext then I got it.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
But we always appreciate whenever you see any of us,
and you always should feel like you can come up
and talk to us, and we feel like we know you,
and you feel like you know us because you do,
because you spend so much time with us over the
course of the year, and some of you even a
couple of hours, two or three hours a day when
you have the time. I would also will say that
whenever we meet somebody who listens to this show, I
(18:02):
truly immediately this little thing in my brain goes, oh,
you're one of the good, smart conservatives who doesn't waste
his time with nonsense. So I'm just saying that is
honestly what I think. So I think it is to
your tremendous credit to all of you that with I
know there's so much noise out there. There's so much
stuff that is online, in particular these days, and there's
(18:25):
a lot of sort of petty nonsense and people getting
crazy and getting a little reckless. And you stay with
us here and you stay with the mission, and we
greatly appreciate that. So I wanted to say thank you.
And I do have a high opinion of each and
every one of you who listens to the show. So
that is from a bottom of the heart. All right,
(18:45):
now we can do some news you mentioned Mom Donnie.
Now I'm gonna tell you something there are people who
are claiming now Clay that since mom Donnie came into
New York, or rather since he won the election he
becomes mayor January one believe since he won that election,
there have actually been some people moving to New York
(19:06):
to experience Mom Donnism. There has not been the flood
of residents to or new residents to Florida that even
some realtor friends of mine were expecting. People tested they
want to know that the lifeboat is there. They did
not get into the lifeboat, though overwhelmingly I have not.
By the way, if you happen to be somebody who
(19:27):
has left New York because of Mom Donnie and moved anywhere,
let us know. The numbers show this is is a
very small group.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I will say that I think most of those people,
if they leave Buck, they're gonna let Mom Donnie try
it out. Most people have kids, they have grandkids. Moving
around Christmas is hard to do. So I think you'll
see if people are going to flee Mom Donnie's air
in New York, it will happen in the spring and summer.
So that's when I'm actually curious to see whether or
(19:58):
not there will be any sort of mass movement, because
you'll have a few months he gets inaugurated in January,
you'll have a few months to see how the process
of Mom Donnie is going, and then people's school years
get out and then they start to move. We'll play
the Mom Donnie. By the way, new videos being released
now as we speak of a person of interest leading
(20:21):
the news on Fox News, leading the news on MSNBC
right now in that Brown University shooting. So a little
bit better visualization. We'll try to share some of those
videos from the Clay and Buck account for any of
you out there that may be in that area or
just trying to figure out who that person of interest is.
(20:42):
But you were mentioning Mom Donnie, and I tease this buck.
Mom Donnie weighed in on how he thinks free buses
are actually going to make there be less issues on
public transportation, and it's a heck of a whopper that
he told here.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Listen, we made five bus routes free in New York City.
When we made those bus routes free, after a year,
assaults on bus drivers dropped by thirty eight point nine
percent on the bus driver. The bus drivers because unlike
the train, the Act of fare collection on the bus
happens on the bus, and bus drivers and unions have
(21:20):
shared anecdotally that about fifty percent of assaults happen around
the fair box. So when you eliminate the farebox, you
make for a safer experience for the bus driver for everyone.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Can I take mom donnism to its logical conclusion here?
You know where there can be scuffles in drug stores
and supermarkets and things like that by the front door
with security when people steal stuff. So you know what
we could do, Clay to eliminate scuffles with security. Just
make it legal for people to steal stuff. There we go.
(21:58):
That's another approach to this. Right, just say you know what,
you can take whatever you want. Now, I understand public service,
public transportation, they can change the feat schedule. But my
point here is you are just rewarding bad behavior and
thinking that that's going to stop the bad behavior. It's
just not true. This is a really stupid idea. And
also he does not have the funding for it, but
(22:20):
he's going to stay with this. I right, did you
ever ride public buses very much? When I've done a
ton of subway in my life. I mean, I was
a real subway guy. For a long time, I have
done very little. The New York City bus is a
is a humbling and often depressing experience.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Avoid the bus. We didn't have. We don't have a
subway in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
So as a kid and we did not have I
went to a public school in Nashville, but there were
no public school buses for my school from seven to
twelfth grade. H Martin Luther King was a school downtown Nashville.
So if you rode the bus, you rode the city bus.
So when school got out, a lot of us kids
(23:02):
would go and we would get on the city bus
and we would ride the city bus all over the city.
And I don't know, I look back now and I'm like, man,
I was twelve and I was just getting on the
city bus and I was just riding into downtown and
I was just walking around the city streets. There's zero
(23:24):
percent chance my wife would let our seventh graders do that.
I'm just saying, I think people have gotten more protective
of kids, and I think there are benefits and disadvantages
to it. There's a movement I know of parents out
there to have free range kids, to have kids out
and about in streets and cities more often.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
My point on this is.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Getting on the bus and paying and having your token
or having your bus pass and then having your fare.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Is something that makes it way safer.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I just say this is somebody who rode city
buses because otherwise vagrants when it's cold, if there is
no charge, we'll just get on the bus and they
will sit there and they'll never leave. And producer Alley
has talked about this. There are people who get on
the subway and they stink, and they're homeless, and it's cold,
and they just stay on. I don't understand in any way.
(24:19):
I bet Buck they did that pilot program. I bet
they did it on the nicest routes that you run
in the New York City area. I find it impossible
to believe that making all buses free is in any
way going to make it safer for the people who
are riding the buses, or that the environment's going to
(24:40):
be better. I just it does not comport with any
element of any experience that I've had as a city
bus rider. It's been a long time since I did it,
but the bus is not that expensive, and I cannot
imagine that there are that many people who would otherwise
ride that can't for a bus fair in some way.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
What kind of person do you think is physically assaulting
a bus driver. Do you think it's a person who
if only they had a free bus fare, they wouldn't
be laying hands on and becoming violent with a city employee.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
No, Okay, this.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Is a total misunderstanding from Mamdani or a really just
I think ignorance of what it's like for people who
live in low income, high crime neighborhoods where there are
people who are just going to get into trouble, they're
going to do things, they're going to break laws, they're
going to hurt people. Making the bus free, as I've
(25:43):
said all along, will turn them into mobile homeless shelters.
That's part one. So no one's now going to feel
like they want to be on the bus. And two also,
how much more redistribution of wealth and how much bigger
a debt does the City of New York want to
run up? So now this would be another thing that
other people have to pay for in a city that
already has a huge welfare state in addition to federal
(26:05):
benefits that people get. And I just think that it
shows that it's totally wrongheaded in its approach. We need
a society where people have greater personal accountability. We want
to promote a society where people are held responsible for
their actions and we are all treated as equals and
as adults, but we also have consequences for when we
(26:28):
violate that trust. That's the only way to make things better,
To placate the people who break the rules, are violent,
break the law.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It just encourages more of it. Totally.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
And I again I think your point on hey people,
there's not been a mass departure from New York. In general,
I think people exaggerate what they are going to do
when someone gets elected that they don't like be here
all the time. If Trump wins, I'm moving to Canada.
And to her credit, Rosie O'Donnell is like the only
(27:03):
person that has been famous that has left the country.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
She went to Ireland.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
I give her credit because she at least stood behind
her comments. She doesn't seem like she's doing very well
in Ireland, doesn't seem like the Irish people like her
that much, doesn't seem like her family's doing that well.
But she followed through on her promise, which most people
do not do. What I will say is I do
believe that in the spring and summer when school years end,
(27:29):
I think there are going to be a ton of
people in the New York City era area that will
kick the tires on potentially leaving.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
With that in mind, you.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Live through it, Buck, If you were willing to stay
in New York City through COVID, I don't know how
much worse things would have to get for you to
finally say this is my breaking point. For a lot
of people, the COVID restrictions was the breaking point. If
you're still in New York after five years, six years
of COVID going into next year, then I just don't
(27:59):
know understand how this is going to finally be the
tipping point that sends you off into a new horizon. Look,
Rapid radios can make a great Christmas gift modern day
walkie talkies, helping families stay connected even when there's a
service disruption or a power outage. Rapid radios work on
a nationwide LTE network, meaning you can talk with anyone
(28:22):
anywhere in the US with just a touch of a button.
When you give a pair of rapid radios, you're giving
away to stay in You're giving a way to stay
in touch in the best of times as well as
during emergencies. Rapid radios deliver peace of mind when it
matters most. No monthly fees, no complicated setup, just pre
programmed reliable communication when it counts. Rapid radios because every
(28:44):
just in case matters, Go to rapid radios dot com.
Make sure your famili's never out of reach. That's rapid
Radios dot Com. No promo code needed, Rapid radios communication redefined.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
You don't know what's you don't know right, but you
diuld On the Sunday had with Playing Buck.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Podcast, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck, and
we have Senator rand Paul with us.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Senator Paul, appreciate you being with us. Let's just jump
right into this.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
So now we have an embargo going or actually a blockade,
I'm sorry, a blockade going on of ships carrying oil
from Venezuela. We have a flotilla the likes of which
the Caribbean has not seen in quite some time of
US naval and other military power. We have a effectively
(29:35):
an ultimatum.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
From a duro. Is this regime change? What's going on?
Speaker 7 (29:40):
It looks like it's going to be regime change. It's
sort of regime change in the process. Personally, I think
that war should be a last resort, that we should
try to attempt to avoid war, and that we should
act in a way that we have to go to
war when we have to defend our country. So war
should be in self offense. And this, to me is
(30:02):
an offensive war. It's a war because we don't like
the government of Venezuela. You know, I don't like socialism.
I wrote a book called The Case against Socialism. In it,
I open in the beginning of the book talking about
gangs in Venezuela looking for food because the economy is
so desperate under socialism. But at the same time, we
could probably list two dozen countries around the world that
(30:25):
have either authoritarian rule or authoritarian socialist rule. And I
just don't think it's the job of the American soldier to,
you know, go around and spread freedom at the point
of a bayonet. So now I'm not for this war,
and I think it ought to be voted on by Congress.
The presidents under the constitution don't have the power to
initiate war without approval of Congress.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Where We're talking to Senator Ran Paul and there are
a ton of things going on out there as we
finish year one of Trump two point zero. What would
you if you were giving a letter grade, given the
fact that exams are going on all over the country
right now, what letter grade would you give President Trump
and his administration on year one two point zero? And
(31:08):
what do you think should be the top priorities when
Congress returns to action in January of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 7 (31:16):
Let's say a triple plus on controlling the border. And
in fact, they did so well and did it so
quickly that they've actually forgotten to tell the American people
they did it, so it's become accepted, you know, just
everybody expects now the border is controlled. But this was
a border that Biden was letting millions of people cross unattended,
many of them a danger to our community, and a
(31:40):
lawlessness at the border. He came in and within three
months controlled that. I think the mistake is that moved
on to other things instead of promoting and telling the
people about what the good job they did on the border,
on maintaining the tax cuts that I supported back in
twenty seventeen, A triple plus, great idea to continue those
(32:00):
tax cuts. On spending and deficit, you know, about the
same grade that all parties get. You know, Republicans and
Democrats have historically been terrible with the debt, and I
think the debt continues to accumulate at an alarming rate.
We now have over a trillion dollars in interest. So
I think they can do much better on spending and debt.
But on the taxation level, pretty good. And on the
(32:23):
border grade.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Now, you have been very vocal Senator Paul about these
strikes on suspected or alleged narco boats and mostly the Caribbean,
also some in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico.
Are there other senate colleagues on the Republican side who
share your concerns?
Speaker 2 (32:44):
And what would you like to see?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
What would the administration have to do, this White House
have to do for your concerns to be allayed regarding
these strikes.
Speaker 7 (32:55):
You know, one of the questions I've been putting forward
is are they armed? I mean, we have a long
standing tradition, not just here but around the world among
civilized people that we don't shoot unarmed people. So you know,
some questions came out, did we shoot shipwrecked people when
people are clinging the wreckage, and it's actually part of
our military law that we don't. We also usually don't
(33:16):
shoot unarmed people. So these boats that are alleged to
curing drugs, probably a lot of them do have drugs.
I'm not disputing that most of these boats don't have
the capability to even get to the United States. They
can go about one hundred miles and after be fuel.
So a lot of these drugs, if they are drugs,
are being distributed by unarmed people into some of the
(33:36):
Lower Caribbean islands. What we've done historically for crimes is
we capture you and prosecute you. It's difficult work, it's
not easy, but that's what we have always expected. Coast
Guard interdicts these boats routinely, still does, and the ratio
of boats that have drugs to those who don't is
about one in four of every boat that's boarded doesn't
(33:58):
have drugs. So that's a pretty high airr rate. To
expect that we're going to kill unarmed people based on
an air rate of about one and four being picking
up the wrong people. So I'm absolutely opposed to this.
I think that you know, there are some on the
Republican side who uneasy, but most voices have been somewhat
(34:19):
tamped down on the Republican side on any policy they
disagree with the president. But I think that makes us
weaker as a country. I think we all need to
be big enough to be able to have criticism even
within the party.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
What should happen on healthcare? I know you and the
President have been going back and forth on some disagreements
and issues, but there's talk that maybe the government's going
to shut down again. In January, I saw where Chuck
Schumer refused to say that he would not shut down.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
The government again.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Tell me if you think I'm wrong, Senator, but it
feels like to me that a big part of the
twenty twenty six Democrat plan as they get ready to
run in the midterms, is going to be shutting down
the governm meant arguing that Republicans all want to take
away everybody's health care and they want everybody to die.
I mean, we all know how this is going to
play out. It seems kind of clear to me. What
(35:09):
should happen, What will happen in the world of healthcare.
Speaker 7 (35:13):
Beyond healthcare, President Trump and I have a great deal
of agreement. We work together in the first administration to
craft an executive order that the intention was to allow
people to buy insurance across state lines, and insurance as
part of a co op or a collective like Sam's
Club or costc. The problem with the executive order is
(35:34):
the problem we all often have with executive orders is
the law's not changed. We try to bend the law
through an executive order, people sue in court. So all
the Democrat ag sued. They tied it up in court
and never really got to have its full effect. But
I've communicating with the President in the last couple of
weeks and he says he still favors this policy that
I've been pushing, and mine would basically cost nothing, didn't
(35:58):
cost the tax pay or anything. Just makes it legal
to buy a cross state lines and makes it legal
for anybody that wants to collect people together, particularly groups
that already exist like Amazon, Costcover, Sam's Club, to buy
insurance as a group. What would happen is you'd really
have no more individual market. So if you're an accountant
and you have three employees, you buy insurance for or
(36:19):
maybe you're a construction guid and you've got one hundred employees.
Why would you want to buy insurance on your own.
Why not join a private collective that negotiates better prices.
And I think we could really drive prices down if
you just take the subsidies that we're currently giving to
insurance companies and you give those subsidies to people's health
savings accounts. I think that's just a distinction without a difference.
(36:42):
You're still giving away money we don't have, and it's
still going to all wound up in an insurance company's pocket.
So my association health plans would bring prices down. The
other thing I would do is I wouldn't give taxpayer
money to health savings accounts, but I would let everyone
have a health savings account. Right now, only ten ten
percent of insurance plans sold. Is it legal to have
(37:03):
health savings account? People on Medicare cannot have health savings accounts.
I would let everybody in America have health savings account.
I get to think thing all going to do to
think about this is think about how many kids have braces.
I had three kids that all had braces, but I
did it with pre tax money through my health savings account.
It's not fair that only ten percent of the public
gets that we should let that great benefit accrue to everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
It's being the Senator Ran Paul of Kentucky and Senator
Affordability is the big catchword for what is a focus
of twenty twenty six policy and politics. People are already
projecting that the mid terms will take affordability in account
in a major way. And affordability is really just kitchen
table economics, right. This is a concept that we've been
(37:50):
dealing with for as long as American political parties have
been vying for attention and power. But what do you
see as the ways that the administration and to the
degree Congress, well, I'm not sure Congress is going to
be able to do much on this, But what do
you see as the best way forward, especially on the
housing issue, because it's so complicated, so important, and it
(38:13):
has gotten too expensive for the average American family to
be able to afford the median home in this country.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
What can be done? What should be done?
Speaker 7 (38:23):
Well, pip have have to realize the price of things
goes up because of the value of your dollar shrinks.
So part of the reason that President Trump won this
last time around was because it was becoming unaffordable to
live under Biden. Biden had about twenty percent inflation in
four years, and wages rose less less rapidly. So if
you add in a little bit of inflation under Trump
(38:44):
plus the twenty percent under Biden, it's about twenty five
percent inflation over the last five years. That twenty five percent.
Unless your wages went up twenty five percent, you've all
gotten four. So people are being squeezed it. Things are
less affordable because of the value of the dollar. Why
the dollar lose its value because of the debt. The
debt is bought by the Federal Reserve. They buy it
(39:05):
by introducing new dollars into circulation and devalues the dollars
we have. That's what price inflation is. It's not a mystery.
It comes from debt and then the printing of money
to pay for the debt. So I think they need
to explain it better and explain where inflation comes from,
and then you combat it basically by introducing balanced budgets
and less debt. Now, the problem is both parties are
(39:27):
terrible with debt. You know, Biden was terrible with it,
but really the previous Trump administration added eight trillion, then
Biden added eight trillion. We're on target to add another
eight or nine trillion under this administration. So we have
to do a better job at controlling debt and affordability
with housing. Part of it's the loss of the value
of the dollar, but part of it also is controls
(39:51):
that forbids you from you know, raising or improving the
value of things like rent control in New York is
a disaster. It's why you have no apartments and none
of them get fixed up because if you can only
charge four hundred dollars to live in Manhattan, guess what,
there's no money left over to do any of the repairs,
and so these apartments are just decaying in New York.
(40:12):
But people need to realize that rent control in New
York is the same thing they have in Venezuela. That's
why they have no food. So when you have price controls,
it's a variation of socialism. And they've just elected a
socialist mayor in New York. So I think they're going
to have to get a lot worse before it gets better,
until hopefully the young people of America will see socialism
(40:33):
for the disaster that it is.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
What is the one start? Yeah, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I was going to say, what is the one thing
Senator Paul that if you could get President Trump to
really dial in and focus on, for him to spearhead
and try to accomplish next year in advance in the midterms,
what would it.
Speaker 7 (40:49):
Be proposing a budget that balances, proposing to spend less money.
The hard and difficult part of that equation, though, is
that most of the money are entitlements. Two thirds of
the spending of governments entitlements. One third is military and
non military discretionary. That's what we vote on. So the
(41:11):
hard part about the deficit is the deficits about two trillion,
and the budget that Congress votes on is about two trillion,
so you get actually zero out. And I'm not proposing this,
but if you had zero military spending and zero discretionary
welfare spending, you'd balance your budget, which means basically the
taxes that come in are equivalent to all the mandatory
(41:31):
programs without the discretionary programs. So we are really behind
the eight ball. And this gets worse over time. I mean,
it's going to become an escalating problem that will at
some point spiral out of control, and it's fixable now
if you do something, if we gradually start fixing the entitlements.
But the President, as many of his predecessors have said, oh,
(41:54):
I'm not going to touch entitlements. It's the third rail.
So we're going to stay away from that. And then
when we have the discussion over the big beautiful bill,
some of us tried to fix medicaid in that bill
and say, look, they got to at least have the
same formula for the states that we once had, whether
the states pay part, federal government pays part. Instead, Obama
gear added all these fuel to medicaid and said, oh,
(42:15):
the federal government will pay the whole thing. And those
people are still on. And because it was free or
virtually free to the states, the states said, sure, we'll
welcome more people in medicaid, and more people join medicaid.
Everybody's gotten on food stamps, we serve Coca cola. The
people on food stamps we serve ding dogs, Twinkies, donuts.
I mean, it's just candy. You can buy candy on
(42:37):
food stamps. So we've got to do more on having
government live within its means.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Senator Ran Paul appreciate you, sir. Merry Christmas and we'll
talk to you in the new year.
Speaker 7 (42:50):
Sam. You guys, there's.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Another nonprofit that I can think of that's doing more
day in, day out to save the lives of babies
in the womb than pre Consider how their staff at
one of their clinics welcomed Victoria. Before she got to
a preborn clinic, Victoria had visited another clinic in her neighborhood.
She was scared, confused, and was handed the abortion pill.
But immediately she knew she was making a tragic mistake.
(43:14):
The weight of regret was so crushing she even thought
about ending her own life. Her continuing search led her
to a preborn clinic, though, where truth and clarity broke through.
Their loving staff members gave her immediate care and helped
her save not just her baby's life, but her own.
Victoria got truthful answers about matters related to her unborn
child that that preborn clinic, because when a mother hears it,
(43:35):
lives are saved. Just twenty eight dollars provides a free
ultrasound to women like Victoria. That single gift, that experience
of meeting her unborn child, makes all the difference. This
is your chance to make a difference too in this
holiday season. Pick up your phone dial pound two five
zero and say baby, that's pound two five zero. Say baby,
that's how you make a donation. Or to do it online,
(43:56):
it's really easy. Go to preborn dot com slash buck.
Preborn dot com slash b Uck sponsored by Preborn.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
Ws and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay
Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Welcome back in Play Travis buck Sexton Show. We're going
to be joined by Senator Ran Paul at the bottom
of the hour. I was out yesterday. I wanted to
mention this. So many of you said nice things, and
I appreciate it. My uncle Kenneth died at the age
of eighty four, and I was at his funeral in
(44:36):
East Tennessee. And he was a Vietnam Vet and worked
for Buck thirty years for South Central Bell, going around
working on phone lines all over the Chattanooga, Tennessee area.
And he was just such an amazing guy. And I
(44:58):
know there are many also Vietnam or veterans out there
that are listening to us right now. And I know
somewhat that has changed in the past couple of decades
about how we've responded to the people who fought in
that war. But I actually think we should be doing
(45:18):
a better job of saying thank you to everyone who
fought in that war. Certainly when they came back, they
were not embraced. It wasn't their choice to go to
that war. It wasn't their choice to be putting their
lives on the line, but they were willing to answer
when the country called. And my uncle is representative of
(45:39):
that generation. You know, he worked on helicopters, served in
in Vietnam, and as I was at his funeral yesterday,
he was supremely healthy for eighty three and a half years,
just got very sick in the last six months with cancer.
But I wanted as they had the flag at his casket,
(46:03):
as they were talking about his service there at the funeral,
I wanted to just think about that, say thank you
for the responses that people have shared out there in
the audience, but bigger than that, say thank you to
everyone out there listening to us right now that is
a Vietnam War vet. Because I think in many ways
(46:24):
we have largely neglected saying thank you for everybody out
there who put their lives on the line in that war.
So thank you for everybody. He had an amazing life,
phenomenal guy. I feel honored that I had the forty
six years of my life to be able to experience
with him. He was as good of an uncle as
anybody could be. And it's a holiday season comes up,
(46:48):
I would just encourage all of you, you know, hug
and kiss as many friends and family members as you can,
because we don't know when the holiday is going to
be the last one that we get to spend together.
Hopefully we all have a lot more, but last Christmas
was our last Christmas with him. Didn't know it, And
just would encourage everybody out there to say thank you
(47:10):
to the Vietnam Vets in your life, and also to
make sure that you don't neglect saying thank you to
anybody out there that is a member of your family
that you may not get to spend another Christmas with.
All Right, hopefully that wasn't too negative, but I just
wanted to say thank you.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (47:27):
We got Senator Ran Paul who's coming up here in
a moment will feed us all the latest info from
Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
There's a lot you learned from living in DC in
the past and covering politics day to day and being
in the media world. And what you see is that
financial power often comes from political connectivity and the insiders
have a head start. But we're changing that. It's why
I started Money and Power and e newsletter that's totally
separate from this program. It's something I'm really committed to, though.
(47:56):
Just like this radio show, Money and Power is a
newsletter meant to give every day Americans access to the
kind of fast moving intelligence that you used to stay
locked behind closed doors. My team and I monitor DC
for every move, every spending bill, executive order, and keep
a close tab on what's happening out there in the
markets to give you actionable intelligence for investing purposes. Go
(48:18):
to join buck dot com to sign up for this
newsletter today, Money and Power eighty two percent off the
regular price. Go to join buck dot com. That's join
Buck dot Com paid for by Paradigm Press.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
Show Links
WebsiteNewsletterPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.