September 3, 2026 • 36 mins
Hour 1 of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focused heavily on the political landscape heading into the 2026 midterm elections, President Donald Trump's latest comments on the economy and foreign policy, growing divisions within the Democratic Party, and the evolving role of Senator John Fetterman. Throughout the hour, Clay and Buck analyzed Trump's response to criticism surrounding U.S. military operations involving Iran, highlighting his defense of America's military readiness, munitions stockpiles, and broader national security posture. The hosts discussed how the Iran conflict, energy prices, and perceptions of American strength abroad could become significant factors influencing voters in key battleground states as Republicans seek to maintain momentum heading into the midterms.
A major segment centered on Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, whose increasingly public clashes with progressive Democrats drew extensive attention. Clay and Buck examined Fetterman's criticism of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, including Fetterman's attacks on El-Sayed's associations with controversial left-wing figures and positions related to Israel, Hamas, Iran, socialism, Sharia law, and policing. The discussion expanded into speculation about Fetterman's political future, with the hosts debating whether he could realistically remain a Democrat, run as an independent, align more closely with Republicans, or eventually leave elected office altogether. They argued that Fetterman's popularity among independents and Republicans, combined with his declining support among Democratic voters, makes him one of the most intriguing figures in American politics heading toward the 2028 election cycle.
The hosts further explored the implications of the Michigan Senate race, discussing Republican candidate Mike Rogers and whether he could benefit politically from Fetterman's criticisms of El-Sayed. Clay suggested that Rogers should publicly invite Fetterman to campaign with him, particularly on issues involving support for Israel and national security. This broader conversation reflected concerns about the Democratic Party's ideological direction, internal divisions between moderates and progressives, and the electoral consequences those divisions could have in competitive Senate contests.
The program also touched on several developing news stories, including continued jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy case, which the hosts described as a closely watched national story. While no verdict had been reached at the time of the broadcast, they noted that they were monitoring developments and expected significant public interest once a decision emerged. They also briefly referenced ongoing debates involving data centers and comments made by Fetterman on that subject.
Later in the hour, Clay and Buck highlighted reports that former Clay and Buck Podcast Network contributor Sean Parnell, currently serving as the Pentagon's chief spokesman, was being considered for the position of Army Secretary. Both hosts strongly endorsed Parnell, praising his military service, leadership experience, relationship with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and ability to help implement readiness and modernization reforms within the U.S. military. The conversation expanded into a broader discussion about the challenges political appointees face in managing large federal bureaucracies and executing policy priorities within government agencies.
Another major focus of Hour 1 was President Trump's appearance at a White House Rose Garden event, where he touted what he described as the accomplishments of his administration during its first 19 months. Trump pointed to stock market gains, record exports, manufacturing growth, and historically high employment levels as evidence of economic success. Clay and Buck examined how Republicans should communicate these achievements to voters ahead of the midterms, while emphasizing that economic concerns and affordability remain top issues for many Americans.
The hosts spent considerable time discussing inflation, gas prices, economic messaging, and voter sentiment, arguing that the inflation surge during the Biden administration remains a central political issue. Clay contended that Democrats created the affordability challenges now facing American families and are attempting to portray themselves as the solution to problems they originally caused. The hosts debated how Republicans can more effectively explain the relationship between inflation, energy costs, consumer prices, and economic policy. They compared current campaign messaging strategies to historical examples, including Barack Obama's efforts to frame economic recovery after the 2008 financial crisis. Listener calls later in the hour reinforced discussions about rising energy costs, fuel prices, and public frustration with economic conditions.
The hour concluded with additional listener feedback
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome, everybody. Thursday edition of Clay and Buck kicks off
right now. Great to have you all with us, as always.
We've got Trump covering a whole range of things at
a Rose Garden dinner yesterday. Overall assessments of his administration, AOC.
(00:20):
He weighs in on AOC, which we know yesterday got
a lot of attention from many of you and even
outside of This show, the media was listening in. Trump
talked about the midterms, which is going to be a
recurring theme here until we get to actual results from
that election. We shall discuss that. We are still waiting
(00:41):
for any updates on the Lindsay Clancy trial. That is
a major news story for all the reasons that we
have been discussing. But thus far, no advancement, no movement
from that jury. They are deliberating, and we are waiting
to hear if anything changes. comes of that john fetterman
has also given his opinion on data centers clay yes sir.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Keep going but i i've got i want to get
your take on this because fetterman has become very fascinating
to me but continue fetterman i was just waving my
hand to let you know that this is a good time.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We we communicate with hand signals so uh sometimes if
you're like why am i calling clay's name is because
he usually he wants to jump in with something but
Fetterman offers Abdul El-Sayed $ 50, 000 to do a rally with
Hassan Piker on 9-11. We shall discuss this. I mean,
Fetterman's taking some pretty big swings, but something I just
wanted to start with, Clay, clearly, and we don't have
(01:40):
to spend too much time on it because there hasn't
been that much, shall we say, strategic movement on it.
There's still a lot of tactical stuff going on. Trump
with the truth out this morning, and I'm just going
to read this to you. For the treasonous scum all
caps for scum that refuses to accurately report on our
military operation in Iran. We have virtually unlimited amounts of
(02:05):
mid to high grade ammunition, far more than we could
ever use for this or for any other war, which
is highly unlikely that could improbably take place. In addition,
We are producing munitions at levels never seen before. We
are stockpiling and preparing for any contingency that could happen.
We are taking them for ourselves, the USA, rather than
(02:25):
selling them to others. But the sales to allies will
soon again begin. Also, please let it be known that
the Biden administration gave far more munitions away to Ukraine
at no cost to them whatsoever than we have used
in Iran. Hundreds of billions of dollars was given to
Ukraine and NATO free of charge that Europe would have
(02:47):
paid for if they were only asked. But we will
be asking for that money, though somewhat belatedly. Thank you
for your attention in this matter. I always like to
sign off, Clay. President very frustrated with what he views as,
I think, politically motivated reporting, even people on the right
(03:08):
who are ideologically opposed to his Mideast intervention, a little
too quick to jump on maybe some of these stories.
And that's quite a salvo via truth from the president
on this. But he clearly sees that this is a
major issue that is being debated out in public in
(03:28):
advance of the midterms. Price of gas, Iran situation, all
of it.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, look, I think there are so many different interplays.
The president said, I believe, that he's planning to go
to 35 different of the biggest battlegrounds during the course
of the next 60 some odd days. And what he
said is help get people across the finish line there.
(03:54):
I do think the $ 400 million that he has in
his portfolio potential political arsenal to be able to distribute.
He spent $ 800, 000 so far for Darlene Graham. To what
extent is he going to begin the process of spending
that money? How will he decide how it's allocated? And
(04:16):
you started off by talking about Fetterman, which I think
is one of the really intriguing storylines to follow going forward.
We know that we've got a 53-47 Republican edge in
the in the Senate right now. And unfortunately, narrow losses
in Wisconsin and Michigan in 2024 in particular kept that
(04:38):
from being a basically unassailable majority. I do wonder, with
Fetterman being back on the ballot in 2028 in Pennsylvania,
the data all reflects that he virtually has no chance
whatsoever of being the Democrat nominee. which would mean if
he wants to remain a United States senator, he would
(05:00):
either have to run as an independent, potentially caucusing with
the Republican Party, or become a Republican because he's actually
way more popular with Republicans in Pennsylvania than he is
with Democrats. And I wonder whether Buck, he might be
willing on some level, to enter into some sort of
(05:22):
power-sharing relationship because the degree to which he's going to
war with people like Abdul El-Sayed is indicative to me
that there has to be a larger plan afoot for
what he is intending to do. And I don't know
that there's very many other examples like Fetterman. There's certainly
(05:42):
not any right now where an individual has ended up
way more popular with the opposing party. And a lot
of this was driven by Israel. And I know Fetterman
so far has said, I would never change parties. But
he has no politically viable future at this point in
the Democrat Party, Buck. And maybe he doesn't like being
a senator and maybe he just wants to go back
(06:02):
to Pennsylvania and kind of return to normal life. Most
senators don't want to do that. Certainly not most senators
after one term. So when you are laying out some
of the aggressive things that he is saying about Abdul El-Sayed,
it's setting off a little bit of a light bulb
moment for me where I'm thinking there has to be
(06:23):
a larger intent here than just trolling Abdul El-Sayed. Do
you buy that or where do you see this going?
Because I think that's the big picture question.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, let's let's unveil some of the trolling because Fetterman
to take the positions that he is taking publicly against
somebody who's in a a absolutely critical for the Democrats
and for the Republicans, Senate race in Michigan, for him
to be taking some pretty heavy shots here. For example,
this is a cut to Fetterman offers Abdul Al-Sayed $ 50, 000.
(06:56):
He said, just play cut to let everybody hear this.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Now, he has been campaigning strong with Hassan Piker. You know,
of course, we all know the guy that said America
deserved 9-11 and that absolutely despises him. Israel and Jews
and that. And I'm encouraging El-Sayed, you know, remind everybody
in Michigan who you are and the kind of people
that you stand with. And I'm offering $ 50, 000 for you
(07:22):
to do a rally with Hassan Piker on 9-11, the anniversary.
And you could all explain to people why America would
deserve that 25 years ago or do a rally.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
That's another $ 50, 000.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
If you do a rally with your sister, you know,
that she celebrates publicly. After the massacre of 10-7.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
This is not your run-of-the-mill dispute between, at least ostensibly,
two Democrats. Fetterman clearly has carved out this niche. Now,
it's usually on foreign policy, Israel-related issues, but Clay, he's
throwing some heavy punches. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And I don't think it's something that you can just
walk back. And so to me, is Fetterman making a
calculated decision to turn his back on the Democrat Party?
What would Pennsylvania Republicans say? Would Pennsylvania Republicans say, hey,
we're fine letting Fetterman run as our representative if he
agreed that he would caucus with us, even if he's
(08:27):
not regularly voting as a traditional Republican would? What is
Fetterman's endgame here? I it doesn't. One option is that
he's just not liking being a United States senator, that
physically he feels like it's too much of a drain
on him. And so he's just going to say, thanks, guys,
(08:47):
I'm out. That's a decision that he would have to
make soon.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Because the primary process, as you well know. will get
underway basically as soon as we get done with January,
with the midterms. Come January of 2027, when everybody comes
back from Christmas and New Year break, the effective 2028
campaign is underway. And so I just think this is
(09:12):
a really one of the most intriguing, unclear events storylines
to follow as we go forward and buck imagine imagine
if fetterman really stuck it to his party if democrats
were to have a 51 to 49 ostensible lead we
saw with jim jeffords when he flipped parties i don't
(09:34):
know 20 years ago to change control of the united
states senate What if Fetterman said, hey, you know what,
I'm going to go back to caucusing with Republicans now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
J.D.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Vance has the tie-breaking vote. Again, there's just a lot
of drama that I think is going to play out
surrounding Fetterman and the choices that he's going to make.
And when he's challenging the most popular left-wing, probably, candidate
to potentially... join the United States Senate and the entire
Democrat Party to campaign with Hassan Piker, that's hard to
(10:07):
come back from.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Here are two things that I would put into this discussion.
One is that he's in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania's a purple state.
And I think that he is... trying to play a
little bit toward the center on some of these issues,
even though I can already see the emails coming in.
He votes with the Democrats 90-something percent of the time.
(10:28):
So he's a solid Democrat vote. We're on this. We
get it. We understand that. But beyond that, I also think, Clay,
that he's recognized that he can be, dare I say,
something of a maverick by doing this, getting attention, carving
out his own niche. And we're in an era where politicians...
(10:48):
it blends into media and blends into the private sector
in ways more directly than ever before. Fetterman's creating his
own brand here by doing this. Here we are on
our show talking about the things that he has said.
He knows how to get what you don't think.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I would just say, no, the Maverick angle typically works
when it's people like John McCain who still have the
ability to get the nomination in Arizona and continue to
be Republicans. He has, in my opinion, gone so far
Maverick that he cannot be a Democrat representing Pennsylvania anymore.
So Joe Manchin could be a Maverick, Kirsten Sinema to
(11:26):
a certain extent, John McCain. These are middle-of-the-road people, but
they still have the ability to get their nomination. I
think there is a 0% chance that John Fetterman would
win The Democrat nomination in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And so what I mean about about him creating all
it's more of a brand thing, too. He can do
whatever he wants. Basically, I'm saying, Clay, maybe Federman's going
to start a podcast. OK, well, this is the the
other side of it. I mean, people are leaving Congress
to start. digital TV shows and stuff. I mean, this
is not, this is the world that we live in now.
And Fetterman is getting a lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I don't just mean, I don't mean a Maverick within
the Senate.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I mean, he's this politically, he might just decide the
Senate kind of stinks. I'm ready to go be a
podcaster and make more money.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah. And he could wear a hoodie like we do
during his podcast and nobody would care. There's a lot
of free, a lot of freedom.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Do you think that though he would be interesting if
he weren't in the Senate? That's my, like, I don't
know that John Fetterman.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Well, this is why he's being interesting now, right? I
think that he's creating that interest by doing this. I
never thought we would be talking about John, and such
as us, by the way. He's all over the media.
I never thought Fetterman would get as much media attention
for his takes as he does, but here's another one, Clyde.
This is a quick one. Cut one. He's calling Abdul
Al-Sayed not just a socialist, but He's pointing out something
(12:45):
else that people should hear.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Play one.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
He's a socialist, but he also absolutely loves Sharia law.
I mean, he said that in an interview at the
New York Times a few years back.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, absolutely. Sharia law.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Now he actually has support for Hamas and Iran as well, too.
And a lot of the other things that have come
out over from his past conversations and other things that
he said on social line to fund the police and
all those things, of course, that comes go with it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Clay, so he could run as an independent, by the way,
for 28. So that's something he says he won't. But
that's like when people are asked, you're thinking about running
for office and they're like, I'm focused on the president. OK,
so he says he won't, meaning that it's not really
an answer at this stage. But even as a Democrat,
I don't think that I think that there are enough
(13:34):
Democrats in his state who would vote for him. Party line,
even if. If he has said things that throw some elbows,
you don't think so?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think he's done. In the primary, I think he
has no chance to be the Democrat nominee in 28.
I've got to check out his... And let me just
ask you this as we go to break. If you
are Mike Rogers right now and you hear all these
things Fetterman is saying about Abdul El-Sayed and you are
trying to reach out to Jewish voters and Democrats, don't
you publicly invite Fetterman to come to Michigan and campaign
(14:05):
with you?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Clay, he's... The most recent polling on him is within, oh, no, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
He's great with independents and Republicans. Great with independents and Republicans.
I think he could win statewide. I think he has
a 0% chance of being the nominee. He's like a 25%
approval rating with Democrats in Pennsylvania now. I think he
has a 0% chance of being the nominee for them
in 2028. And so that's why I'm saying, like, what
is the calculus behind his moves? You may be right.
(14:37):
Maybe he's just like, I hate the Senate. I want
to be a podcast. He might be done with it.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I think he might find it to be not, you know,
you're one vote among 100 and you're expected to just
cast the vote the way you're told. And so what,
you know, what difference does it make? Look, Ted Cruz
is a senator and has a big podcast. Like, there's
other things that people can do, too.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
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Speaker 5 (15:52):
Laugh. Learn.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Hang with the guys. Right there when you need them most.
Clay and Buck, just preset them on the iHeart app.
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. We are rolling through
the program. Just a reminder, I think we said this
off the top, but the Attorney General of the United States,
Todd Blanche, is going to join us at 2.15 p.m.
Eastern in the third hour of the program. We have
(16:15):
not had the Attorney General on the program before. He's
obviously recently confirmed, but we got a lot of things
that I think many of you will find to be
particularly newsworthy that we will be diving into with him.
And then many of you wanted us to spend some
time talking about the situation in Texas as it pertains
(16:35):
to Ken Paxton going up against James Tallarico. Our buddy
Michael Berry, who many of you hear in Texas, particularly
in Houston, will be on with us to discuss the
lay of the land there. And I'm sure we will
be having Ken Paxton on quite a bit during the
course of the next 60 days or so to help
(16:56):
make the case against Tallarico and what's going on in
that particular race. What do you think, by the way,
about my idea?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Mike Rogers may have done it already. of publicly inviting
John Fetterman to come campaign with him against Abdul Syed
for the anniversary of 9-11. I think it's a smart
political stroke if Mike Rogers hasn't done it already.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I think it makes a lot of sense. I think
the more that Mike Rogers can get out there in
the media and give his side of things and present
his case to the voters, the better. Because Abdul Syed,
I know he's the new guy and he says the
outlandish things and all this, and he's a leftist and
a socialist. But he's getting all the media attention. And
(17:40):
there is a currency and just pure attention in politics.
So I think that makes a lot of sense, actually.
I wonder if Fetterman would be able to do it.
So Fetterman, yeah, based on... I wanted to pull up
those numbers first. He's either running as an indie... Or
he's going to start a podcast or he's going to
run for president, which was another idea, which would be interesting.
That's what you threw out there.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
And you said maybe there is no grand plan and
he's just kind of firing away without any particular goal
in mind necessarily going forward. Maybe that's true. Born on
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Speaker 1 (18:21):
He was a U.S.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Air Force veteran who later became a detective in New
York City. After the 9-11 attacks, Victor joined the search
and recovery efforts at Ground Zero, a selfless act that
would later cost him his life. In this 25th anniversary
year of 9-11, we continue to see the toll that
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Victor fought pancreatic cancer with courage. You can help to
(18:44):
support heroes like Victor by going to T2T. org. That's T,
the number two, T.org.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck. I want to talk
about some of the things that President Trump covered last
night at the Rose Garden dinner because he went over
a whole slew of issues. But first, Clay, you might
have seen this story. We talk about the Clay and
Buck podcast network. which is an assemblage of fantastic hosts, very,
(19:14):
very diverse. And I mean, in terms of the shows
they do, not like not necessarily DEI diversity, but diverse
kinds of shows, national security focus, political focus, health focus.
We have, we have different things, kind of mom, normie focused.
We have a whole bunch of stuff, but they're great
shows and they're on demand for you on the clan
buck network to check out whatever you want. Also remember
(19:35):
this show, if you miss the beginning of the show
or you can't listen to the second or third hour,
All three hours of the show are put up every
day as individual podcasts that you can listen to per hour,
if you will, or per hour of the show. which
means if you can only listen live for one hour,
go check us out and the others later on when
you're making dinner, doing the dishes, or just going for
(19:56):
a walk or at the gym. But, Clay, I'm thinking
about the Podcast Network because one of our Clay and
Buck Podcast Network alumni, Mr. Sean Parnell... Story about him yesterday,
a bunch of places. This one, Semaphore. I think Politico
also had a piece that he is emerging. He's the
Pentagon's chief spokesman, and he is emerging as a top
(20:18):
contender for the role of army secretary. So for those
who don't know, the way it goes, the DOD hierarchy
on the civilian side, you have presidents of the United States,
Secretary of Defense, and then the service secretaries who are co-equal,
(20:40):
Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of
the Air Force. So the Secretary of the Army is
a senior civilian official who has to be Senate-confirmed. It's
a non-cabinet rank, but it has to be Senate-confirmed, who
reports directly to the Secretary of Defense, and he serves
as the chief executive officer of the Department of the Army,
(21:01):
responsible for its administration, readiness, manpower, budget, etc., Let me
just say, I could not think of a better person
who is perfectly placed within this administration already to take
on this role than our friend Sean Parnell. Clay, I
think he I know he would do a a phenomenal job.
(21:22):
He is a warfighter. He's a patriot. He has the
total confidence and respect of both Secretary of War Hegseth
and of President Trump, as he should. Sean has earned that.
I've known Sean almost 15 years now. He is a
really good man and would do a great job. So
it's one of these things where they have the news
(21:45):
stories that are coming out and the backroom stuff, and
sometimes you see something and go, well, that would be great.
This is a story about an appointment that I think
would be a huge asset to the administration and nothing
but upside. So I really hope that that President Trump
gives us long consideration, and I couldn't recommend anyone more
highly for the role than Sean Parnell, who's already serving
(22:08):
in a senior Pentagon role, and like I said, has
the war fighters know and love him, and the guy
saw real combat in Afghanistan, did this stuff when you
think about military. His book, Outlaw Platoon, was a great book, Clay.
I read it many years ago. And he could be
in a very key role here for the army as
part of Pete Hegseth's transformation of really the focus and
(22:30):
readiness of the modern American military. So I saw this
story and I just thought, oh, look, there's Sean.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Sean could end up being like the top five roles,
civilian roles within the entire military, you know, military hierarchy,
which would be great.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
He would be great at it.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
And.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Whatever you think of the situation there right now, I
think at a bare minimum, Pete Hegseth deserves to have
guys that he can trust that are on his team.
And that doesn't mean that everybody has to agree on
every single issue, but I just look at it, and
(23:13):
if you know that people are working contra to the
policies that you're trying to put in place... It's impossible
to run any of those jobs. I mean, you know this.
This is the challenge that so many, probably the CIA
director is dealing with right now, the FBI. You're already
going to have an organization that probably voted for a
(23:33):
person different than you did when you are coming in
as that representative. Now, the military is a little bit different, right?
Because I know Trump won the overall military vote. I
don't know how he would have done with high-level general voting.
But any organization, if you don't get to bring your
guys to be a part of your overall organization that
(23:55):
you know can execute your agenda, it's impossible to be successful.
And so to me, this is really kind of a
no brainer. I mean, Sean has done a really good job.
He's been with Pete since Pete got to become the
secretary of war. And I think sean would do a
phenomenal job in executing pete's agenda and pete can trust
(24:16):
him so this feels like a no-brainer.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
To me well sean is the guy that you would
want in your actual foxhole and he's also the guy
you'd want in your political dc swamp dealing with the
bureaucracy foxhole too so uh couldn't recommend that's why we
brought him onto the podcast network and Couldn't recommend him more.
Just if any of you are wondering, we tried to
hire Caroline Leavitt for the podcast network before she became
(24:42):
the secretary or the White House press secretary. And before that,
the spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. So I do think
a little bit, a little bit pretty good eye for
talent over here. And I believe our former health podcaster, Dr.
Nicole Sapphire, is the surgeon general. That's right.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I mean, it is kind of interesting. We had two
different part of the clay and buck podcast networks that
were hired into prominent roles in the Trump administration. They
went straight from doing shows for us to going straight
into the Trump administration. So, uh, and buck himself could
have been the head of the CIA, uh, pays a
little bit less.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I would have been, I would have been good. I
would have been good. Um, and, uh, I would say
that that, that job, a lot of those jobs, when
I talk to people that have them clay, you know,
it is, it, The stuff that grinds you down with
it I think is not– and this is certainly true
of what Trump has had to deal with, although he
has a somewhat superhuman endurance and energy for pushing through
(25:41):
nonsense and for taking all that incoming. But it's just the–
you know what you want to get done or you
know it will make a thing better, and then all
the bizarre, unnecessary, and annoying things that stand in the
way within– this is what I hear from everybody. Who
takes on any of these roles? And we know a
lot of people that have served in cabinet roles all
(26:04):
the way down to, you know, deputy assistant secretary. They
all say the same thing, which is getting the bureaucracy
to work in a way that they can pursue the
agenda and pursue the goals is the day to day struggle.
And it just kind of drives you nuts. So anyway,
there's that. Speaking of the bureaucracy and getting things to work,
Trump was in the Rose Garden last night. And he
(26:26):
had a dinner. And here's what he said about how
they're doing in 19 months. It's kind of amazing.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
19 months.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
This Trump term, too, has already gone. This is cut 10.
Here's his assessment of how it's all coming along.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
In 19 months, we've achieved more than any administration in
the history of our country. This is the best start
to a presidency in terms of production that we've ever
had in this country. The stock market has hit 80
all time record highs. in just a year and a half.
Think of that. So it's at 80 all-time record highs
since the election. American exports are at the all-time high.
(27:03):
So exporting, that's a good thing, because you're making it
and you're exporting it. We're manufacturing things, in other words, again.
So they're at the highest they've ever been, exports.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Think of that.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
That's a big one. And a very big one also
is today we have more Americans working than at any
time in the history of our country.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
So, Clay, he's saying big wins all around. And I
do want this to be much more of what the
focus is for these Republicans going into the midterms. A
lot of really good things have been achieved in 19 months.
And I think there's a lot more to come. It
gets harder, though, if Democrats take the House and certainly
if they take the Senate. That's 100% true.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And look, I talked about yesterday, I was with Senator
Marsha Blackburn, soon to be Governor Marsha Blackburn, and they
were running through what their polling shows them is likely
to be the most important issues for the fall. And
in Tennessee, overwhelmingly, it's the economy and affordability. Here is
what I would encourage the Trump team to start to
(28:07):
focus on. I also think this translates across the board
in any of these 35 or so super intense races
in both the House and the Senate. Democrats are the
party that caused the affordability issue. Joe Biden came into
office 2021. Inflation was 1.9%. By June of 2022, it
(28:31):
was 9.1%. The reason why you are frustrated about cost
of goods is the choices that the Democrat administration of
Joe Biden made. They now, 19 months later, are arguing
they are the ones who will cure the affordability issue.
This is like the arsonist saying, now I know how
to put the fire out. They caused the issue that
(28:55):
is bothering people still the most, and they are arguing
if you give us the keys back, This time we
will solve the issue that we created in the first place. That,
I think, is a compelling pitch that the Trump team
just needs more time to fix the problem of the
Biden team. And it actually addresses affordability. Things are getting better.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It was nine point one percent. Gas prices were over
five dollars a gallon just four years ago. Everything is better.
Everything is not perfect.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
The average inflation, I think, now is two point seven,
two point eight percent. goal is 2% we're not there
yet and in order to get there the way to
get there is not to let the people who created
the problem in the first place back into positions of
power i think that's an argument that could be understandable
(29:47):
to people it doesn't disrespect the cost of goods now
good argument bad argument what do you think of that
take It's good.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
It just has to be shorter, pithier and able to
fit on a bumper sticker for the purposes of the election.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
This is the challenge is that walking people through the
reality of the inflationary cycle, the Democrats kicked off and
how this has created long term challenges for the economy.
The Trump administration is still handling, but at least is
handling the proper way and doing what is necessary to
bring down those prices while we are seeing a tremendous
(30:22):
surge in prosperity of our manufacturing. He talked about goods
being sent overseas, the AI boom, all of this. Yes,
all true, Clay, but it needs to just be things
are going to get better, prices are going down. This
is the problem, is that you have to just punch
out with what the thing is. And I just wanted
(30:42):
to say that it's a little bit like if you
have some things you want to fix in your house,
you don't want to just light the house on fire
and then start from scratch. That would be very counterproductive
but that's kind of what electing democrats turns into it's
oh well they're it's not perfect but if i put
these people in charge they're going to ruin everything they're
(31:02):
going to make everything i should say they'll make everything
worse they will improve no aspect of the economy uh
that will help the average everyday american they'll make it
all worse And they'll then blame the Republicans for the
situation they inherited. So the cycle just continues on.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I just think that argument, yes, more succinct. I'm not
hearing it anywhere. And I think it's probably the best
way to respond to affordability. Letting the arsonists back in
control of the firefight is not a great way to
solve the fire.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Well, you remember Obama had the whole, they drove us
into a ditch. Remember that?
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
You know, come along here and say you want to
get us out of the ditch.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
No, I mean, it's 100% and it worked.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
It did work because the economy was cratering in 2008.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
But it worked even by 2012. He said as a
big part of his pitch, hey, we are solving the problem.
We're not there yet. And enough people bought it. Mitt
Romney didn't do a great job on the other side,
as many of you can recognize. But enough people bought
the things are getting better argument. I think the things
are getting better argument and they're worse is one. that
(32:13):
should be deployed more aggressively.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
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But one of the baseline things to do is boost
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We got a couple of calls, Buck. Marty in East Tennessee. Marty,
(34:41):
what you got for us?
Speaker 5 (34:43):
Short and concise, when gas was $ 123, diesel was $ 165
when Trump went out of office. And it went crazy
up to $ 4 and change.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Diesel was over $ 5 by the time the Democrats got in.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
That in itself ought.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
To tell them a story.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Thank you for the call. The problem I see this, Buck,
and I don't know if you sign off as well,
people have goldfish-like memories when it comes to gas prices. Yes,
in June of 2022, the average American was paying over
$ 5 a gallon for gas. People remember what they had
to pay a month ago. They remember what they had
to pay six weeks ago, and they get frustrated. They
(35:22):
don't necessarily think, how does this compare to five years
ago or four years ago or anything like that?
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yes, all true. And What is the gas price lately
is unfortunately the only thing that is really going to
matter when people are going in to vote. And you
might say, well, how much does gas even really affect
a lot of household income overall based on the increase?
It's just used as a proxy. It's used as a
litmus test. It's the gas prices are high. I feel
(35:50):
like all the other prices are high, but gas is
telling me that it's high. I'm mad. That's what ends
up happening. I'm mad, and there are people telling me
that they'll fix it. And then it's who do you
believe is going to do a better job of trying
to fix it. And that's really what this all comes
down to. So we shall see how they do with that.
By the way, one more, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
David in Montana. I was going to get him in before.
By the way, our buddy Michael Berry is going to
join us. You've got 30 seconds, David.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
Okay, I'll just say that. When you guys say Trump
has no issue with or has not caused the inflation,
he has. The gas price is horrible. I was all
for him taking out Iran's nuclear capability, but he's been
afraid to solve the problem.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
What should he do? You've got 10 seconds.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
He's afraid to go in there and take away all
the nuclear power.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
So you want boots on the ground. Interesting take. Most
people disagree. Next up, Michael Berry. Thanks for hanging with
us on Clay and Buck.
Welcome, everybody. Thursday edition of Clay and Buck kicks off
right now. Great to have you all with us, as always.
We've got Trump covering a whole range of things at
a Rose Garden dinner yesterday. Overall assessments of his administration, AOC.
(00:20):
He weighs in on AOC, which we know yesterday got
a lot of attention from many of you and even
outside of This show, the media was listening in. Trump
talked about the midterms, which is going to be a
recurring theme here until we get to actual results from
that election. We shall discuss that. We are still waiting
(00:41):
for any updates on the Lindsay Clancy trial. That is
a major news story for all the reasons that we
have been discussing. But thus far, no advancement, no movement
from that jury. They are deliberating, and we are waiting
to hear if anything changes. comes of that john fetterman
has also given his opinion on data centers clay yes sir.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Keep going but i i've got i want to get
your take on this because fetterman has become very fascinating
to me but continue fetterman i was just waving my
hand to let you know that this is a good time.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We we communicate with hand signals so uh sometimes if
you're like why am i calling clay's name is because
he usually he wants to jump in with something but
Fetterman offers Abdul El-Sayed $ 50, 000 to do a rally with
Hassan Piker on 9-11. We shall discuss this. I mean,
Fetterman's taking some pretty big swings, but something I just
wanted to start with, Clay, clearly, and we don't have
(01:40):
to spend too much time on it because there hasn't
been that much, shall we say, strategic movement on it.
There's still a lot of tactical stuff going on. Trump
with the truth out this morning, and I'm just going
to read this to you. For the treasonous scum all
caps for scum that refuses to accurately report on our
military operation in Iran. We have virtually unlimited amounts of
(02:05):
mid to high grade ammunition, far more than we could
ever use for this or for any other war, which
is highly unlikely that could improbably take place. In addition,
We are producing munitions at levels never seen before. We
are stockpiling and preparing for any contingency that could happen.
We are taking them for ourselves, the USA, rather than
(02:25):
selling them to others. But the sales to allies will
soon again begin. Also, please let it be known that
the Biden administration gave far more munitions away to Ukraine
at no cost to them whatsoever than we have used
in Iran. Hundreds of billions of dollars was given to
Ukraine and NATO free of charge that Europe would have
(02:47):
paid for if they were only asked. But we will
be asking for that money, though somewhat belatedly. Thank you
for your attention in this matter. I always like to
sign off, Clay. President very frustrated with what he views as,
I think, politically motivated reporting, even people on the right
(03:08):
who are ideologically opposed to his Mideast intervention, a little
too quick to jump on maybe some of these stories.
And that's quite a salvo via truth from the president
on this. But he clearly sees that this is a
major issue that is being debated out in public in
(03:28):
advance of the midterms. Price of gas, Iran situation, all
of it.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, look, I think there are so many different interplays.
The president said, I believe, that he's planning to go
to 35 different of the biggest battlegrounds during the course
of the next 60 some odd days. And what he
said is help get people across the finish line there.
(03:54):
I do think the $ 400 million that he has in
his portfolio potential political arsenal to be able to distribute.
He spent $ 800, 000 so far for Darlene Graham. To what
extent is he going to begin the process of spending
that money? How will he decide how it's allocated? And
(04:16):
you started off by talking about Fetterman, which I think
is one of the really intriguing storylines to follow going forward.
We know that we've got a 53-47 Republican edge in
the in the Senate right now. And unfortunately, narrow losses
in Wisconsin and Michigan in 2024 in particular kept that
(04:38):
from being a basically unassailable majority. I do wonder, with
Fetterman being back on the ballot in 2028 in Pennsylvania,
the data all reflects that he virtually has no chance
whatsoever of being the Democrat nominee. which would mean if
he wants to remain a United States senator, he would
(05:00):
either have to run as an independent, potentially caucusing with
the Republican Party, or become a Republican because he's actually
way more popular with Republicans in Pennsylvania than he is
with Democrats. And I wonder whether Buck, he might be
willing on some level, to enter into some sort of
(05:22):
power-sharing relationship because the degree to which he's going to
war with people like Abdul El-Sayed is indicative to me
that there has to be a larger plan afoot for
what he is intending to do. And I don't know
that there's very many other examples like Fetterman. There's certainly
(05:42):
not any right now where an individual has ended up
way more popular with the opposing party. And a lot
of this was driven by Israel. And I know Fetterman
so far has said, I would never change parties. But
he has no politically viable future at this point in
the Democrat Party, Buck. And maybe he doesn't like being
a senator and maybe he just wants to go back
(06:02):
to Pennsylvania and kind of return to normal life. Most
senators don't want to do that. Certainly not most senators
after one term. So when you are laying out some
of the aggressive things that he is saying about Abdul El-Sayed,
it's setting off a little bit of a light bulb
moment for me where I'm thinking there has to be
(06:23):
a larger intent here than just trolling Abdul El-Sayed. Do
you buy that or where do you see this going?
Because I think that's the big picture question.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, let's let's unveil some of the trolling because Fetterman
to take the positions that he is taking publicly against
somebody who's in a a absolutely critical for the Democrats
and for the Republicans, Senate race in Michigan, for him
to be taking some pretty heavy shots here. For example,
this is a cut to Fetterman offers Abdul Al-Sayed $ 50, 000.
(06:56):
He said, just play cut to let everybody hear this.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Now, he has been campaigning strong with Hassan Piker. You know,
of course, we all know the guy that said America
deserved 9-11 and that absolutely despises him. Israel and Jews
and that. And I'm encouraging El-Sayed, you know, remind everybody
in Michigan who you are and the kind of people
that you stand with. And I'm offering $ 50, 000 for you
(07:22):
to do a rally with Hassan Piker on 9-11, the anniversary.
And you could all explain to people why America would
deserve that 25 years ago or do a rally.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
That's another $ 50, 000.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
If you do a rally with your sister, you know,
that she celebrates publicly. After the massacre of 10-7.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
This is not your run-of-the-mill dispute between, at least ostensibly,
two Democrats. Fetterman clearly has carved out this niche. Now,
it's usually on foreign policy, Israel-related issues, but Clay, he's
throwing some heavy punches. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And I don't think it's something that you can just
walk back. And so to me, is Fetterman making a
calculated decision to turn his back on the Democrat Party?
What would Pennsylvania Republicans say? Would Pennsylvania Republicans say, hey,
we're fine letting Fetterman run as our representative if he
agreed that he would caucus with us, even if he's
(08:27):
not regularly voting as a traditional Republican would? What is
Fetterman's endgame here? I it doesn't. One option is that
he's just not liking being a United States senator, that
physically he feels like it's too much of a drain
on him. And so he's just going to say, thanks, guys,
(08:47):
I'm out. That's a decision that he would have to
make soon.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Because the primary process, as you well know. will get
underway basically as soon as we get done with January,
with the midterms. Come January of 2027, when everybody comes
back from Christmas and New Year break, the effective 2028
campaign is underway. And so I just think this is
(09:12):
a really one of the most intriguing, unclear events storylines
to follow as we go forward and buck imagine imagine
if fetterman really stuck it to his party if democrats
were to have a 51 to 49 ostensible lead we
saw with jim jeffords when he flipped parties i don't
(09:34):
know 20 years ago to change control of the united
states senate What if Fetterman said, hey, you know what,
I'm going to go back to caucusing with Republicans now.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
J.D.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Vance has the tie-breaking vote. Again, there's just a lot
of drama that I think is going to play out
surrounding Fetterman and the choices that he's going to make.
And when he's challenging the most popular left-wing, probably, candidate
to potentially... join the United States Senate and the entire
Democrat Party to campaign with Hassan Piker, that's hard to
(10:07):
come back from.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Here are two things that I would put into this discussion.
One is that he's in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania's a purple state.
And I think that he is... trying to play a
little bit toward the center on some of these issues,
even though I can already see the emails coming in.
He votes with the Democrats 90-something percent of the time.
(10:28):
So he's a solid Democrat vote. We're on this. We
get it. We understand that. But beyond that, I also think, Clay,
that he's recognized that he can be, dare I say,
something of a maverick by doing this, getting attention, carving
out his own niche. And we're in an era where politicians...
(10:48):
it blends into media and blends into the private sector
in ways more directly than ever before. Fetterman's creating his
own brand here by doing this. Here we are on
our show talking about the things that he has said.
He knows how to get what you don't think.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I would just say, no, the Maverick angle typically works
when it's people like John McCain who still have the
ability to get the nomination in Arizona and continue to
be Republicans. He has, in my opinion, gone so far
Maverick that he cannot be a Democrat representing Pennsylvania anymore.
So Joe Manchin could be a Maverick, Kirsten Sinema to
(11:26):
a certain extent, John McCain. These are middle-of-the-road people, but
they still have the ability to get their nomination. I
think there is a 0% chance that John Fetterman would
win The Democrat nomination in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And so what I mean about about him creating all
it's more of a brand thing, too. He can do
whatever he wants. Basically, I'm saying, Clay, maybe Federman's going
to start a podcast. OK, well, this is the the
other side of it. I mean, people are leaving Congress
to start. digital TV shows and stuff. I mean, this
is not, this is the world that we live in now.
And Fetterman is getting a lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I don't just mean, I don't mean a Maverick within
the Senate.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I mean, he's this politically, he might just decide the
Senate kind of stinks. I'm ready to go be a
podcaster and make more money.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah. And he could wear a hoodie like we do
during his podcast and nobody would care. There's a lot
of free, a lot of freedom.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Do you think that though he would be interesting if
he weren't in the Senate? That's my, like, I don't
know that John Fetterman.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Well, this is why he's being interesting now, right? I
think that he's creating that interest by doing this. I
never thought we would be talking about John, and such
as us, by the way. He's all over the media.
I never thought Fetterman would get as much media attention
for his takes as he does, but here's another one, Clyde.
This is a quick one. Cut one. He's calling Abdul
Al-Sayed not just a socialist, but He's pointing out something
(12:45):
else that people should hear.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Play one.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
He's a socialist, but he also absolutely loves Sharia law.
I mean, he said that in an interview at the
New York Times a few years back.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, absolutely. Sharia law.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Now he actually has support for Hamas and Iran as well, too.
And a lot of the other things that have come
out over from his past conversations and other things that
he said on social line to fund the police and
all those things, of course, that comes go with it.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Clay, so he could run as an independent, by the way,
for 28. So that's something he says he won't. But
that's like when people are asked, you're thinking about running
for office and they're like, I'm focused on the president. OK,
so he says he won't, meaning that it's not really
an answer at this stage. But even as a Democrat,
I don't think that I think that there are enough
(13:34):
Democrats in his state who would vote for him. Party line,
even if. If he has said things that throw some elbows,
you don't think so?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think he's done. In the primary, I think he
has no chance to be the Democrat nominee in 28.
I've got to check out his... And let me just
ask you this as we go to break. If you
are Mike Rogers right now and you hear all these
things Fetterman is saying about Abdul El-Sayed and you are
trying to reach out to Jewish voters and Democrats, don't
you publicly invite Fetterman to come to Michigan and campaign
(14:05):
with you?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Clay, he's... The most recent polling on him is within, oh, no, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
He's great with independents and Republicans. Great with independents and Republicans.
I think he could win statewide. I think he has
a 0% chance of being the nominee. He's like a 25%
approval rating with Democrats in Pennsylvania now. I think he
has a 0% chance of being the nominee for them
in 2028. And so that's why I'm saying, like, what
is the calculus behind his moves? You may be right.
(14:37):
Maybe he's just like, I hate the Senate. I want
to be a podcast. He might be done with it.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I think he might find it to be not, you know,
you're one vote among 100 and you're expected to just
cast the vote the way you're told. And so what,
you know, what difference does it make? Look, Ted Cruz
is a senator and has a big podcast. Like, there's
other things that people can do, too.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
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Speaker 5 (15:52):
Laugh. Learn.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Hang with the guys. Right there when you need them most.
Clay and Buck, just preset them on the iHeart app.
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. We are rolling through
the program. Just a reminder, I think we said this
off the top, but the Attorney General of the United States,
Todd Blanche, is going to join us at 2.15 p.m.
Eastern in the third hour of the program. We have
(16:15):
not had the Attorney General on the program before. He's
obviously recently confirmed, but we got a lot of things
that I think many of you will find to be
particularly newsworthy that we will be diving into with him.
And then many of you wanted us to spend some
time talking about the situation in Texas as it pertains
(16:35):
to Ken Paxton going up against James Tallarico. Our buddy
Michael Berry, who many of you hear in Texas, particularly
in Houston, will be on with us to discuss the
lay of the land there. And I'm sure we will
be having Ken Paxton on quite a bit during the
course of the next 60 days or so to help
(16:56):
make the case against Tallarico and what's going on in
that particular race. What do you think, by the way,
about my idea?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Mike Rogers may have done it already. of publicly inviting
John Fetterman to come campaign with him against Abdul Syed
for the anniversary of 9-11. I think it's a smart
political stroke if Mike Rogers hasn't done it already.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I think it makes a lot of sense. I think
the more that Mike Rogers can get out there in
the media and give his side of things and present
his case to the voters, the better. Because Abdul Syed,
I know he's the new guy and he says the
outlandish things and all this, and he's a leftist and
a socialist. But he's getting all the media attention. And
(17:40):
there is a currency and just pure attention in politics.
So I think that makes a lot of sense, actually.
I wonder if Fetterman would be able to do it.
So Fetterman, yeah, based on... I wanted to pull up
those numbers first. He's either running as an indie... Or
he's going to start a podcast or he's going to
run for president, which was another idea, which would be interesting.
That's what you threw out there.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
And you said maybe there is no grand plan and
he's just kind of firing away without any particular goal
in mind necessarily going forward. Maybe that's true. Born on
America's darkest day of 9-11, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation
has been helping America's heroes ever since. Heroes like Detective
Victor Vargas. He dedicated his life to service.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
He was a U.S.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Air Force veteran who later became a detective in New
York City. After the 9-11 attacks, Victor joined the search
and recovery efforts at Ground Zero, a selfless act that
would later cost him his life. In this 25th anniversary
year of 9-11, we continue to see the toll that
day is taking on heroes like Victor and their families.
Victor fought pancreatic cancer with courage. You can help to
(18:44):
support heroes like Victor by going to T2T. org. That's T,
the number two, T.org.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck. I want to talk
about some of the things that President Trump covered last
night at the Rose Garden dinner because he went over
a whole slew of issues. But first, Clay, you might
have seen this story. We talk about the Clay and
Buck podcast network. which is an assemblage of fantastic hosts, very,
(19:14):
very diverse. And I mean, in terms of the shows
they do, not like not necessarily DEI diversity, but diverse
kinds of shows, national security focus, political focus, health focus.
We have, we have different things, kind of mom, normie focused.
We have a whole bunch of stuff, but they're great
shows and they're on demand for you on the clan
buck network to check out whatever you want. Also remember
(19:35):
this show, if you miss the beginning of the show
or you can't listen to the second or third hour,
All three hours of the show are put up every
day as individual podcasts that you can listen to per hour,
if you will, or per hour of the show. which
means if you can only listen live for one hour,
go check us out and the others later on when
you're making dinner, doing the dishes, or just going for
(19:56):
a walk or at the gym. But, Clay, I'm thinking
about the Podcast Network because one of our Clay and
Buck Podcast Network alumni, Mr. Sean Parnell... Story about him yesterday,
a bunch of places. This one, Semaphore. I think Politico
also had a piece that he is emerging. He's the
Pentagon's chief spokesman, and he is emerging as a top
(20:18):
contender for the role of army secretary. So for those
who don't know, the way it goes, the DOD hierarchy
on the civilian side, you have presidents of the United States,
Secretary of Defense, and then the service secretaries who are co-equal,
(20:40):
Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of
the Air Force. So the Secretary of the Army is
a senior civilian official who has to be Senate-confirmed. It's
a non-cabinet rank, but it has to be Senate-confirmed, who
reports directly to the Secretary of Defense, and he serves
as the chief executive officer of the Department of the Army,
(21:01):
responsible for its administration, readiness, manpower, budget, etc., Let me
just say, I could not think of a better person
who is perfectly placed within this administration already to take
on this role than our friend Sean Parnell. Clay, I
think he I know he would do a a phenomenal job.
(21:22):
He is a warfighter. He's a patriot. He has the
total confidence and respect of both Secretary of War Hegseth
and of President Trump, as he should. Sean has earned that.
I've known Sean almost 15 years now. He is a
really good man and would do a great job. So
it's one of these things where they have the news
(21:45):
stories that are coming out and the backroom stuff, and
sometimes you see something and go, well, that would be great.
This is a story about an appointment that I think
would be a huge asset to the administration and nothing
but upside. So I really hope that that President Trump
gives us long consideration, and I couldn't recommend anyone more
highly for the role than Sean Parnell, who's already serving
(22:08):
in a senior Pentagon role, and like I said, has
the war fighters know and love him, and the guy
saw real combat in Afghanistan, did this stuff when you
think about military. His book, Outlaw Platoon, was a great book, Clay.
I read it many years ago. And he could be
in a very key role here for the army as
part of Pete Hegseth's transformation of really the focus and
(22:30):
readiness of the modern American military. So I saw this
story and I just thought, oh, look, there's Sean.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Sean could end up being like the top five roles,
civilian roles within the entire military, you know, military hierarchy,
which would be great.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
He would be great at it.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
And.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Whatever you think of the situation there right now, I
think at a bare minimum, Pete Hegseth deserves to have
guys that he can trust that are on his team.
And that doesn't mean that everybody has to agree on
every single issue, but I just look at it, and
(23:13):
if you know that people are working contra to the
policies that you're trying to put in place... It's impossible
to run any of those jobs. I mean, you know this.
This is the challenge that so many, probably the CIA
director is dealing with right now, the FBI. You're already
going to have an organization that probably voted for a
(23:33):
person different than you did when you are coming in
as that representative. Now, the military is a little bit different, right?
Because I know Trump won the overall military vote. I
don't know how he would have done with high-level general voting.
But any organization, if you don't get to bring your
guys to be a part of your overall organization that
(23:55):
you know can execute your agenda, it's impossible to be successful.
And so to me, this is really kind of a
no brainer. I mean, Sean has done a really good job.
He's been with Pete since Pete got to become the
secretary of war. And I think sean would do a
phenomenal job in executing pete's agenda and pete can trust
(24:16):
him so this feels like a no-brainer.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
To me well sean is the guy that you would
want in your actual foxhole and he's also the guy
you'd want in your political dc swamp dealing with the
bureaucracy foxhole too so uh couldn't recommend that's why we
brought him onto the podcast network and Couldn't recommend him more.
Just if any of you are wondering, we tried to
hire Caroline Leavitt for the podcast network before she became
(24:42):
the secretary or the White House press secretary. And before that,
the spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. So I do think
a little bit, a little bit pretty good eye for
talent over here. And I believe our former health podcaster, Dr.
Nicole Sapphire, is the surgeon general. That's right.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I mean, it is kind of interesting. We had two
different part of the clay and buck podcast networks that
were hired into prominent roles in the Trump administration. They
went straight from doing shows for us to going straight
into the Trump administration. So, uh, and buck himself could
have been the head of the CIA, uh, pays a
little bit less.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I would have been, I would have been good. I
would have been good. Um, and, uh, I would say
that that, that job, a lot of those jobs, when
I talk to people that have them clay, you know,
it is, it, The stuff that grinds you down with
it I think is not– and this is certainly true
of what Trump has had to deal with, although he
has a somewhat superhuman endurance and energy for pushing through
(25:41):
nonsense and for taking all that incoming. But it's just the–
you know what you want to get done or you
know it will make a thing better, and then all
the bizarre, unnecessary, and annoying things that stand in the
way within– this is what I hear from everybody. Who
takes on any of these roles? And we know a
lot of people that have served in cabinet roles all
(26:04):
the way down to, you know, deputy assistant secretary. They
all say the same thing, which is getting the bureaucracy
to work in a way that they can pursue the
agenda and pursue the goals is the day to day struggle.
And it just kind of drives you nuts. So anyway,
there's that. Speaking of the bureaucracy and getting things to work,
Trump was in the Rose Garden last night. And he
(26:26):
had a dinner. And here's what he said about how
they're doing in 19 months. It's kind of amazing.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
19 months.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
This Trump term, too, has already gone. This is cut 10.
Here's his assessment of how it's all coming along.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
In 19 months, we've achieved more than any administration in
the history of our country. This is the best start
to a presidency in terms of production that we've ever
had in this country. The stock market has hit 80
all time record highs. in just a year and a half.
Think of that. So it's at 80 all-time record highs
since the election. American exports are at the all-time high.
(27:03):
So exporting, that's a good thing, because you're making it
and you're exporting it. We're manufacturing things, in other words, again.
So they're at the highest they've ever been, exports.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
Think of that.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
That's a big one. And a very big one also
is today we have more Americans working than at any
time in the history of our country.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
So, Clay, he's saying big wins all around. And I
do want this to be much more of what the
focus is for these Republicans going into the midterms. A
lot of really good things have been achieved in 19 months.
And I think there's a lot more to come. It
gets harder, though, if Democrats take the House and certainly
if they take the Senate. That's 100% true.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
And look, I talked about yesterday, I was with Senator
Marsha Blackburn, soon to be Governor Marsha Blackburn, and they
were running through what their polling shows them is likely
to be the most important issues for the fall. And
in Tennessee, overwhelmingly, it's the economy and affordability. Here is
what I would encourage the Trump team to start to
(28:07):
focus on. I also think this translates across the board
in any of these 35 or so super intense races
in both the House and the Senate. Democrats are the
party that caused the affordability issue. Joe Biden came into
office 2021. Inflation was 1.9%. By June of 2022, it
(28:31):
was 9.1%. The reason why you are frustrated about cost
of goods is the choices that the Democrat administration of
Joe Biden made. They now, 19 months later, are arguing
they are the ones who will cure the affordability issue.
This is like the arsonist saying, now I know how
to put the fire out. They caused the issue that
(28:55):
is bothering people still the most, and they are arguing
if you give us the keys back, This time we
will solve the issue that we created in the first place. That,
I think, is a compelling pitch that the Trump team
just needs more time to fix the problem of the
Biden team. And it actually addresses affordability. Things are getting better.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
It was nine point one percent. Gas prices were over
five dollars a gallon just four years ago. Everything is better.
Everything is not perfect.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
The average inflation, I think, now is two point seven,
two point eight percent. goal is 2% we're not there
yet and in order to get there the way to
get there is not to let the people who created
the problem in the first place back into positions of
power i think that's an argument that could be understandable
(29:47):
to people it doesn't disrespect the cost of goods now
good argument bad argument what do you think of that
take It's good.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
It just has to be shorter, pithier and able to
fit on a bumper sticker for the purposes of the election.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
This is the challenge is that walking people through the
reality of the inflationary cycle, the Democrats kicked off and
how this has created long term challenges for the economy.
The Trump administration is still handling, but at least is
handling the proper way and doing what is necessary to
bring down those prices while we are seeing a tremendous
(30:22):
surge in prosperity of our manufacturing. He talked about goods
being sent overseas, the AI boom, all of this. Yes,
all true, Clay, but it needs to just be things
are going to get better, prices are going down. This
is the problem, is that you have to just punch
out with what the thing is. And I just wanted
(30:42):
to say that it's a little bit like if you
have some things you want to fix in your house,
you don't want to just light the house on fire
and then start from scratch. That would be very counterproductive
but that's kind of what electing democrats turns into it's
oh well they're it's not perfect but if i put
these people in charge they're going to ruin everything they're
(31:02):
going to make everything i should say they'll make everything
worse they will improve no aspect of the economy uh
that will help the average everyday american they'll make it
all worse And they'll then blame the Republicans for the
situation they inherited. So the cycle just continues on.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
I just think that argument, yes, more succinct. I'm not
hearing it anywhere. And I think it's probably the best
way to respond to affordability. Letting the arsonists back in
control of the firefight is not a great way to
solve the fire.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Well, you remember Obama had the whole, they drove us
into a ditch. Remember that?
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
You know, come along here and say you want to
get us out of the ditch.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
No, I mean, it's 100% and it worked.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
It did work because the economy was cratering in 2008.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
But it worked even by 2012. He said as a
big part of his pitch, hey, we are solving the problem.
We're not there yet. And enough people bought it. Mitt
Romney didn't do a great job on the other side,
as many of you can recognize. But enough people bought
the things are getting better argument. I think the things
are getting better argument and they're worse is one. that
(32:13):
should be deployed more aggressively.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
All right, guys. At some point, you're going to have
to just deal with the reality of aging and how
it affects our energy. As we get older as guys,
we start to lose some pep in our step. That's
just what happens. Your energy starts to wane. You don't
want to admit it, but that's what's going on. But
there is a solution to this. There are many solutions
in a sense. You've got to bring them all together.
But one of the baseline things to do is boost
(32:37):
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(33:19):
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Speaker 2 (33:36):
Looking for normal in a world of crazy? Clay and
Buck have your back. Welcome back in, Clay and Buck.
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We got a couple of calls, Buck. Marty in East Tennessee. Marty,
(34:41):
what you got for us?
Speaker 5 (34:43):
Short and concise, when gas was $ 123, diesel was $ 165
when Trump went out of office. And it went crazy
up to $ 4 and change.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Diesel was over $ 5 by the time the Democrats got in.
Speaker 5 (34:59):
That in itself ought.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
To tell them a story.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Thank you for the call. The problem I see this, Buck,
and I don't know if you sign off as well,
people have goldfish-like memories when it comes to gas prices. Yes,
in June of 2022, the average American was paying over
$ 5 a gallon for gas. People remember what they had
to pay a month ago. They remember what they had
to pay six weeks ago, and they get frustrated. They
(35:22):
don't necessarily think, how does this compare to five years
ago or four years ago or anything like that?
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yes, all true. And What is the gas price lately
is unfortunately the only thing that is really going to
matter when people are going in to vote. And you
might say, well, how much does gas even really affect
a lot of household income overall based on the increase?
It's just used as a proxy. It's used as a
litmus test. It's the gas prices are high. I feel
(35:50):
like all the other prices are high, but gas is
telling me that it's high. I'm mad. That's what ends
up happening. I'm mad, and there are people telling me
that they'll fix it. And then it's who do you
believe is going to do a better job of trying
to fix it. And that's really what this all comes
down to. So we shall see how they do with that.
By the way, one more, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
David in Montana. I was going to get him in before.
By the way, our buddy Michael Berry is going to
join us. You've got 30 seconds, David.
Speaker 5 (36:16):
Okay, I'll just say that. When you guys say Trump
has no issue with or has not caused the inflation,
he has. The gas price is horrible. I was all
for him taking out Iran's nuclear capability, but he's been
afraid to solve the problem.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
What should he do? You've got 10 seconds.
Speaker 5 (36:36):
He's afraid to go in there and take away all
the nuclear power.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
So you want boots on the ground. Interesting take. Most
people disagree. Next up, Michael Berry. Thanks for hanging with
us on Clay and Buck.
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