July 18, 2025 • 36 mins
Hour 1 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show dives into a dynamic mix of political commentary, media criticism, and cultural analysis. The hour kicks off with a forward-looking discussion on the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI), likening its current trajectory to the early days of the internet in the 1990s. The hosts highlight an AI summit in Pennsylvania and the growing presence of Waymo driverless cars in Miami, emphasizing how autonomous technology is reshaping daily life.
The conversation then pivots to a controversial CNBC ranking that labeled Tennessee the worst state to live in, which Clay and Buck strongly dispute, defending the state’s quality of life and values. This leads into a broader critique of mainstream media bias, particularly targeting CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.
A major portion of the hour is dedicated to dissecting a Wall Street Journal article that attempts to link Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein via a note allegedly written for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The hosts question the authenticity, relevance, and timing of the story, arguing it lacks journalistic merit and appears to be a politically motivated hit piece. They draw parallels to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, where trivial high school yearbook entries were used to undermine credibility, and suggest this is another example of media overreach.
The show also covers breaking news that Attorney General Pam Bondi plans to unseal grand jury testimony related to Epstein, following a directive from former President Trump. The hosts express skepticism about the potential impact of the release, suggesting it may be more political theater than substantive revelation.
In a lighter segment, the hosts celebrate the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s CBS show and the defunding of NPR and PBS, framing it as a win for taxpayers and a blow to what they describe as left-wing media institutions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to the Klay Travisen, Buck Sexton Show on
this fantastic Friday, July the eighteenth. Can't believe we're already
halfway through the summer. Hope you're having a good one.
A lot of news to get into. Give you a
bit of a roadmap here where we're going today on
the show. Senator McCormick of Pennsylvania will be with us.
(00:21):
Got some very interesting things to talk to him about,
including how AI is going to transform not just the
economy of the world that we live in, and they
had this AI summit in Pennsylvania. I think the best
way to line this up is for those of us
who are I don't know if anyone's not really a
believer in this clay who's paying attention to it, but
(00:41):
it's looking more and more like the Internet circa nineteen
ninety six in terms of the way that this could
really transform business and our day to day lives if
this works the way that it is anticipated that it will,
and that it already is in some ways. So I
just think that's a fasting discussion. And you know, I've
(01:02):
got the clay. We've got waymos all over the place
here now in Miami.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I love them.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I love yet I haven't I'm gonna be a waymo guy,
because you know, I always feel a little guilty. This
will not surprise anybody, but I do not like listening
to loud music. That is especially not the music that
I in general, I don't like loud music.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So you love that there's no driver and you're completely
alone in your isolated cocoon of movement.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Because I feel a little bit like a jerk getting
into somebody else's car.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Being like, excuse me, sir, excuse me, can you turn
down your You know, I just I don't love that,
so I try not to do it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And so I have learned a lot about reggaeton and
bad Bunny down here in Miami Beach as a result,
because I end up listening to it every time I
get into a car.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
But yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It is a change that is coming here with Waimo
and the driverless vehicles, and that is just this is
one of infinity things that are going to be changing.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think sometimes we don't always recognize when the future
is upon us and the Internet, I would say, because
for those of us who remember the dot com bubble,
everything they said about the Internet ended up being true,
but they set it so early and then everything imploded
that a lot of people didn't realize as the Internet
kind of took over all of our lives. That I mean,
(02:23):
I guarantee you there were a lot of people back
in the day who were saying, Oh, the Internet's overrated.
There's no way the Internet's going to change anything about
my life. And then nowadays the Internet is so fundamentally embedded.
Sometimes you do a tech thing. For me, it was
getting in that way more vehicle and I felt like
I was in the future.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
We were talking about the Jetsons the other day. When
I got in there in that vehicle with my son
and it drove us around like it did, I said,
in the future. And I know people out there get
fired up about this.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I think driving a car is going to be like
riding a horse. I think it's going to be something
that people do for fun. One that is, otherwise most
people don't do it. And people that like say, you know,
in eighteen ninety, everybody knew how to put a horse down,
everybody knew how to feed a horse, like it was
the method of propulsion.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There's an intermediary step and my older brother, who's a
car guy, loves he still drives stick shift. He's got
a stick shift car. He loves to get out there
and do the shifting with his You know, I mean
I can kind of do it not well, and I
probably can't really do it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I used to be able to do it, but.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
He loves it. Just because he loves it. It'll be like, yeah,
driving my driving car yourself. Design cars for Ford for
thirty years. He loves in the Detroit area. Loves driving cars.
Like if you told him, Hey, you're going to go
on vacation, he'd be like, I want to drive twelve
hours to I'd be like, oh, that sounds like the
worst vacation ever.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
He loves it. So I'm not saying people, I think
in a generation this is going to be an example
of something that is profoundly different than life is today.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yes, so we'll talk to him about AI. I just
I want us to be familiar with that conversation to
start to get into this, because I know it might
sound like a little something more you'd hear on CNBC, which,
by the by the way, I didn't even mean to
transition into this, but I will just noteb CNBC throwing
big time shade at the great state of Tennessee, and
(04:20):
I think that Clay is going to have to defend
Tennessee's honor after CNBC. This is this is madness. I
don't know how this could happen. We'll get to that later.
It's a short, shorter conversation. But CNBC has said that Tennessee,
based on their metrics, Okay, Tennessee, is the worst state
(04:40):
in America to live.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I was like, the worst state across the bow. It's
what may you say, Hey, it's not the best. To
call Tennessee the worst place to live in America, as
CNBC did, is virtually impossible. If you want to tell
me it's not top three or top five, I'll listen
to you. But having spent a good amount of time in.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Tennessee, in large part because of this show and Clay's
residency there, that is just I mean, I could name
a whole bunch of states that I'd be like anyway,
we can get into that.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
We can get into that later.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Some news.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Let's let's pile into some news right now.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It's a Friday, so we're a little loose for having
some fun we'll take your calls obviously, so light us up.
We love your talkbacks. Hit us up with more talkbacks
and vip emails as we go. A couple of things
for the for the news cycle. One is Attorney General
Pam Bondi is saying she's going to unseal grand jury
testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein. And this is following a
(05:33):
directive from President Trump. So back in the news cycle, everybody,
we're not choosing to talk about the Epstein case. It
is now a thing that is happening that is news. Uh,
And that's just something to be aware of. I don't
think you'll see much in there that matters. And I
think every time I've told you that so far about
something not mattering, it has been accurate.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
But I could be wrong. We'll see.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And then Trump tweeted this out. I keep saying, tweeted
whatever truth this out. Based on the ridiculous amount of
publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I've asked Attorney General Bondi
to produce any and all permanent grand jury testimony, subject
to court approval. This scam perpetuated by Democrats. Sh and
right now, okay, Clay, that comes out from Trump and
within hours of each other. There's also a Wall Street
(06:17):
Journal piece that dropped. This Wall Street Journal piece is
I don't understand what they think the point of it
really is. It goes into we'll just give you the
summary of it, and Clay as into the details as well,
so filling anything I miss, But it's that Epstein had
a fiftieth birthday a long time ago, and a bunch
of people wrote body notes, you know, locker room talk,
(06:42):
nothing like you know, perverted per se or at least
nothing that they're saying Trump ro was perverted, at least
not that I'm aware of, but you know, writing boobs
on things and stuff like that, and they say that
Trump was part of this, like birthday tribute was known
that Trump used to hang out at hangout in Palm
(07:02):
Beach with Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein used to hang out
with all the socialites, I believe in Palm Beach of
his era. He was just out with all these people.
He was a rich guy who liked to party. At
that time. There was a time when people didn't realize
that he was a sick pedophile. So you know, you
have to separate these things into different. You know, if
(07:22):
somebody told you that they thought that like Bill Cosby
was a great American thirty years ago or twenty years
ago or whatever it is, that would feel a little
different than someone's saying I think Bill Cosby is a
great American today. Right where there's what people know about
somebody's past behavior and what and when they know it.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Clay, what was the point of this Wall Street Journal piece? Why?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Why would they do this?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And has kick Trump off in no small measure which
we can get into. But why did they do this?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I think there is an attempt and a desire to
directly connect Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. And I think
Trump saw this coming. It's why he has not wanted,
particularly to focus on the Epstein related issues. And I
read the Wall Street Journal piece last night when it
(08:10):
came out. I texted it to you. It doesn't sound
like Trump at all. It doesn't sound like something that
Trump would do. Having said that, I don't know why
it's particularly newsworthy. And I also don't know why it
wouldn't have come out in twenty sixteen or twenty twenty
(08:33):
or twenty twenty four if it was deemed newsworthy. Look
they accused Trump of having sex with a porn star
and paying to keep it from going public. They put
him on trial for those charges. They accused him of
sexual assault in a changing room. They dropped the Access
(08:53):
Hollywood tape. I don't think there's anything you can say
about Trump. I'm just being honest about Trump at this
point that is going to cause anyone to change their
opinion about Trump. And so I think this is a
big swing in a miss I actually think and this
is maybe a little bit at counterintuitive, I actually think
(09:14):
it's somewhat beneficial to Trump because it makes him look
like the victim here, meaning it looks so over the
top in the way that you are pursuing him.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
What like, even if this it's like the four criminal cases,
you don't have to bring four criminal cases against somebody
at once who's never been charged with a criminal case
in his life, unless you're just doing the kitchen sink routine,
which is what they were doing.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Throw everything out him, even if it's nonsense.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And even if it were true. Let's assume that the
way that I like to look at these things is
one of the things they teach you in law school
is analyze when you file a lawsuit. One of the
things you're supposed to do as a judge is presume
everything in the lawsuit is true, and you have to
do that for purposes of summary judgment. That's taking you
a little bit into the legal world. But presume everything
(10:02):
that the Wall Street Journal reported as one hundred percent truth.
Why does it matter? Jeffrey Epstein had a fiftieth birthday party,
and people that he knew at that time before he
had ever been charged with any crime, they decided they
wanted to give him a gift, and that gift was
basically a yearbook of joking body commentary about him at
(10:26):
the age of fifty. I mean, for anybody out there
listening open phone Lines here, explain to me why this
would be relevant in any way other than as a way.
Because Jeffrey Epstein, we now know, is a felon, and
a awful felon at that right. He's not somebody who
(10:47):
stole some toothpaste or something and got arrested for it.
He's a sexual predator. So being associated with someone who
is negative, you're just trying to stain that person by saying, oh,
he knew him, oh he and so Open Phone Lines
eight hundred and two A two two eight A two.
Explain to me why this would be supremely relevant as
(11:10):
a story even if it were one hundred percent truth.
I don't buy that it is. Okay. Secondly, what we're.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Supposed to take from it, I don't want to. I
don't know that's what that's one.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hundred percent When I'm arguing, like, even if it were
one hundred percent true, how does it in some way
implicate this story in a big way.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It doesn't further the story at all.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
It feels like a throwaway detail in this because we
already knew and nobody denied that there was and we
had dershowitz On who were talking about was Epstein's lawyer
and talked about this. And it's also well known that
Epstein got creepy with a member's daughter who was I
believe the story is the daughter was underage and Trump
(11:53):
was like, dude, you're being a scumbag. You're out of here.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, so what so what?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
What what are we learning about this? Like that Trump?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And the other part of this too is you read
this thing that they that they say was a Trump note,
And I'm sorry, I do not believe. For one and
this isn't Oh. I love Trump and he's the greatest
American president of my lifetime. Put that in a separate bin.
I'm really trying to be objective. If you ask me,
you know, buck, if you get this right, you get
a million dollars. Did Donald Trump write this? I'd be like, no,
I do not believe Donald Trump wrote some weird like
(12:23):
poetry to Jeffrey Epstein where he referred to him as
an enigma.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I do not believe.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I don't know that Donald Trump frankly knows the word
enigma or could use it. Let me read that to you.
But right before we go to break here, here is
what Trump is alleged to have written. Drawn a picture
of a woman. Also, don't really see naked woman, And
then he said, voiceover, there must This is what they
(12:50):
alleged Trump wrote in the Epstein fiftieth birthday book, voiceover,
there must be more to life than having everything. Donald, Yes,
there is, But I won't tell you what it is, Jeffrey,
nor will I since I also know what it is. Donald.
We have certain things in common, Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Yes, we do.
(13:12):
Come to think of it, Donald, Enigma's never age. Have
you noticed that, Jeffrey. As a matter of fact, it
was clear to me the last time I saw you Trump,
a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday, and may
every day be another wonderful secret. Just that is what
they allege Trump wrote. They think that Trump made up
(13:35):
an imaginary conversation and sounded in no way like anything
Trump has ever sounded like in any of our lives.
I don't know that it would actually be a good dive.
I don't know that Trump's ever used the word enigma
in any of his speeches or any of his comments.
I don't think it's used appropriately in this sort of
(13:56):
mess up. But I also it doesn't sound like anything
Trump would write. So point one, I don't really understand,
and open phone lines if you can tell me why
this is relevant worthy of front page storyedom in the
Wall Street Journal. Point two, I just don't believe it,
like it sets off the radar detector in me. Of yes,
(14:18):
something just doesn't add up here. I don't think that
it is real. So anyway, that is the latest. I
actually think this helps Trump because again it looks like
his enemies are being more outrageous and outlandish than he
often is. Life in Israel. Contrast, in Tel Aviv, you
see high rise construction cranes indicating growth, investment, and optimism
(14:39):
for the future, but you also hear sirens giving residents
a ten minute warning of an incoming missile attack. Everyone
relies on an app to find the nearest bomb shelter.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been placing
new bomb shelters across the country, along with necessary supplies
for existing bomb shelters. While I was in Israel last December,
(15:00):
we visited an IFCJ donated bombshelter place next to a
falawful business. Your gift to the International Fellowship of Christians
and Jews has helped countless civilians to help protect Israel
and her people. Call eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ.
That's eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ. You can
also go online at IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Making America great Again isn't just one man, It's many.
The Team forty seven podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in
the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the
iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Welcome back in Let me give you some good news here,
and we're gonna have some fun with this too. So
the Wall Street Journal story, open forum, you can give talkbacks,
you can react to it. That is out there. It
has gotten a lot of attention. What has not gotten
as much attention has really the joyful occasion that I
think it is. Stephen Colbert's show was canceled on CBS
(16:05):
News News broke yesterday evening. This is the crazy left
wing comedy in quotation, show that basically destroyed late night television.
CBS Sport, CBS News has ended it, and simultaneously, late
last night, after many of us had already gone to bed,
(16:26):
the House came over the top and agreed with the Senate,
and PBS and NPR have officially had their taxpayer money pulled.
And I think this is a huge story because, as
we talked about yesterday with Senator Marshall Blackburn, we'll talk
about this a little bit probably with Senator Dave McCormick
in the next hour. For generations, going all the way
(16:48):
back to Ronald Reagan, Republicans have said, hey, we're going
to do this, We're going to do this, and Trump
did it with this Republican party. So now none of
our dollars, none of yours, none of mine, no taxpayer
dollars are going to subsidize NPR and PBS. And I
would just point out buck for people out there and say, well,
it's not such a big deal. Why did NPR and
(17:09):
PBS fight like their entire fate as an organization was
on the line here? I really, I.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Really think I don't I don't know, Clay, if you
if you co sign this, or or if any of
you co sign this, But I really think that it's
because there's this pretense and this arrogance that NPR and
PBS deserve public funding because they're neutral in their news
and they're you know, they're basically it's it's a it's
(17:39):
proof of their elevated status in the news ecosystem, and
that needs to be stripped away.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
The PBS show here too.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
We can just do this for hours at a time.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I think it's because there's a lot more money that
is being connected to this than they have let on publicly. Too.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
They say it's like ten percent of their budget or something.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
But you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Okay, this is not a topic that is a joy
to talk about, obviously, but something you need to talk
about and you need to take action on it. A
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This is just something you want to get done. And
as soon as you get it done, unless you ever
ever think about getting it done, don't procrastinate on this.
(18:20):
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(18:41):
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Speaker 5 (18:54):
You know, it's everywhere, it's you know leads us all
you know druh.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Just it's all over the place with.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
You know irens andras woo because it's someone Drew Au
in two thousand and three, might have drawn a picture
of a I don't know a body letter before the
guy even you know, all the real info had even
been out at that point.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I don't think about this guy.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
The President and I talked about that ridiculous allegation this morning,
and he said, it's patently absurd. He's never drawn such
a picture. He's never thought of drawing such a picture.
And he said, did you see the language of this
bogus supposed communication or card or something I supposedly sent
to Epstein?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
He said, I don't talk like that. I don't think
like that.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
They're literally making things up. He's so frustrated by it,
and he's going to wind up, I think, suing some
of the media outlets that had put all this out there.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I just let's just unpack this for a second, shall we.
Clay and I are talking about this. We're trying to
be fair to the facts, most important thing we can do.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Fair to the facts meanings speak the truth.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
And I don't see any news value in this story whatsoever,
and I therefore question why the Wall Street journ would
publish it. It seems to me like you have to
go to the thinking, as we always say on the show.
It's important to remember, right, Clay, the most important decision
you make from editorial perspective is what to cover and
(20:14):
what not to That's right, right. What you spend time
on is number one. That is the most powerful thing.
How you frame it, what words you use, Yeah, that matters,
That shapes the perception. But what's worth your time and
what's not that's step one. This is the this is
the beginning of the whole journey. And I don't understand
why they publish the story at all. And I'm not
alone on this one, h Clay's Clay's right there with me,
(20:38):
but also others that you wouldn't necessarily expect. I mean,
here is formerly of CNN, Chris Cuomo. This is cut three.
Listen to this play it.
Speaker 8 (20:46):
This Wall Street Journal piece is a hack job, okay.
And he says he's suing Rupert Murdoch, who he you know,
is his buddy. They have, you know, Fox kind of
made Trump, and he's suing the journal, He's suing everybody.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
He says he didn't.
Speaker 8 (20:58):
Write the birthday let or that they're ascribing to him
to Epstein for his fiftieth birthday.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, it's so stupid.
Speaker 9 (21:05):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (21:05):
The Epstein story is about abusing kids who didn't have
the power or agency to do anything about it. That
rich and powerful people may have known it was going
on and they.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Got away with it. That's the story.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
It's not that Trump liked a scumbag. Okay, now I
get that. In the media, this is great because it's
bad for Trump. But he's going crazy and he's gonna
pump and move the story for the Wall Street Journal
right now by saying it's fake and it's wrong, but
it doesn't move the needle in the country.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
I think that's correct.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I mean it's they're just sticking a thumb in Trump's
eye for no reason other than you know what it is, Clay.
They think that they can right now for the first time,
they think Trump's a little bit not on the ropes.
But you know, he's been staggered for the first time
in his presidency, and you can just tell some people
are looking to just get a little shot in when
he's not paying attention. Earlier this week, we praised Joe Scarborough.
(21:55):
Now I gotta praise Chris Cuomo. I think Chris Cuomo
nailed it.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
There is no story here as we were saying off air,
if it came out that Trump was sleeping with one
of the same women underage that Jeffrey Epstein was, that's
a story. I'm sorry. If that's the allegation, that's a
front page you better have, you better have, you better
(22:20):
have it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Rock solid Allo, and then some yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
But I'm saying the first question to me that you
have to ask, and I say this as a guy
who runs a media company right for a long time
at OutKick, The first question you have to ask is
is this news that is significant and worthy of multiple
reporters on it front page news? Uh, my answer is no.
(22:48):
And then the second part is is it true? To me?
It doesn't read as true because it doesn't sound like
something Trump would have done. So point one, who cares?
Point two, I don't even think it's accurate. I think
this is a whiff by The Wall Street Journal, a
newspaper that I generally like. I think they were the
(23:09):
best media outlet during COVID. They featured diverse voices their
opinion page. But I think this is a whiff. If
I were the editor of the Wall Street Journal, I
would have I think that's some important covering this. We're not.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
It's not like the New York Times, where I think
the whole thing, Uh, what's the what's the phrase from
Hicks and Aliens?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Like the news the New York Times Byeline at the time.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
No, no, no, I know that's the phrase. I'm talking about,
the phrase from the movie Aliens. I think we have
to nuke the side from orbit. We have to nuke
the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
That's how I feel about the New York Times. Okay,
Like the New York Times is the death star for America.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
And I'm mixing my metaphors there, but you guys all
get what I'm saying. Uh And and I think that
that's funny. Clay goes right to the actual, the actual.
I'm trying to site one of my favorite James Cameron movies,
which is Aliens, which is a great flick.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So yeah, I would say this Clay. Generally, we're well
predisposed toward The New York Times. Kim Strassele is a friend,
great writer, really sharp, really smart, a lot of really
good people, a lot of doing very good work at
the Wall Street Journal. So that's why this is. I
you know what I can say this, I'm actually you know,
when your parents is I'm disappointed in you with the
(24:24):
Wall Street Journal. I'm disappointed in you that I really
feel that way. All these other news sites, we're just
you know, holding them to holding them to account, holding
their feet to the fire. But we expected, right, we
expect them to act like maniacs.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I expected more from the Wall Street Journal.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm a little I'm a little bothered by this, a
little myfed. I I don't think it's that's a great
way of putting it. And now for all of you
out there that are parents or grandparents, and certainly if
your kids, Hey I'm not mad, just really disappointed is
the ultimate dagger parent line. Way better than being just angry. Hey,
(25:02):
you know, calmly, not mad, just really disappointed at the
choices you've made. I'm disappointed in the choices the Wall
Street Journal made here because I don't think again, and
I don't think a team. Let me know, has anybody
made a newsworthy explanation for why this is hugely important
to your point? Buck? We have known that Epstein and
(25:24):
Trump knew each other for a long time. There are
pictures of them together. I think there's some videos of
them together at public parties before. Trump has given a
quote about Jeffrey Epstein and his proclivity for young kids
young women twenty some odd years ago in a New
York magazine article. If I remember correctly, and we knew
the whole story about Trump banning Jeffrey Epstein from mar
(25:47):
A Lago over reportedly dalliances with younger daughters of members
of mar A Lago, and him just saying this is
like I'm drawing the line here. It wouldn't be a
surprise to me if if this happened, but I wouldn't
see it, meaning the article, the body thing. But this
doesn't sound like Trump. This doesn't sound like Trump against all.
(26:10):
And I'm not even being exaggerating here. I don't know
that Trump would ever use the word enigma in any way.
I certainly don't think have you ever known Trump to
make up a fake conversation and write it out like
he's a screenplay or writer, like a frustrated writer. This
(26:30):
does not in any way resonate like Trump. I put
up a poll question. You can go vote in this.
We'll also share it from the Clay and Buck account.
Do you believe this report? Thousands of you have already
voted eighty six percent of you say no, So eighty
six percent of my Twitter audience right now says flat out,
I don't believe that this story is true. I also think, Buck,
(26:53):
if you think about the way that this whole story
is gone, I think it shifts the story away from
Epstein and it turns it into Trump's connection to Epstein,
which is a very different story. This is why I
think Chris Cuomo nailed it. The story with Epstein is
he preyed on younger women. You heard in detail Alan
(27:13):
Dershowitz explain what he pled guilty to yesterday. If you didn't,
I would encourage you to go listen to that, And
others may have known and also been complicit in their
own illegal behavior associated with Epstein. That is the story
with Epstein, him having a fiftieth birthday card and Trump
writing a message in it is not the story. It's
(27:34):
just designed to try to attack Trump by the associational
negativity proximity that they are able to put in place
with Jeffrey Epstein. So I just think this is a
huge swing in a miss and unless there's something more here,
I really questioned the news value of this in general.
I mean I signed a ton of high school yearbooks
(27:57):
back in the day. I bet you did too. I
bet everybody out there listening has signed a ton of
high school yearbooks. If the person whose high school yearbook
you signed in a body way ended up getting arrested
for a crime, with the fact that you signed their
high school yearbook before they were a criminal in a
(28:18):
body way be news worthy.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
It reminds me of It reminds me of a Kavanaugh,
remember when when they were trying to destroy him, a
manifestly innocent man, if there is such a thing as
a man who's innocent of what he is accused of,
and they made him explain that bluefing meant farting because
it was written in his high school yearbook. They actually
(28:41):
made a now Supreme Court justice explained that under oath
before the United States Senate, because anything to try to
malign or undermine his character they were willing to do.
And you sit there like, what does that have to
do with anything? It had nothing to change, But that
changed my politics.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I mean, that was the final pivot point where when
you're quizzing somebody who's sitting for the Supreme Court on
what he wrote in his high school yearbook as evidence
of whether or not he is qualified to be a
Supreme Court justice. He or she I want to curse.
Just get out of here. It was so transparently absurd,
(29:19):
and all of you who watch those hearings felt it too.
It it This is a version of that. How is
it newsworthy again? I think you're I think your parent analogy.
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Really applies here because
the Washington Post writes it. I mean, democracy dies in darkness.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Okay, the New York Times, you real big newspapers. I
know we think of The Wall Street I think of
it as a website now, but it's a newspaper. There's
so few real newspapers out there that I have any
expectation of fairness or professionalism from that.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
This one. This one was was like, this is disappointing,
is the best word. I'm disappointed.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I mean the same way New York Post. We love
Miranda Divine. If the New York Post had run this,
they were right on all the Biden laptop story to
their credit. I would look at this and I would say,
New York Post, I'm kind of disappointed in you.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
We like the fact that President Trump is looking at
our nation's problems from a different point of view, trying
to solve them. Some of his actions may make people
stop and think for a minute or two, but there's
reasoning behind his actions and a lot of contemplation. So
if you hear about this administration's plan to monetize natural
resources underneath our nation's surface, just know that there's a
lot of thinking behind it. According to our former presidential
(30:36):
advisor Jim Rickards, the same man who correctly predicted the
two thousand and eight crash, Trump's twenty sixteen victory, and
the twenty twenty pandemic, this is much much bigger. Jim
Rickards believes President Trump is about to unleash one hundred
and fifty trillion dollars state owned asset that's been hidden
for over a century. It's good trigger an economic boom
not seen in a century and send one small sector
of the market skyrocketing. But you need to act quickly.
(30:58):
Remember President Trump moves fast, and he wants to get
as much initiated in the first two years of his
second term as he can. Once this breaks his mainstream news,
that opportunity could vanish forever. Watch Jim Rickard's interview. Here
go to Birthright twenty twenty five dot com. That's Birthright
twenty twenty five dot com.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Cheek out with the guys on the Sunday Hang with
Clay and Buck podcast.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
A new episode of Every Sunday.
Speaker 6 (31:22):
Find it on the iheartapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. You're breaking
down everything going on in the world as a whole,
as we do every single day. Also hoping to take
you into the weekend in a good mood. A bunch
of people want to weigh in and let's see, by
the way, Senator Dave McCormick going to join us at
(31:47):
the top of the next hour. Encourage all of you
to go check out Crockett Coffee. I want these books
out of my house. Actually, Laura Travis wants these books
out of the house.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Don't want la at you.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
That's you.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Don't want to mad at you.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So make sure that you sign up and you use
code code book otherwise.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
We can't help you. He's good.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I'm in trouble at Crockettcoffee dot com. Get the books
out of the house. A bunch you went away in.
Let's hit some of these calls. Kyle in South Carolina,
what do you think about the Wall Street Journal report?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Hey, guys, love what you do. Real quick. If you
look at one of the authors of the Wall Street
Journal piece, they used to work for a publication, Main Justice,
which is owned by Glenn Simpson's wife, and it's open
reporting now that the DOJ they're using the Grand Conspiracy
(32:42):
to run through the statute of limitations against the whole
cabal of malcontents who came up with the Russia collusion Hopes.
This is classic laundering of a hit piece through reputable
publication just to redirect attention, not necessarily as an attack
on Trump, but to undermine the JAY and insimulate that
they're hiding this information so that it'll ruin their credibility
(33:05):
in any future case. Is going all the way back
to the inception of the Russia Hopes.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Okay, so thank you for the call. Look, I don't
even think you need to analyze how this story came
to be written. To me. It goes back to our question.
If you came out and you alleged something that was
criminal in nature that Trump had done that was connected
to Jeffrey Epstein. I would say, oh wow, this is
a story. Whether you believe it or disbelieve it, then
(33:31):
I think you can go into the conspiracy thing. I
don't even think you need to go into the conspiracy side.
I think you just look at this and you're like,
so cares. I think my yearbook analogy. Two famous people
happen to go to the same high school. One writes
a body thing in the high school yearbook, and then
the other person who has got the yearbook ends up
(33:52):
getting arrested years later for serious crimes. It's just like
kind of a click baity headline. Oh two famous people.
It doesn't even add up. It doesn't pass the smell
test to me.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
To bring our conversation full circle, I mean, would it
be would it be body if you wrote about a
Bucksom lass? I, well.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
We were talking about this off air. Would Buck use
the phrase bucksom lass on the show earlier this week?
First of all, I couldn't keep a straight face. But
it makes me think that all of this I want
to go back in time and bring back like the
eighteen hundred's ways that we described women and try to
(34:34):
use it in normal conversation and just see if I
can pass it off and nobody like double blinks. It's like,
have you heard every now and then you'll see somebody
say like, oh my goodness, I grab my pearls and
I'm falling on my fainting couch. I don't really know
when women did that. Have you seen that phrase? Every
now and then you'll see like the picture of the
maiden in distress where she's like grabbing her.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Is it a Southern thing to say I've got the vapors?
Or is that just a a probably old time. They're
probably a Southern thing because it's so hot down here.
I would think that's probably connected to that, And honestly
a Southern thing that I could say applied to this
Wall Street Journal story is bless their hearts. Bless their hearts.
You did something really bad. When a grandma is like, oh, blessed, blessed, blessed,
(35:18):
I've learned what that means. Bless is when I said,
for example, that min julips are overrated, a lot of
Kentucky and Tennessee folks were like, bless your heart, and
I did.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
They didn't.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
They're not really blessing me, clay what I had. They're
not really blessing. It is not an actual endorse. It's
not a positive statement, but it is very Southern because
it has the coverage of being a positive statement.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
But it is not Joe in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. What you
got for us?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Joe, A great show.
Speaker 9 (35:45):
You guys like how you send truth out and.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
You're not afraid.
Speaker 9 (35:51):
I think I completely agree with both you guys. Clay,
I think you and I think quite a bit of
like because a lot of times I've listened you say
a lot of things that I letely agree with. But
I think this is the swamp trying to go after Trump,
and let's look here, let's not look at let's let's
not look at what is actually going on. And I
think when Trump called it a hoax, I think this
(36:14):
is going to settle for a lot of people, that
people are going to go, Okay, this is just what
he was talking about. It's a made up a lot
of things. You know, Trump probably he knew.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Him, you know, he might have gotten ahead of this
not to jump in your call. I think he knew
this story was coming and got very frustrated because if
he were talking about the hoax, and then I would
with this story I'll go, yeah, I get what he's saying.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
This is nonsense. This is not a real attack on Trump.
This is garbage.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
I think Joe's got great intellect, has great arguments, understands.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
When he said you were handsome too or just right
all the time, that was a tosslay Labinair.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I mean, I love Joe, but Joe was right, and
I think you're right here, Buck. Trump was ahead of
where the story was going.
Welcome everybody to the Klay Travisen, Buck Sexton Show on
this fantastic Friday, July the eighteenth. Can't believe we're already
halfway through the summer. Hope you're having a good one.
A lot of news to get into. Give you a
bit of a roadmap here where we're going today on
the show. Senator McCormick of Pennsylvania will be with us.
(00:21):
Got some very interesting things to talk to him about,
including how AI is going to transform not just the
economy of the world that we live in, and they
had this AI summit in Pennsylvania. I think the best
way to line this up is for those of us
who are I don't know if anyone's not really a
believer in this clay who's paying attention to it, but
(00:41):
it's looking more and more like the Internet circa nineteen
ninety six in terms of the way that this could
really transform business and our day to day lives if
this works the way that it is anticipated that it will,
and that it already is in some ways. So I
just think that's a fasting discussion. And you know, I've
(01:02):
got the clay. We've got waymos all over the place
here now in Miami.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I love them.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I love yet I haven't I'm gonna be a waymo guy,
because you know, I always feel a little guilty. This
will not surprise anybody, but I do not like listening
to loud music. That is especially not the music that
I in general, I don't like loud music.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So you love that there's no driver and you're completely
alone in your isolated cocoon of movement.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Because I feel a little bit like a jerk getting
into somebody else's car.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Being like, excuse me, sir, excuse me, can you turn
down your You know, I just I don't love that,
so I try not to do it.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And so I have learned a lot about reggaeton and
bad Bunny down here in Miami Beach as a result,
because I end up listening to it every time I
get into a car.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
But yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It is a change that is coming here with Waimo
and the driverless vehicles, and that is just this is
one of infinity things that are going to be changing.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I think sometimes we don't always recognize when the future
is upon us and the Internet, I would say, because
for those of us who remember the dot com bubble,
everything they said about the Internet ended up being true,
but they set it so early and then everything imploded
that a lot of people didn't realize as the Internet
kind of took over all of our lives. That I mean,
(02:23):
I guarantee you there were a lot of people back
in the day who were saying, Oh, the Internet's overrated.
There's no way the Internet's going to change anything about
my life. And then nowadays the Internet is so fundamentally embedded.
Sometimes you do a tech thing. For me, it was
getting in that way more vehicle and I felt like
I was in the future.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
We were talking about the Jetsons the other day. When
I got in there in that vehicle with my son
and it drove us around like it did, I said,
in the future. And I know people out there get
fired up about this.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I think driving a car is going to be like
riding a horse. I think it's going to be something
that people do for fun. One that is, otherwise most
people don't do it. And people that like say, you know,
in eighteen ninety, everybody knew how to put a horse down,
everybody knew how to feed a horse, like it was
the method of propulsion.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There's an intermediary step and my older brother, who's a
car guy, loves he still drives stick shift. He's got
a stick shift car. He loves to get out there
and do the shifting with his You know, I mean
I can kind of do it not well, and I
probably can't really do it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I used to be able to do it, but.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
He loves it. Just because he loves it. It'll be like, yeah,
driving my driving car yourself. Design cars for Ford for
thirty years. He loves in the Detroit area. Loves driving cars.
Like if you told him, Hey, you're going to go
on vacation, he'd be like, I want to drive twelve
hours to I'd be like, oh, that sounds like the
worst vacation ever.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
He loves it. So I'm not saying people, I think
in a generation this is going to be an example
of something that is profoundly different than life is today.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yes, so we'll talk to him about AI. I just
I want us to be familiar with that conversation to
start to get into this, because I know it might
sound like a little something more you'd hear on CNBC, which,
by the by the way, I didn't even mean to
transition into this, but I will just noteb CNBC throwing
big time shade at the great state of Tennessee, and
(04:20):
I think that Clay is going to have to defend
Tennessee's honor after CNBC. This is this is madness. I
don't know how this could happen. We'll get to that later.
It's a short, shorter conversation. But CNBC has said that Tennessee,
based on their metrics, Okay, Tennessee, is the worst state
(04:40):
in America to live.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I was like, the worst state across the bow. It's
what may you say, Hey, it's not the best. To
call Tennessee the worst place to live in America, as
CNBC did, is virtually impossible. If you want to tell
me it's not top three or top five, I'll listen
to you. But having spent a good amount of time in.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Tennessee, in large part because of this show and Clay's
residency there, that is just I mean, I could name
a whole bunch of states that I'd be like anyway,
we can get into that.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
We can get into that later.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Some news.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Let's let's pile into some news right now.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It's a Friday, so we're a little loose for having
some fun we'll take your calls obviously, so light us up.
We love your talkbacks. Hit us up with more talkbacks
and vip emails as we go. A couple of things
for the for the news cycle. One is Attorney General
Pam Bondi is saying she's going to unseal grand jury
testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein. And this is following a
(05:33):
directive from President Trump. So back in the news cycle, everybody,
we're not choosing to talk about the Epstein case. It
is now a thing that is happening that is news. Uh,
And that's just something to be aware of. I don't
think you'll see much in there that matters. And I
think every time I've told you that so far about
something not mattering, it has been accurate.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
But I could be wrong. We'll see.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And then Trump tweeted this out. I keep saying, tweeted
whatever truth this out. Based on the ridiculous amount of
publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I've asked Attorney General Bondi
to produce any and all permanent grand jury testimony, subject
to court approval. This scam perpetuated by Democrats. Sh and
right now, okay, Clay, that comes out from Trump and
within hours of each other. There's also a Wall Street
(06:17):
Journal piece that dropped. This Wall Street Journal piece is
I don't understand what they think the point of it
really is. It goes into we'll just give you the
summary of it, and Clay as into the details as well,
so filling anything I miss, But it's that Epstein had
a fiftieth birthday a long time ago, and a bunch
of people wrote body notes, you know, locker room talk,
(06:42):
nothing like you know, perverted per se or at least
nothing that they're saying Trump ro was perverted, at least
not that I'm aware of, but you know, writing boobs
on things and stuff like that, and they say that
Trump was part of this, like birthday tribute was known
that Trump used to hang out at hangout in Palm
(07:02):
Beach with Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein used to hang out
with all the socialites, I believe in Palm Beach of
his era. He was just out with all these people.
He was a rich guy who liked to party. At
that time. There was a time when people didn't realize
that he was a sick pedophile. So you know, you
have to separate these things into different. You know, if
(07:22):
somebody told you that they thought that like Bill Cosby
was a great American thirty years ago or twenty years
ago or whatever it is, that would feel a little
different than someone's saying I think Bill Cosby is a
great American today. Right where there's what people know about
somebody's past behavior and what and when they know it.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Clay, what was the point of this Wall Street Journal piece? Why?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Why would they do this?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
And has kick Trump off in no small measure which
we can get into. But why did they do this?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I think there is an attempt and a desire to
directly connect Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. And I think
Trump saw this coming. It's why he has not wanted,
particularly to focus on the Epstein related issues. And I
read the Wall Street Journal piece last night when it
(08:10):
came out. I texted it to you. It doesn't sound
like Trump at all. It doesn't sound like something that
Trump would do. Having said that, I don't know why
it's particularly newsworthy. And I also don't know why it
wouldn't have come out in twenty sixteen or twenty twenty
(08:33):
or twenty twenty four if it was deemed newsworthy. Look
they accused Trump of having sex with a porn star
and paying to keep it from going public. They put
him on trial for those charges. They accused him of
sexual assault in a changing room. They dropped the Access
(08:53):
Hollywood tape. I don't think there's anything you can say
about Trump. I'm just being honest about Trump at this
point that is going to cause anyone to change their
opinion about Trump. And so I think this is a
big swing in a miss I actually think and this
is maybe a little bit at counterintuitive, I actually think
(09:14):
it's somewhat beneficial to Trump because it makes him look
like the victim here, meaning it looks so over the
top in the way that you are pursuing him.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
What like, even if this it's like the four criminal cases,
you don't have to bring four criminal cases against somebody
at once who's never been charged with a criminal case
in his life, unless you're just doing the kitchen sink routine,
which is what they were doing.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Throw everything out him, even if it's nonsense.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
And even if it were true. Let's assume that the
way that I like to look at these things is
one of the things they teach you in law school
is analyze when you file a lawsuit. One of the
things you're supposed to do as a judge is presume
everything in the lawsuit is true, and you have to
do that for purposes of summary judgment. That's taking you
a little bit into the legal world. But presume everything
(10:02):
that the Wall Street Journal reported as one hundred percent truth.
Why does it matter? Jeffrey Epstein had a fiftieth birthday party,
and people that he knew at that time before he
had ever been charged with any crime, they decided they
wanted to give him a gift, and that gift was
basically a yearbook of joking body commentary about him at
(10:26):
the age of fifty. I mean, for anybody out there
listening open phone Lines here, explain to me why this
would be relevant in any way other than as a way.
Because Jeffrey Epstein, we now know, is a felon, and
a awful felon at that right. He's not somebody who
(10:47):
stole some toothpaste or something and got arrested for it.
He's a sexual predator. So being associated with someone who
is negative, you're just trying to stain that person by saying, oh,
he knew him, oh he and so Open Phone Lines
eight hundred and two A two two eight A two.
Explain to me why this would be supremely relevant as
(11:10):
a story even if it were one hundred percent truth.
I don't buy that it is. Okay. Secondly, what we're.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Supposed to take from it, I don't want to. I
don't know that's what that's one.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Hundred percent When I'm arguing, like, even if it were
one hundred percent true, how does it in some way
implicate this story in a big way.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It doesn't further the story at all.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
It feels like a throwaway detail in this because we
already knew and nobody denied that there was and we
had dershowitz On who were talking about was Epstein's lawyer
and talked about this. And it's also well known that
Epstein got creepy with a member's daughter who was I
believe the story is the daughter was underage and Trump
(11:53):
was like, dude, you're being a scumbag. You're out of here.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, so what so what?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
What what are we learning about this? Like that Trump?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
And the other part of this too is you read
this thing that they that they say was a Trump note,
And I'm sorry, I do not believe. For one and
this isn't Oh. I love Trump and he's the greatest
American president of my lifetime. Put that in a separate bin.
I'm really trying to be objective. If you ask me,
you know, buck, if you get this right, you get
a million dollars. Did Donald Trump write this? I'd be like, no,
I do not believe Donald Trump wrote some weird like
(12:23):
poetry to Jeffrey Epstein where he referred to him as
an enigma.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I do not believe.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I don't know that Donald Trump frankly knows the word
enigma or could use it. Let me read that to you.
But right before we go to break here, here is
what Trump is alleged to have written. Drawn a picture
of a woman. Also, don't really see naked woman, And
then he said, voiceover, there must This is what they
(12:50):
alleged Trump wrote in the Epstein fiftieth birthday book, voiceover,
there must be more to life than having everything. Donald, Yes,
there is, But I won't tell you what it is, Jeffrey,
nor will I since I also know what it is. Donald.
We have certain things in common, Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Yes, we do.
(13:12):
Come to think of it, Donald, Enigma's never age. Have
you noticed that, Jeffrey. As a matter of fact, it
was clear to me the last time I saw you Trump,
a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday, and may
every day be another wonderful secret. Just that is what
they allege Trump wrote. They think that Trump made up
(13:35):
an imaginary conversation and sounded in no way like anything
Trump has ever sounded like in any of our lives.
I don't know that it would actually be a good dive.
I don't know that Trump's ever used the word enigma
in any of his speeches or any of his comments.
I don't think it's used appropriately in this sort of
(13:56):
mess up. But I also it doesn't sound like anything
Trump would write. So point one, I don't really understand,
and open phone lines if you can tell me why
this is relevant worthy of front page storyedom in the
Wall Street Journal. Point two, I just don't believe it,
like it sets off the radar detector in me. Of yes,
(14:18):
something just doesn't add up here. I don't think that
it is real. So anyway, that is the latest. I
actually think this helps Trump because again it looks like
his enemies are being more outrageous and outlandish than he
often is. Life in Israel. Contrast, in Tel Aviv, you
see high rise construction cranes indicating growth, investment, and optimism
(14:39):
for the future, but you also hear sirens giving residents
a ten minute warning of an incoming missile attack. Everyone
relies on an app to find the nearest bomb shelter.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been placing
new bomb shelters across the country, along with necessary supplies
for existing bomb shelters. While I was in Israel last December,
(15:00):
we visited an IFCJ donated bombshelter place next to a
falawful business. Your gift to the International Fellowship of Christians
and Jews has helped countless civilians to help protect Israel
and her people. Call eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ.
That's eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ. You can
also go online at IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Making America great Again isn't just one man, It's many.
The Team forty seven podcast Sundays at noon Eastern in
the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the
iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Welcome back in Let me give you some good news here,
and we're gonna have some fun with this too. So
the Wall Street Journal story, open forum, you can give talkbacks,
you can react to it. That is out there. It
has gotten a lot of attention. What has not gotten
as much attention has really the joyful occasion that I
think it is. Stephen Colbert's show was canceled on CBS
(16:05):
News News broke yesterday evening. This is the crazy left
wing comedy in quotation, show that basically destroyed late night television.
CBS Sport, CBS News has ended it, and simultaneously, late
last night, after many of us had already gone to bed,
(16:26):
the House came over the top and agreed with the Senate,
and PBS and NPR have officially had their taxpayer money pulled.
And I think this is a huge story because, as
we talked about yesterday with Senator Marshall Blackburn, we'll talk
about this a little bit probably with Senator Dave McCormick
in the next hour. For generations, going all the way
(16:48):
back to Ronald Reagan, Republicans have said, hey, we're going
to do this, We're going to do this, and Trump
did it with this Republican party. So now none of
our dollars, none of yours, none of mine, no taxpayer
dollars are going to subsidize NPR and PBS. And I
would just point out buck for people out there and say, well,
it's not such a big deal. Why did NPR and
(17:09):
PBS fight like their entire fate as an organization was
on the line here? I really, I.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Really think I don't I don't know, Clay, if you
if you co sign this, or or if any of
you co sign this, But I really think that it's
because there's this pretense and this arrogance that NPR and
PBS deserve public funding because they're neutral in their news
and they're you know, they're basically it's it's a it's
(17:39):
proof of their elevated status in the news ecosystem, and
that needs to be stripped away.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
The PBS show here too.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
We can just do this for hours at a time.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I think it's because there's a lot more money that
is being connected to this than they have let on publicly. Too.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
They say it's like ten percent of their budget or something.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
But you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Okay, this is not a topic that is a joy
to talk about, obviously, but something you need to talk
about and you need to take action on it. A
will and a trust, a trust or a will, My friends,
you need to have a plan for your family moving forward.
This is just something you want to get done. And
as soon as you get it done, unless you ever
ever think about getting it done, don't procrastinate on this.
(18:20):
I know that's so easy. Look, I have a trust
or will Clay has a trust or a will. You
should too. It's so easy to set up now because
of trust and Will dot com Good to Trustenwill dot
com slash buck. It's so easy to get your wishes
laid out and make an easy plan for your family
when that day comes and we know what's coming for
(18:41):
all of us. Once you see how easy it is,
you realize, oh, I'm so glad I got this done.
Good to Trust and Will dot com slash buck. Make
sure you include my name to save twenty percent. That's
trust and Will dot com slash buck for twenty percent off.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
You know, it's everywhere, it's you know leads us all
you know druh.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Just it's all over the place with.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
You know irens andras woo because it's someone Drew Au
in two thousand and three, might have drawn a picture
of a I don't know a body letter before the
guy even you know, all the real info had even
been out at that point.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I don't think about this guy.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
The President and I talked about that ridiculous allegation this morning,
and he said, it's patently absurd. He's never drawn such
a picture. He's never thought of drawing such a picture.
And he said, did you see the language of this
bogus supposed communication or card or something I supposedly sent
to Epstein?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
He said, I don't talk like that. I don't think
like that.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
They're literally making things up. He's so frustrated by it,
and he's going to wind up, I think, suing some
of the media outlets that had put all this out there.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I just let's just unpack this for a second, shall we.
Clay and I are talking about this. We're trying to
be fair to the facts, most important thing we can do.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Fair to the facts meanings speak the truth.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
And I don't see any news value in this story whatsoever,
and I therefore question why the Wall Street journ would
publish it. It seems to me like you have to
go to the thinking, as we always say on the show.
It's important to remember, right, Clay, the most important decision
you make from editorial perspective is what to cover and
(20:14):
what not to That's right, right. What you spend time
on is number one. That is the most powerful thing.
How you frame it, what words you use, Yeah, that matters,
That shapes the perception. But what's worth your time and
what's not that's step one. This is the this is
the beginning of the whole journey. And I don't understand
why they publish the story at all. And I'm not
alone on this one, h Clay's Clay's right there with me,
(20:38):
but also others that you wouldn't necessarily expect. I mean,
here is formerly of CNN, Chris Cuomo. This is cut three.
Listen to this play it.
Speaker 8 (20:46):
This Wall Street Journal piece is a hack job, okay.
And he says he's suing Rupert Murdoch, who he you know,
is his buddy. They have, you know, Fox kind of
made Trump, and he's suing the journal, He's suing everybody.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
He says he didn't.
Speaker 8 (20:58):
Write the birthday let or that they're ascribing to him
to Epstein for his fiftieth birthday.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, it's so stupid.
Speaker 9 (21:05):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (21:05):
The Epstein story is about abusing kids who didn't have
the power or agency to do anything about it. That
rich and powerful people may have known it was going
on and they.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Got away with it. That's the story.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Okay.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
It's not that Trump liked a scumbag. Okay, now I
get that. In the media, this is great because it's
bad for Trump. But he's going crazy and he's gonna
pump and move the story for the Wall Street Journal
right now by saying it's fake and it's wrong, but
it doesn't move the needle in the country.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
I think that's correct.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I mean it's they're just sticking a thumb in Trump's
eye for no reason other than you know what it is, Clay.
They think that they can right now for the first time,
they think Trump's a little bit not on the ropes.
But you know, he's been staggered for the first time
in his presidency, and you can just tell some people
are looking to just get a little shot in when
he's not paying attention. Earlier this week, we praised Joe Scarborough.
(21:55):
Now I gotta praise Chris Cuomo. I think Chris Cuomo
nailed it.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
There is no story here as we were saying off air,
if it came out that Trump was sleeping with one
of the same women underage that Jeffrey Epstein was, that's
a story. I'm sorry. If that's the allegation, that's a
front page you better have, you better have, you better
(22:20):
have it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Rock solid Allo, and then some yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
But I'm saying the first question to me that you
have to ask, and I say this as a guy
who runs a media company right for a long time
at OutKick, The first question you have to ask is
is this news that is significant and worthy of multiple
reporters on it front page news? Uh, my answer is no.
(22:48):
And then the second part is is it true? To me?
It doesn't read as true because it doesn't sound like
something Trump would have done. So point one, who cares?
Point two, I don't even think it's accurate. I think
this is a whiff by The Wall Street Journal, a
newspaper that I generally like. I think they were the
(23:09):
best media outlet during COVID. They featured diverse voices their
opinion page. But I think this is a whiff. If
I were the editor of the Wall Street Journal, I
would have I think that's some important covering this. We're not.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
It's not like the New York Times, where I think
the whole thing, Uh, what's the what's the phrase from
Hicks and Aliens?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Like the news the New York Times Byeline at the time.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
No, no, no, I know that's the phrase. I'm talking about,
the phrase from the movie Aliens. I think we have
to nuke the side from orbit. We have to nuke
the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
That's how I feel about the New York Times. Okay,
Like the New York Times is the death star for America.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
And I'm mixing my metaphors there, but you guys all
get what I'm saying. Uh And and I think that
that's funny. Clay goes right to the actual, the actual.
I'm trying to site one of my favorite James Cameron movies,
which is Aliens, which is a great flick.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
So yeah, I would say this Clay. Generally, we're well
predisposed toward The New York Times. Kim Strassele is a friend,
great writer, really sharp, really smart, a lot of really
good people, a lot of doing very good work at
the Wall Street Journal. So that's why this is. I
you know what I can say this, I'm actually you know,
when your parents is I'm disappointed in you with the
(24:24):
Wall Street Journal. I'm disappointed in you that I really
feel that way. All these other news sites, we're just
you know, holding them to holding them to account, holding
their feet to the fire. But we expected, right, we
expect them to act like maniacs.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I expected more from the Wall Street Journal.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm a little I'm a little bothered by this, a
little myfed. I I don't think it's that's a great
way of putting it. And now for all of you
out there that are parents or grandparents, and certainly if
your kids, Hey I'm not mad, just really disappointed is
the ultimate dagger parent line. Way better than being just angry. Hey,
(25:02):
you know, calmly, not mad, just really disappointed at the
choices you've made. I'm disappointed in the choices the Wall
Street Journal made here because I don't think again, and
I don't think a team. Let me know, has anybody
made a newsworthy explanation for why this is hugely important
to your point? Buck? We have known that Epstein and
(25:24):
Trump knew each other for a long time. There are
pictures of them together. I think there's some videos of
them together at public parties before. Trump has given a
quote about Jeffrey Epstein and his proclivity for young kids
young women twenty some odd years ago in a New
York magazine article. If I remember correctly, and we knew
the whole story about Trump banning Jeffrey Epstein from mar
(25:47):
A Lago over reportedly dalliances with younger daughters of members
of mar A Lago, and him just saying this is
like I'm drawing the line here. It wouldn't be a
surprise to me if if this happened, but I wouldn't
see it, meaning the article, the body thing. But this
doesn't sound like Trump. This doesn't sound like Trump against all.
(26:10):
And I'm not even being exaggerating here. I don't know
that Trump would ever use the word enigma in any way.
I certainly don't think have you ever known Trump to
make up a fake conversation and write it out like
he's a screenplay or writer, like a frustrated writer. This
(26:30):
does not in any way resonate like Trump. I put
up a poll question. You can go vote in this.
We'll also share it from the Clay and Buck account.
Do you believe this report? Thousands of you have already
voted eighty six percent of you say no, So eighty
six percent of my Twitter audience right now says flat out,
I don't believe that this story is true. I also think, Buck,
(26:53):
if you think about the way that this whole story
is gone, I think it shifts the story away from
Epstein and it turns it into Trump's connection to Epstein,
which is a very different story. This is why I
think Chris Cuomo nailed it. The story with Epstein is
he preyed on younger women. You heard in detail Alan
(27:13):
Dershowitz explain what he pled guilty to yesterday. If you didn't,
I would encourage you to go listen to that, And
others may have known and also been complicit in their
own illegal behavior associated with Epstein. That is the story
with Epstein, him having a fiftieth birthday card and Trump
writing a message in it is not the story. It's
(27:34):
just designed to try to attack Trump by the associational
negativity proximity that they are able to put in place
with Jeffrey Epstein. So I just think this is a
huge swing in a miss and unless there's something more here,
I really questioned the news value of this in general.
I mean I signed a ton of high school yearbooks
(27:57):
back in the day. I bet you did too. I
bet everybody out there listening has signed a ton of
high school yearbooks. If the person whose high school yearbook
you signed in a body way ended up getting arrested
for a crime, with the fact that you signed their
high school yearbook before they were a criminal in a
(28:18):
body way be news worthy.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
It reminds me of It reminds me of a Kavanaugh,
remember when when they were trying to destroy him, a
manifestly innocent man, if there is such a thing as
a man who's innocent of what he is accused of,
and they made him explain that bluefing meant farting because
it was written in his high school yearbook. They actually
(28:41):
made a now Supreme Court justice explained that under oath
before the United States Senate, because anything to try to
malign or undermine his character they were willing to do.
And you sit there like, what does that have to
do with anything? It had nothing to change, But that
changed my politics.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I mean, that was the final pivot point where when
you're quizzing somebody who's sitting for the Supreme Court on
what he wrote in his high school yearbook as evidence
of whether or not he is qualified to be a
Supreme Court justice. He or she I want to curse.
Just get out of here. It was so transparently absurd,
(29:19):
and all of you who watch those hearings felt it too.
It it This is a version of that. How is
it newsworthy again? I think you're I think your parent analogy.
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Really applies here because
the Washington Post writes it. I mean, democracy dies in darkness.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Okay, the New York Times, you real big newspapers. I
know we think of The Wall Street I think of
it as a website now, but it's a newspaper. There's
so few real newspapers out there that I have any
expectation of fairness or professionalism from that.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
This one. This one was was like, this is disappointing,
is the best word. I'm disappointed.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I mean the same way New York Post. We love
Miranda Divine. If the New York Post had run this,
they were right on all the Biden laptop story to
their credit. I would look at this and I would say,
New York Post, I'm kind of disappointed in you.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
We like the fact that President Trump is looking at
our nation's problems from a different point of view, trying
to solve them. Some of his actions may make people
stop and think for a minute or two, but there's
reasoning behind his actions and a lot of contemplation. So
if you hear about this administration's plan to monetize natural
resources underneath our nation's surface, just know that there's a
lot of thinking behind it. According to our former presidential
(30:36):
advisor Jim Rickards, the same man who correctly predicted the
two thousand and eight crash, Trump's twenty sixteen victory, and
the twenty twenty pandemic, this is much much bigger. Jim
Rickards believes President Trump is about to unleash one hundred
and fifty trillion dollars state owned asset that's been hidden
for over a century. It's good trigger an economic boom
not seen in a century and send one small sector
of the market skyrocketing. But you need to act quickly.
(30:58):
Remember President Trump moves fast, and he wants to get
as much initiated in the first two years of his
second term as he can. Once this breaks his mainstream news,
that opportunity could vanish forever. Watch Jim Rickard's interview. Here
go to Birthright twenty twenty five dot com. That's Birthright
twenty twenty five dot com.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Cheek out with the guys on the Sunday Hang with
Clay and Buck podcast.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
A new episode of Every Sunday.
Speaker 6 (31:22):
Find it on the iheartapp or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. You're breaking
down everything going on in the world as a whole,
as we do every single day. Also hoping to take
you into the weekend in a good mood. A bunch
of people want to weigh in and let's see, by
the way, Senator Dave McCormick going to join us at
(31:47):
the top of the next hour. Encourage all of you
to go check out Crockett Coffee. I want these books
out of my house. Actually, Laura Travis wants these books
out of the house.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Don't want la at you.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
That's you.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Don't want to mad at you.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So make sure that you sign up and you use
code code book otherwise.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
We can't help you. He's good.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I'm in trouble at Crockettcoffee dot com. Get the books
out of the house. A bunch you went away in.
Let's hit some of these calls. Kyle in South Carolina,
what do you think about the Wall Street Journal report?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Hey, guys, love what you do. Real quick. If you
look at one of the authors of the Wall Street
Journal piece, they used to work for a publication, Main Justice,
which is owned by Glenn Simpson's wife, and it's open
reporting now that the DOJ they're using the Grand Conspiracy
(32:42):
to run through the statute of limitations against the whole
cabal of malcontents who came up with the Russia collusion Hopes.
This is classic laundering of a hit piece through reputable
publication just to redirect attention, not necessarily as an attack
on Trump, but to undermine the JAY and insimulate that
they're hiding this information so that it'll ruin their credibility
(33:05):
in any future case. Is going all the way back
to the inception of the Russia Hopes.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Okay, so thank you for the call. Look, I don't
even think you need to analyze how this story came
to be written. To me. It goes back to our question.
If you came out and you alleged something that was
criminal in nature that Trump had done that was connected
to Jeffrey Epstein. I would say, oh wow, this is
a story. Whether you believe it or disbelieve it, then
(33:31):
I think you can go into the conspiracy thing. I
don't even think you need to go into the conspiracy side.
I think you just look at this and you're like,
so cares. I think my yearbook analogy. Two famous people
happen to go to the same high school. One writes
a body thing in the high school yearbook, and then
the other person who has got the yearbook ends up
(33:52):
getting arrested years later for serious crimes. It's just like
kind of a click baity headline. Oh two famous people.
It doesn't even add up. It doesn't pass the smell
test to me.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
To bring our conversation full circle, I mean, would it
be would it be body if you wrote about a
Bucksom lass? I, well.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
We were talking about this off air. Would Buck use
the phrase bucksom lass on the show earlier this week?
First of all, I couldn't keep a straight face. But
it makes me think that all of this I want
to go back in time and bring back like the
eighteen hundred's ways that we described women and try to
(34:34):
use it in normal conversation and just see if I
can pass it off and nobody like double blinks. It's like,
have you heard every now and then you'll see somebody
say like, oh my goodness, I grab my pearls and
I'm falling on my fainting couch. I don't really know
when women did that. Have you seen that phrase? Every
now and then you'll see like the picture of the
maiden in distress where she's like grabbing her.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Is it a Southern thing to say I've got the vapors?
Or is that just a a probably old time. They're
probably a Southern thing because it's so hot down here.
I would think that's probably connected to that, And honestly
a Southern thing that I could say applied to this
Wall Street Journal story is bless their hearts. Bless their hearts.
You did something really bad. When a grandma is like, oh, blessed, blessed, blessed,
(35:18):
I've learned what that means. Bless is when I said,
for example, that min julips are overrated, a lot of
Kentucky and Tennessee folks were like, bless your heart, and
I did.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
They didn't.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
They're not really blessing me, clay what I had. They're
not really blessing. It is not an actual endorse. It's
not a positive statement, but it is very Southern because
it has the coverage of being a positive statement.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
But it is not Joe in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. What you
got for us?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Joe, A great show.
Speaker 9 (35:45):
You guys like how you send truth out and.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
You're not afraid.
Speaker 9 (35:51):
I think I completely agree with both you guys. Clay,
I think you and I think quite a bit of
like because a lot of times I've listened you say
a lot of things that I letely agree with. But
I think this is the swamp trying to go after Trump,
and let's look here, let's not look at let's let's
not look at what is actually going on. And I
think when Trump called it a hoax, I think this
(36:14):
is going to settle for a lot of people, that
people are going to go, Okay, this is just what
he was talking about. It's a made up a lot
of things. You know, Trump probably he knew.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Him, you know, he might have gotten ahead of this
not to jump in your call. I think he knew
this story was coming and got very frustrated because if
he were talking about the hoax, and then I would
with this story I'll go, yeah, I get what he's saying.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
This is nonsense. This is not a real attack on Trump.
This is garbage.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
I think Joe's got great intellect, has great arguments, understands.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
When he said you were handsome too or just right
all the time, that was a tosslay Labinair.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I mean, I love Joe, but Joe was right, and
I think you're right here, Buck. Trump was ahead of
where the story was going.
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