June 23, 2025 • 36 mins
In Hour 2 of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, the hosts provide in-depth analysis of Iran's missile response to recent US military actions. They discuss how Iran's attack appears to have been deliberately telegraphed and minimal, with missiles being shot down without causing significant damage or casualties. Clay and Buck emphasize that this measured response likely stems from Iran's limited military capabilities and fear of further US retaliation. The hosts praise former President Trump's Saturday night address alongside Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and JD Vance, highlighting Rubio's compelling interview on CBS where he discussed Iran's nuclear ambitions and their deteriorating infrastructure.
The conversation in Hour 2 also explores how authoritarian regimes like Iran respond primarily to shows of strength rather than diplomatic arguments. Clay and Buck suggest that the Biden administration's perceived weakness, particularly after the Afghanistan withdrawal, emboldened adversaries, contrasting this with Trump's approach to foreign policy. They examine how Iran's quality of life has declined dramatically despite its historical significance, questioning whether these conditions might eventually lead to internal challenges from the Iranian people. The hosts additionally touch on concerning developments in New York City politics, expressing alarm about potential leadership changes and their implications for America's largest city.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show Saturday. United
States attacks Iranian nuclear sites. Now Iran is responding in
real time as we.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Are talking to all of you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
There is footage playing of inside of Qatar missiles from
Iran fired at the US military base there. Iran has
announced that its official response is underway. They are reporting
that on Iranian state TV, that's their propaganda network. The
(00:39):
attack on the Qatari US base has begun. Also, other
Middle Eastern US forces now reportedly under attack as well,
and we are waiting to hear what the impact is
of the missiles that have been fired there. Again, this
(00:59):
is in real time as all of us are talking
with you. President Trump is with his top administrators right now,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
And the question again is how what is the impact
(01:21):
and the desire here? Buck, And this is where you,
as an intelligence analyst back in the day, would be
trying to scramble and assess. You and I were at Langley,
We were on the CIA's campus just a couple of
weeks ago, just in advance by like a day or
so of the Israeli attack on Iran.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And you remember I can say this now.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I think I asked a question in a meeting and
about Iran because there hadn't been that many reports about
it to that point, and it was like, all of
a sudden, a veil of silence just descended on the
room where they were like, uh, you didn't have to
be an expert to know something might be a footway.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, And after I looked at Clay, I'm like, that
was weird. We're striking or there's a strike coming, I
should say, Israel striking Iran. It was pretty obvious.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So the question here, and I'll toss this to you,
is to what extent is this? And look, first of all,
we're praying, we want all of our forces in the
Middle East to be safe. I know many of you
out there listening may well have family members, friends. We're
going to give you the information as it is reported,
accurately to the best of our ability in a real time,
(02:32):
dynamic situation. Big picture here, Buck. The question that is
going to be integral and will go a long way
towards determining what our response is is how we assess
what Iran is doing?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Is this a face saving?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Us?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You can't you know, rip our nuclear program to shreds
without us doing something back. But it's a pulled punch,
meaning we knew it was coming. It's not designed to
deliver massive consequences relatively speaking. Or do we judge this
to have been an acceleration beyond expected Iranian response? Much
(03:12):
of this now is a dance of diplomacy through missile,
which sounds complicated but actually is important here as we
try and determine the significance and severity of the Iranian response,
Is it face saving or is accelerating would be a
way I think to sum up what we have to
analyze at this point in time.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Well, I think it's the best the Iranians militarily can
muster against the regional enemies that they want to attack
and US, and these relations are the top of the list.
It's not that Iran. If Iran could level Tel Aviv tomorrow,
it would do so. The reason that Iran hasn't done
(03:54):
that is they can't do that. And that's also true
of their abilities here when it comes to hitting military
forces in the region. They also I think stay you know,
at some level, have to understand that if they were
to go after soft targets, non military targets, they would
(04:14):
invite much more extreme retaliation. Look, this is a country
that was, as I said, unable to protect its senior
military leadership, unable to protect nuclear scientists from getting blown
up in just their apartment buildings in like the corner
of the building where they happen to live. Unable to
do any of those things in the opening of a
(04:34):
conflict that they'd supposedly been preparing for for or early
since the seventy nine revolution. In some way, yes, they're
not militarily sophisticated as a country. That doesn't mean they're
not dangerous. It just means they do not have a
sophisticated first world military that can do. You know, Russia,
as we've seen, very different situation. We're talking about Russia
(04:55):
fighting against Ukraine. There you have you know, advanced lanes,
advanced drones, advanced communications, a lot of firepower. You know
that they've they've got they've got stuff that can cause
a headache for anybody. The Russians do the Iranians, it's
a little bit of a different situation. So I think
what we'll see is probably these Iranians, uh, these Iranian missiles. Look,
(05:19):
I don't. I don't want to prejudge it. Let's see
what happens. Let's see what happens. If it's just the
strikes that hit bases and there's no major US casualties,
I think Trump will repeat his calls for negotiations for
some kind of I guess this these fire You know.
The part of this that is really wide open to me,
(05:40):
and I haven't seen much clarity on this is we're
not going to push for regime change, but we all
I shouldn't say we all. The Trump administration wants a
different regime but doesn't want to push and kind of
topple the existing one more than what we've through, more
than what we've already done. Yeah, it feels like we're
going to head into this uneasy the status quo of
(06:02):
a somewhat defanged Iran that we're hoping wants to come
to the table and stop being crazy. But really, Clay,
the fundamental problem with all of this is that the
people that run around are bad people. Yes, and I
mean crazy isn't really the right word, but there is
an ideological viciousness that is at the heart of the
(06:22):
theocracy that is Iran. And so I also look at
what happened in Syria. Yeah, finally the Assad regime came down.
It took thirteen years, and at one point early on
like twenty thirteen twenty twelve timeframe, there were suicide bombers,
Jihadi suicide bombers that were infiltrating like the equivalent of
(06:47):
Assad's Pentagon. I mean, they were right there knocking at
the door. And the civil war was brutal, and the
Assad regime held on for a decade plus. Do you
have updates on this?
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I think I've got some information. This is the spokesperson
for Katar and this is a translation from Arabic. So
all of this is on Twitter, all right, So obviously
I do not speak Arabic. I'm not translating this in
real time. This is according to uh yeah, this is
(07:18):
according to the Google translations. This is Abu Abu Clay.
Go ahead, Yes, this is my ATTIMPT. Here's what this
is what I want to get out because I know
there's a lot of people out there. We express the
State of Qatar strong condemnation of the attack on Al
Yadid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, consider
(07:40):
it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar's sovereignty,
sovereignty and airspace sovereignty, as well as of international law
and the United Nations Charter. We affirm the State of
Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner
proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression
and in accordance with international law. Okay, we are reassured
(08:03):
that Katari air defenses thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted
the Iranian missiles. The Ministry of Defense will issue a
statement clarifying the circumstances of the attack later. We also
affirm the continuation of such escalating military actions undermined security
and stability in the region, and so the base has
(08:29):
been evacuated earlier in accordance with approved security and precautionary measures.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
In light of the tensions.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
All necessary measures were taken to ensure the safety of
the base's personnel.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Okay, so so far, so good. We shot down their
stuff and we're looking Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
No injuries or human losses occurred as a result of
the attack, according to this report which has just come
down that has not been publicly reported by anybody else.
But again, that is the Qatari spokesperson.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
So this is looking so far like it's very similar
to the custom Solomoni retaliation, which was pretty much deminimus
from a military military damage perspective, and it was the
Iranian regime doing really what's within their power militarily, right.
I mean, this is something that I think a lot
of people when we talk about this, we have to
(09:21):
remember this when you talk about something like Hamas. I mean,
Hamas doesn't distinguish. In fact, Hamas prefers civilian targets. Not
only they're not distinguished military, civilian they prefer civily. They're
not going to go after the IDF, They're gonna get
their asses kicked. Hamas likes to go after you know,
elderly people, people in wheelchairs, children like. That's amass preferred
target set, which is heinous. And in the case of Iran,
(09:44):
so far they are sticking to military to military response,
which is a different thing under the laws of war
and Geneva Conventions, et cetera. You know, this is something
that you could say the Iranians are paying attention to.
Will they go and cross that line and go Hamas
and start having proxies on their behalf do this? You'd
(10:05):
have to wonder who are these proxies and what do
they think they're going to get out of this. I
think the message, you know, Clay, we can get into
some more JD. Vans for examples on the Sunday shows.
With this administration, it is so different, and I truly
you know, this is not like oh Talk radio our side,
their side. It is so different from the dementia puppet
in chief and what we had before. When these guys
(10:27):
say something, When Trump and Vance and Hegseth say something
about if you if you kill American somewhere, We're going
to drop the fires of hell on your head, they
mean it, yes, and the bad guys know they mean it,
and they know it will happen, and that has meaning.
That has meaning for moments like this, whereas with Biden.
(10:51):
You know, I mean we know invasion of Ukraine happens.
I mean, they'll get the stuff like no no one
takes the guy seriously. So let well, Clay, I'll get
into some of this because I think JD. Advance made
it very clear that there are ways that the Iranians
can respond that will be you know, within the UH,
within the laws of war, the boundaries of armed conflict,
I should say, And there are ways that they can
(11:13):
go outside of that. If they go outside of that,
I think this administration is going to punish them severely.
And that's the way that it should be.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And now you you also understand better than anybody else.
You have to know what somebody means in negotiation. You
can't like Biden was so weak.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
They felt like they could play him, and they knew
that there was no spine behind anything he said. And
these these dictators, these malas, and respond to violence.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
This is the thing.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It's not It's not like that was their perception and
Biden was actually a sleeping giant or something, And no,
it was they were right by thinking he was an
imbecile and a not of sound mind.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And again I think that sometimes you don't like it,
and I think this is where democrats, frankly, lack of
masculinity becomes an issue. Most people who are in positions
of power around the world are dudes who are mal actors. Right,
are men, and they respond to violence. That's what they
(12:14):
respond to. It would be great if they would respond
to argument, but ultimately, all they care about is do
you have the ability to do them harm. It's like
bullies everywhere, right, Like on some level, you don't usually
talk a bully out of being a bully. You have
to make the bully fear that you can kick his ass.
(12:34):
And that is what Trump is willing to do because
I think he understands that. I think a lot of
the soft, weak masculinity, frankly of the Democrat Party might
work when it comes to persuading Lesbians of the truth
of their arguments in the United States, it doesn't work
when it comes to fundamentalist terrorists who are effectively in
(12:56):
control of the country like Iran. I mean, that's the
hard truth and that's the reality, and they respect force
and violence, and you have to sometimes show them that
you're willing to deploy it. Biden wasn't. I think that's
why Ukraine got invaded. I think the weakness that he
showed in Afghanistan showed the world that he didn't have
a steel spine, and they took advantage of it. I
don't think Hamas would have invaded if Trump were in office.
(13:18):
I don't think that Ukraine would have gotten invaded if
Trump were in office. And I think what's happening right
now is Iran is learning that Trump isn't to be
trifled with. Look, we don't shy away from the tough
topics of the day.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
On the program.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
We tell you exactly what we think, and these are
some of the things that most Americans agree on. How
about this, boys shouldn't compete in girls sports?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Another one?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
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Speaker 3 (14:50):
All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck.
So far, it looks like the Iranian missile launch against
US bases has been nothing major in terms of any
casualties or any losses on our side. And the missiles
been shot out of the sky, so we're not seeing
any any major damage from that. Want to take calls
from you and and and hear from you and all
(15:12):
this how you think this is going. So let's get
to Jim in Missouri wants to weigh in. What's going on.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Jim point, there's no way Biden could pool this off
for two reasons. Number one, had happened on the weekend,
and we know where he was on the weekend on vacation.
We watched for four years. The second thing is it
happened after his curfew or lid time, which is four
pm Eastern.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, I mean it's funny, Buck.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I mean I when I was up late late on
Saturday night watching the news and following this story like
everybody else, all I could think over and over again,
was thank god we do not have Kamala Harrison office
because to your point, do you think these bad guys
respect Kamla Harrison any way? Are they afraid of what
she might order against them? I mean, whatever you want
(16:06):
to think about Trump, they respect Trump, and I think
you're seeing it right now. With Iran, I don't know
if he if they pulled their punches buck, or if
they frankly just don't have the ability to throw a
very hard punch because to your point, they're basically a
third world country.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Now, look what they've done with Look what they've done
with Israel. I mean, if if they could, like I said,
if they could have leveled the Israeli city with ballistic
missiles in response to those strikes, they would have done it.
They can't do it, thank god. But that's where things are.
David and Alabama. What's going on? David?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Hey, guys, Kamala Harris couldn't order take out and make
anybody worry. But the comment I want to make, did
y'all catch Marco Rubio's jal.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Or that mental midget on over the weekend? About up
and tell you know what, David, We'll play after our
next break here, we'll play those for everybody and and
walk through those because Clay I think they were fantastic.
Marco Rubio is he is en fuego? Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
And by the way, more and more reports coming out
that basically Iran let us know exactly what they were
going to be doing, what the timing of their attacks
were going to be, and we said, this is very
similar to what happened in twenty twenty after Solo Moni.
This is from the New York Times, which has a
lot of assets in Iran. Iran coordinated the attacks on
(17:29):
the American air base and Katar with Katari officials gave
advanced notice it was coming to minimize casualties, according to
three Iranian officials familiar with the plans. Officials said Iran
symbolically needed to strike back at the US, but at
the same time carry it out in a way that
allowed all sides in exit ramp. They decided described it
(17:50):
as similar to twenty twenty, So that's kind of what
we thought. We went to keep you updated, but it's.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Rational action from the Tehran regime. So we'll talk more
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Speaker 1 (18:58):
Welcome back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton Show Again Iran
has responded so far. It appears that they telegraphed their actions.
They are seeking to dial back after we kicked their
ass on Saturday night. Either they don't have the ability
to actually do anything to us, which is probably true,
(19:20):
and or they are afraid of what we might do
in response to them. And Buck I loved on Saturday
night when Trump came out about ten pm Eastern, Marco Rubio,
Pete Hegseth, and JD. Vance all arrayed behind him, spoke
for about three and a half minutes, and then his
(19:40):
top spokespeople, Rubio, Vance and heg Seth all spoke Sunday publicly,
and I thought did phenomenally well. But this, sorry, this
Marco Rubio versus Margaret Brennan on I think it's faced
the Nation or CBS News or wherever the heck she works.
Every time that it occurs, it just is an absolutely
(20:04):
epic beat down. And let's just play a couple of
a couple of these cuts. This is Rubio against Margaret
Brennan about cut twelve here, just to give you a
sense of the intellectual evisceration that took place on CBS
Sunday morning.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
This is what it sounded like it doesn't matter if
the order was given. They have everything they need to
build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury Why would you
bury things in a mountain three hundred feet under the ground.
Why would you bury six Why do they have sixty
percent enrich uranium? You don't need sixty percent in rich area.
The only countries in the world that have uranium at
sixty percent are countries that have nuclear weapons, because it
can quickly make it ninety. They have all the elements
(20:43):
they have. Why they why do they have a space program?
Is Aron going to go to the moon? No, they're
trying to build an ICBM.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
But that's that's a question.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
That's a question of intent. And you know in the
intelligence assessment that it was that Iran wanted to be
a threshold. See you use those I'm talking on the
intelligence March assessment, and that's why I was asking you
if you.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Know something more from its inaccurate representation of it. That's
an accurate representation of it. That's not how intelligence has read.
That's not how intelligence is used. Here's what the whole
world knows. Forget about intelligence, but the IAEA knows they
are enriching uranium. Well, beyond anything you need for a
civil nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Okay, that's point one you want to play.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Let's play point two here, because I do think it
goes into the essence of the attacks that are being
levied here by left wing media, which it should be
mentioned many people out there said, oh, my goodness, if
we do this, thousands of American troops are going to die.
It's early, but we have viscerated it appears the Iranian
(21:45):
nuclear oper opportunity going forward, and Iran basically rolled over
and played dead. To your point, Buck, they are effectively,
after forty six years of Ayatola rule, a third third
world country that's being frankly passed rapidly in their own
region by the Saudi Arabia, the UAE Qatar. Countries that
(22:09):
they used to look down on for generations are now
having way stronger economies, way better frankly military, and way
more success as a country.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, Iran is an ancient and proud civilization that for
the last fifty years has been brought low by moron
theocrats who make everything worse for everybody in the country.
That's what's happened, you know. It's a bit like you
talked to Cuban Americans down here in South Florida about Cuba,
(22:39):
a beautiful island with great people who have been emiserated
and enslaved by communist imbeciles since the Castro regime took power. Right,
I mean, this is unfortunately what it can happen in
some of these places. But here we've got Marco Rubio
cut two. You want to play this one, right, he
continues on dealing with Margaret Brennan. Play it.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
Why would you enrich Urania at sixty percent if you
don't intend to one day use it to take it
to ninety.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
And build a weapon?
Speaker 7 (23:04):
Why are you developing ICBMs? Why do you have eight
thousand short range missiles and two to three thousand long
mid arrange missiles that you continue to develop. Why do
you do all these things and just everything they need
for a nuclear weapon. They have the delivery mechanisms, they
have the enrichment capability, they have the highly enriched uranium.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
That is stored. That's all we need to see.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Right.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
Well, the hands of the regime that's already involved in
terrorism and proxies and all kinds of things are on
They are the source of all this.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
Yes, and no, one's disputing No, one's disputing that. I'm
not doing that here, and they were censured at the
IAEA for that enrichment and for violating their non proliferation agreements.
I was simply asking if we had intelligence that there
was an order to weaponize, because you said weaponization ambitions, we.
Speaker 7 (23:47):
Have intelligence that they have everything they need to build
a nuclear weapon, and that's more than enough.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I mean, here's a question for you, Buck.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
If Iran has no interest in having nuclear weapons, why
do they need to enrich uranium and be pursuing nuclear
energy in any way? They sit on one of the
biggest oil fields in the world. They have more energy
access than almost any country, well anywhere.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Okay, so you're asking, you're asking the basic and obvious
questions that people that oppose this have to just refuse
that you can't address, can't deal with that.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Why, that's my question, Like, what would be the reason
they would be burying uranium enrichment minds basically, for lack
of a better way of characterizing it, beneath mountains while
being on top of oil fields. If they weren't trying
to create nuclear weapon.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It's even worse than that, Like if they were willing
to play ball with the international community. Remember the their
signatory is to the Non Nuclear Perliferation Treaty, which they
just violate this but put that aside. You know, treaties, right,
You know, this is like Pompey Magnus of ancient Rome.
Don't quote laws to men with swords like okay, fine,
We're in a power dynamics based world, not a treaty
(25:00):
and obligations based world. Okay. If they were willing to
work with the international community such as it is, if
they were willing to play ball with America, Europe, et cetera,
and stop doing the things that they're doing that are
destabilizing and that make the region so miserable quite honestly,
and so much violence. I mean, the French would build
(25:22):
their reactors for them, and people would help them if
the regime was willing to have real inspections, play ball
and do what has been asked here for a long time,
civilian nuclear power, that there are ways that that could
be achieved and done. Of course, you asked the question,
which is maybe even more important, well, why would they
even want that considering how much oil they have, which
(25:43):
is just easier for them and the answer is that
they want to have a nuclear weapons capability. Do you
see this If you are a regime of bad actors
for the last fifty years or so, if you have nukes,
you don't have to worry really about external overthrow. That's
the lesson that a lot of people take from this,
and which is why North Korea gets to North Korea
(26:05):
do it right. North Korea is a perfect example. You
can be a religious zelot run theocracy that has held
been but well, it's basically what North Korea is. They
just worshiped the Kim dynasty instead of you know, Islam,
but it actually it really is kind of a theocracy,
and in a sense it's a netcrocracy because the founder,
(26:25):
Kim Il sung, is still kind of worshiped as the
head of the Communist Party.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But to your point, again from a international affairs response,
I have actually seen some of the members of the
Clinton administration saying publicly, now we blew it with North Korea.
In retrospect, we should have have had attacks on their
nuclear capabilities. Bill Clinton considered it in nineteen ninety four.
(26:53):
I even saw Rama Manuel Will come out and say it,
and I think most people out there would say Hey,
would be better if this crazy Korean dictatorship didn't have
nuclear weapons. But because they have them, they basically have
power and perpetuity because the risk of attacking them is
nuclear war. And that is the lesson that I think
Iran has taken now by attacking this regime, we are
(27:17):
trying to prevent another North Korea, but we're also sending
the message to other countries that may make the rational choice, hey,
we need to have nuclear weapons, to their consequences for
pursuing these and also buck This is why I think
the response from China and from Russia has been muted,
because deep down they don't want Iran to have nuclear
(27:38):
weapons either.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yes, of course, they can't trust Iran. These countries do
not align countries or whatever you want to call them,
that will work together. These are places you know, Putin's
right hand man. Can't trust Vladimir Putin. You think the Iranians,
I mean, these people will only. These are countries that
only will work together insofar as it is cast zero
(28:02):
cost to them and in their immediate interests, no interest,
as long as the oil flows. These countries don't give
a They don't care who's in charge in Iran. You know,
the Chinese get a lot of oil from Iran because
of the sanctions, and and you know they want that
oil to keep flowing. And you know that the Russians.
I know this seems strange people, but the Russians actually
buy a lot of Iranian oil too, even though the
(28:25):
Russians have a lot of oil on their own right,
because it has to do with refining and the global markets.
But clay there, there's no The World War III thing
never made any sense because there's no countries that are
going to come to the aid of Iran that want
to lose their own soldiers in some conflict, uh, you know,
with Israel and or with the United States. So that's
(28:46):
not going to happen. The thing for me, that's the
biggest open question right now is what do we want
if we're going to take this forward beyond where we are.
It is possible, folks, we wake up tomorrow and Iran
has managed to do so on thing horrible and kill
a lot of people somewhere, and that will change the
that will change the dynamics in this conflict overnight. I mean,
(29:07):
that is possible. So far, we haven't seen that in
what we've seen from Iran has been pretty contained and
pretty predictable, right, so what do we want? Meaning what
do we truly the American people want? Now? The first
thing is we want this to not be our problem
and for us not to be involved. I get that.
That's like first principle, that's numeral uno here is Okay,
(29:28):
we don't want to make this our problem. But in
terms of if we can foresee a future where we
don't have to, wouldn't it be nice? I mean, how
often do we sit around talking about, you know, the
future of Kazakhstan, which, by the way, has a lot
of natural resources. People think of Borot. It's actually a
very large country, a lot of natural resources. I think
a tremendous amount of Not the potassium is what Borat
(29:49):
always says. I think it has a lot of natural gas.
Someone check me on that. But my point is we
don't care about that. You know, Kazakhstan does its thing. Yeah,
they don't have free speech, and but whatever, it's not
our problem. We don't have to worry about this. We
really want Iran to be in that category. It's just
not our problem. And so if not our problem is
what we want from Iran, what does that look like,
(30:09):
how do we get there? And is that the Iranian
regime just kind of sputtering along as it is defanged,
as I've said, or do we really want to see
what happens if people start dragging the you know, the
IRGC and the besiege which is their really their brown
shirts and I mean they're street militia if you will,
(30:30):
of the regime. If we start if they start getting
dragged out in the streets and beaten by you know,
the civilians with pitchforks and torches, so to speak, is
that what we want? You know, I don't know. You know,
this is where we get into the I don't know again,
not us doing it. I'm just saying, what do we
really want in Iran?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I think that's the question at this point going forward,
and we could spend some time on it in this
third hour because to me, the question that and by
the way, Elon Musk.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Turn on startling.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Let the Iranians actually see what's going on in the
rest of the world, because buck what they're going to
say internally is we responded in cut and force and
wiped out the United States forces in the Middle East. Right,
this is what Iranian state television is gonna say, but
bigger picture what a lot of these young people in
Iran are saying. When I say young, I mean people
thirty five and younger. Either you're a you know, having kids,
(31:23):
or you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Are That's where we are now in Lifeclay, We're like,
we're all these whipper snappers in their thirties.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, all these young guys. But they are looking around now.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
At some point, embarrassment and anger starts to set in
in Iran because you see people in Saudi Arabia having
a better life than you. Bahrain Qatars having the freakin
World Cup. Saudi Arabia is gonna have the World Cup.
They love soccer. Why is Iran getting left behind? It's
one thing if the US and Israel are better off, okay,
but when your fellow Arab and Muslim countries are leaving
(31:54):
you behind and you to your point Buck used to
be a proud member of the Persian Empire. Go study
world history. They ancient history. They were ahead of the curve,
they were long ahead of much of even Europe back
in the day, and now they're falling behind. Quality of life.
They can't even keep the power on so they can
take elevators in buildings. These are real questions that I
(32:15):
think are going to start getting asked by the Iranian people.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
And where does it lead? That's the question.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Let's what comes next? What should come next? That's the
question for all of you call us talkbacks on the
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Speaker 5 (33:19):
Two guys walk up to a mic Hey, anything goes
Clay Travis and Fuck Sexton. Find them on the free
iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck. I got my over
Mountain Club mug in my hands here. You know what
was keeping me going last few days as I was
coughing up along here? Uh Crocketcoffee Crocketcoffee dot com. Absolutely
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in the spirit of Davy Crockett, the pioneer spirit embodied
by the coffee you'll be drinking. Go to Crocket Coffee
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They're running low, so get you as while you can.
And we're actually gonna switch up gears here for a second.
We're gonna keep an eye on the Middle East, but
we're also going to talk here about New York City.
(34:16):
Another scene of anarchy and despair. If this guy, mom Donnie,
wins this election, so We're going to dive into that
coming up in just a second. It is madness that
the biggest city in America may go in that direction.
Michael and Palm Beach wants to weigh in. What's going on, Michael.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Tombay, Lord, but Palm Beach is close enough.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Cool.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
Here's my fear on this.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
This has been done seven times, now, nine times, eleven times.
Who knows how many times we bombed them into oblivion
and they went, Okay, we quit. My fear is we
have to bomb them until they literally beg us to quit.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Bomb hmm.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Not how many bombs that's gonna take.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
But I think we're only bombing precise facilities right now.
I mean, this isn't like Dresden in World War Two.
I don't know if that's really gonna We.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Haven't roach Nagasaki, did anybody here buck?
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Look, we should mention.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Iran has also said they fired back the same number
of missiles at us that we fired at them on Saturday.
This is their attempt to keep us from continuing to
rain down on them.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I know I've been saying that you can pick your
historical analogy to support whatever point of view you want.
I will say this, It is possible for a country
that has gone down a path of extreme darkness, malevolency,
and militancy to turn around. I mean, you mentioned Hiroshima,
Nagasaki is a pretty extreme situation. But you know, Japan,
(35:54):
Japan's a good friend of the United States. Now, the Japanese,
what they did in World War Two was on the
same scale and level of horribleness as what the Germans did.
They just did it in a different place. So and
anyone who knows the history knows that. So it's possible
for countries to turn around. Now, it's way early in
the game to be saying, well, Iran is you know,
Iran is also going to be like a representative democracy
(36:16):
with a lot of people who love you know, pop
music and Hello Kitty or whatever. I mean, you know,
it's not going to turn it into Japan tomorrow. But
but it is possible for a country to get better
and for things to improve. It does not have to
be this way. That's my only thing, Clay, Iran does
not have to be this way. We should remind ourselves
(36:37):
of that.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
And maybe some of the Iranian people are starting to
realize that as they get left behind by other Arabs
and Muslims in their region that maybe it's not Israel
in the United States doing that, Maybe it's your awful
government and you're awful leaders.
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show Saturday. United
States attacks Iranian nuclear sites. Now Iran is responding in
real time as we.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Are talking to all of you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
There is footage playing of inside of Qatar missiles from
Iran fired at the US military base there. Iran has
announced that its official response is underway. They are reporting
that on Iranian state TV, that's their propaganda network. The
(00:39):
attack on the Qatari US base has begun. Also, other
Middle Eastern US forces now reportedly under attack as well,
and we are waiting to hear what the impact is
of the missiles that have been fired there. Again, this
(00:59):
is in real time as all of us are talking
with you. President Trump is with his top administrators right now,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
And the question again is how what is the impact
(01:21):
and the desire here? Buck, And this is where you,
as an intelligence analyst back in the day, would be
trying to scramble and assess. You and I were at Langley,
We were on the CIA's campus just a couple of
weeks ago, just in advance by like a day or
so of the Israeli attack on Iran.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And you remember I can say this now.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I think I asked a question in a meeting and
about Iran because there hadn't been that many reports about
it to that point, and it was like, all of
a sudden, a veil of silence just descended on the
room where they were like, uh, you didn't have to
be an expert to know something might be a footway.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Yeah, And after I looked at Clay, I'm like, that
was weird. We're striking or there's a strike coming, I
should say, Israel striking Iran. It was pretty obvious.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So the question here, and I'll toss this to you,
is to what extent is this? And look, first of all,
we're praying, we want all of our forces in the
Middle East to be safe. I know many of you
out there listening may well have family members, friends. We're
going to give you the information as it is reported,
accurately to the best of our ability in a real time,
(02:32):
dynamic situation. Big picture here, Buck. The question that is
going to be integral and will go a long way
towards determining what our response is is how we assess
what Iran is doing?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Is this a face saving?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Us?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You can't you know, rip our nuclear program to shreds
without us doing something back. But it's a pulled punch,
meaning we knew it was coming. It's not designed to
deliver massive consequences relatively speaking. Or do we judge this
to have been an acceleration beyond expected Iranian response? Much
(03:12):
of this now is a dance of diplomacy through missile,
which sounds complicated but actually is important here as we
try and determine the significance and severity of the Iranian response,
Is it face saving or is accelerating would be a
way I think to sum up what we have to
analyze at this point in time.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Well, I think it's the best the Iranians militarily can
muster against the regional enemies that they want to attack
and US, and these relations are the top of the list.
It's not that Iran. If Iran could level Tel Aviv tomorrow,
it would do so. The reason that Iran hasn't done
(03:54):
that is they can't do that. And that's also true
of their abilities here when it comes to hitting military
forces in the region. They also I think stay you know,
at some level, have to understand that if they were
to go after soft targets, non military targets, they would
(04:14):
invite much more extreme retaliation. Look, this is a country
that was, as I said, unable to protect its senior
military leadership, unable to protect nuclear scientists from getting blown
up in just their apartment buildings in like the corner
of the building where they happen to live. Unable to
do any of those things in the opening of a
(04:34):
conflict that they'd supposedly been preparing for for or early
since the seventy nine revolution. In some way, yes, they're
not militarily sophisticated as a country. That doesn't mean they're
not dangerous. It just means they do not have a
sophisticated first world military that can do. You know, Russia,
as we've seen, very different situation. We're talking about Russia
(04:55):
fighting against Ukraine. There you have you know, advanced lanes,
advanced drones, advanced communications, a lot of firepower. You know
that they've they've got they've got stuff that can cause
a headache for anybody. The Russians do the Iranians, it's
a little bit of a different situation. So I think
what we'll see is probably these Iranians, uh, these Iranian missiles. Look,
(05:19):
I don't. I don't want to prejudge it. Let's see
what happens. Let's see what happens. If it's just the
strikes that hit bases and there's no major US casualties,
I think Trump will repeat his calls for negotiations for
some kind of I guess this these fire You know.
The part of this that is really wide open to me,
(05:40):
and I haven't seen much clarity on this is we're
not going to push for regime change, but we all
I shouldn't say we all. The Trump administration wants a
different regime but doesn't want to push and kind of
topple the existing one more than what we've through, more
than what we've already done. Yeah, it feels like we're
going to head into this uneasy the status quo of
(06:02):
a somewhat defanged Iran that we're hoping wants to come
to the table and stop being crazy. But really, Clay,
the fundamental problem with all of this is that the
people that run around are bad people. Yes, and I
mean crazy isn't really the right word, but there is
an ideological viciousness that is at the heart of the
(06:22):
theocracy that is Iran. And so I also look at
what happened in Syria. Yeah, finally the Assad regime came down.
It took thirteen years, and at one point early on
like twenty thirteen twenty twelve timeframe, there were suicide bombers,
Jihadi suicide bombers that were infiltrating like the equivalent of
(06:47):
Assad's Pentagon. I mean, they were right there knocking at
the door. And the civil war was brutal, and the
Assad regime held on for a decade plus. Do you
have updates on this?
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I think I've got some information. This is the spokesperson
for Katar and this is a translation from Arabic. So
all of this is on Twitter, all right, So obviously
I do not speak Arabic. I'm not translating this in
real time. This is according to uh yeah, this is
(07:18):
according to the Google translations. This is Abu Abu Clay.
Go ahead, Yes, this is my ATTIMPT. Here's what this
is what I want to get out because I know
there's a lot of people out there. We express the
State of Qatar strong condemnation of the attack on Al
Yadid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, consider
(07:40):
it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar's sovereignty,
sovereignty and airspace sovereignty, as well as of international law
and the United Nations Charter. We affirm the State of
Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner
proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression
and in accordance with international law. Okay, we are reassured
(08:03):
that Katari air defenses thwarted the attack and successfully intercepted
the Iranian missiles. The Ministry of Defense will issue a
statement clarifying the circumstances of the attack later. We also
affirm the continuation of such escalating military actions undermined security
and stability in the region, and so the base has
(08:29):
been evacuated earlier in accordance with approved security and precautionary measures.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
In light of the tensions.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
All necessary measures were taken to ensure the safety of
the base's personnel.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Okay, so so far, so good. We shot down their
stuff and we're looking Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
No injuries or human losses occurred as a result of
the attack, according to this report which has just come
down that has not been publicly reported by anybody else.
But again, that is the Qatari spokesperson.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
So this is looking so far like it's very similar
to the custom Solomoni retaliation, which was pretty much deminimus
from a military military damage perspective, and it was the
Iranian regime doing really what's within their power militarily, right.
I mean, this is something that I think a lot
of people when we talk about this, we have to
(09:21):
remember this when you talk about something like Hamas. I mean,
Hamas doesn't distinguish. In fact, Hamas prefers civilian targets. Not
only they're not distinguished military, civilian they prefer civily. They're
not going to go after the IDF, They're gonna get
their asses kicked. Hamas likes to go after you know,
elderly people, people in wheelchairs, children like. That's amass preferred
target set, which is heinous. And in the case of Iran,
(09:44):
so far they are sticking to military to military response,
which is a different thing under the laws of war
and Geneva Conventions, et cetera. You know, this is something
that you could say the Iranians are paying attention to.
Will they go and cross that line and go Hamas
and start having proxies on their behalf do this? You'd
(10:05):
have to wonder who are these proxies and what do
they think they're going to get out of this. I
think the message, you know, Clay, we can get into
some more JD. Vans for examples on the Sunday shows.
With this administration, it is so different, and I truly
you know, this is not like oh Talk radio our side,
their side. It is so different from the dementia puppet
in chief and what we had before. When these guys
(10:27):
say something, When Trump and Vance and Hegseth say something
about if you if you kill American somewhere, We're going
to drop the fires of hell on your head, they
mean it, yes, and the bad guys know they mean it,
and they know it will happen, and that has meaning.
That has meaning for moments like this, whereas with Biden.
(10:51):
You know, I mean we know invasion of Ukraine happens.
I mean, they'll get the stuff like no no one
takes the guy seriously. So let well, Clay, I'll get
into some of this because I think JD. Advance made
it very clear that there are ways that the Iranians
can respond that will be you know, within the UH,
within the laws of war, the boundaries of armed conflict,
I should say, And there are ways that they can
(11:13):
go outside of that. If they go outside of that,
I think this administration is going to punish them severely.
And that's the way that it should be.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And now you you also understand better than anybody else.
You have to know what somebody means in negotiation. You
can't like Biden was so weak.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
They felt like they could play him, and they knew
that there was no spine behind anything he said. And
these these dictators, these malas, and respond to violence.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
This is the thing.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It's not It's not like that was their perception and
Biden was actually a sleeping giant or something, And no,
it was they were right by thinking he was an
imbecile and a not of sound mind.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And again I think that sometimes you don't like it,
and I think this is where democrats, frankly, lack of
masculinity becomes an issue. Most people who are in positions
of power around the world are dudes who are mal actors. Right,
are men, and they respond to violence. That's what they
(12:14):
respond to. It would be great if they would respond
to argument, but ultimately, all they care about is do
you have the ability to do them harm. It's like
bullies everywhere, right, Like on some level, you don't usually
talk a bully out of being a bully. You have
to make the bully fear that you can kick his ass.
(12:34):
And that is what Trump is willing to do because
I think he understands that. I think a lot of
the soft, weak masculinity, frankly of the Democrat Party might
work when it comes to persuading Lesbians of the truth
of their arguments in the United States, it doesn't work
when it comes to fundamentalist terrorists who are effectively in
(12:56):
control of the country like Iran. I mean, that's the
hard truth and that's the reality, and they respect force
and violence, and you have to sometimes show them that
you're willing to deploy it. Biden wasn't. I think that's
why Ukraine got invaded. I think the weakness that he
showed in Afghanistan showed the world that he didn't have
a steel spine, and they took advantage of it. I
don't think Hamas would have invaded if Trump were in office.
(13:18):
I don't think that Ukraine would have gotten invaded if
Trump were in office. And I think what's happening right
now is Iran is learning that Trump isn't to be
trifled with. Look, we don't shy away from the tough
topics of the day.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
On the program.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
We tell you exactly what we think, and these are
some of the things that most Americans agree on. How
about this, boys shouldn't compete in girls sports?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Another one?
Speaker 1 (13:41):
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Speaker 3 (14:50):
All right, welcome back in here to Clay and Buck.
So far, it looks like the Iranian missile launch against
US bases has been nothing major in terms of any
casualties or any losses on our side. And the missiles
been shot out of the sky, so we're not seeing
any any major damage from that. Want to take calls
from you and and and hear from you and all
(15:12):
this how you think this is going. So let's get
to Jim in Missouri wants to weigh in. What's going on.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Jim point, there's no way Biden could pool this off
for two reasons. Number one, had happened on the weekend,
and we know where he was on the weekend on vacation.
We watched for four years. The second thing is it
happened after his curfew or lid time, which is four
pm Eastern.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, I mean it's funny, Buck.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I mean I when I was up late late on
Saturday night watching the news and following this story like
everybody else, all I could think over and over again,
was thank god we do not have Kamala Harrison office
because to your point, do you think these bad guys
respect Kamla Harrison any way? Are they afraid of what
she might order against them? I mean, whatever you want
(16:06):
to think about Trump, they respect Trump, and I think
you're seeing it right now. With Iran, I don't know
if he if they pulled their punches buck, or if
they frankly just don't have the ability to throw a
very hard punch because to your point, they're basically a
third world country.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Now, look what they've done with Look what they've done
with Israel. I mean, if if they could, like I said,
if they could have leveled the Israeli city with ballistic
missiles in response to those strikes, they would have done it.
They can't do it, thank god. But that's where things are.
David and Alabama. What's going on? David?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Hey, guys, Kamala Harris couldn't order take out and make
anybody worry. But the comment I want to make, did
y'all catch Marco Rubio's jal.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Or that mental midget on over the weekend? About up
and tell you know what, David, We'll play after our
next break here, we'll play those for everybody and and
walk through those because Clay I think they were fantastic.
Marco Rubio is he is en fuego? Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
And by the way, more and more reports coming out
that basically Iran let us know exactly what they were
going to be doing, what the timing of their attacks
were going to be, and we said, this is very
similar to what happened in twenty twenty after Solo Moni.
This is from the New York Times, which has a
lot of assets in Iran. Iran coordinated the attacks on
(17:29):
the American air base and Katar with Katari officials gave
advanced notice it was coming to minimize casualties, according to
three Iranian officials familiar with the plans. Officials said Iran
symbolically needed to strike back at the US, but at
the same time carry it out in a way that
allowed all sides in exit ramp. They decided described it
(17:50):
as similar to twenty twenty, So that's kind of what
we thought. We went to keep you updated, but it's.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Rational action from the Tehran regime. So we'll talk more
about this. Pure talk is all about thanking our military
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Speaker 1 (18:58):
Welcome back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton Show Again Iran
has responded so far. It appears that they telegraphed their actions.
They are seeking to dial back after we kicked their
ass on Saturday night. Either they don't have the ability
to actually do anything to us, which is probably true,
(19:20):
and or they are afraid of what we might do
in response to them. And Buck I loved on Saturday
night when Trump came out about ten pm Eastern, Marco Rubio,
Pete Hegseth, and JD. Vance all arrayed behind him, spoke
for about three and a half minutes, and then his
(19:40):
top spokespeople, Rubio, Vance and heg Seth all spoke Sunday publicly,
and I thought did phenomenally well. But this, sorry, this
Marco Rubio versus Margaret Brennan on I think it's faced
the Nation or CBS News or wherever the heck she works.
Every time that it occurs, it just is an absolutely
(20:04):
epic beat down. And let's just play a couple of
a couple of these cuts. This is Rubio against Margaret
Brennan about cut twelve here, just to give you a
sense of the intellectual evisceration that took place on CBS
Sunday morning.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
This is what it sounded like it doesn't matter if
the order was given. They have everything they need to
build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury Why would you
bury things in a mountain three hundred feet under the ground.
Why would you bury six Why do they have sixty
percent enrich uranium? You don't need sixty percent in rich area.
The only countries in the world that have uranium at
sixty percent are countries that have nuclear weapons, because it
can quickly make it ninety. They have all the elements
(20:43):
they have. Why they why do they have a space program?
Is Aron going to go to the moon? No, they're
trying to build an ICBM.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
But that's that's a question.
Speaker 8 (20:50):
That's a question of intent. And you know in the
intelligence assessment that it was that Iran wanted to be
a threshold. See you use those I'm talking on the
intelligence March assessment, and that's why I was asking you
if you.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Know something more from its inaccurate representation of it. That's
an accurate representation of it. That's not how intelligence has read.
That's not how intelligence is used. Here's what the whole
world knows. Forget about intelligence, but the IAEA knows they
are enriching uranium. Well, beyond anything you need for a
civil nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Okay, that's point one you want to play.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Let's play point two here, because I do think it
goes into the essence of the attacks that are being
levied here by left wing media, which it should be
mentioned many people out there said, oh, my goodness, if
we do this, thousands of American troops are going to die.
It's early, but we have viscerated it appears the Iranian
(21:45):
nuclear oper opportunity going forward, and Iran basically rolled over
and played dead. To your point, Buck, they are effectively,
after forty six years of Ayatola rule, a third third
world country that's being frankly passed rapidly in their own
region by the Saudi Arabia, the UAE Qatar. Countries that
(22:09):
they used to look down on for generations are now
having way stronger economies, way better frankly military, and way
more success as a country.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, Iran is an ancient and proud civilization that for
the last fifty years has been brought low by moron
theocrats who make everything worse for everybody in the country.
That's what's happened, you know. It's a bit like you
talked to Cuban Americans down here in South Florida about Cuba,
(22:39):
a beautiful island with great people who have been emiserated
and enslaved by communist imbeciles since the Castro regime took power. Right,
I mean, this is unfortunately what it can happen in
some of these places. But here we've got Marco Rubio
cut two. You want to play this one, right, he
continues on dealing with Margaret Brennan. Play it.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
Why would you enrich Urania at sixty percent if you
don't intend to one day use it to take it
to ninety.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
And build a weapon?
Speaker 7 (23:04):
Why are you developing ICBMs? Why do you have eight
thousand short range missiles and two to three thousand long
mid arrange missiles that you continue to develop. Why do
you do all these things and just everything they need
for a nuclear weapon. They have the delivery mechanisms, they
have the enrichment capability, they have the highly enriched uranium.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
That is stored. That's all we need to see.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Right.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
Well, the hands of the regime that's already involved in
terrorism and proxies and all kinds of things are on
They are the source of all this.
Speaker 8 (23:30):
Yes, and no, one's disputing No, one's disputing that. I'm
not doing that here, and they were censured at the
IAEA for that enrichment and for violating their non proliferation agreements.
I was simply asking if we had intelligence that there
was an order to weaponize, because you said weaponization ambitions, we.
Speaker 7 (23:47):
Have intelligence that they have everything they need to build
a nuclear weapon, and that's more than enough.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I mean, here's a question for you, Buck.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
If Iran has no interest in having nuclear weapons, why
do they need to enrich uranium and be pursuing nuclear
energy in any way? They sit on one of the
biggest oil fields in the world. They have more energy
access than almost any country, well anywhere.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Okay, so you're asking, you're asking the basic and obvious
questions that people that oppose this have to just refuse
that you can't address, can't deal with that.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Why, that's my question, Like, what would be the reason
they would be burying uranium enrichment minds basically, for lack
of a better way of characterizing it, beneath mountains while
being on top of oil fields. If they weren't trying
to create nuclear weapon.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It's even worse than that, Like if they were willing
to play ball with the international community. Remember the their
signatory is to the Non Nuclear Perliferation Treaty, which they
just violate this but put that aside. You know, treaties, right,
You know, this is like Pompey Magnus of ancient Rome.
Don't quote laws to men with swords like okay, fine,
We're in a power dynamics based world, not a treaty
(25:00):
and obligations based world. Okay. If they were willing to
work with the international community such as it is, if
they were willing to play ball with America, Europe, et cetera,
and stop doing the things that they're doing that are
destabilizing and that make the region so miserable quite honestly,
and so much violence. I mean, the French would build
(25:22):
their reactors for them, and people would help them if
the regime was willing to have real inspections, play ball
and do what has been asked here for a long time,
civilian nuclear power, that there are ways that that could
be achieved and done. Of course, you asked the question,
which is maybe even more important, well, why would they
even want that considering how much oil they have, which
(25:43):
is just easier for them and the answer is that
they want to have a nuclear weapons capability. Do you
see this If you are a regime of bad actors
for the last fifty years or so, if you have nukes,
you don't have to worry really about external overthrow. That's
the lesson that a lot of people take from this,
and which is why North Korea gets to North Korea
(26:05):
do it right. North Korea is a perfect example. You
can be a religious zelot run theocracy that has held
been but well, it's basically what North Korea is. They
just worshiped the Kim dynasty instead of you know, Islam,
but it actually it really is kind of a theocracy,
and in a sense it's a netcrocracy because the founder,
(26:25):
Kim Il sung, is still kind of worshiped as the
head of the Communist Party.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But to your point, again from a international affairs response,
I have actually seen some of the members of the
Clinton administration saying publicly, now we blew it with North Korea.
In retrospect, we should have have had attacks on their
nuclear capabilities. Bill Clinton considered it in nineteen ninety four.
(26:53):
I even saw Rama Manuel Will come out and say it,
and I think most people out there would say Hey,
would be better if this crazy Korean dictatorship didn't have
nuclear weapons. But because they have them, they basically have
power and perpetuity because the risk of attacking them is
nuclear war. And that is the lesson that I think
Iran has taken now by attacking this regime, we are
(27:17):
trying to prevent another North Korea, but we're also sending
the message to other countries that may make the rational choice, hey,
we need to have nuclear weapons, to their consequences for
pursuing these and also buck This is why I think
the response from China and from Russia has been muted,
because deep down they don't want Iran to have nuclear
(27:38):
weapons either.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yes, of course, they can't trust Iran. These countries do
not align countries or whatever you want to call them,
that will work together. These are places you know, Putin's
right hand man. Can't trust Vladimir Putin. You think the Iranians,
I mean, these people will only. These are countries that
only will work together insofar as it is cast zero
(28:02):
cost to them and in their immediate interests, no interest,
as long as the oil flows. These countries don't give
a They don't care who's in charge in Iran. You know,
the Chinese get a lot of oil from Iran because
of the sanctions, and and you know they want that
oil to keep flowing. And you know that the Russians.
I know this seems strange people, but the Russians actually
buy a lot of Iranian oil too, even though the
(28:25):
Russians have a lot of oil on their own right,
because it has to do with refining and the global markets.
But clay there, there's no The World War III thing
never made any sense because there's no countries that are
going to come to the aid of Iran that want
to lose their own soldiers in some conflict, uh, you know,
with Israel and or with the United States. So that's
(28:46):
not going to happen. The thing for me, that's the
biggest open question right now is what do we want
if we're going to take this forward beyond where we are.
It is possible, folks, we wake up tomorrow and Iran
has managed to do so on thing horrible and kill
a lot of people somewhere, and that will change the
that will change the dynamics in this conflict overnight. I mean,
(29:07):
that is possible. So far, we haven't seen that in
what we've seen from Iran has been pretty contained and
pretty predictable, right, so what do we want? Meaning what
do we truly the American people want? Now? The first
thing is we want this to not be our problem
and for us not to be involved. I get that.
That's like first principle, that's numeral uno here is Okay,
(29:28):
we don't want to make this our problem. But in
terms of if we can foresee a future where we
don't have to, wouldn't it be nice? I mean, how
often do we sit around talking about, you know, the
future of Kazakhstan, which, by the way, has a lot
of natural resources. People think of Borot. It's actually a
very large country, a lot of natural resources. I think
a tremendous amount of Not the potassium is what Borat
(29:49):
always says. I think it has a lot of natural gas.
Someone check me on that. But my point is we
don't care about that. You know, Kazakhstan does its thing. Yeah,
they don't have free speech, and but whatever, it's not
our problem. We don't have to worry about this. We
really want Iran to be in that category. It's just
not our problem. And so if not our problem is
what we want from Iran, what does that look like,
(30:09):
how do we get there? And is that the Iranian
regime just kind of sputtering along as it is defanged,
as I've said, or do we really want to see
what happens if people start dragging the you know, the
IRGC and the besiege which is their really their brown
shirts and I mean they're street militia if you will,
(30:30):
of the regime. If we start if they start getting
dragged out in the streets and beaten by you know,
the civilians with pitchforks and torches, so to speak, is
that what we want? You know, I don't know. You know,
this is where we get into the I don't know again,
not us doing it. I'm just saying, what do we
really want in Iran?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
I think that's the question at this point going forward,
and we could spend some time on it in this
third hour because to me, the question that and by
the way, Elon Musk.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Turn on startling.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Let the Iranians actually see what's going on in the
rest of the world, because buck what they're going to
say internally is we responded in cut and force and
wiped out the United States forces in the Middle East. Right,
this is what Iranian state television is gonna say, but
bigger picture what a lot of these young people in
Iran are saying. When I say young, I mean people
thirty five and younger. Either you're a you know, having kids,
(31:23):
or you.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
Are That's where we are now in Lifeclay, We're like,
we're all these whipper snappers in their thirties.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, all these young guys. But they are looking around now.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
At some point, embarrassment and anger starts to set in
in Iran because you see people in Saudi Arabia having
a better life than you. Bahrain Qatars having the freakin
World Cup. Saudi Arabia is gonna have the World Cup.
They love soccer. Why is Iran getting left behind? It's
one thing if the US and Israel are better off, okay,
but when your fellow Arab and Muslim countries are leaving
(31:54):
you behind and you to your point Buck used to
be a proud member of the Persian Empire. Go study
world history. They ancient history. They were ahead of the curve,
they were long ahead of much of even Europe back
in the day, and now they're falling behind. Quality of life.
They can't even keep the power on so they can
take elevators in buildings. These are real questions that I
(32:15):
think are going to start getting asked by the Iranian people.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
And where does it lead? That's the question.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Let's what comes next? What should come next? That's the
question for all of you call us talkbacks on the
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Speaker 5 (33:19):
Two guys walk up to a mic Hey, anything goes
Clay Travis and Fuck Sexton. Find them on the free
iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck. I got my over
Mountain Club mug in my hands here. You know what
was keeping me going last few days as I was
coughing up along here? Uh Crocketcoffee Crocketcoffee dot com. Absolutely
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in the spirit of Davy Crockett, the pioneer spirit embodied
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They're running low, so get you as while you can.
And we're actually gonna switch up gears here for a second.
We're gonna keep an eye on the Middle East, but
we're also going to talk here about New York City.
(34:16):
Another scene of anarchy and despair. If this guy, mom Donnie,
wins this election, so We're going to dive into that
coming up in just a second. It is madness that
the biggest city in America may go in that direction.
Michael and Palm Beach wants to weigh in. What's going on, Michael.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Tombay, Lord, but Palm Beach is close enough.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Cool.
Speaker 6 (34:42):
Here's my fear on this.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
This has been done seven times, now, nine times, eleven times.
Who knows how many times we bombed them into oblivion
and they went, Okay, we quit. My fear is we
have to bomb them until they literally beg us to quit.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Bomb hmm.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Not how many bombs that's gonna take.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
But I think we're only bombing precise facilities right now.
I mean, this isn't like Dresden in World War Two.
I don't know if that's really gonna We.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Haven't roach Nagasaki, did anybody here buck?
Speaker 6 (35:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Look, we should mention.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Iran has also said they fired back the same number
of missiles at us that we fired at them on Saturday.
This is their attempt to keep us from continuing to
rain down on them.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
I know I've been saying that you can pick your
historical analogy to support whatever point of view you want.
I will say this, It is possible for a country
that has gone down a path of extreme darkness, malevolency,
and militancy to turn around. I mean, you mentioned Hiroshima,
Nagasaki is a pretty extreme situation. But you know, Japan,
(35:54):
Japan's a good friend of the United States. Now, the Japanese,
what they did in World War Two was on the
same scale and level of horribleness as what the Germans did.
They just did it in a different place. So and
anyone who knows the history knows that. So it's possible
for countries to turn around. Now, it's way early in
the game to be saying, well, Iran is you know,
Iran is also going to be like a representative democracy
(36:16):
with a lot of people who love you know, pop
music and Hello Kitty or whatever. I mean, you know,
it's not going to turn it into Japan tomorrow. But
but it is possible for a country to get better
and for things to improve. It does not have to
be this way. That's my only thing, Clay, Iran does
not have to be this way. We should remind ourselves
(36:37):
of that.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
And maybe some of the Iranian people are starting to
realize that as they get left behind by other Arabs
and Muslims in their region that maybe it's not Israel
in the United States doing that, Maybe it's your awful
government and you're awful leaders.
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