September 1, 2026 • 36 mins
Hour 3 of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focused on escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, President Donald Trump’s energy and foreign policy strategy, the geopolitical and economic implications of a major Venezuela oil agreement, the 2026 midterm election landscape, concerns about Democratic political shifts in Michigan, the growing debate over artificial intelligence and data centers, and listener reactions to several ongoing national issues.
The hour opened with a detailed discussion of the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict, including additional American military strikes targeting Iranian assets near the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region. Clay and Buck analyzed President Trump’s continued pressure campaign against Iran, examining both the military and economic dimensions of the confrontation. The hosts discussed Trump’s argument that the Iranian regime has been significantly weakened through sanctions, military operations, and international pressure while also considering the potential political impact of rising oil prices and energy costs on the approaching 2026 midterm elections. Energy markets, crude oil prices, global shipping routes, and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz remained central themes throughout this conversation.
A major segment focused on what the hosts described as a historic Venezuela oil agreement backed by American energy companies. Clay and Buck discussed President Trump’s claims that U.S. businesses have secured access to massive Venezuelan oil reserves through private investment rather than taxpayer funding. They examined how expanded Venezuelan production could reshape long-term global energy markets, strengthen American energy security, and potentially lower future fuel costs. The conversation explored the state of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, production challenges, energy independence, and the broader role of fossil fuels in U.S. economic growth. The hosts also framed the development as part of what they see as Trump’s larger effort to create lasting policy achievements extending well beyond his presidency.
The discussion then shifted to President Trump’s political legacy and the approaching midterm elections. Clay argued that Trump increasingly appears focused on long-term projects and historical legacy rather than short-term political battles. The hosts debated whether Trump views victories in 2024 as the defining achievement of his political career and whether maintaining congressional majorities ranks as highly among his current priorities. They examined the implications of potential Democratic control of the House, future investigations into the administration, and Trump’s willingness to pursue large-scale projects despite political risks.
Politics remained a major focus as Clay and Buck analyzed competitive Senate contests, particularly in Michigan, where they discussed Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his growing political profile. The hosts examined comments from Vice President JD Vance criticizing El-Sayed and debated what his rise could signal about the future direction of the Democratic Party. They argued that El-Sayed represents a more progressive and socialist-oriented faction of modern Democratic politics and speculated that a statewide victory could position him as a potential presidential contender in 2028. The conversation expanded into broader analysis of Democratic coalition politics, swing-state strategy, campaign spending, polling, union influence, and the battle for control of the U.S. Senate. Listener calls from Michigan highlighted concerns about Republican fundraising and Democratic advertising advantages in the state.
One of the most extensive discussions during Hour 3 centered on the national debate over data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and economic development. Reacting to recent statements from President Trump, the hosts strongly defended the construction of data centers as a critical component of America’s economic future. They argued that data centers function as the modern equivalent of factories, supporting technological innovation, AI development, job creation, and national security. Clay and Buck pushed back against concerns over water consumption and energy use, citing examples of communities that have benefited economically through lower taxes, increased investment, construction jobs, and expanding technology sectors. They also discussed opposition to data centers, zoning disputes, environmental concerns, and what they view as efforts by political activists to block technological development. The hosts repeatedly emphasized that artificial intelligence infrastructure will play a central role in future economic competitiveness and military preparedness, particularly in competition with China.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now.
Thanks for being here with us, everybody. And as part
of our discussion today, of course, we have the latest
from President Trump in his showdown with Iran.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
There have been.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
More strikes.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Going on.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We can give you some of those updates. The bottom
line here, I think, is The pressure campaign from the
Trump side continues. Clearly, the Iranian regime is hoping to
at least push things into the midterms and use the
political leverage that they have. But the U.S. struck Iranian
(00:46):
rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran hit U.S. bases in Jordan, and there are reports
about the UAE being hit as well. Trump called Iran
a failed nation. with 300. You know what, actually, we
have Trump saying this. This was just yesterday. This is
cut to here is the president, the commander in chief
saying exactly what he thinks of the situation.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
They're a failed nation. They've got 350 percent inflation. They
have no currency. They're not paying their soldiers. Their leaders
are largely dead. Their Navy is gone. Their Air Force
is gone. Their surveillance equipment is almost entirely gone. That
doesn't mean we won't smack them. We'll see what happens.
But we have the Strait of Hormuz in extremely good shape.
(01:31):
You know, we're taking over. Many, many ships got through
last night, as you know, with the Navy's assistance. And
we've been averaging 30 ships a night. That's a lot.
And a lot of oil is coming out. That's why
you haven't seen the price of oil go like they
thought it might have to go. And the main thing,
when I say it all, I could go on for
an hour about what a great job we've done.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, Clay, Trump, once again, saying that we've got the
Iranians More or less right where we want them and
that this has gone the way that we have needed
it to and that we are in a good spot here.
There's certainly Trump's willingness to hit the enemy is something
that no one is questioning. He has done that many,
(02:15):
many times now. Where are we with the price of
gas in the midterms? Because that is what this always
translates into right away.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
$ 88 a barrel at this exact moment in time.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I was looking it up to see if there was movement.
There is some movement. Every time there is some additional
firing back and forth, the price of oil and gas
usually goes up a little bit. I will say, I
think even people who thought Trump was crazy for going
into the Middle East expected oil and gas prices to
(02:51):
move more than they have. I think there has been
an ability to get a lot of oil and gas
out of Iran. And I do think that the president's
decision to put additional economic sanctions on Iran is partly
based on the fact that there has been an ability.
to keep the global economy moving without having to rely
(03:14):
on the oil and gas that Iran produces. And ultimately,
I know everybody thinks in terms of, hey, what are
the next 90 days going to be? How are we
going to meet our quarterly numbers? What's going to happen next?
The reality is this decision, and we haven't even talked
about this on the program because I didn't mention it yesterday.
If the Venezuela oil deal works... as it is being
(03:37):
talked about working. It's a decision that makes sense for
years into the future. It would get us $ 30 a
barrel gas.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, this is the next thing I was going to
ask you about, which is, so you are reading my mind, sir,
which is let's talk about Venezuela and their oil and
what's going on. This is cut four. Listen to what
the president said just yesterday.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Hit it.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
We have a great relationship with Venezuela. It's you know,
it's a it's a team in a sense. And we're
taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil going
to Houston, going to Louisiana, going to lots of different
places in the United States and all over the world.
And we're doing we're making a fortune and they're making
a fortune. They're starting to make real money. And we
(04:22):
have Exxon going in. We have Chevron going in. We
have our big oil companies going in and everybody's bidding. And,
you know, there are those that say it was the
greatest deal ever made. Let's see what happens.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
President Trump said, Clay, the U.S. has secured majority control
of over 65 billion, will they be, barrels of Venezuela's
proven reserves, which is about one fifth of the country's
total reserves. more than the current U.S.-approved reserves, 46 billion barrels,
at no cost to the American taxpayer, that is a quote,
through a partnership with private business. The announcement was framed
(04:58):
as the biggest oil deal in history, and Venezuelan interim
president Delcy Rodriguez has confirmed it, said that it covers
17 strategic fields, lasting at least 25 years, targeting higher output,
$ 100 billion in investment, and roughly $ 209 billion in royalties
and taxes for It is a, to put it mildly,
(05:21):
big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, the gas still has to get out. The Venezuela
ability to produce gas has been severely damaged over the
last generation or so as Maduro rose in power. I
believe the last numbers that I have seen is Venezuela
is producing around 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas
(05:45):
right now. and has been as high as three to
four million barrels of oil and gas in the past.
These reserves would suggest that if things start to fire
on all cylinders in the years ahead, they will be
producing millions and millions of barrels of oil and gas,
which will make American consumers hopefully have to pay less
(06:07):
and less for gas in the years ahead. I don't
think the Venezuela plan actually is likely to have that
much impact on President Trump's tenure because I believe what
is necessary to be done is a multi-year process. So
this is actually, and I think you could put the
ballroom in this category. I think you can put the arch.
(06:27):
I think you can put a lot, even the Iran
decision in general. For all the talk about how President
Trump only cares about himself, He's actually making many legacy
defining moves, which will primarily benefit the country after his
tenure is over. A lot of presidents kind of make
(06:47):
decisions that are going to look really good for them
in the four or eight years that they have in office.
And then the legacy of history is a secondary thought.
It feels to me increasingly like Trump in this second
term is reaching beyond the scope of January 2029 and
and trying to make decisions that he thinks are good
decisions for the 2030s and the 2040s. And if anything,
(07:11):
you can criticize his overly ambitious scope in that way,
as opposed to being completely focused on the very particular
concerns of this day, of this week, of this month,
which is largely, I think, what the midterm is going
to be defined by. And Buck, what I would say,
we talked about this a little bit earlier, is.
(07:33):
I do think in the wake of winning the national
popular vote, winning all seven swing states, I think Trump
feels like he already won the Super Bowl, and the
midterms feel to him just kind of like another race,
which most people are not going to pay attention to,
and I don't know that he's that concerned about the
(07:55):
house being back in the control of Democrats. I'm just
being honest because he's already been impeached twice. What are
they really going to do to him? They tried to
put him in prison for the rest of his life.
People are trying to kill him left and right. Do
you really think he's going to be afraid of subpoenas
from Hakeem Jeffries? Yeah, he's been through more than what
the Democrats will be. I mean, he's been shot.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
He's been through more than whatever the Democrats will be
able to muster politically and, and via lawfare and bureaucratic
nonsense against him. That's certainly the case. But they'll be
able to slow down his agenda, and they will be, unfortunately,
in a position, even if they just win the House,
to direct House business and do oversight investigations, things like that,
(08:39):
that will be a distraction and irritation and annoyance. And
Trump has a lot that he's trying to get done
in just the next two years. So all of this,
I think, is, you know, look, it's going to be
quite a day in this midterm. It's all, it's all
coming together here. This Abdul El-Sayed character, this is something,
(09:00):
this is a guy who he is far left for sure.
And he is in some of the polls I'm seeing
even ahead of Mike Rogers right now. Now that doesn't
mean anything necessarily, but JD Vance said this, Clay, I
wanted to, this is cut seven. I wanted you to
respond to this. JD Vance, Really not holding back, specifically
(09:22):
when he goes after this Abdul El-Sayed guy. Play seven.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
There's something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil
and on the rise. the rise in the United States
of America today.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
And it's people who see.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Themselves not as citizens of a common nation fighting for
every single person, whether they're Jewish or Christian, whether they're
white or black or brown, but see themselves as fighting
for one group at the expense of others. And that
is how, ladies and gentlemen, you destroy the United States
of America. I see in this crowd people from all
(09:56):
walks of life. I see white people. I see black people.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I see Jews.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
And Christians. I see people who are united by their
love of the United States of America and their desire
to give all of our children a better life.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Abdul El-Sayed is coming at this race. as somebody who is, one,
a socialist, but also still very much adhering to the
race communist ideology that has been ascendant with the left
for a long time, I don't think he's going to win, Clay,
but it would be troubling, particularly if there is one set.
(10:33):
In Texas, it would be troubling politically. In Michigan, it
would be just because, guys, we can't lose a Senate
seat in Texas. Come on, right? If Republicans won a
Senate seat in California, Democrats would be apoplectic. But if
you lose in Michigan with this al-Sayed guy winning, I
think that that is showing that the radicalization of the
(10:56):
Democrat Party has moved even further and faster than people realize.
That this is now where the leadership of the party
is going to be, or certainly the energy of the
party is going to be, for the foreseeable. This is
not just some flash in the pan. It's not just
some one-off.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
If he wins this Senate race, I think Abdul El-Sayed
will run for president in 2028. He sees himself as Mamdani.
We've talked about the fact that Mamdani, who would, I think,
very likely be the nominee for Democrats in 2028 if
he hadn't been born in Uganda. I think Abdul El-Sayed
sees himself as Mamdani, but with the presidential prerogative. And look, Buck,
(11:40):
if you can win statewide in Michigan... then you've got
one of the big swing states already in your back pocket.
And so to me, this is a little bit of
an audition for El Sayed. I don't think he wants
to be particularly a senator from Michigan. I think he
wants to be president of the United States. So if
(12:00):
he can win a swing state, now there's going to
be a lot of people out there battling in 2028,
and I'm not saying he's going to win, but I
think he sees himself as Obama-like. I think he sees
himself as a transcendent political figure that has all the
answers to the problems that he sees in America. And
(12:20):
I don't think his ambition is going to be sated
with being a senator from Michigan. If he wins, how
long was Barack Obama a senator from Illinois? Four years
before he ran for president of the United States? I mean, remember,
Obama came out of nowhere. Nobody even knew Obama until
he spoke at John Kerry's convention. That's what launched Obama
(12:45):
onto his sprint to the presidency. And even if you
talk to the Obama team, they didn't really think that
they had any chance to be nominee. They didn't think
they beat Hillary. There's nobody as big of a favorite
as Hillary is, as Hillary was in the 2008 cycle,
waiting in the wings for Democrats.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I think he'll run, flag it.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I think if he wins this election, I think he
will be a candidate in 2028. Certainly he's a vice
presidential candidate because he's in a state that a lot
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Speaker 6 (15:14):
Mental mugging with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. We got a bunch
of you that want to weigh in on a variety
of topics waiting online. Jenny in Michigan. What you got
for us?
Speaker 7 (15:27):
Oh, hi.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I just wanted to say I'm very concerned about this
election in Michigan, and I'll tell you why. The UAW,
the Nurses Union, the Teachers Union, they're all for Al-Sayed.
And plus, there's a lot of Muslims in this state,
so that's a whole lot of people. And every ad
(15:48):
I see on TV is either for him or... or
horrible attack ads against mike rogers and i see virtually
none for john james so i'm wondering where all the
republican money is when is it going to start coming
into this important state and clay i wanted to ask
you one last thing i know you love northern michigan
(16:09):
i go up there all the time i'm going up
there next week what is your favorite place.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Oh that's a tough one so one Seriously, I hope
that we are going to start to see. I do
think it's fair to say that Democrats, as is often
the case, they are outspending and they have outspent during
the summer. I hope you're going to start to see
more money evenly spent. Buck, I don't know if you've
ever been to northern Michigan. I love Harbor Springs. I
(16:36):
love Charlevoix. I love Traverse City and Petoskey. Those communities
are all relatively close to each other, but that would
probably be my Mount Rushmore. Obviously, Mackinac Island is where
I got engaged. But that five, I guess Mount Rushmore,
I had a four. Now I got a top five.
(16:57):
Those would be the five places that would immediately stand out.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
St.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Ignace, also very cool across from Mackinac. Those would be
the ones that immediately jump out to me. Can you
do the ice fishing there in the winter?
Speaker 7 (17:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I believe so. Certainly the lakes freeze over. You know,
I'm not a cold weather guy. I understand a lot
of our Wisconsin listeners that ice fishing is a big deal.
And you can tell me, hey, it's warmer inside of
the sheds that we build, the shacks that are out there.
I don't want to go anywhere super cold. You're not
really an igloo guy. Not an igloo guy. Neither am I.
(17:34):
Not great Wi-Fi in the igloos. Tough to watch football
games in the igloos. Not really my cup of tea,
generally speaking. I went out to dinner, by the way,
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Speaker 1 (18:49):
Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck and Clay.
We'll get some calls and talkbacks. I also thought we
could discuss a little bit more of our look. And
this one I put very much in the spirited debate
category like i don't want to have a spirited debate
with anybody over the lindsey clancy trial like i just
(19:09):
think that that's i think that's very clear data centers
i hear people i hear the concerns i hear the
the drawbacks the you know and they're real and they're
valid right but i also think that the the benefits
uh pretty dramatically outweigh the drawbacks so long as When
(19:31):
people say things like, I don't want a data center
across the street from my house, I just always think, yeah,
but you also wouldn't want a meatpacking plant across the
street from your house. Localities have zoning. There's a reason
for this, right? You generally don't even have– a lot
of people couldn't even have an auto body shop. shop
across the street from their house or maybe even a
(19:52):
gas station it depends on where they are trump has
come down very hard on anyone who is not pro
data centers or i should say is not taking the
more uh Here you go. I'm reading it right now
for everybody. The only reason that communities... This is from
(20:14):
Donald Trump's Truth Social. The only reason that communities throughout
the USA should not want data centers is if they
want to end up being backwards and poor. If they
want to be successful and rich with far lower taxes
and jobs all over the place, let data reign. The
good news is that there are plenty of other places
(20:35):
that want them. If we kill the golden goose... You
will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be
happier with this anti data center movement. Actually, they can't
believe it is happening. President Donald J. Trump. So so
he's very clear about how he feels on this clay.
(20:55):
You have some data about the data centers that I
think you were going to share on this issue.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So a bunch of things. And this is from the
Wall Street Journal, which I thought did a good job.
And I trust the Wall Street Journal. I think they're
the most reliable major media outlet in the country. Average
electric rates nationwide have increased roughly in line with inflation
since 2016. That is, you're paying basically about the same
amount in your electric bill as you were a decade ago.
(21:23):
Increases in places that are obsessed with climate change. have
been higher, like California and the Northeast. A couple of
other things here. We've talked about the overall situation of
the data centers. We talked about golf courses, and this
was reiterated again in the Wall Street Journal editorial this morning,
(21:46):
that Essentially, the golf courses use 30 times as much
water as the average data center does. And in fact,
the water that is used inside of data centers, to
a large extent, have almost no impact. Then there's a
(22:06):
couple of other things that were here is, yeah, golf
courses use 30 times more water than data centers right now.
Using as an example, the Microsoft data center in Wisconsin
is only going to use four Olympic swimming pools of
water in an entire year. Now, Wisconsin has a lot
of water, so I don't think Wisconsin is in danger
(22:28):
of running out of water. But I did think that
was interesting because a lot of the water recirculates and
they use it over and over and over again. Here's
another couple here. Loudoun County, which is one of the
richest counties in all of America, it's where I believe
AOL back in its heyday was based. It's a major
tech center. They have declined property taxes have in Loudoun
(22:50):
County thanks to data centers massively. If they shut down
all of the data centers, the average property taxes have
come down. The average property owner would have to pay
$ 6, 000 more a year in property tax. In Louisiana, they
just announced a really big data center there. The teachers
in Richland Parish got bonuses of $ 50, 000 thanks to the
(23:12):
tax revenue that came in from Meta's AI data center
that they are building there. Your point is a good one.
It's one thing if you don't want a data center
in your backyard just like you don't want a meatpacking
plant or just like you don't want an apartment complex.
That's a zoning-related concern, and that's very valid. Every community
(23:33):
has to make decisions about what to build and not
to build. as it befits the particular zoned area. But
the idea that you would put in place a moratorium
on the construction of data centers in entire states, I
believe as New York has done, or that you would
not allow, we had a farmer who called in, that
you wouldn't allow someone who has hundreds of acres that
(23:55):
they may not be able to make money on to
sell it to allow the construction. And here's where the
politics are going to get interesting. I said this to
you off air, Buck. People who work in construction jobs, electricians,
they are fighting hard now and saying, wait a minute,
these are great, high-paying jobs for the construction of these
(24:16):
data centers. And I would just point out many of
the people who are opposed to this I do think
are being influenced by Chinese propaganda campaigns. But also, where
do you think the power to be on TikTok all
day comes from? A lot of the people that are
angry about data centers are sending tweets about their anger
(24:37):
for data centers, and they're on Facebook talking about the
anger for data centers. The power that undergirds the entire
Internet is being expanded. You can't watch movies and everything
else on your phone without the data to support it.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I also think that there's a philosophical misunderstanding that a
lot of people— are having right now about where this
plays into the economy. We have for a long time,
and really in the Trump era particularly, on the right, conservatives,
the GOP, bemoaned the loss of manufacturing, bemoaned outsourcing, all
(25:19):
understandably and in many ways correctly. And so we've said, Clay,
we need to bring back stuff here. We need to
bring stuff back here to America. Let's bring factories back
to America. Now, the truth is that a lot of
the stuff that is made in factories in China, you
(25:42):
would never be able to make here at a competitive price.
I'm talking about, you know, cheap stuff you can get
on online and Amazon and stuff. Those factories and the
textile industry, a lot of you will buy your clothing
and you look, you see your clothing in Bangladesh. Your
clothing is made in Vietnam. You're not going to be
able to bring the global textile industry back to America.
(26:04):
Data centers are something akin to, I think, the factories
of the future. And when people start to think of
it that way. Some town that is going to have
a data center is going to have a lot of
activity going on there, a lot of revenue generation going
on there, job creation, construction, union workers. You think union
(26:28):
electrician guys in a lot of these places are happy
to not only be a part of wiring up the
data center? But they're going to have to maintain that
data center. They're going to have to be guys who
are very well paid, who are doing work in a
place that is in their community that could revitalize it.
You know, we're not going to bring back steel smelting
(26:49):
into every town in Ohio that lost a steel plant.
That's just not going to happen. But, you know, I
know there's been some of this and people can argue
about how much and how much reindustrialization we can do.
But when you're looking at tech in the future and AI,
this stuff is going to be playing an enormous role
(27:10):
in the economy, and people can be participants in this.
So Trump is correct on this. I just wish he
was a little more open to the concerns and a
little less like, just shut up. I know what I'm
doing here. This is very Trump on this. But he's
right that if you block a data center, remember when
AOC blocked Amazon from setting up a campus? It was
(27:33):
a huge failure, one of the worst decisions of her
political career. In Long Island City? And all the jobs,
everything that would have blocked just because like Amazon's a
big corporation.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
We don't like only that book. She didn't understand the
concept of tax abatement. She thought that the company was
getting hundreds of millions of dollars in actual dollars as
opposed to getting to be able to build a tax abatement.
I mean, this is stuff that's actually really dispiriting to
have people who don't understand basic accounting who are making
(28:03):
decisions such as these.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
And so that really was going to be a Long
Island city. They were going to build a major, which
is in Queens, just across the river in Manhattan. They
were going to build a major campus and huge investment.
And Amazon said, fine, you know, you're going to make
it hard for us. We're going to do this somewhere else.
Those of you who live in red states know this.
They're friendly to industry. And so industry is going to them.
(28:26):
Communities that are unreasonable about data centers, you're just going
to send them to communities that realize all the benefits
of this. And the more people look at it, Clay,
the more they will see. I saw, I think it
was Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal wrote a
whole op-ed saying that this is like the building of
the railroads in terms of this is the architecture, the
(28:49):
infrastructure of a technologically– focused future and artificial intelligence as
well as all these other uh things that are going
on you know with autonomous driving and robotics and uh
and silicon wafers that are down to the you know
the the micron level that almost looks like magic what
(29:12):
they're able to do in some of these places that
manufacture these these chips so clay you can either be
a part of this and benefit from it or you
can say i don't like this because people tell me
it takes up too much water How often have the
people who told you that this takes up too much
water so we can't have it been correct? Look at
what that's done to California, I might add.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
They've decided that you can't water your lawn. They didn't
told you how long you can shower, I think, when
they've had droughts. I mean, the people that are telling
you we don't. have the abundance of resources necessary for
private industry and the free market to thrive are almost
always on the wrong side of this stuff. And I
just think that the data– every time somebody raises a
concern about a data center, I say, okay– That would
(29:55):
be like saying, Clay, I don't want there to be
a tower, like a 100-story building built in my neighborhood
if they're going to do construction six days a week
and they're going to not figure out how to reroute
traffic around the light that's there. This is all fixable stuff.
We're all manageable stuff. The core question is, why are states,
(30:18):
entire states, saying we don't want any data centers here?
It's a bad idea. It's just a bad idea. I
don't know what else to tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
It's 100% right, and I think it's a lot of
people who don't know any better being taken advantage of.
Let me hit a couple of calls here. Cindy's been
waiting a long time. I'm excited about this, Buck. Cindy
in Arizona, fire away.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Hey, guys.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
Yeah, I'm not part of the crazy crowd, but I
am part of the excited crowd. And, Clay, you are
part of the reason for that. I woke up this
morning and had a message from a girlfriend, and she
let me know that one of our mutual friends is
now a writer for your new company, State & Sport.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Close. Sport & State. Thank you. Of course, with.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Clay, sport goes first.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
You were so great. So great, Cindy. Yeah, we have
hired a bunch of new writers. I'm excited about it.
That's cool. I didn't know. Cindy's been waiting online on
air here.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
To talk for a while. This is like we got
a caller saying she loves all Clay's work, especially when
he talks about FCC football. It's like, no, no. Not quite.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
We are up and running at Sport and State, and
it is going to be awesome. And thank you for
the call, Cindy, and we're excited. We're hiring a lot
of talented people. I'm glad one of your friends is
one of them. It's a small business, hopefully growing into
a bigger business. I'm a little annoyed.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
We got an email real quick for this call. VIP
email from Don. Clay, you are an ass. Water usage
is not the issue at data centers. Land usage and
noise pollution are the bigger issues, but the biggest is
the collection of data on U.S.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Citizens.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Before we get into his objections, why am I not
an ass?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, it is true. I'm going even more hardcore on
this than Clay. that you are going as hard on
this as I am.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Oh, I get like a P.S. at the bottom. Screw you, Buck.
There we go.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
You surprised me on this issue. Are you mad? Does
he think that President Trump is an ass too? I mean,
the president is right about this. We should have more jobs,
we should build more things, and we should have the bill.
I thought you actually made a really good argument that
I haven't heard anybody else make. that increasingly, if you
want to have military security, almost everything is on AI.
It's going to require unbelievable amounts of data to be
(32:35):
able to man these drone armies. Would anybody out there say, hey,
we have to stop making missiles? I think most people
would say, hell no, we've got to keep making weapons
to defend ourselves. Increasingly, Data is going to be powering
our ability to defend ourselves.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
It's not just the future of the economy. It's the
future of our national security as well. And this is
what we're saying. And this is where the China angle
comes in. And everyone needs to see it in that context, too.
Thank you. I do think it's a good argument. So
people should listen to the show and take away these
good arguments.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
All right.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Something I want to tell you about, and that is
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(34:14):
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Speaker 6 (35:20):
Level up your brain and balance out your day with
the right amount of information and entertainment. Clay Travis and
Buck Sexton on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. Light them up, Linda,
with us now in Orlando to close up shop today. Linda,
how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Good.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
I just have a few things I want to bring
to attention. One, Lindsay Clancy, she's not an animal. She's
a monster, okay? And we need to stick her on
a U-boat and light her up. Number two, today is
my son's birthday. He's 22, and I'm very proud to
say that he's 22, and I love him very much,
and that's my child. And also, number three, we need
(36:03):
to bring attention to the animals that are dying on
Skid Row in California. because I see it on my
Facebook page every single day. There's a guy that is
named Joey Tucci, and he is constantly finding fosters for
these animals. They're feeding them. They're giving them water. It's
not talked about enough. We need to help. I don't
(36:24):
care about the homeless in California. They can go on
the U-boat with Lindsay Clancy. We need to help the
animals on Skid Row.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Great job. Light them up, Linda. We'll be back with
all of you tomorrow. Thanks for hanging with us.
Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now.
Thanks for being here with us, everybody. And as part
of our discussion today, of course, we have the latest
from President Trump in his showdown with Iran.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
There have been.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
More strikes.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Going on.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
We can give you some of those updates. The bottom
line here, I think, is The pressure campaign from the
Trump side continues. Clearly, the Iranian regime is hoping to
at least push things into the midterms and use the
political leverage that they have. But the U.S. struck Iranian
(00:46):
rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran hit U.S. bases in Jordan, and there are reports
about the UAE being hit as well. Trump called Iran
a failed nation. with 300. You know what, actually, we
have Trump saying this. This was just yesterday. This is
cut to here is the president, the commander in chief
saying exactly what he thinks of the situation.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
They're a failed nation. They've got 350 percent inflation. They
have no currency. They're not paying their soldiers. Their leaders
are largely dead. Their Navy is gone. Their Air Force
is gone. Their surveillance equipment is almost entirely gone. That
doesn't mean we won't smack them. We'll see what happens.
But we have the Strait of Hormuz in extremely good shape.
(01:31):
You know, we're taking over. Many, many ships got through
last night, as you know, with the Navy's assistance. And
we've been averaging 30 ships a night. That's a lot.
And a lot of oil is coming out. That's why
you haven't seen the price of oil go like they
thought it might have to go. And the main thing,
when I say it all, I could go on for
an hour about what a great job we've done.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, Clay, Trump, once again, saying that we've got the
Iranians More or less right where we want them and
that this has gone the way that we have needed
it to and that we are in a good spot here.
There's certainly Trump's willingness to hit the enemy is something
that no one is questioning. He has done that many,
(02:15):
many times now. Where are we with the price of
gas in the midterms? Because that is what this always
translates into right away.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
$ 88 a barrel at this exact moment in time.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I was looking it up to see if there was movement.
There is some movement. Every time there is some additional
firing back and forth, the price of oil and gas
usually goes up a little bit. I will say, I
think even people who thought Trump was crazy for going
into the Middle East expected oil and gas prices to
(02:51):
move more than they have. I think there has been
an ability to get a lot of oil and gas
out of Iran. And I do think that the president's
decision to put additional economic sanctions on Iran is partly
based on the fact that there has been an ability.
to keep the global economy moving without having to rely
(03:14):
on the oil and gas that Iran produces. And ultimately,
I know everybody thinks in terms of, hey, what are
the next 90 days going to be? How are we
going to meet our quarterly numbers? What's going to happen next?
The reality is this decision, and we haven't even talked
about this on the program because I didn't mention it yesterday.
If the Venezuela oil deal works... as it is being
(03:37):
talked about working. It's a decision that makes sense for
years into the future. It would get us $ 30 a
barrel gas.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, this is the next thing I was going to
ask you about, which is, so you are reading my mind, sir,
which is let's talk about Venezuela and their oil and
what's going on. This is cut four. Listen to what
the president said just yesterday.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Hit it.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
We have a great relationship with Venezuela. It's you know,
it's a it's a team in a sense. And we're
taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil going
to Houston, going to Louisiana, going to lots of different
places in the United States and all over the world.
And we're doing we're making a fortune and they're making
a fortune. They're starting to make real money. And we
(04:22):
have Exxon going in. We have Chevron going in. We
have our big oil companies going in and everybody's bidding. And,
you know, there are those that say it was the
greatest deal ever made. Let's see what happens.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
President Trump said, Clay, the U.S. has secured majority control
of over 65 billion, will they be, barrels of Venezuela's
proven reserves, which is about one fifth of the country's
total reserves. more than the current U.S.-approved reserves, 46 billion barrels,
at no cost to the American taxpayer, that is a quote,
through a partnership with private business. The announcement was framed
(04:58):
as the biggest oil deal in history, and Venezuelan interim
president Delcy Rodriguez has confirmed it, said that it covers
17 strategic fields, lasting at least 25 years, targeting higher output,
$ 100 billion in investment, and roughly $ 209 billion in royalties
and taxes for It is a, to put it mildly,
(05:21):
big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Now, the gas still has to get out. The Venezuela
ability to produce gas has been severely damaged over the
last generation or so as Maduro rose in power. I
believe the last numbers that I have seen is Venezuela
is producing around 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas
(05:45):
right now. and has been as high as three to
four million barrels of oil and gas in the past.
These reserves would suggest that if things start to fire
on all cylinders in the years ahead, they will be
producing millions and millions of barrels of oil and gas,
which will make American consumers hopefully have to pay less
(06:07):
and less for gas in the years ahead. I don't
think the Venezuela plan actually is likely to have that
much impact on President Trump's tenure because I believe what
is necessary to be done is a multi-year process. So
this is actually, and I think you could put the
ballroom in this category. I think you can put the arch.
(06:27):
I think you can put a lot, even the Iran
decision in general. For all the talk about how President
Trump only cares about himself, He's actually making many legacy
defining moves, which will primarily benefit the country after his
tenure is over. A lot of presidents kind of make
(06:47):
decisions that are going to look really good for them
in the four or eight years that they have in office.
And then the legacy of history is a secondary thought.
It feels to me increasingly like Trump in this second
term is reaching beyond the scope of January 2029 and
and trying to make decisions that he thinks are good
decisions for the 2030s and the 2040s. And if anything,
(07:11):
you can criticize his overly ambitious scope in that way,
as opposed to being completely focused on the very particular
concerns of this day, of this week, of this month,
which is largely, I think, what the midterm is going
to be defined by. And Buck, what I would say,
we talked about this a little bit earlier, is.
(07:33):
I do think in the wake of winning the national
popular vote, winning all seven swing states, I think Trump
feels like he already won the Super Bowl, and the
midterms feel to him just kind of like another race,
which most people are not going to pay attention to,
and I don't know that he's that concerned about the
(07:55):
house being back in the control of Democrats. I'm just
being honest because he's already been impeached twice. What are
they really going to do to him? They tried to
put him in prison for the rest of his life.
People are trying to kill him left and right. Do
you really think he's going to be afraid of subpoenas
from Hakeem Jeffries? Yeah, he's been through more than what
the Democrats will be. I mean, he's been shot.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
He's been through more than whatever the Democrats will be
able to muster politically and, and via lawfare and bureaucratic
nonsense against him. That's certainly the case. But they'll be
able to slow down his agenda, and they will be, unfortunately,
in a position, even if they just win the House,
to direct House business and do oversight investigations, things like that,
(08:39):
that will be a distraction and irritation and annoyance. And
Trump has a lot that he's trying to get done
in just the next two years. So all of this,
I think, is, you know, look, it's going to be
quite a day in this midterm. It's all, it's all
coming together here. This Abdul El-Sayed character, this is something,
(09:00):
this is a guy who he is far left for sure.
And he is in some of the polls I'm seeing
even ahead of Mike Rogers right now. Now that doesn't
mean anything necessarily, but JD Vance said this, Clay, I
wanted to, this is cut seven. I wanted you to
respond to this. JD Vance, Really not holding back, specifically
(09:22):
when he goes after this Abdul El-Sayed guy. Play seven.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
There's something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil
and on the rise. the rise in the United States
of America today.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
And it's people who see.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Themselves not as citizens of a common nation fighting for
every single person, whether they're Jewish or Christian, whether they're
white or black or brown, but see themselves as fighting
for one group at the expense of others. And that
is how, ladies and gentlemen, you destroy the United States
of America. I see in this crowd people from all
(09:56):
walks of life. I see white people. I see black people.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I see Jews.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
And Christians. I see people who are united by their
love of the United States of America and their desire
to give all of our children a better life.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Abdul El-Sayed is coming at this race. as somebody who is, one,
a socialist, but also still very much adhering to the
race communist ideology that has been ascendant with the left
for a long time, I don't think he's going to win, Clay,
but it would be troubling, particularly if there is one set.
(10:33):
In Texas, it would be troubling politically. In Michigan, it
would be just because, guys, we can't lose a Senate
seat in Texas. Come on, right? If Republicans won a
Senate seat in California, Democrats would be apoplectic. But if
you lose in Michigan with this al-Sayed guy winning, I
think that that is showing that the radicalization of the
(10:56):
Democrat Party has moved even further and faster than people realize.
That this is now where the leadership of the party
is going to be, or certainly the energy of the
party is going to be, for the foreseeable. This is
not just some flash in the pan. It's not just
some one-off.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
If he wins this Senate race, I think Abdul El-Sayed
will run for president in 2028. He sees himself as Mamdani.
We've talked about the fact that Mamdani, who would, I think,
very likely be the nominee for Democrats in 2028 if
he hadn't been born in Uganda. I think Abdul El-Sayed
sees himself as Mamdani, but with the presidential prerogative. And look, Buck,
(11:40):
if you can win statewide in Michigan... then you've got
one of the big swing states already in your back pocket.
And so to me, this is a little bit of
an audition for El Sayed. I don't think he wants
to be particularly a senator from Michigan. I think he
wants to be president of the United States. So if
(12:00):
he can win a swing state, now there's going to
be a lot of people out there battling in 2028,
and I'm not saying he's going to win, but I
think he sees himself as Obama-like. I think he sees
himself as a transcendent political figure that has all the
answers to the problems that he sees in America. And
(12:20):
I don't think his ambition is going to be sated
with being a senator from Michigan. If he wins, how
long was Barack Obama a senator from Illinois? Four years
before he ran for president of the United States? I mean, remember,
Obama came out of nowhere. Nobody even knew Obama until
he spoke at John Kerry's convention. That's what launched Obama
(12:45):
onto his sprint to the presidency. And even if you
talk to the Obama team, they didn't really think that
they had any chance to be nominee. They didn't think
they beat Hillary. There's nobody as big of a favorite
as Hillary is, as Hillary was in the 2008 cycle,
waiting in the wings for Democrats.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I think he'll run, flag it.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I think if he wins this election, I think he
will be a candidate in 2028. Certainly he's a vice
presidential candidate because he's in a state that a lot
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Speaker 6 (15:14):
Mental mugging with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Welcome back in, Clay and Buck. We got a bunch
of you that want to weigh in on a variety
of topics waiting online. Jenny in Michigan. What you got
for us?
Speaker 7 (15:27):
Oh, hi.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I just wanted to say I'm very concerned about this
election in Michigan, and I'll tell you why. The UAW,
the Nurses Union, the Teachers Union, they're all for Al-Sayed.
And plus, there's a lot of Muslims in this state,
so that's a whole lot of people. And every ad
(15:48):
I see on TV is either for him or... or
horrible attack ads against mike rogers and i see virtually
none for john james so i'm wondering where all the
republican money is when is it going to start coming
into this important state and clay i wanted to ask
you one last thing i know you love northern michigan
(16:09):
i go up there all the time i'm going up
there next week what is your favorite place.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Oh that's a tough one so one Seriously, I hope
that we are going to start to see. I do
think it's fair to say that Democrats, as is often
the case, they are outspending and they have outspent during
the summer. I hope you're going to start to see
more money evenly spent. Buck, I don't know if you've
ever been to northern Michigan. I love Harbor Springs. I
(16:36):
love Charlevoix. I love Traverse City and Petoskey. Those communities
are all relatively close to each other, but that would
probably be my Mount Rushmore. Obviously, Mackinac Island is where
I got engaged. But that five, I guess Mount Rushmore,
I had a four. Now I got a top five.
(16:57):
Those would be the five places that would immediately stand out.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
St.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Ignace, also very cool across from Mackinac. Those would be
the ones that immediately jump out to me. Can you
do the ice fishing there in the winter?
Speaker 7 (17:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I believe so. Certainly the lakes freeze over. You know,
I'm not a cold weather guy. I understand a lot
of our Wisconsin listeners that ice fishing is a big deal.
And you can tell me, hey, it's warmer inside of
the sheds that we build, the shacks that are out there.
I don't want to go anywhere super cold. You're not
really an igloo guy. Not an igloo guy. Neither am I.
(17:34):
Not great Wi-Fi in the igloos. Tough to watch football
games in the igloos. Not really my cup of tea,
generally speaking. I went out to dinner, by the way,
with our friends at Pure Talk last week, and they
were telling me how awesome the response from so many
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and Buck.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck and Clay.
We'll get some calls and talkbacks. I also thought we
could discuss a little bit more of our look. And
this one I put very much in the spirited debate
category like i don't want to have a spirited debate
with anybody over the lindsey clancy trial like i just
(19:09):
think that that's i think that's very clear data centers
i hear people i hear the concerns i hear the
the drawbacks the you know and they're real and they're
valid right but i also think that the the benefits
uh pretty dramatically outweigh the drawbacks so long as When
(19:31):
people say things like, I don't want a data center
across the street from my house, I just always think, yeah,
but you also wouldn't want a meatpacking plant across the
street from your house. Localities have zoning. There's a reason
for this, right? You generally don't even have– a lot
of people couldn't even have an auto body shop. shop
across the street from their house or maybe even a
(19:52):
gas station it depends on where they are trump has
come down very hard on anyone who is not pro
data centers or i should say is not taking the
more uh Here you go. I'm reading it right now
for everybody. The only reason that communities... This is from
(20:14):
Donald Trump's Truth Social. The only reason that communities throughout
the USA should not want data centers is if they
want to end up being backwards and poor. If they
want to be successful and rich with far lower taxes
and jobs all over the place, let data reign. The
good news is that there are plenty of other places
(20:35):
that want them. If we kill the golden goose... You
will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be
happier with this anti data center movement. Actually, they can't
believe it is happening. President Donald J. Trump. So so
he's very clear about how he feels on this clay.
(20:55):
You have some data about the data centers that I
think you were going to share on this issue.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So a bunch of things. And this is from the
Wall Street Journal, which I thought did a good job.
And I trust the Wall Street Journal. I think they're
the most reliable major media outlet in the country. Average
electric rates nationwide have increased roughly in line with inflation
since 2016. That is, you're paying basically about the same
amount in your electric bill as you were a decade ago.
(21:23):
Increases in places that are obsessed with climate change. have
been higher, like California and the Northeast. A couple of
other things here. We've talked about the overall situation of
the data centers. We talked about golf courses, and this
was reiterated again in the Wall Street Journal editorial this morning,
(21:46):
that Essentially, the golf courses use 30 times as much
water as the average data center does. And in fact,
the water that is used inside of data centers, to
a large extent, have almost no impact. Then there's a
(22:06):
couple of other things that were here is, yeah, golf
courses use 30 times more water than data centers right now.
Using as an example, the Microsoft data center in Wisconsin
is only going to use four Olympic swimming pools of
water in an entire year. Now, Wisconsin has a lot
of water, so I don't think Wisconsin is in danger
(22:28):
of running out of water. But I did think that
was interesting because a lot of the water recirculates and
they use it over and over and over again. Here's
another couple here. Loudoun County, which is one of the
richest counties in all of America, it's where I believe
AOL back in its heyday was based. It's a major
tech center. They have declined property taxes have in Loudoun
(22:50):
County thanks to data centers massively. If they shut down
all of the data centers, the average property taxes have
come down. The average property owner would have to pay
$ 6, 000 more a year in property tax. In Louisiana, they
just announced a really big data center there. The teachers
in Richland Parish got bonuses of $ 50, 000 thanks to the
(23:12):
tax revenue that came in from Meta's AI data center
that they are building there. Your point is a good one.
It's one thing if you don't want a data center
in your backyard just like you don't want a meatpacking
plant or just like you don't want an apartment complex.
That's a zoning-related concern, and that's very valid. Every community
(23:33):
has to make decisions about what to build and not
to build. as it befits the particular zoned area. But
the idea that you would put in place a moratorium
on the construction of data centers in entire states, I
believe as New York has done, or that you would
not allow, we had a farmer who called in, that
you wouldn't allow someone who has hundreds of acres that
(23:55):
they may not be able to make money on to
sell it to allow the construction. And here's where the
politics are going to get interesting. I said this to
you off air, Buck. People who work in construction jobs, electricians,
they are fighting hard now and saying, wait a minute,
these are great, high-paying jobs for the construction of these
(24:16):
data centers. And I would just point out many of
the people who are opposed to this I do think
are being influenced by Chinese propaganda campaigns. But also, where
do you think the power to be on TikTok all
day comes from? A lot of the people that are
angry about data centers are sending tweets about their anger
(24:37):
for data centers, and they're on Facebook talking about the
anger for data centers. The power that undergirds the entire
Internet is being expanded. You can't watch movies and everything
else on your phone without the data to support it.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I also think that there's a philosophical misunderstanding that a
lot of people— are having right now about where this
plays into the economy. We have for a long time,
and really in the Trump era particularly, on the right, conservatives,
the GOP, bemoaned the loss of manufacturing, bemoaned outsourcing, all
(25:19):
understandably and in many ways correctly. And so we've said, Clay,
we need to bring back stuff here. We need to
bring stuff back here to America. Let's bring factories back
to America. Now, the truth is that a lot of
the stuff that is made in factories in China, you
(25:42):
would never be able to make here at a competitive price.
I'm talking about, you know, cheap stuff you can get
on online and Amazon and stuff. Those factories and the
textile industry, a lot of you will buy your clothing
and you look, you see your clothing in Bangladesh. Your
clothing is made in Vietnam. You're not going to be
able to bring the global textile industry back to America.
(26:04):
Data centers are something akin to, I think, the factories
of the future. And when people start to think of
it that way. Some town that is going to have
a data center is going to have a lot of
activity going on there, a lot of revenue generation going
on there, job creation, construction, union workers. You think union
(26:28):
electrician guys in a lot of these places are happy
to not only be a part of wiring up the
data center? But they're going to have to maintain that
data center. They're going to have to be guys who
are very well paid, who are doing work in a
place that is in their community that could revitalize it.
You know, we're not going to bring back steel smelting
(26:49):
into every town in Ohio that lost a steel plant.
That's just not going to happen. But, you know, I
know there's been some of this and people can argue
about how much and how much reindustrialization we can do.
But when you're looking at tech in the future and AI,
this stuff is going to be playing an enormous role
(27:10):
in the economy, and people can be participants in this.
So Trump is correct on this. I just wish he
was a little more open to the concerns and a
little less like, just shut up. I know what I'm
doing here. This is very Trump on this. But he's
right that if you block a data center, remember when
AOC blocked Amazon from setting up a campus? It was
(27:33):
a huge failure, one of the worst decisions of her
political career. In Long Island City? And all the jobs,
everything that would have blocked just because like Amazon's a
big corporation.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
We don't like only that book. She didn't understand the
concept of tax abatement. She thought that the company was
getting hundreds of millions of dollars in actual dollars as
opposed to getting to be able to build a tax abatement.
I mean, this is stuff that's actually really dispiriting to
have people who don't understand basic accounting who are making
(28:03):
decisions such as these.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
And so that really was going to be a Long
Island city. They were going to build a major, which
is in Queens, just across the river in Manhattan. They
were going to build a major campus and huge investment.
And Amazon said, fine, you know, you're going to make
it hard for us. We're going to do this somewhere else.
Those of you who live in red states know this.
They're friendly to industry. And so industry is going to them.
(28:26):
Communities that are unreasonable about data centers, you're just going
to send them to communities that realize all the benefits
of this. And the more people look at it, Clay,
the more they will see. I saw, I think it
was Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal wrote a
whole op-ed saying that this is like the building of
the railroads in terms of this is the architecture, the
(28:49):
infrastructure of a technologically– focused future and artificial intelligence as
well as all these other uh things that are going
on you know with autonomous driving and robotics and uh
and silicon wafers that are down to the you know
the the micron level that almost looks like magic what
(29:12):
they're able to do in some of these places that
manufacture these these chips so clay you can either be
a part of this and benefit from it or you
can say i don't like this because people tell me
it takes up too much water How often have the
people who told you that this takes up too much
water so we can't have it been correct? Look at
what that's done to California, I might add.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
They've decided that you can't water your lawn. They didn't
told you how long you can shower, I think, when
they've had droughts. I mean, the people that are telling
you we don't. have the abundance of resources necessary for
private industry and the free market to thrive are almost
always on the wrong side of this stuff. And I
just think that the data– every time somebody raises a
concern about a data center, I say, okay– That would
(29:55):
be like saying, Clay, I don't want there to be
a tower, like a 100-story building built in my neighborhood
if they're going to do construction six days a week
and they're going to not figure out how to reroute
traffic around the light that's there. This is all fixable stuff.
We're all manageable stuff. The core question is, why are states,
(30:18):
entire states, saying we don't want any data centers here?
It's a bad idea. It's just a bad idea. I
don't know what else to tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
It's 100% right, and I think it's a lot of
people who don't know any better being taken advantage of.
Let me hit a couple of calls here. Cindy's been
waiting a long time. I'm excited about this, Buck. Cindy
in Arizona, fire away.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Hey, guys.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
Yeah, I'm not part of the crazy crowd, but I
am part of the excited crowd. And, Clay, you are
part of the reason for that. I woke up this
morning and had a message from a girlfriend, and she
let me know that one of our mutual friends is
now a writer for your new company, State & Sport.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Close. Sport & State. Thank you. Of course, with.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Clay, sport goes first.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
You were so great. So great, Cindy. Yeah, we have
hired a bunch of new writers. I'm excited about it.
That's cool. I didn't know. Cindy's been waiting online on
air here.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
To talk for a while. This is like we got
a caller saying she loves all Clay's work, especially when
he talks about FCC football. It's like, no, no. Not quite.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
We are up and running at Sport and State, and
it is going to be awesome. And thank you for
the call, Cindy, and we're excited. We're hiring a lot
of talented people. I'm glad one of your friends is
one of them. It's a small business, hopefully growing into
a bigger business. I'm a little annoyed.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
We got an email real quick for this call. VIP
email from Don. Clay, you are an ass. Water usage
is not the issue at data centers. Land usage and
noise pollution are the bigger issues, but the biggest is
the collection of data on U.S.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
Citizens.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Before we get into his objections, why am I not
an ass?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Yeah, it is true. I'm going even more hardcore on
this than Clay. that you are going as hard on
this as I am.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Oh, I get like a P.S. at the bottom. Screw you, Buck.
There we go.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
You surprised me on this issue. Are you mad? Does
he think that President Trump is an ass too? I mean,
the president is right about this. We should have more jobs,
we should build more things, and we should have the bill.
I thought you actually made a really good argument that
I haven't heard anybody else make. that increasingly, if you
want to have military security, almost everything is on AI.
It's going to require unbelievable amounts of data to be
(32:35):
able to man these drone armies. Would anybody out there say, hey,
we have to stop making missiles? I think most people
would say, hell no, we've got to keep making weapons
to defend ourselves. Increasingly, Data is going to be powering
our ability to defend ourselves.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
It's not just the future of the economy. It's the
future of our national security as well. And this is
what we're saying. And this is where the China angle
comes in. And everyone needs to see it in that context, too.
Thank you. I do think it's a good argument. So
people should listen to the show and take away these
good arguments.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
All right.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Something I want to tell you about, and that is
the work that Preborn is doing every day. And we've
talked about them for years here on the show. They're
an incredible organization, and they have this amazing mission. They're
just saving the lives of unborn babies in the womb
every day, as many as they can. They saved about
80,000 last year, 80,000. It's like an entire football stadium
(33:29):
packed full of little boys and little girls who are
running around the world right now enjoying their lives because
pre-born was there for their moms to support them and
help bring them into this world. Pre-born welcomes any pregnant
mom who comes to their doors with love, support, and
a free ultrasound. And that free ultrasound is where mom
meets the baby in the womb. And 80% plus of
(33:51):
the time after just that one experience, mom says, okay,
I'm going to have this baby. And pre-born is there.
They say, we're going to help you up to birth.
And then for two full years after the birth of
the baby, giving food, diapers, clothing, counseling, whatever support they
can offer, they will offer. So you please consider supporting
(34:14):
pre-born today and the work they do. And if you're
a business owner, for example, you might consider a large
donation to Preborn at this time of the year and
claim the write-off. A donation of $ 1, 000 or $ 2, 000 would
be most welcome. But for one or two of you
out there, a $ 15, 000 gift would sponsor an ultrasound machine
(34:34):
for a Preborn clinic, providing thousands of ultrasounds and helping
to save countless babies' lives for years to come. And
of course, it is 100% tax-deductible. Charity, tax-deductible donation, and
it is a great charity that's doing amazing stuff. So please,
if you're one of those big businesses, if you can
step up, or just a really wealthy individual who's fortunate
(34:56):
enough to be in a position, you can sponsor a
whole ultrasound machine for $ 15, 000. And for everyone else out there, $ 28, $ 28, $ 28,
that's the cost of an ultrasound. If you could pitch
in right now, you'd be helping to save a baby
in the womb. Dial pound 250, say the keyword baby,
That's pound 250. Say the key word, baby.
Speaker 6 (35:20):
Level up your brain and balance out your day with
the right amount of information and entertainment. Clay Travis and
Buck Sexton on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Or wherever you get your podcasts. Light them up, Linda,
with us now in Orlando to close up shop today. Linda,
how are you doing?
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Good.
Speaker 8 (35:41):
I just have a few things I want to bring
to attention. One, Lindsay Clancy, she's not an animal. She's
a monster, okay? And we need to stick her on
a U-boat and light her up. Number two, today is
my son's birthday. He's 22, and I'm very proud to
say that he's 22, and I love him very much,
and that's my child. And also, number three, we need
(36:03):
to bring attention to the animals that are dying on
Skid Row in California. because I see it on my
Facebook page every single day. There's a guy that is
named Joey Tucci, and he is constantly finding fosters for
these animals. They're feeding them. They're giving them water. It's
not talked about enough. We need to help. I don't
(36:24):
care about the homeless in California. They can go on
the U-boat with Lindsay Clancy. We need to help the
animals on Skid Row.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Great job. Light them up, Linda. We'll be back with
all of you tomorrow. Thanks for hanging with us.
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