December 18, 2025 • 36 mins
Hour 3 of The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show delivers a mix of breaking news, cultural commentary, and practical advice for navigating political tensions during the holidays. Clay opens with updates on several major stories: authorities believe they have identified the suspect in the Brown University shooting, which left two students dead and 12 injured after 40 rounds were fired on campus. While no arrest has been made, investigators are also probing a possible link between this attack and the assassination of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, a nuclear weapons expert killed in his Boston home just days later. Clay underscores the chilling implications of these events and promises continued coverage as details emerge.
The hour also touches on tragic news from North Carolina, where NASCAR legend Greg Biffle reportedly died in a private plane crash en route to Florida, according to Daily Mail reports citing close friends. Clay then pivots to a heated media moment: Candace Owens’ explosive claims on Piers Morgan’s show, suggesting two Turning Point USA employees may have had foreknowledge of Charlie Kirk’s assassination—a theory Clay calls “loony bin crazy” and emblematic of a media ecosystem that rewards outrageous, unverified opinions. He contrasts this with a Washington Post profile of alleged assassin Tyler Robinson, detailing his radicalization, anti-Trump rage, and ties to trans activism, reinforcing what Clay sees as the clear ideological motive behind the killing.
From there, the conversation shifts to free speech and defamation law, as Clay critiques the outdated New York Times v. Sullivan standard that makes it nearly impossible for public figures to seek recourse against false claims. He argues that in today’s social media-driven culture, this precedent incentivizes reckless commentary and erodes accountability—a legal debate he predicts will shape the future of American media.
In the second half of the hour, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert joins to offer strategies for surviving holiday gatherings with politically divided families. Alpert warns that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” has hardened into personality-level anger for some, fueling anxiety and family estrangement. His advice: prioritize relationships over politics, set boundaries, and redirect conversations to holiday traditions. Callers weigh in with personal stories and coping tactics, from walking away during heated debates to reaffirming shared values. Alpert also explores whether this intense polarization will persist beyond Trump’s presidency, concluding that while partisan hostility will remain, Trump’s outsider status amplified the vitriol to unprecedented levels.
Clay closes the hour with lighter fare, teasing a Christmas movie showdown for tomorrow’s show. He invites listeners to debate classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Home Alone, and the perennial question: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? He even confesses his fondness for Love Actually, sparking playful controversy among fans.
Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8
For the latest updates from Clay & Buck, visit our website https://www.clayandbuck.com/
Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton:
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. We appreciate
all of you. Buck is already on his Christmas vacation.
I've got you today and tomorrow. Encourage you to go
subscribe to the podcast. If you haven't already, go check
out the YouTube channel. You can find us on social
media anywhere in the country and hopefully we will be
(00:25):
able to entertain you as best we can. There a
lot of different stories that we are tracking. More video
footage surrounding the Brown University shooter. It's now been six days,
I believe, as we come up on six days since
that shooting occurred, no one has been arrested. We have
(00:46):
been reacting to very positive story. If you missed it earlier.
This morning, inflation came in lower than expected two point
seven percent, the lowest level of inflation since the spring
of twenty twenty one one, when Joe Biden came into
office two point six percent core inflation level. The Fed's
(01:07):
goal is two percent. If you want to nerd out
on economic related analysis, we spent a lot of the
opening of the first hour discussing how this, how interest
rates are impacted in an inflation environment, and why I
am so optimistic as we head into twenty twenty six
(01:28):
about the overall trajectory of the economy. We discussed President
Trump's address last night from the White House nine pm
Eastern that was carried President Trump right now is signing
an executive order easing restrictions on marijuana. He is now
taking questions from the press that is assembled in the
(01:50):
Oval Office. He is seated at the resolute Desk. We
will be monitoring that with all of you to make
sure that we are on top of anything that he
says there. Now a bit of other news. The Trump
Kennedy Center is now a thing. We'll see whether or
not this name sticks when there are new administrations that
potentially come in. But the Kennedy Center has voted to
(02:15):
rename itself the Trump Kennedy Center, and that is becoming
the new name there. In the wake of the amount
of interest that President Trump has given to the Kennedy
Center overall again, they have renamed it.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Daily Mail reporting I mentioned.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That this was a story that we were following. A
private plane crashed in North Carolina with several people on it,
and the Daily Mail is now reporting that NASCAR legend
Greg Biffle died in that plane craft, and they are
(03:01):
citing one of his best friends saying that the fifty
five year old NASCAR legend. The plane was on its
way to Sarasota, Florida. According to this report, it crashed
about forty five minutes from from Charlotte, and Garrett Mitchell,
one of Biffle's friends, said, Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle,
(03:26):
his wife, Christina, and son Writer were on that plane.
They were on the way to spend the afternoon with us. Mitchell,
according to Daily Mail, often appears in YouTube videos with Biffle.
He wrote this on Facebook, where devastated, I'm so sorry
to share this. He also said he was not sure
(03:49):
who else was potentially on that plane, a Sesna C
five point fifty according to the FAA. So that is
a awful story out there for those of you that
are NASCAR fans. Greg Biffel, very famous and well known
race car driver in the NASCAR world, again reportedly dying,
(04:11):
according to one of his best friends. As reported by
the Daily Mail, Okay, let's see another story that is
out there that I think is getting maybe not as
much attention as it should. I was texting with producer
Ali about this last night, and the Brown University shooting
(04:34):
certainly killed two people. This shooting at MIT, a professor
at MIT was assassinated.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Two days later.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Unknown assailant fatally shot MIT professor Nuno Lauro and I'm
probably mispronouncing his name inside his Boston home about fifty
miles away from that other shooting. The FBI agent said
they don't think there's a connection, but other people are
saying is there a connection here?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
And the.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Idea that a MIT professor who was an expert in
nuclear weaponry would be killed like this is It's a
story that I think should get a lot of attention.
He is a theoretical physicist and fusion scientist that has
(05:28):
specializes in nuclear science, engineering and physics. And there are
a lot of discussions about how is this forty seven
year old dad of three just getting killed MIT professor
with nuclear weapons training background? Is there something more to
this again that happened here recently, So all of those
(05:52):
stories being discussed. By the way, We're going to talk
with Jonathan Albert at the bottom of the hour about
how to handle friends family who may have Trump derangement
syndrome as the holidays are now upon us. But I
also wanted to play this for you. Piers Morgan had
Candace Owens on his program. We haven't spent a lot
(06:15):
of time talking about this, but Candace Owens has been
chasing the allegations or conspiracy. She's been arguing that somebody
other than this crazy guy killed Charlie Kirk, and Pierce
Morgan pressed her on that, and this is what that
sounded like in their conversation.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Listen, there is specifically two people at Turning Point, USA,
and I have communicated that information to Erica and Justice
Strife that I would not be surprised if they had
for knowledge of Charlie Kirk being assassinated, would you.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I'm not going to name I am not going to.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Name those people, okay, because it's not right for me
to name those people until I know for a fact
that they did.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Did you give the names to Eric, Yes, I absolutely did.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I gave the names to Erica of two employees, current
employees at Turning Point, who you believe were involved in
the preparation for the murder of Charlie Kirk, is what
you're saying.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
I told them that if if I were in your shoes,
would these would be two employees that I would look
further into.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
What evidence do you have that they had any prior
knowledge of the murder?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Because I don't have concrete evidence is the reason why
I'm not naming them.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I mean, this is crazy. Uh, this is why I
give credit.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And I am optimistic that when this trial takes place,
that we are going to be able to hear more
and see more of what motivated this assassin. And the
Washington Post had a story that was out that I
thought was significant and worthy of discussing. Uh, the Washington
(07:54):
let me read some of this. This Tyler Robinson, this
far left wing activist who killed Charlie Kirk based on
all the evidence. And this is the Washington Post profile
that they did surrounding this alleged assassin who will be
standing trial soon. A few times I'm reading from the
Washington Post. When he was drunk, Robinson would joke about
(08:17):
right wing politicians, saying like that guy's going to catch
a bullet one day. No one took it seriously, and
they would say he would say it when he was drinking.
He reacted to Trump being shot by celebratory joke, and
they said that he increasingly and his roommate were angry
(08:41):
about right wing politicians and an anti trans sentiment in Utah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They show the.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Roommate asked friends whether they wanted to attend an anti
Trump protest after the twenty twenty four election. The roommate
viewed Trump's election I'm reading from the Washington Post as
a loss for trans rights and was distraught. More than once,
the person said he saw Robinson cradling his sobbing roommate
(09:10):
in his arms. This is the trans roommate. I believe
this is the man who identified as a woman. I
sometimes get crossed up on this team. I believe that's true.
Correct me if I'm wrong. In February, the roommate was
furious when people came over to watch a basketball game
(09:32):
NBA game. According to people were there, one of the
visitors said something about trans athletes and how ridiculous it
was for trans athletes to be competing, and the roommate
interrupted him and shouted repeatedly to shut up about that,
and all the room went quiet before play eventually resumed.
(09:56):
And also, this person says Robinson and the trans roommate
the killer. The alleged assassin would complain about right wing
figures in the news, including Trump. So again, the motivation here,
I think is very clear. I also understand the desire
(10:19):
among many to believe that there is something larger in
play than just one person can get a rifle and
go in the life of somebody as significant as Charlie Kirk.
And thankfully we dodged this with President Trump and Butler
Pennsylvania on July thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But it's I think.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Beyond the pale to suggest that someone at Turning Point
was involved in trying to encourage the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
I mean, that is I think, absolutely a crazy Looney
Bin take. And one of the things that I think
is very challenging in modern media is there are very
(11:09):
few consequences for crazy opinions. And actually, we've created a
media ecosystem that can reward crazy opinions. And I think
that's something that is going to be important to grapple
with in the years ahead. How do we reconcile when
(11:29):
people say things that end up not being true. And
I'm not talking about just getting predictions wrong. We get
predictions wrong on this show all the time. Those of
you who have listened to this show for a long
time know that, for instance, I said we were going
to have a red wave in twenty twenty two, didn't materialize.
I was wrong. I came on, I said I was wrong.
You know, we got a red wave in Florida, we
got a red wave in New York. It didn't happen
(11:51):
in other cities and states. And then in twenty twenty
four we did get a red wave and it brought
President Trump in and so you could feel the building
of the red wave. I was just early in my forecast.
I think honestly, the Dobbs decision muted what would have
been a red wave in twenty twenty two. That's my opinion.
(12:13):
I think that abortion got out a lot of Democrats
and it forestalled the red.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Wave until twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And by the way, you can argue that if we
had gotten a red wave in twenty twenty two, Joe
Biden would have stepped down then and said I'm not
running for reelection. The Democrats would have had a full primary,
Republicans would have had a full primary, and we wouldn't
have ended up with Trump versus Kamala. We may have
ended up with I think Trump still probably would have
(12:40):
won the overall Republican nomination, But who knows who the
nominee would have been for Democrats. I don't think it
would have been Kamala. And so you get things wrong.
That's part of this business. It's hard to forecast the future.
Nobody is perfect at it. But when you say things
that are able to be proven incorrect, what is the
(13:01):
metric under which there are consequences for that?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Something that in the world in which we live, it's
very hard for me to sue, for instance, because somebody
defame me because I'm a public figure. So if you
go on social media at any moment, people are saying
awful things about me, They're saying awful things about Buck,
They're saying awful things about many different people in public life.
And because the standard is so substantial for a public
(13:28):
figure to be able to sue, we almost have created
a world where you can say anything about anyone and
if they are a public figure. In the United States,
it's almost impossible for there to be any form of
defamation that is recoverable, and so that actually leads, I think,
to an incentives culture where you can say awful things
(13:52):
about whoever you don't like, awful, untrue things not opinions,
right me saying I think Tim Walls is an awful,
awful governor and was an atrocious vice presidential candidate and
didn't actually appeal to men at all, and Democrats made
it a tremendously boneheaded decision there. That's all well intentioned.
(14:16):
I believe everything I just said. But if I took
the next step and said I think Tim Walls is
you know, he's a drug dealer, that would be totally
made up. I don't think there's any evidence whatsoever to
support it. But I don't know that Tim Walls could
sue because he's a public figure, and the standard of
public figures is you can basically say anything about them
(14:37):
and there are no consequences. I think this is going
to become more and more challenging in a social media age.
It's something that I spend a lot of time thinking about.
And this is me going down into the weeds legally,
but the New York Times v. Sullivan standard when it
comes to free speech in the First Amendment and how
that is implicated, it doesn't really fit the modern era
(15:01):
in which we live. It's an outdated policy precedent from
the nineteen sixties that I don't think fits the modern
reality of media in twenty twenty five and twenty twenty six.
Something to think about, something to put a pin in it.
I don't even know how many Supreme Court justices really
get this. Several of them have started to say, hey,
(15:24):
you know what this idea of Times v. Sullivan needs
to be modified. Clarence Thomas has talked about it. I
think it's a huge deal. I think it's a substantial
story that is going to be generationally important in the
years ahead. But just putting a pin in it. Wanted
to play that cut and use it kind of as
(15:45):
a jumping off point to talk about public commentary and
what the standard should be when it comes to what
is said and what is not. Look Buck learned a
lot from his time in DC. Between that entering the media,
He's connected the dots on how quickly political power can
into financial power. Insiders have always had a head start
until now. To one of the reasons, he started writing
(16:06):
a weekly e newsletter called Money and Power. Money and
Power gives everyday Americans access to the kind of fast
moving intelligence that used to stay locked behind closed doors.
The team he works with writing Money and Power monitors
DC for every policy, league, spending bill, and executive order,
because all of those can create a chain of reaction
(16:26):
in the markets worth billions of dollars. Right now, you
can join this Money in Power newsletter for eighty two
percent off the regular price. Go to joinbuck dot com.
That's joinbuck dot com. Get your first alert before the
next policy shock. Hits paid for by Paradigm Press. That's
joinbuck dot com.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
The news and politics, but also a little comic relief.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Welcome back in Play Travis Bock Sexton Show, Thursday edition
of the program, And let's get to some talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
A A had this to say.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I just want to say thank you guys for awesome
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Keep up the good work and hope you guys have
a really good holiday season.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Merry Christmas, Hoppy, you know you're all that good stuff,
and you know, thanks again. Really love to listening to
you guys.
Speaker 7 (17:21):
Y'all are awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Oh it's super nice. We'll have more talkbacks. We've got
a guest coming up at the bottom of the hour.
Jonathan Alpert you guys loved him. We talked to him
right before Thanksgiving about how to deal with family members
that have been driven insane by President Trump, and a
lot of you out there wanted.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
To hear from him again. So we have brought him back.
We will talk with.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Him and if you guys want to load up phone lines,
if you want to ask questions, we've got some talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But if you go right now eight hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And two A two two eight eight to two quickly
and give us this a Saint question or give us
us a sint talkback, we can get that for him.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Cozier It's absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
We absolutely love everything about this overall brand. They have
so much incredible content up there on their site for
all of you, and you can get hooked up right now.
If you go to cozy Erth dot com. You get
great gifts this holiday season, whether it's the brand new incredible.
(18:23):
The bubble blanket is so great. I sleep every night
on the bamboo sheets. They are the perfect combination of
softness and comfort. Trust me, you're gonna love this company.
Go to Cozyerth dot com today that Cozy earth dot
com use my name play as the promo for up
to twenty percent off. That's code Clay for up to
(18:46):
twenty percent off. And be sure and mention you heard
about us at Clay and Buck if you get the
post purchase survey, that's cozyerth dot com code Clay. Welcome
back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton show. I appreciate all
of you hanging out with us. We are joined now
by Jonathan Albert, psychotherapist in New York City and DC,
(19:06):
author of the forthcoming book Therapy Nation.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
We talked with you back.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
In around Thanksgiving, Jonathan, and there was a great feedback
from the audience. So given the fact that Christmas is nearing,
we are exactly one week from Christmas Day. If I
am doing my math correctly, and I think i am,
and obviously Hanukkah is underway, What is the number one
(19:33):
piece of advice you would give anyone out there that
is going to be with friends and family who hate
President Trump. Many of the people listening to us right
now are big Trump supporters. What is the number one
piece of advice when it comes to holidays with Trump haters?
Speaker 8 (19:51):
Well, Clay, maybe get a life, but that aside, you know,
I think people need to recognize that family and friend
friends are, or at least should be, more important than
Donald Trump or any political figure that may be in
our country. But all too often that's not the case.
We have people who are dividing families, cutting off relatives,
(20:15):
loved ones, friends, just because of the way that someone voted.
And as a therapist, I mean, I'm seeing this endlessly
since Thanksgiving. People are coming in talking about high anxiety
about seeing their Trump loving uncle or even their progressive
cousin over the holiday. So it's a real problem in
our society. And what I'm seeing this year seems worse
(20:40):
than a year's past. And I think part of the
problem is people have become their anger has become hardened,
and it's become part of their personality. So we really
need to try to examine that and figure out how
to work with these people. And sometimes as simple as
saying past the gravy may work just to remind people like,
(21:00):
we're here for the holiday dinner, not to discuss politics.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
We've got Kathy in Birmingham, Alabama. She has a question
for you. Kathy, you're talking with Jonathan Alpert. You've got
a dad who is a major Trump hater. Ask your question, how.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Do you deal with it? He is ninety years old,
and Clay he was he founded. I thought it was
my own father that called in the Bill from Wisconsin.
My father's name is Bill and he is from the
Upper Peninsula, Michigan, and Bill from Wisconsin is exactly how
(21:40):
my father is treating his three adult children.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Thank you for the case. What should she do?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
You didn't hear earlier, but we had to call her
Bill from Wisconsin, who just hates Trump? Sounds like her
dad ninety years old? Is that way too? What would
you suggest that she do? Is it completely ignore everything
having to do with Trump? What's the best way to
get through the holidays with some semblance of sanity in
the household?
Speaker 8 (22:10):
Yeah? And I think accepting that there will be people
who hate Trump, or hate Joe Biden, or hate Kamala Harris,
but again like recognizing that no one political figure should
dominate a holiday, and maybe getting back to the importance
of the holiday and what it's all about, and maybe
there can just be a brief acknowledgment. I understand that
(22:31):
we don't see I politically, but I love you. You're
my father, you're my daughter, whatever the case may be.
And let's focus on family and enjoying the holiday together.
So most of the times that will work.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
We also have another question.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I appreciate people calling in Ryan and Boston has a
question for you. Jonathan Albert on with us.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
Now, gentlemen, great topic and built from Wisconsin. You have
to realize you don't get every vote. And he's one
of the guys to go the other way. But I
noticed this little kid. People going after Reagan, and I
don't even repeat the things they said. So this goes
on politically, it seems more from the left. They do
get kind of vicious. And I always wanted to know.
(23:14):
I believe on an emotional level, and I'd ask you,
is are these people stunted emotionally because people now are
excluding people from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and they want
no part of these They don't want no part of
these individuals because they can't control their political views at
dinners anymore. You know, I could What I could do
is what I do is I just walk away. During Thanksgiving,
(23:37):
I can watch football I'm a sports fan, or even
Christmas they have games and I could watch or just
walk away from any kind of looming to his conversation,
but a lot of people on the other side don't
like it at all. People are being excluded. And a
good example I saw as a young guy when Pappy
Cannon ran for president, even Republicans got vicious calling names.
(23:57):
So name calling is permitted in politics, but tampering with
the actual agenda is not.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
John, Thank you for the call, Ryan Jonathan. I this
is something that I think everybody is grappling with and
it's not gonna go away. And I think I asked
you this last time, but I find it super interesting.
Is Trump derangement syndrome as it exists today? And I
would say there's about twenty percent of Americans that just
(24:28):
genuinely hate Trump with every fiber of their being. Is
it gonna translate to other politicians on the Republican side
of the aisle.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Let's say it's J. D.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Vance or Marco Robio or Ron DeSantis, whoever is the
next flag bearer for the Republican Party. In your experience,
does this kind of hate translate? Or if Trump steps
off the stage, which he will do in January of
twenty twenty nine, does it then sort of leave with him?
Speaker 8 (25:00):
Great question, Clay, and I remember you did ask that
last time. I think to some degree the hate does
stick around into the next president, whoever that may be,
but maybe to a lesser extent because Trump has just
been such a polarizing figure and he came out of
the business world, and most likely we'll have a politician
(25:21):
that steps up into the presidency next time and not
this outsider that Trump was. And I think a lot
of people just had trouble reconciling, like how can this guy,
a real estate tycoon and TV star become president? And
a lot of people just cannot be okay with that
and reconcile that. So I don't think we'll quite have
that at play and that hatred. But yes, to your point,
(25:45):
I think there are always going to be people who
hate the other side. One of the differences that I've
seen is the hatred towards the right seems to be
much more potent than the hatred towards the left. Plenty
of patients of mind didn't like Biden or Harris, but
it never rose to the level of wanting either of
(26:08):
those people dead. But we've certainly seen that on the
other side.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Mary in Texas has an opinion. I'm curious what you
would think of her opinion. Mary, you've got Jonathan Albert
on with us. What have you got for us?
Speaker 6 (26:22):
Well, the basic things about being with your family or
friends during the holidays. It's just very very very lovingly,
very kindly say, Look, we've been together for ninety years,
you know, forty years for children, has been wife. This
isn't about what's going on in politics.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
This is about Christmas.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
This is about being with family.
Speaker 9 (26:46):
Let's take responsibility as adults, as human beings to be
loving with each other, to be Christian with each other,
and the rest is gonna be what it is. You're
gonna think what you're gonna think, you're gonna you're gonna
want to do what you're gonna want to do, but
let's leave it away from around us.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Thank you, Mary. Good advice, Jonathan.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Oh, excellent advice from Mary. That's pretty much what I
tell my patients that friends and family are far more
important than politics, and they should transcend any occupant of
the White House. Unfortunately, we're not seeing that this holiday season.
But that's great advice from Mary.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Historically, we talked with Breonna Lyman from The Federalist in
the second hour of the program. I love history because
it teaches you that you're way tougher, and then you
think you are in that the country is way tougher
than many people think it is. I would imagine that
in the wake of the Civil War there were probably
a lot of family gatherings that took place, particularly in
(27:50):
border states where people fought for different sides of the
country north and south, that it took a long time
to get through. Certainly for those of you out there
who remember the nineteen sixties, I would imagine during the
Vietnam War there were a lot of contentious Thanksgivings and Christmases.
Are you optimistic that we will come through and that
(28:11):
sanity will win or are you concerned that in a
social media era it's harder for sanity to triumph going forward?
In other words, how perpetual do you think the divisions
in the country are compared to past history and looking forward?
Speaker 8 (28:28):
Yeah, And I think if people could look at history
would probably be better off now than we are. Our
mental health would be better off. But then when you
enter into the mix social media and echo chambers that
people surround themselves in, it's really only intensifying the division
in our country. And that's part of what my forthcoming book,
(28:48):
Therapy Nation is about, like this division, and it's actually
fueled in part by my profession. We have therapy culture
that is placing blame on everyone but their patient. Of course,
it's your boss that's the bad guy, or your spouse,
it's not your fault. So you know, we don't have
resilience being taught to patients these days. We have quite
(29:11):
the opposite. We have grievance culture that's taking hold. We
have fragility, and that's a big part of the problem.
And again, if people could just look at our country's history,
and you make a good point that during the Civil
War and after it, families probably still got together and
loved each other.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Thank you so much for joining us, Jonathan Albert. If
people want to read more of what you are doing,
I know you've got a book coming out called Therapy Nation.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Where should they find you?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
People can find me on x or Twitter at Jonathan
Albert and also my website Jonathan Albert dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Outstanding stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
As always, have good holidays and we look forward to
talking to you again.
Speaker 8 (29:58):
Yeah, thank you, Clay.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
I have a great Holliday you too.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I want to tell you candles were lit on Bondai
Beach in Australia earlier this week by families, children, people
of faith to celebrate a festival of light. But instead
of light, there was darkness, violence, fear, hatred showing itself
during a time meant for prayer and rejoicing. It reminds
us that even with a ceasefire in Israel, Jewish people
are being targeted simply because of their faith. This is
(30:24):
why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews exists. The
IFCJ stands in the gap providing safety and security to
God's people. The Fellowship brings together Christians and Jews to
support Jews in Israel, the former Soviet Union, or wherever.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
The need is greatest.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Your gift today will help provide the security that people
so desperately need. To send your gift call eight eight
eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight eight four
eight eight four three two five. You can also give
online at Fellowship gift dot org. That's Fellowship gift dot org.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Want to be in the know when you're on the go.
The Team forty seven podcast trump highlights from the week
Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Bug podcast
feed find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Thank you
so much for hanging out with us on this Thursday.
Tomorrow will be the final show of the twenty twenty
five year. Now we will still have guest hosts. We
will have best of specials. But Buck is already out
on his Christmas vacation and I will be out after tomorrow.
(31:37):
We'll have a lot of fun breaking down all of
that with you guys. Our talkback function was not working
flawlessly go figure during the last segment, so I couldn't
get two people who had left talkbacks. But let me
hit Becky from Phoenix right here. She wanted this to
get out when we were talking with Jonathan Alpert, Gigi, Hey.
Speaker 10 (31:56):
It's Becky from Phoenix. I disagree with this guy. It's
not about who you voted for. It's the ideology and
it's not a political figure. It's how you believe. And
when that is the root of your disagreements, then maybe
you do have you know, justification of saying you know what, Sorry,
(32:17):
we're not we don't see eye to eye, but we're
still family. We're still friends, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It, Okay, thank you for that talk. Back breaking news
that's just coming down. This according to the Daily Mail,
authorities say they have now identified the shadowy figure, who's
face they have done reading from their site, whose face
they have been attempting to find with the help of
grainy surveillance footage. A name has not yet been released
(32:44):
and no one is in custody. But again that video
that all of you have been seeing of the person
of interest walking in the area of Brown University and Providence,
Rhode Island. This guy fired forty rounds, killed two students,
wounded twelve more. And now there is also a discussion
(33:07):
that there may be a connection between the Brown shooting
and the killing of MIT Professor Nuno Lauro, a nuclear scientist.
So they are now trying to figure out did the
Brown University shooter also kill this MIT researcher and what
(33:28):
might the connection be between both of these attacks, if any.
But again, hopefully tomorrow we will have more details on
this pursuit that has now reached six days. But again
reporting from the Daily Mail that authorities believe they have
identified who this individual is. I would suspect that if
(33:50):
they have identified who this individual is, that they will
either hopefully soon be announcing that they are getting in
pursuit and have arrested this guy, or that they will
be providing that name, more details of what this individual
looks like, and asking for all of your help to
hopefully track down who this person is. So again, I
(34:14):
wanted to make sure that I updated you with all
of that that is coming down literally in real time
as this show has been progressing. So that is all
going on out there. Tomorrow. Let's have some fun. I'm
gonna put a challenge up, what are the best Christmas movies?
(34:36):
I was thinking about this last night. I've got not
a ton of work that I have to do tonight
in the grand scheme of things, so I was thinking,
maybe the Travis family is gonna get together and watch
a Christmas movie? What is the best Christmas movie in
the minds of this illustrious and incredible audience. And best
(34:58):
is in quotation marks right, because first of all, you
have to define what is a Christmas movie?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Right? And then you have to.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Say, well, do you mean an ennobling, incredible feeling of
Christmas gratitude and experience? And you know, you could say,
for instance, It's a Wonderful Life, which is a more
serious film? Or are you saying, hey, I just want
to be entertained. It's really hard to beat Chevy Chase's
Christmas Vacation. It's really hard to beat a Christmas story, elf. Whatever,
(35:30):
the movies are out there that are just super entertaining.
What is your standard? I would tend to go for
entertaining over larger message. And this is probably going to
get me as much hate as when I said that
R and B music was overrated and all of you
who play the flute, are you made a really poor decision.
I'm even nervous to say it. I really do like
(35:53):
the movie Love, Actually. I think it's really well done.
It's a great Christmas eir movie. I watched it on
a plane. I had missed it for like twenty years.
I know it's a romantic comedy, really good Love Actually.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
You guys don't trust me on anything anymore, do you?
But I want to get your talkbacks. Let's have some
fun with that tomorrow. Home Alone. Tough to beat? Is
die Harder? Is die hard?
Speaker 7 (36:19):
Not?
Speaker 2 (36:19):
A Christmas movie?
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Has been an ongoing debate for the last thirty some
odd years. Remember it was a Christmas party yet Nakatomi
Plaza that began the hostage takeover there and what I
think is probably the best action adventure movie that's ever
been made, die Hard. It's impossible to sit down and
not think die Hard is incredible, the first one. All right,
(36:41):
I love all of you. You are all incredible. Thanks
for making twenty five so great. Final show of the
calendar year tomorrow, see y'all.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
Than
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. We appreciate
all of you. Buck is already on his Christmas vacation.
I've got you today and tomorrow. Encourage you to go
subscribe to the podcast. If you haven't already, go check
out the YouTube channel. You can find us on social
media anywhere in the country and hopefully we will be
(00:25):
able to entertain you as best we can. There a
lot of different stories that we are tracking. More video
footage surrounding the Brown University shooter. It's now been six days,
I believe, as we come up on six days since
that shooting occurred, no one has been arrested. We have
(00:46):
been reacting to very positive story. If you missed it earlier.
This morning, inflation came in lower than expected two point
seven percent, the lowest level of inflation since the spring
of twenty twenty one one, when Joe Biden came into
office two point six percent core inflation level. The Fed's
(01:07):
goal is two percent. If you want to nerd out
on economic related analysis, we spent a lot of the
opening of the first hour discussing how this, how interest
rates are impacted in an inflation environment, and why I
am so optimistic as we head into twenty twenty six
(01:28):
about the overall trajectory of the economy. We discussed President
Trump's address last night from the White House nine pm
Eastern that was carried President Trump right now is signing
an executive order easing restrictions on marijuana. He is now
taking questions from the press that is assembled in the
(01:50):
Oval Office. He is seated at the resolute Desk. We
will be monitoring that with all of you to make
sure that we are on top of anything that he
says there. Now a bit of other news. The Trump
Kennedy Center is now a thing. We'll see whether or
not this name sticks when there are new administrations that
potentially come in. But the Kennedy Center has voted to
(02:15):
rename itself the Trump Kennedy Center, and that is becoming
the new name there. In the wake of the amount
of interest that President Trump has given to the Kennedy
Center overall again, they have renamed it.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Daily Mail reporting I mentioned.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That this was a story that we were following. A
private plane crashed in North Carolina with several people on it,
and the Daily Mail is now reporting that NASCAR legend
Greg Biffle died in that plane craft, and they are
(03:01):
citing one of his best friends saying that the fifty
five year old NASCAR legend. The plane was on its
way to Sarasota, Florida. According to this report, it crashed
about forty five minutes from from Charlotte, and Garrett Mitchell,
one of Biffle's friends, said, Unfortunately, I can confirm Greg Biffle,
(03:26):
his wife, Christina, and son Writer were on that plane.
They were on the way to spend the afternoon with us. Mitchell,
according to Daily Mail, often appears in YouTube videos with Biffle.
He wrote this on Facebook, where devastated, I'm so sorry
to share this. He also said he was not sure
(03:49):
who else was potentially on that plane, a Sesna C
five point fifty according to the FAA. So that is
a awful story out there for those of you that
are NASCAR fans. Greg Biffel, very famous and well known
race car driver in the NASCAR world, again reportedly dying,
(04:11):
according to one of his best friends. As reported by
the Daily Mail, Okay, let's see another story that is
out there that I think is getting maybe not as
much attention as it should. I was texting with producer
Ali about this last night, and the Brown University shooting
(04:34):
certainly killed two people. This shooting at MIT, a professor
at MIT was assassinated.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Two days later.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Unknown assailant fatally shot MIT professor Nuno Lauro and I'm
probably mispronouncing his name inside his Boston home about fifty
miles away from that other shooting. The FBI agent said
they don't think there's a connection, but other people are
saying is there a connection here?
Speaker 3 (05:05):
And the.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Idea that a MIT professor who was an expert in
nuclear weaponry would be killed like this is It's a
story that I think should get a lot of attention.
He is a theoretical physicist and fusion scientist that has
(05:28):
specializes in nuclear science, engineering and physics. And there are
a lot of discussions about how is this forty seven
year old dad of three just getting killed MIT professor
with nuclear weapons training background? Is there something more to
this again that happened here recently, So all of those
(05:52):
stories being discussed. By the way, We're going to talk
with Jonathan Albert at the bottom of the hour about
how to handle friends family who may have Trump derangement
syndrome as the holidays are now upon us. But I
also wanted to play this for you. Piers Morgan had
Candace Owens on his program. We haven't spent a lot
(06:15):
of time talking about this, but Candace Owens has been
chasing the allegations or conspiracy. She's been arguing that somebody
other than this crazy guy killed Charlie Kirk, and Pierce
Morgan pressed her on that, and this is what that
sounded like in their conversation.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Listen, there is specifically two people at Turning Point, USA,
and I have communicated that information to Erica and Justice
Strife that I would not be surprised if they had
for knowledge of Charlie Kirk being assassinated, would you.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I'm not going to name I am not going to.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Name those people, okay, because it's not right for me
to name those people until I know for a fact
that they did.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Did you give the names to Eric, Yes, I absolutely did.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I gave the names to Erica of two employees, current
employees at Turning Point, who you believe were involved in
the preparation for the murder of Charlie Kirk, is what
you're saying.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
I told them that if if I were in your shoes,
would these would be two employees that I would look
further into.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
What evidence do you have that they had any prior
knowledge of the murder?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Because I don't have concrete evidence is the reason why
I'm not naming them.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
I mean, this is crazy. Uh, this is why I
give credit.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And I am optimistic that when this trial takes place,
that we are going to be able to hear more
and see more of what motivated this assassin. And the
Washington Post had a story that was out that I
thought was significant and worthy of discussing. Uh, the Washington
(07:54):
let me read some of this. This Tyler Robinson, this
far left wing activist who killed Charlie Kirk based on
all the evidence. And this is the Washington Post profile
that they did surrounding this alleged assassin who will be
standing trial soon. A few times I'm reading from the
Washington Post. When he was drunk, Robinson would joke about
(08:17):
right wing politicians, saying like that guy's going to catch
a bullet one day. No one took it seriously, and
they would say he would say it when he was drinking.
He reacted to Trump being shot by celebratory joke, and
they said that he increasingly and his roommate were angry
(08:41):
about right wing politicians and an anti trans sentiment in Utah.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They show the.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Roommate asked friends whether they wanted to attend an anti
Trump protest after the twenty twenty four election. The roommate
viewed Trump's election I'm reading from the Washington Post as
a loss for trans rights and was distraught. More than once,
the person said he saw Robinson cradling his sobbing roommate
(09:10):
in his arms. This is the trans roommate. I believe
this is the man who identified as a woman. I
sometimes get crossed up on this team. I believe that's true.
Correct me if I'm wrong. In February, the roommate was
furious when people came over to watch a basketball game
(09:32):
NBA game. According to people were there, one of the
visitors said something about trans athletes and how ridiculous it
was for trans athletes to be competing, and the roommate
interrupted him and shouted repeatedly to shut up about that,
and all the room went quiet before play eventually resumed.
(09:56):
And also, this person says Robinson and the trans roommate
the killer. The alleged assassin would complain about right wing
figures in the news, including Trump. So again, the motivation here,
I think is very clear. I also understand the desire
(10:19):
among many to believe that there is something larger in
play than just one person can get a rifle and
go in the life of somebody as significant as Charlie Kirk.
And thankfully we dodged this with President Trump and Butler
Pennsylvania on July thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But it's I think.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Beyond the pale to suggest that someone at Turning Point
was involved in trying to encourage the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
I mean, that is I think, absolutely a crazy Looney
Bin take. And one of the things that I think
is very challenging in modern media is there are very
(11:09):
few consequences for crazy opinions. And actually, we've created a
media ecosystem that can reward crazy opinions. And I think
that's something that is going to be important to grapple
with in the years ahead. How do we reconcile when
(11:29):
people say things that end up not being true. And
I'm not talking about just getting predictions wrong. We get
predictions wrong on this show all the time. Those of
you who have listened to this show for a long
time know that, for instance, I said we were going
to have a red wave in twenty twenty two, didn't materialize.
I was wrong. I came on, I said I was wrong.
You know, we got a red wave in Florida, we
got a red wave in New York. It didn't happen
(11:51):
in other cities and states. And then in twenty twenty
four we did get a red wave and it brought
President Trump in and so you could feel the building
of the red wave. I was just early in my forecast.
I think honestly, the Dobbs decision muted what would have
been a red wave in twenty twenty two. That's my opinion.
(12:13):
I think that abortion got out a lot of Democrats
and it forestalled the red.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Wave until twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And by the way, you can argue that if we
had gotten a red wave in twenty twenty two, Joe
Biden would have stepped down then and said I'm not
running for reelection. The Democrats would have had a full primary,
Republicans would have had a full primary, and we wouldn't
have ended up with Trump versus Kamala. We may have
ended up with I think Trump still probably would have
(12:40):
won the overall Republican nomination, But who knows who the
nominee would have been for Democrats. I don't think it
would have been Kamala. And so you get things wrong.
That's part of this business. It's hard to forecast the future.
Nobody is perfect at it. But when you say things
that are able to be proven incorrect, what is the
(13:01):
metric under which there are consequences for that?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it's.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Something that in the world in which we live, it's
very hard for me to sue, for instance, because somebody
defame me because I'm a public figure. So if you
go on social media at any moment, people are saying
awful things about me, They're saying awful things about Buck,
They're saying awful things about many different people in public life.
And because the standard is so substantial for a public
(13:28):
figure to be able to sue, we almost have created
a world where you can say anything about anyone and
if they are a public figure. In the United States,
it's almost impossible for there to be any form of
defamation that is recoverable, and so that actually leads, I think,
to an incentives culture where you can say awful things
(13:52):
about whoever you don't like, awful, untrue things not opinions,
right me saying I think Tim Walls is an awful,
awful governor and was an atrocious vice presidential candidate and
didn't actually appeal to men at all, and Democrats made
it a tremendously boneheaded decision there. That's all well intentioned.
(14:16):
I believe everything I just said. But if I took
the next step and said I think Tim Walls is
you know, he's a drug dealer, that would be totally
made up. I don't think there's any evidence whatsoever to
support it. But I don't know that Tim Walls could
sue because he's a public figure, and the standard of
public figures is you can basically say anything about them
(14:37):
and there are no consequences. I think this is going
to become more and more challenging in a social media age.
It's something that I spend a lot of time thinking about.
And this is me going down into the weeds legally,
but the New York Times v. Sullivan standard when it
comes to free speech in the First Amendment and how
that is implicated, it doesn't really fit the modern era
(15:01):
in which we live. It's an outdated policy precedent from
the nineteen sixties that I don't think fits the modern
reality of media in twenty twenty five and twenty twenty six.
Something to think about, something to put a pin in it.
I don't even know how many Supreme Court justices really
get this. Several of them have started to say, hey,
(15:24):
you know what this idea of Times v. Sullivan needs
to be modified. Clarence Thomas has talked about it. I
think it's a huge deal. I think it's a substantial
story that is going to be generationally important in the
years ahead. But just putting a pin in it. Wanted
to play that cut and use it kind of as
(15:45):
a jumping off point to talk about public commentary and
what the standard should be when it comes to what
is said and what is not. Look Buck learned a
lot from his time in DC. Between that entering the media,
He's connected the dots on how quickly political power can
into financial power. Insiders have always had a head start
until now. To one of the reasons, he started writing
(16:06):
a weekly e newsletter called Money and Power. Money and
Power gives everyday Americans access to the kind of fast
moving intelligence that used to stay locked behind closed doors.
The team he works with writing Money and Power monitors
DC for every policy, league, spending bill, and executive order,
because all of those can create a chain of reaction
(16:26):
in the markets worth billions of dollars. Right now, you
can join this Money in Power newsletter for eighty two
percent off the regular price. Go to joinbuck dot com.
That's joinbuck dot com. Get your first alert before the
next policy shock. Hits paid for by Paradigm Press. That's
joinbuck dot com.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
The news and politics, but also a little comic relief.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Welcome back in Play Travis Bock Sexton Show, Thursday edition
of the program, And let's get to some talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
A A had this to say.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I just want to say thank you guys for awesome
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Keep up the good work and hope you guys have
a really good holiday season.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Merry Christmas, Hoppy, you know you're all that good stuff,
and you know, thanks again. Really love to listening to
you guys.
Speaker 7 (17:21):
Y'all are awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Oh it's super nice. We'll have more talkbacks. We've got
a guest coming up at the bottom of the hour.
Jonathan Alpert you guys loved him. We talked to him
right before Thanksgiving about how to deal with family members
that have been driven insane by President Trump, and a
lot of you out there wanted.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
To hear from him again. So we have brought him back.
We will talk with.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Him and if you guys want to load up phone lines,
if you want to ask questions, we've got some talkbacks.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But if you go right now eight hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And two A two two eight eight to two quickly
and give us this a Saint question or give us
us a sint talkback, we can get that for him.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Cozier It's absolutely phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
We absolutely love everything about this overall brand. They have
so much incredible content up there on their site for
all of you, and you can get hooked up right now.
If you go to cozy Erth dot com. You get
great gifts this holiday season, whether it's the brand new incredible.
(18:23):
The bubble blanket is so great. I sleep every night
on the bamboo sheets. They are the perfect combination of
softness and comfort. Trust me, you're gonna love this company.
Go to Cozyerth dot com today that Cozy earth dot
com use my name play as the promo for up
to twenty percent off. That's code Clay for up to
(18:46):
twenty percent off. And be sure and mention you heard
about us at Clay and Buck if you get the
post purchase survey, that's cozyerth dot com code Clay. Welcome
back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton show. I appreciate all
of you hanging out with us. We are joined now
by Jonathan Albert, psychotherapist in New York City and DC,
(19:06):
author of the forthcoming book Therapy Nation.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
We talked with you back.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
In around Thanksgiving, Jonathan, and there was a great feedback
from the audience. So given the fact that Christmas is nearing,
we are exactly one week from Christmas Day. If I
am doing my math correctly, and I think i am,
and obviously Hanukkah is underway, What is the number one
(19:33):
piece of advice you would give anyone out there that
is going to be with friends and family who hate
President Trump. Many of the people listening to us right
now are big Trump supporters. What is the number one
piece of advice when it comes to holidays with Trump haters?
Speaker 8 (19:51):
Well, Clay, maybe get a life, but that aside, you know,
I think people need to recognize that family and friend
friends are, or at least should be, more important than
Donald Trump or any political figure that may be in
our country. But all too often that's not the case.
We have people who are dividing families, cutting off relatives,
(20:15):
loved ones, friends, just because of the way that someone voted.
And as a therapist, I mean, I'm seeing this endlessly
since Thanksgiving. People are coming in talking about high anxiety
about seeing their Trump loving uncle or even their progressive
cousin over the holiday. So it's a real problem in
our society. And what I'm seeing this year seems worse
(20:40):
than a year's past. And I think part of the
problem is people have become their anger has become hardened,
and it's become part of their personality. So we really
need to try to examine that and figure out how
to work with these people. And sometimes as simple as
saying past the gravy may work just to remind people like,
(21:00):
we're here for the holiday dinner, not to discuss politics.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
We've got Kathy in Birmingham, Alabama. She has a question
for you. Kathy, you're talking with Jonathan Alpert. You've got
a dad who is a major Trump hater. Ask your question, how.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Do you deal with it? He is ninety years old,
and Clay he was he founded. I thought it was
my own father that called in the Bill from Wisconsin.
My father's name is Bill and he is from the
Upper Peninsula, Michigan, and Bill from Wisconsin is exactly how
(21:40):
my father is treating his three adult children.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Thank you for the case. What should she do?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
You didn't hear earlier, but we had to call her
Bill from Wisconsin, who just hates Trump? Sounds like her
dad ninety years old? Is that way too? What would
you suggest that she do? Is it completely ignore everything
having to do with Trump? What's the best way to
get through the holidays with some semblance of sanity in
the household?
Speaker 8 (22:10):
Yeah? And I think accepting that there will be people
who hate Trump, or hate Joe Biden, or hate Kamala Harris,
but again like recognizing that no one political figure should
dominate a holiday, and maybe getting back to the importance
of the holiday and what it's all about, and maybe
there can just be a brief acknowledgment. I understand that
(22:31):
we don't see I politically, but I love you. You're
my father, you're my daughter, whatever the case may be.
And let's focus on family and enjoying the holiday together.
So most of the times that will work.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
We also have another question.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I appreciate people calling in Ryan and Boston has a
question for you. Jonathan Albert on with us.
Speaker 7 (22:52):
Now, gentlemen, great topic and built from Wisconsin. You have
to realize you don't get every vote. And he's one
of the guys to go the other way. But I
noticed this little kid. People going after Reagan, and I
don't even repeat the things they said. So this goes
on politically, it seems more from the left. They do
get kind of vicious. And I always wanted to know.
(23:14):
I believe on an emotional level, and I'd ask you,
is are these people stunted emotionally because people now are
excluding people from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and they want
no part of these They don't want no part of
these individuals because they can't control their political views at
dinners anymore. You know, I could What I could do
is what I do is I just walk away. During Thanksgiving,
(23:37):
I can watch football I'm a sports fan, or even
Christmas they have games and I could watch or just
walk away from any kind of looming to his conversation,
but a lot of people on the other side don't
like it at all. People are being excluded. And a
good example I saw as a young guy when Pappy
Cannon ran for president, even Republicans got vicious calling names.
(23:57):
So name calling is permitted in politics, but tampering with
the actual agenda is not.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
John, Thank you for the call, Ryan Jonathan. I this
is something that I think everybody is grappling with and
it's not gonna go away. And I think I asked
you this last time, but I find it super interesting.
Is Trump derangement syndrome as it exists today? And I
would say there's about twenty percent of Americans that just
(24:28):
genuinely hate Trump with every fiber of their being. Is
it gonna translate to other politicians on the Republican side
of the aisle.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Let's say it's J. D.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Vance or Marco Robio or Ron DeSantis, whoever is the
next flag bearer for the Republican Party. In your experience,
does this kind of hate translate? Or if Trump steps
off the stage, which he will do in January of
twenty twenty nine, does it then sort of leave with him?
Speaker 8 (25:00):
Great question, Clay, and I remember you did ask that
last time. I think to some degree the hate does
stick around into the next president, whoever that may be,
but maybe to a lesser extent because Trump has just
been such a polarizing figure and he came out of
the business world, and most likely we'll have a politician
(25:21):
that steps up into the presidency next time and not
this outsider that Trump was. And I think a lot
of people just had trouble reconciling, like how can this guy,
a real estate tycoon and TV star become president? And
a lot of people just cannot be okay with that
and reconcile that. So I don't think we'll quite have
that at play and that hatred. But yes, to your point,
(25:45):
I think there are always going to be people who
hate the other side. One of the differences that I've
seen is the hatred towards the right seems to be
much more potent than the hatred towards the left. Plenty
of patients of mind didn't like Biden or Harris, but
it never rose to the level of wanting either of
(26:08):
those people dead. But we've certainly seen that on the
other side.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Mary in Texas has an opinion. I'm curious what you
would think of her opinion. Mary, you've got Jonathan Albert
on with us. What have you got for us?
Speaker 6 (26:22):
Well, the basic things about being with your family or
friends during the holidays. It's just very very very lovingly,
very kindly say, Look, we've been together for ninety years,
you know, forty years for children, has been wife. This
isn't about what's going on in politics.
Speaker 9 (26:42):
This is about Christmas.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
This is about being with family.
Speaker 9 (26:46):
Let's take responsibility as adults, as human beings to be
loving with each other, to be Christian with each other,
and the rest is gonna be what it is. You're
gonna think what you're gonna think, you're gonna you're gonna
want to do what you're gonna want to do, but
let's leave it away from around us.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Thank you, Mary. Good advice, Jonathan.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Oh, excellent advice from Mary. That's pretty much what I
tell my patients that friends and family are far more
important than politics, and they should transcend any occupant of
the White House. Unfortunately, we're not seeing that this holiday season.
But that's great advice from Mary.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Historically, we talked with Breonna Lyman from The Federalist in
the second hour of the program. I love history because
it teaches you that you're way tougher, and then you
think you are in that the country is way tougher
than many people think it is. I would imagine that
in the wake of the Civil War there were probably
a lot of family gatherings that took place, particularly in
(27:50):
border states where people fought for different sides of the
country north and south, that it took a long time
to get through. Certainly for those of you out there
who remember the nineteen sixties, I would imagine during the
Vietnam War there were a lot of contentious Thanksgivings and Christmases.
Are you optimistic that we will come through and that
(28:11):
sanity will win or are you concerned that in a
social media era it's harder for sanity to triumph going forward?
In other words, how perpetual do you think the divisions
in the country are compared to past history and looking forward?
Speaker 8 (28:28):
Yeah, And I think if people could look at history
would probably be better off now than we are. Our
mental health would be better off. But then when you
enter into the mix social media and echo chambers that
people surround themselves in, it's really only intensifying the division
in our country. And that's part of what my forthcoming book,
(28:48):
Therapy Nation is about, like this division, and it's actually
fueled in part by my profession. We have therapy culture
that is placing blame on everyone but their patient. Of course,
it's your boss that's the bad guy, or your spouse,
it's not your fault. So you know, we don't have
resilience being taught to patients these days. We have quite
(29:11):
the opposite. We have grievance culture that's taking hold. We
have fragility, and that's a big part of the problem.
And again, if people could just look at our country's history,
and you make a good point that during the Civil
War and after it, families probably still got together and
loved each other.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Thank you so much for joining us, Jonathan Albert. If
people want to read more of what you are doing,
I know you've got a book coming out called Therapy Nation.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Where should they find you?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
People can find me on x or Twitter at Jonathan
Albert and also my website Jonathan Albert dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Outstanding stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
As always, have good holidays and we look forward to
talking to you again.
Speaker 8 (29:58):
Yeah, thank you, Clay.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
I have a great Holliday you too.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I want to tell you candles were lit on Bondai
Beach in Australia earlier this week by families, children, people
of faith to celebrate a festival of light. But instead
of light, there was darkness, violence, fear, hatred showing itself
during a time meant for prayer and rejoicing. It reminds
us that even with a ceasefire in Israel, Jewish people
are being targeted simply because of their faith. This is
(30:24):
why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews exists. The
IFCJ stands in the gap providing safety and security to
God's people. The Fellowship brings together Christians and Jews to
support Jews in Israel, the former Soviet Union, or wherever.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
The need is greatest.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Your gift today will help provide the security that people
so desperately need. To send your gift call eight eight
eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight eight four
eight eight four three two five. You can also give
online at Fellowship gift dot org. That's Fellowship gift dot org.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Want to be in the know when you're on the go.
The Team forty seven podcast trump highlights from the week
Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Bug podcast
feed find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Thank you
so much for hanging out with us on this Thursday.
Tomorrow will be the final show of the twenty twenty
five year. Now we will still have guest hosts. We
will have best of specials. But Buck is already out
on his Christmas vacation and I will be out after tomorrow.
(31:37):
We'll have a lot of fun breaking down all of
that with you guys. Our talkback function was not working
flawlessly go figure during the last segment, so I couldn't
get two people who had left talkbacks. But let me
hit Becky from Phoenix right here. She wanted this to
get out when we were talking with Jonathan Alpert, Gigi, Hey.
Speaker 10 (31:56):
It's Becky from Phoenix. I disagree with this guy. It's
not about who you voted for. It's the ideology and
it's not a political figure. It's how you believe. And
when that is the root of your disagreements, then maybe
you do have you know, justification of saying you know what, Sorry,
(32:17):
we're not we don't see eye to eye, but we're
still family. We're still friends, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It, Okay, thank you for that talk. Back breaking news
that's just coming down. This according to the Daily Mail,
authorities say they have now identified the shadowy figure, who's
face they have done reading from their site, whose face
they have been attempting to find with the help of
grainy surveillance footage. A name has not yet been released
(32:44):
and no one is in custody. But again that video
that all of you have been seeing of the person
of interest walking in the area of Brown University and Providence,
Rhode Island. This guy fired forty rounds, killed two students,
wounded twelve more. And now there is also a discussion
(33:07):
that there may be a connection between the Brown shooting
and the killing of MIT Professor Nuno Lauro, a nuclear scientist.
So they are now trying to figure out did the
Brown University shooter also kill this MIT researcher and what
(33:28):
might the connection be between both of these attacks, if any.
But again, hopefully tomorrow we will have more details on
this pursuit that has now reached six days. But again
reporting from the Daily Mail that authorities believe they have
identified who this individual is. I would suspect that if
(33:50):
they have identified who this individual is, that they will
either hopefully soon be announcing that they are getting in
pursuit and have arrested this guy, or that they will
be providing that name, more details of what this individual
looks like, and asking for all of your help to
hopefully track down who this person is. So again, I
(34:14):
wanted to make sure that I updated you with all
of that that is coming down literally in real time
as this show has been progressing. So that is all
going on out there. Tomorrow. Let's have some fun. I'm
gonna put a challenge up, what are the best Christmas movies?
(34:36):
I was thinking about this last night. I've got not
a ton of work that I have to do tonight
in the grand scheme of things, so I was thinking,
maybe the Travis family is gonna get together and watch
a Christmas movie? What is the best Christmas movie in
the minds of this illustrious and incredible audience. And best
(34:58):
is in quotation marks right, because first of all, you
have to define what is a Christmas movie?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Right? And then you have to.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Say, well, do you mean an ennobling, incredible feeling of
Christmas gratitude and experience? And you know, you could say,
for instance, It's a Wonderful Life, which is a more
serious film? Or are you saying, hey, I just want
to be entertained. It's really hard to beat Chevy Chase's
Christmas Vacation. It's really hard to beat a Christmas story, elf. Whatever,
(35:30):
the movies are out there that are just super entertaining.
What is your standard? I would tend to go for
entertaining over larger message. And this is probably going to
get me as much hate as when I said that
R and B music was overrated and all of you
who play the flute, are you made a really poor decision.
I'm even nervous to say it. I really do like
(35:53):
the movie Love, Actually. I think it's really well done.
It's a great Christmas eir movie. I watched it on
a plane. I had missed it for like twenty years.
I know it's a romantic comedy, really good Love Actually.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
You guys don't trust me on anything anymore, do you?
But I want to get your talkbacks. Let's have some
fun with that tomorrow. Home Alone. Tough to beat? Is
die Harder? Is die hard?
Speaker 7 (36:19):
Not?
Speaker 2 (36:19):
A Christmas movie?
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Has been an ongoing debate for the last thirty some
odd years. Remember it was a Christmas party yet Nakatomi
Plaza that began the hostage takeover there and what I
think is probably the best action adventure movie that's ever
been made, die Hard. It's impossible to sit down and
not think die Hard is incredible, the first one. All right,
(36:41):
I love all of you. You are all incredible. Thanks
for making twenty five so great. Final show of the
calendar year tomorrow, see y'all.
Speaker 7 (36:50):
Than
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
Show Links
WebsiteNewsletterPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!