September 11, 2025 • 36 mins
Hour 3 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show continues the heartfelt tribute to Charlie Kirk following his tragic assassination, blending breaking news updates, personal reflections, and powerful commentary on the cultural and political implications of his death. This hour opens with the latest developments from Utah law enforcement, who have postponed a press conference amid rapid changes in the investigation. The suspected shooter remains at large nearly 24 hours after the attack, raising concerns about a premeditated escape plan.
Clay and Buck revisit a past interview with Charlie Kirk from November 2024, highlighting his passion for college football and his deep connection with young Americans. Kirk’s enthusiasm for the Oregon Ducks and his grassroots campus tours are used to illustrate his ability to connect with youth culture and inspire political engagement. The hosts emphasize how Kirk’s authenticity and optimism made him a powerful voice for conservative values, especially among young men seeking clarity and purpose in a confusing cultural landscape.
The hour features a moving call from a mother in Idaho whose teenage son was deeply impacted by Kirk’s death, revealing the emotional toll on families and the generational influence Kirk had through platforms like TikTok. Clay and Buck also share news that Vice President JD Vance is personally escorting Charlie’s casket home to Arizona aboard Air Force Two, a gesture of national respect and mourning.
Senator Bill Haggerty of Tennessee joins the show to reflect on Kirk’s legacy, describing him as a courageous advocate for free speech and a role model for young Americans. Haggerty condemns the celebration of Kirk’s death by some on the left, including a now-terminated dean at Middle Tennessee State University, and calls for a cultural reset rooted in respect, dialogue, and moral clarity.
The hosts and guests repeatedly stress the cowardice of political violence and the importance of continuing Kirk’s mission. They draw parallels to Rush Limbaugh’s influence, noting that Kirk was a “Rush baby” who learned conservatism by listening to Limbaugh’s daily monologues. This connection underscores the generational continuity of conservative thought and the importance of cultural engagement.
Charlie’s impact on young men is a recurring theme, with the hosts discussing how his message resonated in a world increasingly hostile to traditional masculinity. Kirk’s rejection of woke ideology, DEI mandates, and toxic political correctness made him a beacon for those seeking truth, patriotism, and liberty. His assassination is framed not only as a personal loss but as a cultural attack on free speech and ideological diversity.
The hour closes with a solemn promise from Clay and Buck to continue Kirk’s fight, honor his legacy, and remain steadfast in their mission to defend American values. Listeners are encouraged to hug their families, stay strong, and carry the torch forward in the battle for truth and freedom.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. I'm going
to try to get control of myself here in the
third hour. Let me update you on the news.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Utah.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is according to Matt Finn at Fox News Channel Utah.
Law enforcement just postponed and upcoming press conference due to
quote rapid developments. For those of you who are wondering
about the latest, we still do not have the alleged
assassin in custody. Buck, you probably could talk to that
(00:35):
from a sort of background in your experience over time.
It's been nearly twenty four hours since you yesterday during
the final hour of this program, initially saw the fact
that there had been a shooting. They have photos out,
We have shared those photos. Certainly, we have a big
(00:55):
audience of you listening in Utah, and to be fair,
it's been twenty three hours basically since the shooting. The
guy could be anywhere. They say that they found an
abandoned rifle they believe in the woods behind the school.
They have shared photos of the individual they believe of
the college age, appears to be male, that potentially did
(01:18):
the shooting. Twenty three hours a long time, Buck. Now,
historically there are analogs. I mean, it took many days,
for instance, to catch John Wilkes Booth after the assassination
of President Clinton, President Lincoln. But it's been a long
time since I can remember a situation like this, you know,
Bobby Kennedy, I guess the MLK assassination James Earl Ray,
(01:42):
I actually think fled the country if I remember that
story correctly post assassination. But twenty three hours a lot
of time.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I'm very, very much hopeful that they will have an
arrest here while we were on the air, But with
each passing out or the concern rises that this assassin
had time to prepare and and and also prepared an
exit plan and we don't know what that means yet,
(02:12):
and we'll have more information within within hours, I would,
I would assume about where this investigation stands. It's something
clearly the full weight and force of law enforcement is
being brought to bear on this issue issue, as it should.
But there are Look, there are cases where people have
(02:35):
done horrible things and managed to get out of the country. That,
unfortunately is a possibility that has gone through my mind.
I hope that's not the case. There was a an
assassination of CIA employees Clay that occurred back in the
early nineties, and that he just went up to people
that he knew there was used to be a stoplight
at Langley and the shooter knew that the people who
(02:59):
were going to make that left turn we're all going
into Langley, So we assume that they were CIA employees
and he's went up with a rifle and just shot
people sitting in their cars. He managed to make it
to Afghanistan and Pakistan and took ten years to get him.
So I am hoping that what we're going to find
is this evil, you know the words I cannot say
(03:22):
on radio, is in custody and facing the full weight
of the justice system within hours, if not minutes. So
we'll continue to watch this as closely as we can.
And I know that Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino,
and everybody at the senior levels of law enforcement for
the state of Utah and for the federal government is
(03:46):
all hands on deck with this, as they should be.
So I think that the likelihood is still high that
we will get an arrest of this assassin soon.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
We had Charlie on the program and peppering the show
with a variety of different audio clips from Charlie Kirk.
We had him on the show right after the election,
and I had the team pull a few of these.
This was right around Thanksgiving. Charlie Kirk came on the
(04:19):
show and I have talked. We've talked a ton, and
it's one of the most devastating aspects of all of
this that his kids are so young, and the humanity
involved of just thinking about a little girl and little
boy that will never get to grow up and know
their dad is devastating for any parent grandparent out there.
(04:43):
And I think that it's worth noting that Charlie was effervescent.
He was almost always upbeat. He was incredibly optimistic, and
he was a buck. This is where we connected. You've
talked about it. I think you've nailed it. I innately
(05:03):
trust college football fans. It doesn't matter who you root for.
Sometimes you root for teams that I think are awful
talking to you Alabama fans, but Charlie was a big
Oregon Ducks fan, and so I would text with Charlie.
I don't think ever about politics. It was all about
college football, and so when he was on the program,
I think, Buck, you, I think it was maybe Thanksgiving
(05:25):
week and we had guests, and I think you might
have been out this day. I was were family for
Thanksgiving and you were, Yeah, you were handling the show.
I think I was solow. Here was the first question
I asked him, which was he loves the Oregon Ducks.
I know we got a lot of listeners out in Oregon.
Here's a flashback November twenty sixth, twenty twenty four, Charlie
on the program, talking right off the top about the
(05:47):
Oregon Ducks. Charlie, you and I ran into each other
at mar Lago recently. What's the first thing you wanted
to talk about?
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Oh, college football. That's the only thing I want to
talk about. Great to be here, Clay, I mean, I
talked politics all day long. It's refreshing to talk to
somebody that is as informed or even better informed than
me on the most the more important thing that happens
in the fall, not the election, but our tradition of
college football. So great to be here. We had a
great time catching up and talking about how the organ
(06:14):
Ducks should win the national championship this year.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
All right, So I have told Buck for some time.
Buck is out for Thanksgiving already that I trust college
football fans immediately more than other people, before I even
know anything else about them. You've been all over the
country working in battleground states, Big ten, sec A, PAC
twelve used to be obviously Big twelve. All of the
(06:37):
different acc conferences out there were their battlegrounds. Do you
also trust college football fans more than anybody else?
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Oh, without a doubt. Now when you say these conferences,
I don't know what you're talking about. You're talking about
the AEC powerhouse of cal Berkeley. I mean, it's very confusing.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So taking a shot at your old PAC twelve arrivals,
I appreciate that more.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
About conference realignment. It's just the whole whole thing is
so goofy. But no, Yes, if if someone has a
passion for college football, I have something like inherently and
deep in common with them, more so than almost anything.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So that conversation and then Buck I asked him, and
I think it's good to hear from Charlie himself here
about the campus tours and the feeling he gets from them,
about the impact and the movement towards Trump from young people.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Here.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
He talked with us about why doing these campus events
is so important. Cut Tim, Are you surprised by how
well Trump did in the battleground states or were the
results almost exactly what you expected.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
I didn't get into the prediction business, you know. I'll
tell you the weekend before I modeled out a way
where we could win and that we could lose. You
never quite know because polling is such a guest coman.
I will say this though, you know, visiting a lot
of these schools, we did these campus events that were
just massive and had millions and millions of people online
when we did them. One in particular at the University
of Georgia where we five thousand people show up and
(08:02):
I turned to my team, I said, guys, this is
not normal, Like, this is not anything I've seen before.
I think we might win, and I think might win
really big, and win with young people. Same at Penn
State we had thirty five hundred young people Arizona State University.
I mean, we were all across the country, and so
it all makes sense now that the dust is settled.
But I would be lying to you, Clay, if I
(08:23):
didn't say that they didn't have any some anxiety and
on ease. We are up against the most powerful thing
ever to exist. I mean, look what they did, the
Trump They try to put them in prison for seven
hundred years. They lied, they mirror, they slandered, they censored,
and the American people defeated that. And even to the
very end, I was a little bit paranoid. I'll acknowledge
it because we've kind of been beaten into submission the
last couple of years that can we really win and
(08:45):
is there gonna be shenanigans? Is there gonna be tom foolery?
And so I'm not surprised by how what we do
with young men, but pleasantly surprised at the let's just say,
the common sense of the American people.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
This is I mean, I think goes to the success
that he had and what we were talking about that
email question we got in the last hour. Young men
are looking for they're looking for answers in a world
that they feel is very dishonest to them. I think
that's particularly true in the wake of COVID, but for
basically all of human history, we told young men get
(09:20):
married and provide for your family, and now they're being told, well,
masculinity's toxic, and well, maybe you don't need to be
ahead of a household and maybe you don't need to
provide for your family. Maybe even that's misogynistic to suggest.
And if you're a young man today, you went and
you watch the Charlie Kirks of the world, very popular
on YouTube and TikTok, and this is why we want
(09:42):
to continue to grow that following year. And it's where
I think college football connects with a lot of young
men as well. But that's why he was so impactful
to so many of these people, because he went and
found them where they were. He didn't expect them to
come find him, and that is so important. I think
(10:02):
if you're going to talk about winning hearts and mind.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I also think that the Democrat left had become very
overconfident for a long time that they would just have
this lock on the youth because of the institutional advantages
that they have from media, from campuses, from the faculty lounge,
these universities, from the public school system and public teachers
(10:29):
and all of this and any break on that I
think sent to panic. And this last election was the
first time that it really you know, Charlie's work was
building up for years before this, but in this last
election the results became apparent when it came to who
was going to lead the country.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
For the next four years.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
And I think that there was a real shockwave that
went through the anti Trump forces because they always assumed
young people will be effectively the brainwashed sheep that we
need them to be. And Charlie was taking the the
rhetorical fight to the other side on these campuses, and
(11:14):
that was something that was very powerful, and I think
that you know, it's it's something that I know a
lot of us are now going to be considering, how
do we carry the torch forward? How do we continue
the work, the fight that Charlie was leading in so
many ways, And that's going to be an ongoing conversation
(11:35):
here because one thing is for sure, We're we're not
going to change how we feel, what we say, what
matters to us or and I say we, I don't
just mean Clay and me, I mean everybody who does this,
everybody who's outspoken, everyone who has a platform and is
trying to fight for a better country, trying to fight
for the country that they love. Charlie would want us
all to continue in that fight, and I know that
(11:55):
we will. So that's that's where right now. I find
myself playing. Also, I just you know what you what
you said before we had to go into commercial break
is very powerful.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
The first thing it is I went down to hug
my wife and I kissed my little baby boy on
the top of his head, and you know, kiss my
wife and just all of you, just just you know,
hug your family.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Do it today.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Do it now.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Call mom and dad if you haven't done it in
a while, if you don't have kids, if you are
mom and dad, hug your kids, man, because you don't
know when the last time you're going to be able
to do that is yeah. And I think again, that
is the world that they have created, and that's the
(12:51):
world where they want to rule with terror, and I
think it's incumbent upon all of us, just like twenty
four years ago when they attacked us on nine to eleven,
because of our exceptionalism, because of our building of the
(13:11):
greatest country that has ever existed in the world, they
looked around from their hovels and wondered why they didn't
have what we have, and they hated us for it.
And I think again, the weakness of the person who
killed Charlie Kirk was he could not in any way
intellectually match the arguments of Charlie Kirk, and so he
(13:32):
decided to kill him. That is the actions of a coward,
because ultimately, what you're saying is the words of the
person are so powerful that the only way I can
try to defeat them is by stopping them from ever
speaking again. Fortunately, we have pretty good history on this
buck and killing people who are speaking powerfully. Look at
(13:56):
the Christian faith is one of the worst ways to
restrict the spread of truth and justice.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
And so.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
All of us are now called upon to be braver, stronger,
and more courageous than we have been in the past
to help uplift a country that desperately needs us. Do
what Charlie did, and we will continue every day. We
will do that.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
You know, Charlie was also a really big pro life supporter,
and he often worked with and headlined events for Preborn,
which is a sponsor here on the program. It was
a sponsor on Charlie's program and one that both Charlie
and I were very proud always to be able to
(14:48):
do what we can to help. And the way we
help is by telling all of you about what Preborn
is doing saving lives and the pro life movement was
critical to Charlie. It's critical to me, and this is
work that we must continue day in and day out.
And that is what Preborn is doing. Preborn, as you know,
brings in mothers who have an unplanned pregnancy and they're
(15:10):
usually getting a lot of pressure. There's a lot of
noise out there that the only thing that they could do,
the only choice they have is abortion. Well that's just
not true, and Preborn says, please come into one of
these clinics. To any woman out there who's pregnant, come
into one of these clinics, will give you an ultrasound,
you can meet the tiny baby in your womb, and
we will offer you love and support to bring this
child into the world. It's an incredibly important organization. It's
(15:33):
work that Charlie loved, and we should continue it here today.
Please support Preborn. Dial pound two fifty and say the
keyword baby. That's pound two five zero. Say the keyword baby.
I donate to Preborn. I think what they do is incredible.
Dial pound two five zero say the keyword baby. Or
you can go online Preborn dot com, slash buck, Preborn
(15:57):
dot com, slash b u c K.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
News and politics, but also a little comic relief.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Clay Travis at Buck Sexton.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcast.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
All right, welcome back in to Clay and Buck. We're
having a tough day here. You all know why we're
trying to come together to grief but also to find
a way forward. Here we all miss our friend Charlie Kirk.
We miss what he represented for the country, and we
want justice to degree that it is possible to get
such a thing in such a horrific situation, with the
(16:33):
killer arrested and hopefully swiftly prosecuted, and I would like
to see executed. Let's take some callers here. Nicole in Quarterlin, Idaho. Nicole, Welcome.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Nicole, I can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Gotcha?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Two points. I just never realized the impact that Charlie
had on the use of our country. It was my
fifteen year old son who informed me of his passing,
and I was just so impressed that my son knew
him and he said, yeah, Mom, I watch him all
the time on TikTok. And another thing I loved about
Charlie was I truly felt he was Heaven sent, and
(17:16):
that he's a testament that God is in the details
of our lives. Because Trump needed him and I knew God.
God knew he needed him, and he I think Trump
has been humbled in a way in this second term.
And Charlie, despite their fifty year age gap, what a
(17:38):
friendship they formed. It was just so special and I'm
just so impressed with Charlie, and I feel, you know,
as sad as it is we've lost him, it says
wonderful that we knew him, and I know he would
want us to continue the work. And for that young
man who is suffering this today with his mom writing
(18:02):
that email, just would hope that he would don't lose hope.
That's what Charlie would want, Charlie, for him to believe
that the cause is bigger than him and that together,
you know, we were stronger. And Charlie would want us
to just pick up the baton and keep going.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Amen. I think that's one hundred percent right. We come back,
by the way, we're going to be joined by Senator
Bill Haggerty of Tennessee. I'm sure that he will want
to talk about this one bit of positivity out there.
We have a report that Jade Vance has met with
the family and they are bringing Charlie's casket home to
(18:44):
Arizona on Air Force two, that is the Vice President's plane.
More on this when we come back. We appreciate and
love all of you. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck
Sexton Show. There is a press conference that is coming
soon that we will take live. You're going to be
joined by Senator Bill Haggerty here in a moment. But
I wanted you to be able to hear that last
(19:04):
caller talking about the impact that Charlie Kirk had had
on her teenager. And I also want to tell you, look,
there's probably a lot of you that are going to
be looking for something that is not serious, and I'm
one of them. I'm going to be going to a
ninth grade football game this afternoon and then I'm headed
to Knoxville to go watch Tennessee Playgeorgia. And a lot
(19:27):
of you want to play along with price picks. I
give you a pick every Thursday. I'm going to give
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(19:50):
this for a few years. That pays out at five
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pricepicks dot com use code Clay. That's pricepicks dot Com
code Clay. Senator Bill Haggerty with us right now, Senator,
I know you pretty well. I know you've got I
think four kids, and I bet your sons in particular
have been influenced and impacted in a significant way by
(20:12):
Charlie Kirk like mine have. In fact, our kids have
gone to one of the same schools. I don't know
if you know this, Senator, but the kids at our
kids mutual school all wore jackets and ties, which they
are not fond of doing, in honor of Charlie Kirk today,
basically the entire school. What was your reaction when you
(20:33):
saw and heard what had happened? What should happen next?
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Well, I've known Charlie for years. I wasn't close with
Charlie to the extent you know, never took a vacation
or something like that. We see one another in a room,
we'd always make our way across to shake hands. How
are you doing? I was thinking the last time I
saw Charlie was at Mono Lago not too long ago.
But it just, you know, as a parent, it just
(20:58):
strikes deep, not only the influence on my sons, And
I tell you my sons share something with Charlie as well.
My boys are both Eagle Scouts as am I so was.
Charlie was an Eagle Scout, and Charlie is a little
bit older than my sons. But you know, I have
a very parental view of young people like Charlie who
are willing to enter the fray, to be the man
(21:21):
in the arena, so to speak, and just to step
up and engage and debate and basically bring out what's
best in America. That's the freedom of speech that we
have that no other nation enjoys. And to see that
curtailed in such a tragic way as heartbreaking to me.
It's just heartbreaking, claims Senator Haggerty.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I appreciate you being here, and it's a tough day
for the whole country. We were prepared to have a
remembrance of nine to eleven, and then this terrible incident
became something that it's just so many of us couldn't
sleep well last night thinking about it, the grief that
has spread across the country. What would you say to
(22:00):
everybody right now, especially to a lot of I mean,
you have young boys yourself, To the parents out there
who are worried about how this is going to affect
their sons and daughters who looked.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
Up to Charlie, Well, I don't think this should impact
the degree to which they look up to Charlie at all.
In fact, I think this is going to raise the
respect for Charlie and raise the attention level in a
way that is well deserved but sad. At the same time,
Charlie certainly didn't name to be a martyr, but he
(22:32):
has been pushing for a cause. It's been vitally important
to him. I think it's vitally important to our nation,
and his willingness to engage, to debate and to clarify
for you on people so they could actually see the
truth and cut through the noise that you spend time
at clay Buck. You both spend time cutting through the
noise in the mainstream media, the obsuscation that takes place,
the politicization that takes play place in the media, the
(22:54):
silencing that takes place. And Charlie was a beacon when
it comes to standing up and bringing the truth to
light and enabling a real discussion about issues rather than
just spin spin spin all day long. Charlie was willing
to engage, He was willing to listen to different opinions.
He was willing to argue in public in a respectful manner.
(23:18):
This is the way our forefathers, our founding fathers designed
this nation to respect and support just that type of interaction.
And what happened was an act of cowardice, first and foremost,
only a total coward do something like that, and someone
with such a narrow mind that they think the only
way to address a difference of opinion is to shut
(23:39):
the other side down. It's a manifestation of what's gone
so deeply wrong with the whole cancel culture here in
America and anyone. And I'm sad to say it, but
there are people that are actually trying to justify this
or in some way even celebrating this that dehumanizes not
(24:00):
only those of us that care that have heavy feelings.
It dehumanizes the person that could possibly think that way.
And we need to get back to the basics here
in America. We need to get back to fundamental respect.
And again, it's heartbreaking to see what's happening, what has happened,
I should say, with Charlie's loss, But I hope that
it will be a chance for America to wake up,
(24:21):
for our young people to wake up and say, this
young man stood for something quite important, and I think
he's going to live on in our memories for years
and decades to come.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
We're talking to Center Bill Haggerty of Tennessee. This is
happening all over the country, sadly, but it happened where
you and I happened to both live in Tennessee. A
Middle Tennessee State University dean, I know, there's a lot
of different deans. A student affiliated dean celebrated the death
(24:49):
of Charlie Kirk MTSU. The college has terminated that person
and they are no longer employed by the university. But sadly,
Buck and I have been talking about this, Senator. It's
one thing to disagree politically, it's entirely a different thing
when someone is assassinated, to celebrate the assassination, which we
(25:10):
are seeing take place all over the place, including sometimes
at public universities. How do we restore the soul of
the nation. It's a big question, but a big I'm
incredibly troubled buck is too. It's indefensible the reactions we
are seeing. What should happen? What can we do to
(25:31):
restore that soul?
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Well, the particular incident that you're describing was extraordinarily disturbing
to be and I know it was to you and
everybody else. Middle Tennessee State University is by population by
student population, the largest university in the state of Tennessee,
a population as a state with over seven million people,
MTSU is our largest, our largest college. And to have
(25:54):
the I think was the assistant dean of student services
or being students make a state that in any way,
in any manner, could be interpreted as celebrating it, as
showing zero sympathy, I think is a direct quote from
what I saw and the person's communicate what a terrible
message does That sends the students that you're supposed to
be there to support it and teach. If that's the
(26:17):
type of indoctrination and teaching that's going on. Something is
sadly failed, and I applaud doctor Sidney McBee and the
leadership there at MTSU for dealing with this right away.
I'm friends with most of the member of the members
of the board of the board of Directors of that university.
I know that they would abhor this sort of thing,
(26:37):
and these rogue faculty members, and there's no other way
to describe it. People that are in a position of
responsibility and trust with respect to our young people, particularly
the audience that Charlie was so good at reaching and touching.
For someone like that to step up and say what
they did is apparent, and I'm thankful that MTSU acted
(26:57):
swiftly to discharge them.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Hay, we appreciate you making the time for sir. God
bless you and your family and your children. Thanks for
being here.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
God is always thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
That center. Bill Haggerty does great work for the state
of Tennessee. We'll come back. There were reports that there
might be a press conference. Just to update some of you,
it now appears Buck there may not be a press conference,
so we're unsure exactly what is going to happen, But
obviously we're going to continue to update you, and if
(27:29):
it doesn't happen, then we will certainly, Sean Hannity, I'm
sure we'll be following this story on many of the
different stations that you are all listening on right now
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(27:50):
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Speaker 2 (28:42):
Want to begin to know when you're on to go
the team forty seven podcasts Trump highlights from the week
some days at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck
podcast speed find It's on the iHeartRadio app or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
We're closing up shops today here on Clay and Book. Look,
it was a difficult show for all of us. I'm
sure it was difficult for you to be with us
and thinking about these things. But we're honored and appreciated
that you were with us. And it is a very
special thing that Clay and I get to do with
all of you every day.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And we.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
You know, we are going to do our best to
continue with the with the ethos and the mission of
this show, which aligned in lockstep with what Charlie wanted
for this country and with what he stood for. We
have that interview where he joined our show because of
course he was a friend of the show, friend of ours.
He came on, I was on vacation, but he was
(29:40):
able to speak to Clay about a whole range of things,
something very important to Charlie, and as we see critical
now in America to have our focus is how we
are raising and how we are encouraging and building young
men up for the next to be the next generation
of male leadership in this critical country of ours. Is
(30:03):
republic that is the last best guaranteur of freedom for
all of us. Here is cut nine, Charlie. We're just
going to let you listen to what he had to
say about it.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Play it so you speaking of college football, a lot
of young men are college football fans. The campaign that
was just run, if you had to point to one
group that moved most massively from plus fourteen for Biden
to plus fourteen for Trump according to at least one
Wall Street Journal poll that I saw. Why did young men,
in your mind, people that you have been reaching out
(30:34):
to aggressively move so substantially in this election.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
I'd say, I think it's because they want to be
part of a political movement that doesn't hate them. Over
the last couple of years, you started to see the
woke stuff that was really incubated in twenty twenty start
to germinate and metastasize and grow into all of our institutions.
And one of the core orthodoxies of woke is what
we call DEI is really a hatred of christian in
(31:00):
white straight men. And I hate to be that blunt
about it, but it is. It's the orthodox of it,
the orthodoxy of it, and young men, why am I
being part of this exactly? I want to be part
of a political movement that at least acknowledges that there
is men and women and says that it's a good
thing to be a man and that masculinity is not
inherently toxic. And I think top of that though, go ahead, police,
(31:23):
Yeah no, I.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Was just going to say, I think what's interesting and
you may have been going there too, is it starts
with white men are the problem. But the problem with
that is eventually it has to grow. And I think
black guys, Hispanic guys, Asian guys looking around like, hey,
I don't think masculinity is toxic. I think that men
and women are different. And suddenly you can't say that
and be a democrat.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Correct And then it even grows deeper into this kind
of tyranny of political correctness. Which at its core is
like toxic femininity, which is that we're going to police
all of your speech. The left has become a bunch
of skolds, of hall monitors of people that do not
believe in reexpression or dialogue or discourse. And you know
(32:04):
what we've seen in the last couple of years is
now a backlash of that where if there is anyone
in the quote unquote manisphere, you know, you say, Joe Rogan,
the Theo Vaughn, it's not that they're conservative, but they're
inherently anti left, that they're against the kind of new
left wing dogma and doctrine that believes that there needs
(32:27):
to be speech codes that you know, this trans nonsense.
And so young men in particular kind of led the
rebellion towards a political movement, one rooted in common sense patriotism,
liberty and freedom.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Clay I spoke at one of Charlie's very first events
or turning point. I don't know what number it was
in the progression, but it was twenty I think it
was twenty fifteen, so maybe early twenty sixteen, and I
remember something He came up to me backstage and this
(33:03):
is our first ever meeting, and I didn't know anything
about him. All I knew was that he had reached
out and he said, I love your stuff, would you
please come? And Tommy Laren was there and I was there,
and he said, I love your stuff, would you please
come and speak? And I said sure, you know I was.
I happened to it was in Dallas. I happened to
be in Dallas and he saw me backstage and he
(33:24):
had that already, of course, that Charlie energy and just
you know, this guy was just pulling it all together.
And he came up to me and he said, you know,
I listened to you fill in for Rush. Because this
is after I'd filled in for Rush a few times
as a guest host. You know, Charlie filled in on
my program years later when I was doing six to nine.
(33:45):
It's now Jesse Kelly slot. So Charlie filled in for me.
But he said, I listened to you for Rush, and
he said, you know, he was very generous. He said,
you know, you did such a great job, and that's
and basically was like, that's just so cool, Like he
was just telling that, yeah, so cool. He filled in
for Rush, and he said, you know how I learned conservatism.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
He said.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
The one thing that he absolutely never missed, and this
is I think for a lot of you bring things
full circle. He said, I couldn't always listen to all
three hours, but I listened to Rush Limbaugh's opening monologue
every day, starting in you know, junior high. Every day,
he said, he would listen to Rush. So this is
(34:27):
so much of Charlie and what he believed. It makes
sense and you understand where it was coming from.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, I think that's a really great analogy because what
it represents is all of us have a relatively short
amount of time on this planet right We don't know
when it's going to come to an end for any
of us. And I think Charlie got that he's only
thirty one, and Rush certainly got that. There are tons
(34:54):
of you listening to us right now who started listening
because mom and dad, Grandma and grandpa were just driving
you around the car. The Rush Baby universe is large,
and we've now been doing this show for over four years,
which means you could have gone from freshman year of
high school to being a senior now. And we're gonna
be doing it for hopefully years and years to come.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
But you win.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
By winning the culture. And that's what I would come
back to with Charlie. You have to go to people
where they are, and he went to them on a
college campus and he said, here's an open mic, let's debate,
and the very foundation of America is the best argument
(35:42):
should win. And Charlie had the best arguments, and he won,
and he won big. And the culture has shifted around him,
and that's why they killed him. And what we cannot
allow to happen, not you, me, not all of you
out there, what we cannot allowed to happen is for
his victories to go in vain. We have to pick
(36:06):
up the mantle and we have to advance it further
and further. And I know all of you are.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
Going to do that.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Just say, Clay, and I make you all a solemn promise.
We will continue what we do here. We will continue
to honor what Charlie stood for in his memory, and
we will stay in this fight because it's a fight
to make this the best country for all of us
that we possibly can, and to tell you all the truth,
and you all play a role in it, play the
critical part in it every day, because without you, we
(36:34):
wouldn't be able to have any impact. So thank you
all for listening. God bless you. We're praying for all
of you. We're praying for Charlie, Charlie's family. We love
you all, and please go hug and tell your family
you love them today
Welcome back in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. I'm going
to try to get control of myself here in the
third hour. Let me update you on the news.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Utah.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is according to Matt Finn at Fox News Channel Utah.
Law enforcement just postponed and upcoming press conference due to
quote rapid developments. For those of you who are wondering
about the latest, we still do not have the alleged
assassin in custody. Buck, you probably could talk to that
(00:35):
from a sort of background in your experience over time.
It's been nearly twenty four hours since you yesterday during
the final hour of this program, initially saw the fact
that there had been a shooting. They have photos out,
We have shared those photos. Certainly, we have a big
(00:55):
audience of you listening in Utah, and to be fair,
it's been twenty three hours basically since the shooting. The
guy could be anywhere. They say that they found an
abandoned rifle they believe in the woods behind the school.
They have shared photos of the individual they believe of
the college age, appears to be male, that potentially did
(01:18):
the shooting. Twenty three hours a long time, Buck. Now,
historically there are analogs. I mean, it took many days,
for instance, to catch John Wilkes Booth after the assassination
of President Clinton, President Lincoln. But it's been a long
time since I can remember a situation like this, you know,
Bobby Kennedy, I guess the MLK assassination James Earl Ray,
(01:42):
I actually think fled the country if I remember that
story correctly post assassination. But twenty three hours a lot
of time.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I'm very, very much hopeful that they will have an
arrest here while we were on the air, But with
each passing out or the concern rises that this assassin
had time to prepare and and and also prepared an
exit plan and we don't know what that means yet,
(02:12):
and we'll have more information within within hours, I would,
I would assume about where this investigation stands. It's something
clearly the full weight and force of law enforcement is
being brought to bear on this issue issue, as it should.
But there are Look, there are cases where people have
(02:35):
done horrible things and managed to get out of the country. That,
unfortunately is a possibility that has gone through my mind.
I hope that's not the case. There was a an
assassination of CIA employees Clay that occurred back in the
early nineties, and that he just went up to people
that he knew there was used to be a stoplight
at Langley and the shooter knew that the people who
(02:59):
were going to make that left turn we're all going
into Langley, So we assume that they were CIA employees
and he's went up with a rifle and just shot
people sitting in their cars. He managed to make it
to Afghanistan and Pakistan and took ten years to get him.
So I am hoping that what we're going to find
is this evil, you know the words I cannot say
(03:22):
on radio, is in custody and facing the full weight
of the justice system within hours, if not minutes. So
we'll continue to watch this as closely as we can.
And I know that Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino,
and everybody at the senior levels of law enforcement for
the state of Utah and for the federal government is
(03:46):
all hands on deck with this, as they should be.
So I think that the likelihood is still high that
we will get an arrest of this assassin soon.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
We had Charlie on the program and peppering the show
with a variety of different audio clips from Charlie Kirk.
We had him on the show right after the election,
and I had the team pull a few of these.
This was right around Thanksgiving. Charlie Kirk came on the
(04:19):
show and I have talked. We've talked a ton, and
it's one of the most devastating aspects of all of
this that his kids are so young, and the humanity
involved of just thinking about a little girl and little
boy that will never get to grow up and know
their dad is devastating for any parent grandparent out there.
(04:43):
And I think that it's worth noting that Charlie was effervescent.
He was almost always upbeat. He was incredibly optimistic, and
he was a buck. This is where we connected. You've
talked about it. I think you've nailed it. I innately
(05:03):
trust college football fans. It doesn't matter who you root for.
Sometimes you root for teams that I think are awful
talking to you Alabama fans, but Charlie was a big
Oregon Ducks fan, and so I would text with Charlie.
I don't think ever about politics. It was all about
college football, and so when he was on the program,
I think, Buck, you, I think it was maybe Thanksgiving
(05:25):
week and we had guests, and I think you might
have been out this day. I was were family for
Thanksgiving and you were, Yeah, you were handling the show.
I think I was solow. Here was the first question
I asked him, which was he loves the Oregon Ducks.
I know we got a lot of listeners out in Oregon.
Here's a flashback November twenty sixth, twenty twenty four, Charlie
on the program, talking right off the top about the
(05:47):
Oregon Ducks. Charlie, you and I ran into each other
at mar Lago recently. What's the first thing you wanted
to talk about?
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Oh, college football. That's the only thing I want to
talk about. Great to be here, Clay, I mean, I
talked politics all day long. It's refreshing to talk to
somebody that is as informed or even better informed than
me on the most the more important thing that happens
in the fall, not the election, but our tradition of
college football. So great to be here. We had a
great time catching up and talking about how the organ
(06:14):
Ducks should win the national championship this year.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
All right, So I have told Buck for some time.
Buck is out for Thanksgiving already that I trust college
football fans immediately more than other people, before I even
know anything else about them. You've been all over the
country working in battleground states, Big ten, sec A, PAC
twelve used to be obviously Big twelve. All of the
(06:37):
different acc conferences out there were their battlegrounds. Do you
also trust college football fans more than anybody else?
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Oh, without a doubt. Now when you say these conferences,
I don't know what you're talking about. You're talking about
the AEC powerhouse of cal Berkeley. I mean, it's very confusing.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So taking a shot at your old PAC twelve arrivals,
I appreciate that more.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
About conference realignment. It's just the whole whole thing is
so goofy. But no, Yes, if if someone has a
passion for college football, I have something like inherently and
deep in common with them, more so than almost anything.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So that conversation and then Buck I asked him, and
I think it's good to hear from Charlie himself here
about the campus tours and the feeling he gets from them,
about the impact and the movement towards Trump from young people.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Here.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
He talked with us about why doing these campus events
is so important. Cut Tim, Are you surprised by how
well Trump did in the battleground states or were the
results almost exactly what you expected.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
I didn't get into the prediction business, you know. I'll
tell you the weekend before I modeled out a way
where we could win and that we could lose. You
never quite know because polling is such a guest coman.
I will say this though, you know, visiting a lot
of these schools, we did these campus events that were
just massive and had millions and millions of people online
when we did them. One in particular at the University
of Georgia where we five thousand people show up and
(08:02):
I turned to my team, I said, guys, this is
not normal, Like, this is not anything I've seen before.
I think we might win, and I think might win
really big, and win with young people. Same at Penn
State we had thirty five hundred young people Arizona State University.
I mean, we were all across the country, and so
it all makes sense now that the dust is settled.
But I would be lying to you, Clay, if I
(08:23):
didn't say that they didn't have any some anxiety and
on ease. We are up against the most powerful thing
ever to exist. I mean, look what they did, the
Trump They try to put them in prison for seven
hundred years. They lied, they mirror, they slandered, they censored,
and the American people defeated that. And even to the
very end, I was a little bit paranoid. I'll acknowledge
it because we've kind of been beaten into submission the
last couple of years that can we really win and
(08:45):
is there gonna be shenanigans? Is there gonna be tom foolery?
And so I'm not surprised by how what we do
with young men, but pleasantly surprised at the let's just say,
the common sense of the American people.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
This is I mean, I think goes to the success
that he had and what we were talking about that
email question we got in the last hour. Young men
are looking for they're looking for answers in a world
that they feel is very dishonest to them. I think
that's particularly true in the wake of COVID, but for
basically all of human history, we told young men get
(09:20):
married and provide for your family, and now they're being told, well,
masculinity's toxic, and well, maybe you don't need to be
ahead of a household and maybe you don't need to
provide for your family. Maybe even that's misogynistic to suggest.
And if you're a young man today, you went and
you watch the Charlie Kirks of the world, very popular
on YouTube and TikTok, and this is why we want
(09:42):
to continue to grow that following year. And it's where
I think college football connects with a lot of young
men as well. But that's why he was so impactful
to so many of these people, because he went and
found them where they were. He didn't expect them to
come find him, and that is so important. I think
(10:02):
if you're going to talk about winning hearts and mind.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I also think that the Democrat left had become very
overconfident for a long time that they would just have
this lock on the youth because of the institutional advantages
that they have from media, from campuses, from the faculty lounge,
these universities, from the public school system and public teachers
(10:29):
and all of this and any break on that I
think sent to panic. And this last election was the
first time that it really you know, Charlie's work was
building up for years before this, but in this last
election the results became apparent when it came to who
was going to lead the country.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
For the next four years.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
And I think that there was a real shockwave that
went through the anti Trump forces because they always assumed
young people will be effectively the brainwashed sheep that we
need them to be. And Charlie was taking the the
rhetorical fight to the other side on these campuses, and
(11:14):
that was something that was very powerful, and I think
that you know, it's it's something that I know a
lot of us are now going to be considering, how
do we carry the torch forward? How do we continue
the work, the fight that Charlie was leading in so
many ways, And that's going to be an ongoing conversation
(11:35):
here because one thing is for sure, We're we're not
going to change how we feel, what we say, what
matters to us or and I say we, I don't
just mean Clay and me, I mean everybody who does this,
everybody who's outspoken, everyone who has a platform and is
trying to fight for a better country, trying to fight
for the country that they love. Charlie would want us
all to continue in that fight, and I know that
(11:55):
we will. So that's that's where right now. I find
myself playing. Also, I just you know what you what
you said before we had to go into commercial break
is very powerful.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
The first thing it is I went down to hug
my wife and I kissed my little baby boy on
the top of his head, and you know, kiss my
wife and just all of you, just just you know,
hug your family.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Do it today.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Do it now.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Call mom and dad if you haven't done it in
a while, if you don't have kids, if you are
mom and dad, hug your kids, man, because you don't
know when the last time you're going to be able
to do that is yeah. And I think again, that
is the world that they have created, and that's the
(12:51):
world where they want to rule with terror, and I
think it's incumbent upon all of us, just like twenty
four years ago when they attacked us on nine to eleven,
because of our exceptionalism, because of our building of the
(13:11):
greatest country that has ever existed in the world, they
looked around from their hovels and wondered why they didn't
have what we have, and they hated us for it.
And I think again, the weakness of the person who
killed Charlie Kirk was he could not in any way
intellectually match the arguments of Charlie Kirk, and so he
(13:32):
decided to kill him. That is the actions of a coward,
because ultimately, what you're saying is the words of the
person are so powerful that the only way I can
try to defeat them is by stopping them from ever
speaking again. Fortunately, we have pretty good history on this
buck and killing people who are speaking powerfully. Look at
(13:56):
the Christian faith is one of the worst ways to
restrict the spread of truth and justice.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
And so.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
All of us are now called upon to be braver, stronger,
and more courageous than we have been in the past
to help uplift a country that desperately needs us. Do
what Charlie did, and we will continue every day. We
will do that.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
You know, Charlie was also a really big pro life supporter,
and he often worked with and headlined events for Preborn,
which is a sponsor here on the program. It was
a sponsor on Charlie's program and one that both Charlie
and I were very proud always to be able to
(14:48):
do what we can to help. And the way we
help is by telling all of you about what Preborn
is doing saving lives and the pro life movement was
critical to Charlie. It's critical to me, and this is
work that we must continue day in and day out.
And that is what Preborn is doing. Preborn, as you know,
brings in mothers who have an unplanned pregnancy and they're
(15:10):
usually getting a lot of pressure. There's a lot of
noise out there that the only thing that they could do,
the only choice they have is abortion. Well that's just
not true, and Preborn says, please come into one of
these clinics. To any woman out there who's pregnant, come
into one of these clinics, will give you an ultrasound,
you can meet the tiny baby in your womb, and
we will offer you love and support to bring this
child into the world. It's an incredibly important organization. It's
(15:33):
work that Charlie loved, and we should continue it here today.
Please support Preborn. Dial pound two fifty and say the
keyword baby. That's pound two five zero. Say the keyword baby.
I donate to Preborn. I think what they do is incredible.
Dial pound two five zero say the keyword baby. Or
you can go online Preborn dot com, slash buck, Preborn
(15:57):
dot com, slash b u c K.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
News and politics, but also a little comic relief.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Clay Travis at Buck Sexton.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcast.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
All right, welcome back in to Clay and Buck. We're
having a tough day here. You all know why we're
trying to come together to grief but also to find
a way forward. Here we all miss our friend Charlie Kirk.
We miss what he represented for the country, and we
want justice to degree that it is possible to get
such a thing in such a horrific situation, with the
(16:33):
killer arrested and hopefully swiftly prosecuted, and I would like
to see executed. Let's take some callers here. Nicole in Quarterlin, Idaho. Nicole, Welcome.
Speaker 6 (16:47):
Nicole, I can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Gotcha?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Two points. I just never realized the impact that Charlie
had on the use of our country. It was my
fifteen year old son who informed me of his passing,
and I was just so impressed that my son knew
him and he said, yeah, Mom, I watch him all
the time on TikTok. And another thing I loved about
Charlie was I truly felt he was Heaven sent, and
(17:16):
that he's a testament that God is in the details
of our lives. Because Trump needed him and I knew God.
God knew he needed him, and he I think Trump
has been humbled in a way in this second term.
And Charlie, despite their fifty year age gap, what a
(17:38):
friendship they formed. It was just so special and I'm
just so impressed with Charlie, and I feel, you know,
as sad as it is we've lost him, it says
wonderful that we knew him, and I know he would
want us to continue the work. And for that young
man who is suffering this today with his mom writing
(18:02):
that email, just would hope that he would don't lose hope.
That's what Charlie would want, Charlie, for him to believe
that the cause is bigger than him and that together,
you know, we were stronger. And Charlie would want us
to just pick up the baton and keep going.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Amen. I think that's one hundred percent right. We come back,
by the way, we're going to be joined by Senator
Bill Haggerty of Tennessee. I'm sure that he will want
to talk about this one bit of positivity out there.
We have a report that Jade Vance has met with
the family and they are bringing Charlie's casket home to
(18:44):
Arizona on Air Force two, that is the Vice President's plane.
More on this when we come back. We appreciate and
love all of you. Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck
Sexton Show. There is a press conference that is coming
soon that we will take live. You're going to be
joined by Senator Bill Haggerty here in a moment. But
I wanted you to be able to hear that last
(19:04):
caller talking about the impact that Charlie Kirk had had
on her teenager. And I also want to tell you, look,
there's probably a lot of you that are going to
be looking for something that is not serious, and I'm
one of them. I'm going to be going to a
ninth grade football game this afternoon and then I'm headed
to Knoxville to go watch Tennessee Playgeorgia. And a lot
(19:27):
of you want to play along with price picks. I
give you a pick every Thursday. I'm going to give
it to you right now. Travis Kelce more than one
half receiving yards a free square. Nobody can lose this one,
not even Buck Derek Henry more than one half rushing
and receiving touchdown and Jaden Daniels more than one half
touchdown pass up. At clayanbuck dot com, we give you
a pick every Thursday for NFL Action. We've been doing
(19:50):
this for a few years. That pays out at five
to one. You get fifty bucks. When you go to
pricepicks dot com use code Clay. That's pricepicks dot Com
code Clay. Senator Bill Haggerty with us right now, Senator,
I know you pretty well. I know you've got I
think four kids, and I bet your sons in particular
have been influenced and impacted in a significant way by
(20:12):
Charlie Kirk like mine have. In fact, our kids have
gone to one of the same schools. I don't know
if you know this, Senator, but the kids at our
kids mutual school all wore jackets and ties, which they
are not fond of doing, in honor of Charlie Kirk today,
basically the entire school. What was your reaction when you
(20:33):
saw and heard what had happened? What should happen next?
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Well, I've known Charlie for years. I wasn't close with
Charlie to the extent you know, never took a vacation
or something like that. We see one another in a room,
we'd always make our way across to shake hands. How
are you doing? I was thinking the last time I
saw Charlie was at Mono Lago not too long ago.
But it just, you know, as a parent, it just
(20:58):
strikes deep, not only the influence on my sons, And
I tell you my sons share something with Charlie as well.
My boys are both Eagle Scouts as am I so was.
Charlie was an Eagle Scout, and Charlie is a little
bit older than my sons. But you know, I have
a very parental view of young people like Charlie who
are willing to enter the fray, to be the man
(21:21):
in the arena, so to speak, and just to step
up and engage and debate and basically bring out what's
best in America. That's the freedom of speech that we
have that no other nation enjoys. And to see that
curtailed in such a tragic way as heartbreaking to me.
It's just heartbreaking, claims Senator Haggerty.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I appreciate you being here, and it's a tough day
for the whole country. We were prepared to have a
remembrance of nine to eleven, and then this terrible incident
became something that it's just so many of us couldn't
sleep well last night thinking about it, the grief that
has spread across the country. What would you say to
(22:00):
everybody right now, especially to a lot of I mean,
you have young boys yourself, To the parents out there
who are worried about how this is going to affect
their sons and daughters who looked.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
Up to Charlie, Well, I don't think this should impact
the degree to which they look up to Charlie at all.
In fact, I think this is going to raise the
respect for Charlie and raise the attention level in a
way that is well deserved but sad. At the same time,
Charlie certainly didn't name to be a martyr, but he
(22:32):
has been pushing for a cause. It's been vitally important
to him. I think it's vitally important to our nation,
and his willingness to engage, to debate and to clarify
for you on people so they could actually see the
truth and cut through the noise that you spend time
at clay Buck. You both spend time cutting through the
noise in the mainstream media, the obsuscation that takes place,
the politicization that takes play place in the media, the
(22:54):
silencing that takes place. And Charlie was a beacon when
it comes to standing up and bringing the truth to
light and enabling a real discussion about issues rather than
just spin spin spin all day long. Charlie was willing
to engage, He was willing to listen to different opinions.
He was willing to argue in public in a respectful manner.
(23:18):
This is the way our forefathers, our founding fathers designed
this nation to respect and support just that type of interaction.
And what happened was an act of cowardice, first and foremost,
only a total coward do something like that, and someone
with such a narrow mind that they think the only
way to address a difference of opinion is to shut
(23:39):
the other side down. It's a manifestation of what's gone
so deeply wrong with the whole cancel culture here in
America and anyone. And I'm sad to say it, but
there are people that are actually trying to justify this
or in some way even celebrating this that dehumanizes not
(24:00):
only those of us that care that have heavy feelings.
It dehumanizes the person that could possibly think that way.
And we need to get back to the basics here
in America. We need to get back to fundamental respect.
And again, it's heartbreaking to see what's happening, what has happened,
I should say, with Charlie's loss, But I hope that
it will be a chance for America to wake up,
(24:21):
for our young people to wake up and say, this
young man stood for something quite important, and I think
he's going to live on in our memories for years
and decades to come.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
We're talking to Center Bill Haggerty of Tennessee. This is
happening all over the country, sadly, but it happened where
you and I happened to both live in Tennessee. A
Middle Tennessee State University dean, I know, there's a lot
of different deans. A student affiliated dean celebrated the death
(24:49):
of Charlie Kirk MTSU. The college has terminated that person
and they are no longer employed by the university. But sadly,
Buck and I have been talking about this, Senator. It's
one thing to disagree politically, it's entirely a different thing
when someone is assassinated, to celebrate the assassination, which we
(25:10):
are seeing take place all over the place, including sometimes
at public universities. How do we restore the soul of
the nation. It's a big question, but a big I'm
incredibly troubled buck is too. It's indefensible the reactions we
are seeing. What should happen? What can we do to
(25:31):
restore that soul?
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Well, the particular incident that you're describing was extraordinarily disturbing
to be and I know it was to you and
everybody else. Middle Tennessee State University is by population by
student population, the largest university in the state of Tennessee,
a population as a state with over seven million people,
MTSU is our largest, our largest college. And to have
(25:54):
the I think was the assistant dean of student services
or being students make a state that in any way,
in any manner, could be interpreted as celebrating it, as
showing zero sympathy, I think is a direct quote from
what I saw and the person's communicate what a terrible
message does That sends the students that you're supposed to
be there to support it and teach. If that's the
(26:17):
type of indoctrination and teaching that's going on. Something is
sadly failed, and I applaud doctor Sidney McBee and the
leadership there at MTSU for dealing with this right away.
I'm friends with most of the member of the members
of the board of the board of Directors of that university.
I know that they would abhor this sort of thing,
(26:37):
and these rogue faculty members, and there's no other way
to describe it. People that are in a position of
responsibility and trust with respect to our young people, particularly
the audience that Charlie was so good at reaching and touching.
For someone like that to step up and say what
they did is apparent, and I'm thankful that MTSU acted
(26:57):
swiftly to discharge them.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Hay, we appreciate you making the time for sir. God
bless you and your family and your children. Thanks for
being here.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
God is always thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
That center. Bill Haggerty does great work for the state
of Tennessee. We'll come back. There were reports that there
might be a press conference. Just to update some of you,
it now appears Buck there may not be a press conference,
so we're unsure exactly what is going to happen, But
obviously we're going to continue to update you, and if
(27:29):
it doesn't happen, then we will certainly, Sean Hannity, I'm
sure we'll be following this story on many of the
different stations that you are all listening on right now
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Speaker 2 (28:42):
Want to begin to know when you're on to go
the team forty seven podcasts Trump highlights from the week
some days at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck
podcast speed find It's on the iHeartRadio app or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
We're closing up shops today here on Clay and Book. Look,
it was a difficult show for all of us. I'm
sure it was difficult for you to be with us
and thinking about these things. But we're honored and appreciated
that you were with us. And it is a very
special thing that Clay and I get to do with
all of you every day.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And we.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
You know, we are going to do our best to
continue with the with the ethos and the mission of
this show, which aligned in lockstep with what Charlie wanted
for this country and with what he stood for. We
have that interview where he joined our show because of
course he was a friend of the show, friend of ours.
He came on, I was on vacation, but he was
(29:40):
able to speak to Clay about a whole range of things,
something very important to Charlie, and as we see critical
now in America to have our focus is how we
are raising and how we are encouraging and building young
men up for the next to be the next generation
of male leadership in this critical country of ours. Is
(30:03):
republic that is the last best guaranteur of freedom for
all of us. Here is cut nine, Charlie. We're just
going to let you listen to what he had to
say about it.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Play it so you speaking of college football, a lot
of young men are college football fans. The campaign that
was just run, if you had to point to one
group that moved most massively from plus fourteen for Biden
to plus fourteen for Trump according to at least one
Wall Street Journal poll that I saw. Why did young men,
in your mind, people that you have been reaching out
(30:34):
to aggressively move so substantially in this election.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
I'd say, I think it's because they want to be
part of a political movement that doesn't hate them. Over
the last couple of years, you started to see the
woke stuff that was really incubated in twenty twenty start
to germinate and metastasize and grow into all of our institutions.
And one of the core orthodoxies of woke is what
we call DEI is really a hatred of christian in
(31:00):
white straight men. And I hate to be that blunt
about it, but it is. It's the orthodox of it,
the orthodoxy of it, and young men, why am I
being part of this exactly? I want to be part
of a political movement that at least acknowledges that there
is men and women and says that it's a good
thing to be a man and that masculinity is not
inherently toxic. And I think top of that though, go ahead, police,
(31:23):
Yeah no, I.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Was just going to say, I think what's interesting and
you may have been going there too, is it starts
with white men are the problem. But the problem with
that is eventually it has to grow. And I think
black guys, Hispanic guys, Asian guys looking around like, hey,
I don't think masculinity is toxic. I think that men
and women are different. And suddenly you can't say that
and be a democrat.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Correct And then it even grows deeper into this kind
of tyranny of political correctness. Which at its core is
like toxic femininity, which is that we're going to police
all of your speech. The left has become a bunch
of skolds, of hall monitors of people that do not
believe in reexpression or dialogue or discourse. And you know
(32:04):
what we've seen in the last couple of years is
now a backlash of that where if there is anyone
in the quote unquote manisphere, you know, you say, Joe Rogan,
the Theo Vaughn, it's not that they're conservative, but they're
inherently anti left, that they're against the kind of new
left wing dogma and doctrine that believes that there needs
(32:27):
to be speech codes that you know, this trans nonsense.
And so young men in particular kind of led the
rebellion towards a political movement, one rooted in common sense patriotism,
liberty and freedom.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
Clay I spoke at one of Charlie's very first events
or turning point. I don't know what number it was
in the progression, but it was twenty I think it
was twenty fifteen, so maybe early twenty sixteen, and I
remember something He came up to me backstage and this
(33:03):
is our first ever meeting, and I didn't know anything
about him. All I knew was that he had reached
out and he said, I love your stuff, would you
please come? And Tommy Laren was there and I was there,
and he said, I love your stuff, would you please
come and speak? And I said sure, you know I was.
I happened to it was in Dallas. I happened to
be in Dallas and he saw me backstage and he
(33:24):
had that already, of course, that Charlie energy and just
you know, this guy was just pulling it all together.
And he came up to me and he said, you know,
I listened to you fill in for Rush. Because this
is after I'd filled in for Rush a few times
as a guest host. You know, Charlie filled in on
my program years later when I was doing six to nine.
(33:45):
It's now Jesse Kelly slot. So Charlie filled in for me.
But he said, I listened to you for Rush, and
he said, you know, he was very generous. He said,
you know, you did such a great job, and that's
and basically was like, that's just so cool, Like he
was just telling that, yeah, so cool. He filled in
for Rush, and he said, you know how I learned conservatism.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
He said.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
The one thing that he absolutely never missed, and this
is I think for a lot of you bring things
full circle. He said, I couldn't always listen to all
three hours, but I listened to Rush Limbaugh's opening monologue
every day, starting in you know, junior high. Every day,
he said, he would listen to Rush. So this is
(34:27):
so much of Charlie and what he believed. It makes
sense and you understand where it was coming from.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, I think that's a really great analogy because what
it represents is all of us have a relatively short
amount of time on this planet right We don't know
when it's going to come to an end for any
of us. And I think Charlie got that he's only
thirty one, and Rush certainly got that. There are tons
(34:54):
of you listening to us right now who started listening
because mom and dad, Grandma and grandpa were just driving
you around the car. The Rush Baby universe is large,
and we've now been doing this show for over four years,
which means you could have gone from freshman year of
high school to being a senior now. And we're gonna
be doing it for hopefully years and years to come.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
But you win.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
By winning the culture. And that's what I would come
back to with Charlie. You have to go to people
where they are, and he went to them on a
college campus and he said, here's an open mic, let's debate,
and the very foundation of America is the best argument
(35:42):
should win. And Charlie had the best arguments, and he won,
and he won big. And the culture has shifted around him,
and that's why they killed him. And what we cannot
allow to happen, not you, me, not all of you
out there, what we cannot allowed to happen is for
his victories to go in vain. We have to pick
(36:06):
up the mantle and we have to advance it further
and further. And I know all of you are.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
Going to do that.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Just say, Clay, and I make you all a solemn promise.
We will continue what we do here. We will continue
to honor what Charlie stood for in his memory, and
we will stay in this fight because it's a fight
to make this the best country for all of us
that we possibly can, and to tell you all the truth,
and you all play a role in it, play the
critical part in it every day, because without you, we
(36:34):
wouldn't be able to have any impact. So thank you
all for listening. God bless you. We're praying for all
of you. We're praying for Charlie, Charlie's family. We love
you all, and please go hug and tell your family
you love them today
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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel