December 4, 2024 • 36 mins
NYC Mayor Eric Adams doesn’t mind being cancelled over the migrant issue. Professional hit of UnitedHealthcare CEO near our NYC office. The hounds on Hegseth and what the MAGA world is wrestling with. Did Biden fall asleep during a meeting with African leaders?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in everybody. Wednesday edition of the Klay, Travis and
Buck Sexton Show kicks off right now. We got a
lot of news racked and stacked. We're gonna make it
all make sense, so come in close for a big
radio hug. Much to discuss. We got the Eric Adams
statement about illegals in New York City and how he
(00:22):
feels about them. Is this a turning of the tide
for the Big Apple when it comes to the migrant
aka illegal alien problem. I think that's something that we're
going to spend a little bit of time on. There's
an opportunity here for the mayor of America's largest city
to really step into the mandate of making New York
(00:45):
safe again, which would in fact be a huge step
toward making New York great again. And given what the
Feds have done to him there for speaking out about
migrants in the first place, I don't know. Maybe Mayor
Eric Adams should have a little hour outreach to the
incoming president. One thing about Trump, you got to give
him credit for. If you're willing to do the job,
(01:06):
if you're willing to be maga, there's always room on
the Trump train. There's always room for allies. In fact,
I think one of Trump's favorite things is to flip
opponents to allies. Now, maybe getting ahead of ourselves, Eric
Adams might put out a statement tomorrow about how awful
Trump is. Who knows, but interesting situation about the migrants
in New York City. You've also got oh boy, the
(01:30):
dea pick. Chad Cronister has stepped out of the mix, Clay,
and I can get into some of why that happened.
The jury has the Daniel Penny trial also in New
York City. We'll bring you any updates on that we
could get, right, Clay, We could get a verity verdict
at any point. Yeah, it could happen while we're on
(01:50):
the air, so we'll be focused in on that one.
We've got. Hey, I don't know, this is interesting to
us in the media because it's been a long time coming.
ABC News staffers working in near decrepit building with no
Wi Fi, no heat as Good Morning America ratings tank.
I just think that's interesting, Clay, because it's not only
(02:13):
the more left wing MSNBC right, like the openly partisan
outlets that are getting hit now. It's like morning shows
where one minute they're doing news, the next minute, they're like,
here's the best way to make a summer Salid like
they're getting hit two. I think there's a big change
in the media that's going on right now. There's even more.
The judge in the Hunter Biden case, which now is
(02:34):
not a case anymore because the pardon had some scathing
words about Biden's lie in the part in Biden fell
asleep in Africa. He's an Angola giving away taxpayer dollars.
And we've also got Clay's gonna dive into this in
the next hour. In Tennessee, the State of Tennessee in
a lawsuit with the Biden administration over the issue of
(02:58):
transsurgery for min and a ban on transferreders in Tennessee
Supreme Court heard those oral arguments this morning. Clay lawyer
Clay going to step in and tell us what he
thinks on that one. Clay can I gotta say, you know,
the the biggest to the two biggest missions of the
Trump administration, I think quite clearly are the border and
(03:22):
the bureaucracy, right or you know, illegals and the deep state.
Different ways you can say the same thing, Mayor Adams.
I don't take this as a minor thing. I think
this is an interesting place to go. I think it's
something of outreach to the incoming administration too. This is
cut twelve. He's just saying I'm deporting criminals going forward,
(03:46):
or I'm gonna help ice, and you can quote cancel me.
If you've got a problem with that, play it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I want you to all go back and google Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama. Google what they said about those
who could make crimes in our city and what they
say in our country. They said, those who commit crimes
need to get out right away.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
That was their position.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So this is not a new position, you know, because
in the state of the in the era of cancel culture,
no one is afraid to be honest about the truth. Well,
cancel me, because I'm going to protect the people of
the city. And if you come into this country, in
this city and think you're going to harm innocent New
Yorkers and innocent migrans and asylum seekerts, this is not
(04:28):
the mayor you want to be in the city under.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, now, he's still with the asylum seekerts who
don't commit crimes. I caught that point at the end.
But Clay, it has been a huge fight with Democrats
to even get them to agree that illegals like the
one who went on to rape and murder Lake and
Riley should be deported with the help of local and
state police. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Look, and I think Mayor Adams is right on this.
And this is why I said, A part of me
thinks that Trump should come in and just immediately pardon
Eric Adams as part of his decision to pardon the
jan six guys. And I remember I said, and a
lot of people out there got upset. You had, I
think had the same take that it would not be
(05:14):
a bad move for Trump to also pardon Hunter Biden.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I had the same take as you. I wasn't upset
by the take.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yes, correct, No, yes, you and I had the same take.
Many of our listeners out there were. But to me,
it's a clear the decks move. Hey, we're turning the
page to steal a line from Kamala Harris on the
Law Fair that became very commonplace associated with everything surrounding
the Biden team. And I think Trump's got an ally
(05:41):
in Eric Adams when it comes to issues of migrants
illegally taking over.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
The city of New York. Buck for you, I'm flying
up to New York.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I'm ducking out the third hour because I'm going to
Israel for the show on Thursday evening.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That's just a little bit of background.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
They banned Airbnb in New York City, so basically you
can't put your home on Airbnb.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
They also have I think.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's over ten percent of all hotel rooms right now
are taken by.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Twenty twenty, it's twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, twenty percent of New York City hotel rooms are
taken over by by people there.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
And they live there. They're not there for a night
while they're being processed to the facility or something. They
live there.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
You can't get a hotel room now in New York
City right now for less than like five hundred bucks
if you want to be anywhere around Midtown. Some of
the rooms are thousand dollars a night. Why do I
bring that up because I'm traveling up and having to
stay there right now. New York City is broken in
many ways. I mean, you see the assassination. Yes, I
(06:52):
was gonna say, right, I'm a major hotel. It appears
there was a gangland style hit on a prominent Bites executive.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Clay outside of a hotel. It's outside of our New
York City office. That's where I'll be doing the show
to one. You'll be doing the show right in the
vicinity of I mean people, remember, you know, in Midtown,
it's not hard to find where people are. It's not
some big secret, right, you can google these things. You're
talking about. A stone's throwaway from that assassination is where
(07:21):
you're going to be doing the radio show tomorrow. My
point being that is the heart of New York City.
That is the absolute center of New York, the business district,
Midtown near it's right near Rockefeller Center, it's right near
Central Park. I mean, it's and it's just a brazen
assassination attempt. I saw some clips from the NYPD conference
on it, and it looks like this. This is I mean,
(07:43):
it's a pro or professional hit. The guy had to
clear a malfunction his weapon quickly, multiple shots from behind,
jumped on an e bike, had his face and head
and everything covered. I mean, this was not like you know,
at least it doesn't strike me as like a rage
filled you know, lover's quarrel or some kind of nonsense.
This is a This looks like a professional hit. So
(08:05):
that's another thing. The City of New York is looking
at it right now. They've got to just get the
crime issue in general down there. There was recently a
broad daylight two armed men carjacking clay on eighty third
in Broadway again, eighty third and Broadway. You can't get
an apartment on eighty third and Broadway. You can't get
a studio for less than a million bucks. I mean,
(08:27):
this is this is fancy, high end parts of Gotham,
you know, of America's grandest city, and it's just too much.
People are waking up to this. New York did trend
toward Trump, not enough, unfortunately, but New York State trended
toward Trump in this last election. And the issue of
the of migrants in New York City. I think this
(08:48):
played a big role in the national election. I think
it shows how clear Trump's mandate is. And I believe
there's a real opportunity here for Eric Adams to say, look,
I don't agree with Trump on a lot, but I'll
work with his administration on making sure that criminal illegals
are deported as expeditiously as possible. That's common ground that
I think would would go over very well. On both sides.
(09:09):
We'll see if he's also they're prosecuting him, right, so
there's that his team has betrayed him.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yeah, and look, I just to your point, new York City,
Trump got more votes than any Republican since nineteen eighty eight.
So that's a pretty seismic change. And the votes that
he was getting were overwhelmingly coming from non traditional Republican areas.
Remember one of the districts that moved the most in
Trump's direction was AOC's. And you know, it's kind of
(09:39):
staggering when you consider that there's talk, oh, AOC may
run for president in twenty twenty eight, and I actually
think she will, and we'll see how that plays going forward.
I think that's her next move. She's not going to
run for governor or Senate in New York. I think
she feels like she has a big enough platform now
that she can make a run for president of the
United States. But so you got chaos in New York,
(10:02):
you've also got right now, Pete hegset Buck under a
level of attack that is higher, I think right now
than what they did with Matt Gates. I think they
felt like Matt Gates never had the support and so
he never really got you agree with this, and there
was never really an aggressive go after Matt Gates media
(10:26):
campaign because I think they kind of knew the votes
weren't there and they never needed to unleash the hounds,
so to speak. You and I need to weigh in
on some of this stuff because the amount of stories
that are coming out just going after Pete Hegset for everything.
NBC News has a monster story where they basically accused
(10:47):
him of being a drunk who was unable to do
television and done, You've worked with Pete. I've worked with Pete.
I mean this is something we can speak of a
direct personal knowledge. The nastiness of this campaign that they
have unleashed against Pete hegseth is is cab Brett Kavanall.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Like they called my wife on her personal cell phone.
You could say it. I didn't want to. I didn't
want to say it, but yeah, no, I know, I'll
say it. They called my wife on her personal cell
phone looking for dirt on our friend Pete and Carrie's Carrie,
she doesn't talk to regime media got a click right away.
But point here being, they are going all out to
do whatever they can uh, to destroy him. I think
(11:27):
with Matt Gates, Clay. Part of it was the initial
Gates stuff was well wait till wait till the set
you know, he's going to have his say before the Senate.
There wasn't a lot of new information. It was all known.
They've been on a dig up everything campaign against against Pete. Right.
They also were trying to get the report out against
Matt Gates. That was going to be the whole thing.
(11:48):
So they were lobbying to get the report out. With Pete.
They've been you know, they're going back to an investigative
reporting and trying to do oppo research on him, you know,
back to high school. I'm sure, back to you know,
when he was getting his first boy Scout ribbons or whatever.
I mean, they're they're going all out. I was actually
having a call with the buddy the other day.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We were talking yesterday about the heagset thing, and I'm like,
I don't know that we've seen anything of this measure
and magnitude, because I I don't think Pete Hegseth is
an unknown dude. I mean, he's on television all the
time for Fox News. I'm stunned by how threatened they
are by him to the extent that they've come after
(12:26):
him with everything they've got. What I'm seeing is that
the storyline is that Trump is waffling, and I think
they're trying to use that storyline, meaning the media is
saying it that Trump is waffling about the Hegset appointment,
so that then it becomes it's like a self fulfilling prophecy, right,
it's oh, Trump's waffling, And then that gets back to
(12:47):
Trump and people start to say, well, you know, maybe
this I think they're trying to create cracks in this.
I don't know, man, the the inner circle of decision
making on this is very tight.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Let's come back. Let let's talk about this a little
but more, shall Weah, Let's get into this and have
more of a discussion about it, because, uh, you've got
three names in the mix right now for d O
D chief. Three names our friend Pete Hegseeth, the fantastic
Ron DeSantis, and our friend Bridge Colby, who's brilliant. These
are the three names that are being reported as possible
(13:19):
secretary of Defense. Let's come back, and also, if anybody
has a particularly strong opinion on that, I want to
know what you think because to me, you know, this
is like if I knew who played sports more, I'd
start saying great sports people. But you know, this is
like Jerald pick between. This is like picking between yeah, pickles.
This is like picking between Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen and
(13:43):
and well, let's just say it's like picking between Patrick
Mahomes and Josh Allen clearly the two best quarterbacks in
the end. Great great people for the job that I
think would get it done. But if you have strong
opinions on it, I definitely want I definitely want to
hear it. So we'll get into that. Look, I want to.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
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code Clay Clay Travison buck Sexton mic drops that never.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Sounded so good.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts. We welcome back in Clay Travis buck
Sexton Show.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Appreciate all of you hanging out with us.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Let's dive into some of this Pete hegset drama. There are,
as Buck just laid out reports that Trump is considering
alternative choices. Pete Hegsex is on Capitol Hill right now.
We know Pete well, we've had him on this show
a lot, We've worked with him. We can talk maybe
in the bottom half of this hour about some of
(15:29):
these attacks and just how nasty they are, particularly the
ones that involve anonymous sources. And I just I've never
been an anonymous story for any story ever. I certainly
have never been an anonymous story.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
If you agree with me or disagree with me, I'm
man enough to at least say it publicly. I just
don't run and hide and try to tack people from
behind and behind closed doors and without using your name.
I don't think anonymous sources should be allowed. But it's
a sign of how nasty it is that the New
York Times used a seven year old email that Pete
(16:05):
Hegseth's mom sent to him, and that is wild just
in the context of somebody close to them obviously had
to leak that email to the New York Times, but
she went on Fox and Friends, which is the show
that Pete Hegseth hosts on the weekend. She went on
Fox and Friends to say, Hey, my son's a really
(16:28):
good guy, and respond to that email.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Listen to this.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
This is a pretty extraordinary thing that was on Fox
News this morning. Pete Hegset's mom, Penelope, I.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Want people to look at Pete, judge people or understand
him for who he is today and to disregard the
media that was seven years ago, and most of it
is misinformation. And the way they threaten you, I think
is very hurtful. And the person leaked it, I don't
know who that is, and I don't think I will
(16:59):
need to. But Pete is a new person. He's redeemed, forgiven, changed.
I think we all are after seven years. I believe
he's a man for the job. I think being a
TV news host I think prepares you for most things.
In a position like this, you're a good communicator, you
have to think on your feet, you take charge. So
(17:20):
I think everybody should do a year with Fox.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
So mom with the solid endorsement of the past job
for the new job. But I don't think there's a
discounting element there. But I can't remember ever seeing anything
like this. Buck somebody's mom who has been attacked based
on an email that she sent seven years ago, having
to go on broadcast television to actually say, hey, my
son's a really good guy and he deserves this job.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah, we're not impartial here. Clan are both friends of Pete,
so just to be clear about that. And I think
he do a really good job. And the more they
hate Pete. By the way, the.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
More I think you can do a really good that's
my position too.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
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number two T dot org. All right, welcome back in
to Clay, and we're talking about some big jobs that
are still in the mix here and some things, some pieces,
(19:07):
if you will, individuals who are going to be involved
in this next Trump administration. There's a lot of stuff
going on here. First of all, I saw that the
Trump team has now agreed to FBI background checks. Clay,
you see this, Yeah, let's just put this out there.
Who is the squishiest Republican senator? There are a couple
of people that come to mind. I mean, who is
(19:28):
the most likely to be pushed around and to bail
because of pressure. Susan Collins high in the list. Now,
Susan Collins might be the best center we can get
out of Maine given the electoral realities of that state.
So we shouldn't forget that, right, People are like, why
don't we have somebody who's maga in Maine? Because it's Maine.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
You know, this is the Trump lost Maine by seven points,
so it's not you're not gonna get I mean Susan
Collins might be the only Republican who can win in
Maine now now at least are Kowski in Alaska. I
think that's a fair question.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, that's a little you know, we've got I think
we're on We're on a station in Anchorage, and I
love when we get our Anchorage people to reach out.
It just shows you the power of radio. Like you
look on a map, Anchorage is so far away. It's amazing.
But we've got I love it. I've actually been beautiful.
Alaska is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Side note for anybody I've never been, I'm going to go.
(20:25):
I cannot wait. We love all of our listeners in Alaska.
I heard it spectacular. I mean the natural beauty of Alaska.
If you're into the cold stuff at rivals, I think
anywhere in the world. All right, But here's Susan Collins
going back to Maine, also cold and very nice. Here's
Susan Collins on the headset stuff. This is cut five.
Play it.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
As I repeatedly said to you, I believe that we
need an FBI background check to evaluate the allegations. We
need to have the normal committee process of questionnaires, and
the question is about his background, and we also need
(21:06):
to have a public career.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So you know, this is this is the challenge, this
is the problem. Would would pe be a great choice
in this role? I think so is peaking to get confirmed.
That's an open question, and I think you could take
different sides of it. I can tell you this based
on what's come out. That's a greed deal. I'm not,
(21:31):
by the way, I do not believe the sexual assault
allegation against him. I don't believe it. No, no charges
were brought, and I've looked at the facts, and you know,
our friend Megan Kelly did a whole deep dive on
her show into them. Carrie listened to it, and I
don't believe the uh. I don't believe that that's what's
what went on there. I will say Clay, coming from
(21:52):
a national security world, infidelity and drinking are considered problems
for security clearance. People can say that that's nonsense. They
can say they don't agree with that. But if you're
going to go through the normal clearance process and you've
had multiple marriages, blow up guys from special operations community,
correct me if I am wrong. It is also a
(22:12):
problem within special operations in UCMJ. It's actually illegal under
UCMJ at a cheat on a spouse. Now, you can
push all of that stuff aside. And Pete and I
and you and Pete, we're all friends. I like Pete.
I think you do a really good job. How do
you convince Susan Collins? How do you convince Murkowski? I'm
not saying people keep talking about the assault allegation. I'm
(22:35):
talking about based on the agreed upon facts of some
of the stuff they're attacking Pete with you, this is
where it gets more complicated. And Ron DeSantis and Bridge
Colby are both being talked about as possible Secretary of
Defense as well. Here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I get bowed up when you come after someone and
it makes me want them to be confirmed more. And
this happened for me with Brett Kavanaugh. I think Brett
Kavanaugh in general, Buck was a middle of the road,
kind of boring selection for the Supreme Court. And I'm
(23:12):
not trying to take massive shots at him. I think
he's done okay as a Supreme Court justice. But as
soon as they came after him with everything they had,
and I know you were fired up about this too,
like Brett Kavanaugh has to be the guy. You cannot
allow the precedent here.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I think that the Brett Kavanaugh attempted character character destruction
was at that point the ugliest thing I'd ever seen
at that level of American politics. I will say the
Kavanaugh thing and the Hegseth thing is different. And here's why.
The stuff about Kavanaugh, all of it was a lie.
Based on the facts presented and what people said and
(23:50):
what the evidence is, all of it was a lie.
What I'm saying is, yeah, I think Murkowski and Collins
and people are missing this. They have a problem with,
and so does Lindsey Graham, by the way, with some
of the stuff that is agreed upon fact and that
there was nothing about Kavanaugh where we said, yeah, you know,
(24:11):
you know this happened, or yeah, you know he had
a balanced first marriage and he got divorced, and there's
things like that, so wreck but you see what I mean,
that's yeah, and I think people are missing that component
of it. Like I can go to the mat with
Pete is great, Pete would do a great job. They're
lying about him with the sexual assault thing. But I
think Murkowski's Graham and the others are saying, Yeah, but
(24:32):
this guy's got some messy stuff that is agreed upon fact,
and we think that's a problem for confirmation. That's where
I think he's running into some issues. So I think
this gets into an intriguing question. To me, Trump being
elected despite being on his third marriage and having in
his background a variety of different what I would say
(24:55):
is a typical public politician background. To me, at base
cleans the deck, and all I care about is are
you the best guy or the best gal for the job.
I don't really care about personal lives. Now, for your point,
it is an interesting point, And I remember this discussion
(25:15):
when Bill Clinton was commander in chief that if he
were a general who had had a relationship with Monica Lewinsky,
he would have been court martialed. Right, He couldn't have
led based on his behavior as president. That would have
disqualified him to be in a position of leadership in
the military. This is a little bit of a balancing
(25:36):
act that is unique because correct me if I'm wrong.
Buck Lloyd Austin is actually a rarity in that he
was a former general who was then hired to basically
oversee This is typically a civilian job, right, in many
respects when it comes to being the head of the
Defense Department. Yes, it's a massive managerial role, is really
(25:57):
what it is. I mean, you're you're at the time
of in many ways the largest and most unwieldy government
organization on the planet. I mean, you know, I mean
maybe the Chinese military is larger, but in terms of
the ability to lead this thing, it's it's going to
be a massive challenge. And here's where where things stand
(26:18):
right now. There are all these stories coming out Wall
Street Journal, among them saying and I've had some other independent,
third hand corroboration of some of this, as somebody told
somebody who told me that they're looking at Ron de
Santis and they're looking at Bridge Colby. Now I understand
people really like Pete. I think Pete's great. I'm Pete's
(26:40):
as I said, I am not impartial. Pete is a friend,
and if he asked me for a favor, I would
do it. But Bridge is brilliant. Ron is brilliant. They
both would also be really good. You know, Pete was
talked about for VA. Would that be a better fit
for him in the Santists would take the job? Would
(27:00):
he leave Florida governor to be head of the Defense Department.
Do you think, I mean, I don't know the answer.
Do you think he would take it? That's tough, I think.
I mean, first of all, as a Floridian I don't
want to lose my governor because I think he's the
best governor in America. You know, I don't know me to.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Be fair, I agree with that as somebody who owns
property in Florida would probably live in Florida if I
didn't live in Tennessee. I think he's been phenomenal, playing
a little bit Devil's advocate here. He's only got two
years left, right, he can't run for reelection. We're into
twenty twenty five. How much does and I don't know
the answer. This would be a good question for how
much more does Ron DeSantis think that he can get
(27:42):
done in the next year and change in Florida versus
being the head of the Defense Party? And does he
want the job? I just I would love to know
the answer to that question. I mean, I'll put it
to you this way, Pete. You know, just looking at
the strengths of the various candidates, this is going to
be an important role Okay, there Russia Ukraine thing still
raging on, and then we fired missiles or I'm sorry
(28:03):
we didn't fire missiles. Our missiles have been fired into
I mean, it's not that far from Ukraine. We've obviously
got big problems still in the Middle Oh less big
now thanks to Israel, but there's you know, the big
challenges in the Middle East and other places. I'd say
this clay for these different individuals, like I said, Pete Bridge, Ron, Okay,
Pete's hegseeth Bridge, Colby Elbridge, Colby Ron DeSantis, these are
(28:27):
all these are all first round draft picks for these
kinds of jobs. These are these are very very good people.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I think with Pete you get absolute love for the
troops and somebody who would want to do right by
them and hates this DEI nonsense and also opposes women
in combat, by the way, which is and I every wharf,
every war fighter I know agrees with that. By the
fighter meeting combat veteran that I've spoken to is like,
(28:56):
with the exception of pilots and things, but I'm talking
about like ground infantry combat. I've never met somebody in
my own personal life who disagrees with Pete on that
with Bridge. If China invades Taiwan, do I want Bridge
to be sitting there in the situation room or whatever
like helping figure out what to do. Yes. And if
you want somebody to set the DoD right in terms
(29:17):
of budget outlays, deal with the you know, the military
industrial complex, cut off the war machine and its profiteering.
Can Ron handle that? Yeah? He'd be phenomenal. Do you
know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I like all that analysis. I just come back to
when I hear NBC News going with anonymous sources and
just ripping hag set to shreds. It makes me want
to in the same way that you're not supposed to
leave any man behind. I don't like the idea of
(29:48):
Trump deciding, hey, this is my guy, and then somebody
other than Trump being able to decide no, you can't
have him. We just had an election. If I were
a I would vote for every single nominee that Donald
Trump put forward. Because Trump just won the most votes
for any Republican candidate of all time. Therefore, I think
(30:11):
he deserves This is one where Barack Obama's one hundred
percent right elections have consequences, and I know the Senate
has the role of advising and consenting. But we just
had the entire United States advising consent on Donald Trump
as president. I think Donald Trump should get his entire
cabinet through. Did anybody get shot down that Biden wanted?
(30:33):
I'd have to I don't think so. I don't remember,
but I would just say, well, there's what Trump wants
and is what the Senate will do.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Right, that's the This is totally get it.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
But what I'm saying is if I were a senator,
I would be incredibly deferential to Trump. Here, You're right,
maybe the votes aren't they I remember, we only have
a fifty three forty seven lead, so it does take
three and a half, right, because you presume that jd.
Vance is going to vote for any of the nominees.
At some point, Matt Gates just said, hey, I can't
(31:01):
get over the finish the line. They got Matt Gates.
Now they're going to get Pete hegg Seth. Let me
just point this out. It's not going to stop there.
If they get heag Seth, then they're going to go
after somebody else. And I just don't like the president being, hey,
we'll go into your background and we will come after you,
character assassinate you to the end degree, say some things that.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
I know to be untrue. Well, in an evert to
try to take him down Gates, I believe if we
based on the reporting and also what I've heard from Magaworld,
Gates decided that he wasn't going to get through the
votes weren't there. That's right. It happened, right, So that
wasn't That wasn't like Trump necessarily changing his mind. It
(31:44):
was just the reality of unless we want to try
to get into a fight over a recess appointment for
the Attorney general right out of the gate with Pete.
This is but this is what I was bringing up, right,
it's it's Murkowski, Collins. Lindsey Graham has come out and
said this probably Mitch McConnell. Let's be honest. Yeah, Mitch McConnell,
one hundred percent. They are troubled. Everyone keeps focusing on
(32:09):
the sexual assault allegation. And as I've said, I do
not believe he's sexually assaulted that woman, and I would
say so if I felt differently. They though the senators
are focused on the stuff that is a matter of
public record. They find that troubling, and I don't know
how you get around that with those senators, right, that's
the thing, that's where I see that, and I think
MAGA world is wrestling with that right now.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It also, by the way, does not help Pete. Hegseeth
for other names to be floated reliably that they may
be interested in that job or willing to take it.
I mean, I think a lot of people. I mean,
we'll take some calls. Or on DeSantis, would he take it?
I don't know the answer, but if his name's getting floated,
to me, it means he hasn't said no.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Trump and DeSantis were just together yesterday, just you know,
interesting in and of itself. Look, I want all you
to sign up for prize picks right now. Got to
pick that. I will give you tomorrow, right before I
leave for Israel. I'll wake up and find out whether
or not we want it. But in the meantime, you
can have fun watching football. You know, more people watched
(33:14):
football on Thanksgiving than have ever watched football on Thanksgiving before.
NFL with record ratings, College football with the playoff with
record ratings. You can get hooked up right now, easy
to do. You can pick more or less on a
variety of different players out there and right now, if
you use my name Clay, you get fifty dollars. That's
(33:35):
if you're in Florida, if you're in Georgia, if you're
in Texas, California, thirty different states nationwide. If you are
feeling left out, you can get hooked up right now
at pricepicks dot com. Use my name Clay. When you
play five dollars, you get fifty dollars right into your account.
That is code clayprizepicks dot com. One more time, Code
(33:58):
Clay with the guys on the Sunday Hang with Clay
and Buck podcast, a new episode every Sunday. Find it
on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton Show. Gonna be
a long day for me Buck, and as a result,
I am fueling with Crocketcoffee Crocketcoffee dot Com. The video stream,
(34:23):
by the way, wasn't working for a while, and to
make up for all of you that were not able
to see behind the VIP wall, Buck has brought in
his lovely dog Ginger, freshly shorn for a nice winter
Sevelt look. Maybe a lot of a lot of people
out there may be starting to pack on a little
bit of the pounds with Thanksgiving, with Christmas parties everywhere.
(34:46):
It's easy to do, but maybe you need a little
bit more energy coming out of Thanksgiving. I know that
I'm going to be needing a lot of coffee while
I'm over in Israel, adjusting to that trip. Joe Biden
buck could have and only used some coffee. We haven't
even mentioned this. He fell asleep. It appears at a
meeting with African leaders, which feels so easy to predict
(35:11):
because if you send an eighty two year old to
Africa for three days, even if he gets to fly
on a really nice plane, it's kind of a tough
transition time change. It feels so obvious this would happen.
But Joe Biden could have gotten Crocket Coffee dot com.
It's the coffee that actually loves America, American history. It's
delectable organic roast, dark light, medium roast, and decaf, every
(35:39):
possible type. And right now you can see the book.
I signed one hundred and fifty books yesterday when I
got home from dinner with my family, all direct to you,
being shipped by my lovely assistant Katie. If you use
code book and you subscribe, and thousands of you have subscribed,
we think all the subscribers out there Crocketcoffee dot com.
(36:01):
We come back a big case in front of the
Supreme Court. Buck the state of Tennessee, my home state,
has banned surgery for miners who want to change their gender.
In other words, we're saying in my state what I
think is true. It is child abuse to decide that
(36:21):
you are going to try and chop someone's genitals off
or give them puberty blockers so they are allowed to
become a different gender, hormones, all this other crazy stuff,
and it is being argued in front of the Supreme
Court right now. Some of the questions that have been
uttered at the oral argument are going to blow your mind.
(36:43):
We will have that for you. Katanji Brown Jackson said,
if you won't allow a girl's boobs to be chopped off,
it's like banning interracial marriage.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
She really did. We'll play that audio for you and
come back
Welcome in everybody. Wednesday edition of the Klay, Travis and
Buck Sexton Show kicks off right now. We got a
lot of news racked and stacked. We're gonna make it
all make sense, so come in close for a big
radio hug. Much to discuss. We got the Eric Adams
statement about illegals in New York City and how he
(00:22):
feels about them. Is this a turning of the tide
for the Big Apple when it comes to the migrant
aka illegal alien problem. I think that's something that we're
going to spend a little bit of time on. There's
an opportunity here for the mayor of America's largest city
to really step into the mandate of making New York
(00:45):
safe again, which would in fact be a huge step
toward making New York great again. And given what the
Feds have done to him there for speaking out about
migrants in the first place, I don't know. Maybe Mayor
Eric Adams should have a little hour outreach to the
incoming president. One thing about Trump, you got to give
him credit for. If you're willing to do the job,
(01:06):
if you're willing to be maga, there's always room on
the Trump train. There's always room for allies. In fact,
I think one of Trump's favorite things is to flip
opponents to allies. Now, maybe getting ahead of ourselves, Eric
Adams might put out a statement tomorrow about how awful
Trump is. Who knows, but interesting situation about the migrants
in New York City. You've also got oh boy, the
(01:30):
dea pick. Chad Cronister has stepped out of the mix, Clay,
and I can get into some of why that happened.
The jury has the Daniel Penny trial also in New
York City. We'll bring you any updates on that we
could get, right, Clay, We could get a verity verdict
at any point. Yeah, it could happen while we're on
(01:50):
the air, so we'll be focused in on that one.
We've got. Hey, I don't know, this is interesting to
us in the media because it's been a long time coming.
ABC News staffers working in near decrepit building with no
Wi Fi, no heat as Good Morning America ratings tank.
I just think that's interesting, Clay, because it's not only
(02:13):
the more left wing MSNBC right, like the openly partisan
outlets that are getting hit now. It's like morning shows
where one minute they're doing news, the next minute, they're like,
here's the best way to make a summer Salid like
they're getting hit two. I think there's a big change
in the media that's going on right now. There's even more.
The judge in the Hunter Biden case, which now is
(02:34):
not a case anymore because the pardon had some scathing
words about Biden's lie in the part in Biden fell
asleep in Africa. He's an Angola giving away taxpayer dollars.
And we've also got Clay's gonna dive into this in
the next hour. In Tennessee, the State of Tennessee in
a lawsuit with the Biden administration over the issue of
(02:58):
transsurgery for min and a ban on transferreders in Tennessee
Supreme Court heard those oral arguments this morning. Clay lawyer
Clay going to step in and tell us what he
thinks on that one. Clay can I gotta say, you know,
the the biggest to the two biggest missions of the
Trump administration, I think quite clearly are the border and
(03:22):
the bureaucracy, right or you know, illegals and the deep state.
Different ways you can say the same thing, Mayor Adams.
I don't take this as a minor thing. I think
this is an interesting place to go. I think it's
something of outreach to the incoming administration too. This is
cut twelve. He's just saying I'm deporting criminals going forward,
(03:46):
or I'm gonna help ice, and you can quote cancel me.
If you've got a problem with that, play it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I want you to all go back and google Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama. Google what they said about those
who could make crimes in our city and what they
say in our country. They said, those who commit crimes
need to get out right away.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
That was their position.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So this is not a new position, you know, because
in the state of the in the era of cancel culture,
no one is afraid to be honest about the truth. Well,
cancel me, because I'm going to protect the people of
the city. And if you come into this country, in
this city and think you're going to harm innocent New
Yorkers and innocent migrans and asylum seekerts, this is not
(04:28):
the mayor you want to be in the city under.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, now, he's still with the asylum seekerts who
don't commit crimes. I caught that point at the end.
But Clay, it has been a huge fight with Democrats
to even get them to agree that illegals like the
one who went on to rape and murder Lake and
Riley should be deported with the help of local and
state police. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Look, and I think Mayor Adams is right on this.
And this is why I said, A part of me
thinks that Trump should come in and just immediately pardon
Eric Adams as part of his decision to pardon the
jan six guys. And I remember I said, and a
lot of people out there got upset. You had, I
think had the same take that it would not be
(05:14):
a bad move for Trump to also pardon Hunter Biden.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I had the same take as you. I wasn't upset
by the take.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yes, correct, No, yes, you and I had the same take.
Many of our listeners out there were. But to me,
it's a clear the decks move. Hey, we're turning the
page to steal a line from Kamala Harris on the
Law Fair that became very commonplace associated with everything surrounding
the Biden team. And I think Trump's got an ally
(05:41):
in Eric Adams when it comes to issues of migrants
illegally taking over.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
The city of New York. Buck for you, I'm flying
up to New York.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I'm ducking out the third hour because I'm going to
Israel for the show on Thursday evening.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
That's just a little bit of background.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
They banned Airbnb in New York City, so basically you
can't put your home on Airbnb.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
They also have I think.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's over ten percent of all hotel rooms right now
are taken by.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Twenty twenty, it's twenty.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, twenty percent of New York City hotel rooms are
taken over by by people there.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
And they live there. They're not there for a night
while they're being processed to the facility or something. They
live there.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
You can't get a hotel room now in New York
City right now for less than like five hundred bucks
if you want to be anywhere around Midtown. Some of
the rooms are thousand dollars a night. Why do I
bring that up because I'm traveling up and having to
stay there right now. New York City is broken in
many ways. I mean, you see the assassination. Yes, I
(06:52):
was gonna say, right, I'm a major hotel. It appears
there was a gangland style hit on a prominent Bites executive.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Clay outside of a hotel. It's outside of our New
York City office. That's where I'll be doing the show
to one. You'll be doing the show right in the
vicinity of I mean people, remember, you know, in Midtown,
it's not hard to find where people are. It's not
some big secret, right, you can google these things. You're
talking about. A stone's throwaway from that assassination is where
(07:21):
you're going to be doing the radio show tomorrow. My
point being that is the heart of New York City.
That is the absolute center of New York, the business district,
Midtown near it's right near Rockefeller Center, it's right near
Central Park. I mean, it's and it's just a brazen
assassination attempt. I saw some clips from the NYPD conference
on it, and it looks like this. This is I mean,
(07:43):
it's a pro or professional hit. The guy had to
clear a malfunction his weapon quickly, multiple shots from behind,
jumped on an e bike, had his face and head
and everything covered. I mean, this was not like you know,
at least it doesn't strike me as like a rage
filled you know, lover's quarrel or some kind of nonsense.
This is a This looks like a professional hit. So
(08:05):
that's another thing. The City of New York is looking
at it right now. They've got to just get the
crime issue in general down there. There was recently a
broad daylight two armed men carjacking clay on eighty third
in Broadway again, eighty third and Broadway. You can't get
an apartment on eighty third and Broadway. You can't get
a studio for less than a million bucks. I mean,
(08:27):
this is this is fancy, high end parts of Gotham,
you know, of America's grandest city, and it's just too much.
People are waking up to this. New York did trend
toward Trump, not enough, unfortunately, but New York State trended
toward Trump in this last election. And the issue of
the of migrants in New York City. I think this
(08:48):
played a big role in the national election. I think
it shows how clear Trump's mandate is. And I believe
there's a real opportunity here for Eric Adams to say, look,
I don't agree with Trump on a lot, but I'll
work with his administration on making sure that criminal illegals
are deported as expeditiously as possible. That's common ground that
I think would would go over very well. On both sides.
(09:09):
We'll see if he's also they're prosecuting him, right, so
there's that his team has betrayed him.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Yeah, and look, I just to your point, new York City,
Trump got more votes than any Republican since nineteen eighty eight.
So that's a pretty seismic change. And the votes that
he was getting were overwhelmingly coming from non traditional Republican areas.
Remember one of the districts that moved the most in
Trump's direction was AOC's. And you know, it's kind of
(09:39):
staggering when you consider that there's talk, oh, AOC may
run for president in twenty twenty eight, and I actually
think she will, and we'll see how that plays going forward.
I think that's her next move. She's not going to
run for governor or Senate in New York. I think
she feels like she has a big enough platform now
that she can make a run for president of the
United States. But so you got chaos in New York,
(10:02):
you've also got right now, Pete hegset Buck under a
level of attack that is higher, I think right now
than what they did with Matt Gates. I think they
felt like Matt Gates never had the support and so
he never really got you agree with this, and there
was never really an aggressive go after Matt Gates media
(10:26):
campaign because I think they kind of knew the votes
weren't there and they never needed to unleash the hounds,
so to speak. You and I need to weigh in
on some of this stuff because the amount of stories
that are coming out just going after Pete Hegset for everything.
NBC News has a monster story where they basically accused
(10:47):
him of being a drunk who was unable to do
television and done, You've worked with Pete. I've worked with Pete.
I mean this is something we can speak of a
direct personal knowledge. The nastiness of this campaign that they
have unleashed against Pete hegseth is is cab Brett Kavanall.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Like they called my wife on her personal cell phone.
You could say it. I didn't want to. I didn't
want to say it, but yeah, no, I know, I'll
say it. They called my wife on her personal cell
phone looking for dirt on our friend Pete and Carrie's Carrie,
she doesn't talk to regime media got a click right away.
But point here being, they are going all out to
do whatever they can uh, to destroy him. I think
(11:27):
with Matt Gates, Clay. Part of it was the initial
Gates stuff was well wait till wait till the set
you know, he's going to have his say before the Senate.
There wasn't a lot of new information. It was all known.
They've been on a dig up everything campaign against against Pete. Right.
They also were trying to get the report out against
Matt Gates. That was going to be the whole thing.
(11:48):
So they were lobbying to get the report out. With Pete.
They've been you know, they're going back to an investigative
reporting and trying to do oppo research on him, you know,
back to high school. I'm sure, back to you know,
when he was getting his first boy Scout ribbons or whatever.
I mean, they're they're going all out. I was actually
having a call with the buddy the other day.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We were talking yesterday about the heagset thing, and I'm like,
I don't know that we've seen anything of this measure
and magnitude, because I I don't think Pete Hegseth is
an unknown dude. I mean, he's on television all the
time for Fox News. I'm stunned by how threatened they
are by him to the extent that they've come after
(12:26):
him with everything they've got. What I'm seeing is that
the storyline is that Trump is waffling, and I think
they're trying to use that storyline, meaning the media is
saying it that Trump is waffling about the Hegset appointment,
so that then it becomes it's like a self fulfilling prophecy, right,
it's oh, Trump's waffling, And then that gets back to
(12:47):
Trump and people start to say, well, you know, maybe
this I think they're trying to create cracks in this.
I don't know, man, the the inner circle of decision
making on this is very tight.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Let's come back. Let let's talk about this a little
but more, shall Weah, Let's get into this and have
more of a discussion about it, because, uh, you've got
three names in the mix right now for d O
D chief. Three names our friend Pete Hegseeth, the fantastic
Ron DeSantis, and our friend Bridge Colby, who's brilliant. These
are the three names that are being reported as possible
(13:19):
secretary of Defense. Let's come back, and also, if anybody
has a particularly strong opinion on that, I want to
know what you think because to me, you know, this
is like if I knew who played sports more, I'd
start saying great sports people. But you know, this is
like Jerald pick between. This is like picking between yeah, pickles.
This is like picking between Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen and
(13:43):
and well, let's just say it's like picking between Patrick
Mahomes and Josh Allen clearly the two best quarterbacks in
the end. Great great people for the job that I
think would get it done. But if you have strong
opinions on it, I definitely want I definitely want to
hear it. So we'll get into that. Look, I want to.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
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code Clay Clay Travison buck Sexton mic drops that never.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Sounded so good.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts. We welcome back in Clay Travis buck
Sexton Show.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Appreciate all of you hanging out with us.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Let's dive into some of this Pete hegset drama. There are,
as Buck just laid out reports that Trump is considering
alternative choices. Pete Hegsex is on Capitol Hill right now.
We know Pete well, we've had him on this show
a lot, We've worked with him. We can talk maybe
in the bottom half of this hour about some of
(15:29):
these attacks and just how nasty they are, particularly the
ones that involve anonymous sources. And I just I've never
been an anonymous story for any story ever. I certainly
have never been an anonymous story.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
If you agree with me or disagree with me, I'm
man enough to at least say it publicly. I just
don't run and hide and try to tack people from
behind and behind closed doors and without using your name.
I don't think anonymous sources should be allowed. But it's
a sign of how nasty it is that the New
York Times used a seven year old email that Pete
(16:05):
Hegseth's mom sent to him, and that is wild just
in the context of somebody close to them obviously had
to leak that email to the New York Times, but
she went on Fox and Friends, which is the show
that Pete Hegseth hosts on the weekend. She went on
Fox and Friends to say, Hey, my son's a really
(16:28):
good guy, and respond to that email.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Listen to this.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
This is a pretty extraordinary thing that was on Fox
News this morning. Pete Hegset's mom, Penelope, I.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Want people to look at Pete, judge people or understand
him for who he is today and to disregard the
media that was seven years ago, and most of it
is misinformation. And the way they threaten you, I think
is very hurtful. And the person leaked it, I don't
know who that is, and I don't think I will
(16:59):
need to. But Pete is a new person. He's redeemed, forgiven, changed.
I think we all are after seven years. I believe
he's a man for the job. I think being a
TV news host I think prepares you for most things.
In a position like this, you're a good communicator, you
have to think on your feet, you take charge. So
(17:20):
I think everybody should do a year with Fox.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
So mom with the solid endorsement of the past job
for the new job. But I don't think there's a
discounting element there. But I can't remember ever seeing anything
like this. Buck somebody's mom who has been attacked based
on an email that she sent seven years ago, having
to go on broadcast television to actually say, hey, my
son's a really good guy and he deserves this job.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah, we're not impartial here. Clan are both friends of Pete,
so just to be clear about that. And I think
he do a really good job. And the more they
hate Pete. By the way, the.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
More I think you can do a really good that's
my position too.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
All right, let's talk Talented Towers Foundation. They support America's
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people at nine to eleven Remembrance across America with over
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children in kindergarten through twelfth grade about America's darkest day
while helping our nation keep its voud and never forget.
(18:43):
Help support Tanta Towers and its important programs, and never
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Towers at T two T dot org. That's t the
number two T dot org. All right, welcome back in
to Clay, and we're talking about some big jobs that
are still in the mix here and some things, some pieces,
(19:07):
if you will, individuals who are going to be involved
in this next Trump administration. There's a lot of stuff
going on here. First of all, I saw that the
Trump team has now agreed to FBI background checks. Clay,
you see this, Yeah, let's just put this out there.
Who is the squishiest Republican senator? There are a couple
of people that come to mind. I mean, who is
(19:28):
the most likely to be pushed around and to bail
because of pressure. Susan Collins high in the list. Now,
Susan Collins might be the best center we can get
out of Maine given the electoral realities of that state.
So we shouldn't forget that, right, People are like, why
don't we have somebody who's maga in Maine? Because it's Maine.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
You know, this is the Trump lost Maine by seven points,
so it's not you're not gonna get I mean Susan
Collins might be the only Republican who can win in
Maine now now at least are Kowski in Alaska. I
think that's a fair question.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, that's a little you know, we've got I think
we're on We're on a station in Anchorage, and I
love when we get our Anchorage people to reach out.
It just shows you the power of radio. Like you
look on a map, Anchorage is so far away. It's amazing.
But we've got I love it. I've actually been beautiful.
Alaska is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Side note for anybody I've never been, I'm going to go.
(20:25):
I cannot wait. We love all of our listeners in Alaska.
I heard it spectacular. I mean the natural beauty of Alaska.
If you're into the cold stuff at rivals, I think
anywhere in the world. All right, But here's Susan Collins
going back to Maine, also cold and very nice. Here's
Susan Collins on the headset stuff. This is cut five.
Play it.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
As I repeatedly said to you, I believe that we
need an FBI background check to evaluate the allegations. We
need to have the normal committee process of questionnaires, and
the question is about his background, and we also need
(21:06):
to have a public career.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
So you know, this is this is the challenge, this
is the problem. Would would pe be a great choice
in this role? I think so is peaking to get confirmed.
That's an open question, and I think you could take
different sides of it. I can tell you this based
on what's come out. That's a greed deal. I'm not,
(21:31):
by the way, I do not believe the sexual assault
allegation against him. I don't believe it. No, no charges
were brought, and I've looked at the facts, and you know,
our friend Megan Kelly did a whole deep dive on
her show into them. Carrie listened to it, and I
don't believe the uh. I don't believe that that's what's
what went on there. I will say Clay, coming from
(21:52):
a national security world, infidelity and drinking are considered problems
for security clearance. People can say that that's nonsense. They
can say they don't agree with that. But if you're
going to go through the normal clearance process and you've
had multiple marriages, blow up guys from special operations community,
correct me if I am wrong. It is also a
(22:12):
problem within special operations in UCMJ. It's actually illegal under
UCMJ at a cheat on a spouse. Now, you can
push all of that stuff aside. And Pete and I
and you and Pete, we're all friends. I like Pete.
I think you do a really good job. How do
you convince Susan Collins? How do you convince Murkowski? I'm
not saying people keep talking about the assault allegation. I'm
(22:35):
talking about based on the agreed upon facts of some
of the stuff they're attacking Pete with you, this is
where it gets more complicated. And Ron DeSantis and Bridge
Colby are both being talked about as possible Secretary of
Defense as well. Here's my thing.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I get bowed up when you come after someone and
it makes me want them to be confirmed more. And
this happened for me with Brett Kavanaugh. I think Brett
Kavanaugh in general, Buck was a middle of the road,
kind of boring selection for the Supreme Court. And I'm
(23:12):
not trying to take massive shots at him. I think
he's done okay as a Supreme Court justice. But as
soon as they came after him with everything they had,
and I know you were fired up about this too,
like Brett Kavanaugh has to be the guy. You cannot
allow the precedent here.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I think that the Brett Kavanaugh attempted character character destruction
was at that point the ugliest thing I'd ever seen
at that level of American politics. I will say the
Kavanaugh thing and the Hegseth thing is different. And here's why.
The stuff about Kavanaugh, all of it was a lie.
Based on the facts presented and what people said and
(23:50):
what the evidence is, all of it was a lie.
What I'm saying is, yeah, I think Murkowski and Collins
and people are missing this. They have a problem with,
and so does Lindsey Graham, by the way, with some
of the stuff that is agreed upon fact and that
there was nothing about Kavanaugh where we said, yeah, you know,
(24:11):
you know this happened, or yeah, you know he had
a balanced first marriage and he got divorced, and there's
things like that, so wreck but you see what I mean,
that's yeah, and I think people are missing that component
of it. Like I can go to the mat with
Pete is great, Pete would do a great job. They're
lying about him with the sexual assault thing. But I
think Murkowski's Graham and the others are saying, Yeah, but
(24:32):
this guy's got some messy stuff that is agreed upon fact,
and we think that's a problem for confirmation. That's where
I think he's running into some issues. So I think
this gets into an intriguing question. To me, Trump being
elected despite being on his third marriage and having in
his background a variety of different what I would say
(24:55):
is a typical public politician background. To me, at base
cleans the deck, and all I care about is are
you the best guy or the best gal for the job.
I don't really care about personal lives. Now, for your point,
it is an interesting point, And I remember this discussion
(25:15):
when Bill Clinton was commander in chief that if he
were a general who had had a relationship with Monica Lewinsky,
he would have been court martialed. Right, He couldn't have
led based on his behavior as president. That would have
disqualified him to be in a position of leadership in
the military. This is a little bit of a balancing
(25:36):
act that is unique because correct me if I'm wrong.
Buck Lloyd Austin is actually a rarity in that he
was a former general who was then hired to basically
oversee This is typically a civilian job, right, in many
respects when it comes to being the head of the
Defense Department. Yes, it's a massive managerial role, is really
(25:57):
what it is. I mean, you're you're at the time
of in many ways the largest and most unwieldy government
organization on the planet. I mean, you know, I mean
maybe the Chinese military is larger, but in terms of
the ability to lead this thing, it's it's going to
be a massive challenge. And here's where where things stand
(26:18):
right now. There are all these stories coming out Wall
Street Journal, among them saying and I've had some other independent,
third hand corroboration of some of this, as somebody told
somebody who told me that they're looking at Ron de
Santis and they're looking at Bridge Colby. Now I understand
people really like Pete. I think Pete's great. I'm Pete's
(26:40):
as I said, I am not impartial. Pete is a friend,
and if he asked me for a favor, I would
do it. But Bridge is brilliant. Ron is brilliant. They
both would also be really good. You know, Pete was
talked about for VA. Would that be a better fit
for him in the Santists would take the job? Would
(27:00):
he leave Florida governor to be head of the Defense Department.
Do you think, I mean, I don't know the answer.
Do you think he would take it? That's tough, I think.
I mean, first of all, as a Floridian I don't
want to lose my governor because I think he's the
best governor in America. You know, I don't know me to.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Be fair, I agree with that as somebody who owns
property in Florida would probably live in Florida if I
didn't live in Tennessee. I think he's been phenomenal, playing
a little bit Devil's advocate here. He's only got two
years left, right, he can't run for reelection. We're into
twenty twenty five. How much does and I don't know
the answer. This would be a good question for how
much more does Ron DeSantis think that he can get
(27:42):
done in the next year and change in Florida versus
being the head of the Defense Party? And does he
want the job? I just I would love to know
the answer to that question. I mean, I'll put it
to you this way, Pete. You know, just looking at
the strengths of the various candidates, this is going to
be an important role Okay, there Russia Ukraine thing still
raging on, and then we fired missiles or I'm sorry
(28:03):
we didn't fire missiles. Our missiles have been fired into
I mean, it's not that far from Ukraine. We've obviously
got big problems still in the Middle Oh less big
now thanks to Israel, but there's you know, the big
challenges in the Middle East and other places. I'd say
this clay for these different individuals, like I said, Pete Bridge, Ron, Okay,
Pete's hegseeth Bridge, Colby Elbridge, Colby Ron DeSantis, these are
(28:27):
all these are all first round draft picks for these
kinds of jobs. These are these are very very good people.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I think with Pete you get absolute love for the
troops and somebody who would want to do right by
them and hates this DEI nonsense and also opposes women
in combat, by the way, which is and I every wharf,
every war fighter I know agrees with that. By the
fighter meeting combat veteran that I've spoken to is like,
(28:56):
with the exception of pilots and things, but I'm talking
about like ground infantry combat. I've never met somebody in
my own personal life who disagrees with Pete on that
with Bridge. If China invades Taiwan, do I want Bridge
to be sitting there in the situation room or whatever
like helping figure out what to do. Yes. And if
you want somebody to set the DoD right in terms
(29:17):
of budget outlays, deal with the you know, the military
industrial complex, cut off the war machine and its profiteering.
Can Ron handle that? Yeah? He'd be phenomenal. Do you
know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I like all that analysis. I just come back to
when I hear NBC News going with anonymous sources and
just ripping hag set to shreds. It makes me want
to in the same way that you're not supposed to
leave any man behind. I don't like the idea of
(29:48):
Trump deciding, hey, this is my guy, and then somebody
other than Trump being able to decide no, you can't
have him. We just had an election. If I were
a I would vote for every single nominee that Donald
Trump put forward. Because Trump just won the most votes
for any Republican candidate of all time. Therefore, I think
(30:11):
he deserves This is one where Barack Obama's one hundred
percent right elections have consequences, and I know the Senate
has the role of advising and consenting. But we just
had the entire United States advising consent on Donald Trump
as president. I think Donald Trump should get his entire
cabinet through. Did anybody get shot down that Biden wanted?
(30:33):
I'd have to I don't think so. I don't remember,
but I would just say, well, there's what Trump wants
and is what the Senate will do.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Right, that's the This is totally get it.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
But what I'm saying is if I were a senator,
I would be incredibly deferential to Trump. Here, You're right,
maybe the votes aren't they I remember, we only have
a fifty three forty seven lead, so it does take
three and a half, right, because you presume that jd.
Vance is going to vote for any of the nominees.
At some point, Matt Gates just said, hey, I can't
(31:01):
get over the finish the line. They got Matt Gates.
Now they're going to get Pete hegg Seth. Let me
just point this out. It's not going to stop there.
If they get heag Seth, then they're going to go
after somebody else. And I just don't like the president being, hey,
we'll go into your background and we will come after you,
character assassinate you to the end degree, say some things that.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
I know to be untrue. Well, in an evert to
try to take him down Gates, I believe if we
based on the reporting and also what I've heard from Magaworld,
Gates decided that he wasn't going to get through the
votes weren't there. That's right. It happened, right, So that
wasn't That wasn't like Trump necessarily changing his mind. It
(31:44):
was just the reality of unless we want to try
to get into a fight over a recess appointment for
the Attorney general right out of the gate with Pete.
This is but this is what I was bringing up, right,
it's it's Murkowski, Collins. Lindsey Graham has come out and
said this probably Mitch McConnell. Let's be honest. Yeah, Mitch McConnell,
one hundred percent. They are troubled. Everyone keeps focusing on
(32:09):
the sexual assault allegation. And as I've said, I do
not believe he's sexually assaulted that woman, and I would
say so if I felt differently. They though the senators
are focused on the stuff that is a matter of
public record. They find that troubling, and I don't know
how you get around that with those senators, right, that's
the thing, that's where I see that, and I think
MAGA world is wrestling with that right now.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
It also, by the way, does not help Pete. Hegseeth
for other names to be floated reliably that they may
be interested in that job or willing to take it.
I mean, I think a lot of people. I mean,
we'll take some calls. Or on DeSantis, would he take it?
I don't know the answer, but if his name's getting floated,
to me, it means he hasn't said no.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Trump and DeSantis were just together yesterday, just you know,
interesting in and of itself. Look, I want all you
to sign up for prize picks right now. Got to
pick that. I will give you tomorrow, right before I
leave for Israel. I'll wake up and find out whether
or not we want it. But in the meantime, you
can have fun watching football. You know, more people watched
(33:14):
football on Thanksgiving than have ever watched football on Thanksgiving before.
NFL with record ratings, College football with the playoff with
record ratings. You can get hooked up right now, easy
to do. You can pick more or less on a
variety of different players out there and right now, if
you use my name Clay, you get fifty dollars. That's
(33:35):
if you're in Florida, if you're in Georgia, if you're
in Texas, California, thirty different states nationwide. If you are
feeling left out, you can get hooked up right now
at pricepicks dot com. Use my name Clay. When you
play five dollars, you get fifty dollars right into your account.
That is code clayprizepicks dot com. One more time, Code
(33:58):
Clay with the guys on the Sunday Hang with Clay
and Buck podcast, a new episode every Sunday. Find it
on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back in Clay, Travis Buck Sexton Show. Gonna be
a long day for me Buck, and as a result,
I am fueling with Crocketcoffee Crocketcoffee dot Com. The video stream,
(34:23):
by the way, wasn't working for a while, and to
make up for all of you that were not able
to see behind the VIP wall, Buck has brought in
his lovely dog Ginger, freshly shorn for a nice winter
Sevelt look. Maybe a lot of a lot of people
out there may be starting to pack on a little
bit of the pounds with Thanksgiving, with Christmas parties everywhere.
(34:46):
It's easy to do, but maybe you need a little
bit more energy coming out of Thanksgiving. I know that
I'm going to be needing a lot of coffee while
I'm over in Israel, adjusting to that trip. Joe Biden
buck could have and only used some coffee. We haven't
even mentioned this. He fell asleep. It appears at a
meeting with African leaders, which feels so easy to predict
(35:11):
because if you send an eighty two year old to
Africa for three days, even if he gets to fly
on a really nice plane, it's kind of a tough
transition time change. It feels so obvious this would happen.
But Joe Biden could have gotten Crocket Coffee dot com.
It's the coffee that actually loves America, American history. It's
delectable organic roast, dark light, medium roast, and decaf, every
(35:39):
possible type. And right now you can see the book.
I signed one hundred and fifty books yesterday when I
got home from dinner with my family, all direct to you,
being shipped by my lovely assistant Katie. If you use
code book and you subscribe, and thousands of you have subscribed,
we think all the subscribers out there Crocketcoffee dot com.
(36:01):
We come back a big case in front of the
Supreme Court. Buck the state of Tennessee, my home state,
has banned surgery for miners who want to change their gender.
In other words, we're saying in my state what I
think is true. It is child abuse to decide that
(36:21):
you are going to try and chop someone's genitals off
or give them puberty blockers so they are allowed to
become a different gender, hormones, all this other crazy stuff,
and it is being argued in front of the Supreme
Court right now. Some of the questions that have been
uttered at the oral argument are going to blow your mind.
(36:43):
We will have that for you. Katanji Brown Jackson said,
if you won't allow a girl's boobs to be chopped off,
it's like banning interracial marriage.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
She really did. We'll play that audio for you and
come back
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