Hour 3 - How Does Iran End?
3/27/202637 mincomplete
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast.
0:02Guaranteed human. Welcome in, everybody.
0:05Third hour of the Clay Travis and Buck Saxon show gets going right now.
0:09We are joined by the Florida State Attorney General, James Uthmeyer.
0:14A .G. Uthmeyer, Attorney General, appreciate you making time for us today from the great
0:19state of Florida, my home state.
0:21Love this place. Love the way that this whole state is trending.
0:26Thank you for all of your work on the law enforcement side.
0:28Clay has some specific questions we want to get to here in a second.
0:33I just wanted to know, talk to me about some of the trends, the top
0:38priorities. What are you doing from a law enforcement perspective under your tenure here in
0:43Florida? Because it feels like the state is overall really, really cooking.
0:49Yeah, look, we're prosecuting. We're enforcing law and order.
0:53We're putting bad guys away, and our crime rates continue to go way, way down.
0:58You know, when I took office, Florida was already at record crime lows.
1:02But the topic of fentanyl was coming up every time I talked to sheriffs.
1:07It was surging into communities across the state.
1:10Now, just over a year later, our fentanyl death rate is down over 35%.
1:14Our fentanyl cases are down almost 60%.
1:19Crime continues to plummet because we figured it out here.
1:22We support law enforcement. We give them the tools to be successful.
1:25We support the federal government with their efforts, especially on illegal immigration.
1:30It's not hard. It's not rocket science.
1:33You enforce the law. James, appreciate you coming on with us.
1:37I think the last time we saw you was at the Indiana -Miami game for
1:42the national title, Bucs' only college football game of the year, so not a bad
1:45one to go to. But a lot of the guys that were playing on the
1:49field there are going to aspire to go into the NFL one day.
1:54And one of the NFL's signature, I would say, sort of social compacts has been
2:01the Rooney Rule. And for people who don't know out there, you can kind of
2:04dive into the Rooney Rule a bit, but I'll give kind of a rough approximation
2:08here. Basically, the NFL requires that minorities be interviewed before new coaches can be hired.
2:17And that rule has been in place for around 20 years.
2:20There are three NFL teams in the state of Florida, one in Tampa Bay, one
2:24in Jacksonville, one in Miami, as most of our listeners would know.
2:27And you have now issued guidance that the Rooney Rule potentially is going to be
2:33violating the Florida Civil Rights statute.
2:36Explain for us why that's significant and what your letter said.
2:41Sure. Well, the Rooney Rule, which has been around for a good little while, it
2:45requires NFL teams to interview a number of minority candidates before hiring non -minority candidates.
2:54It requires some assistant coaching positions to be filled by minorities or women.
3:00It actually goes so far as to say, if you have minorities that advance into
3:07higher coaching positions from your staff, there's a scenario where you can be awarded additional
3:12draft picks. So teams are clearly required to violate Florida law.
3:18We have a Civil Rights Act that's been on the books for decades.
3:21You cannot discriminate against people based on the color of their skin, based on race,
3:27when it comes to hiring and advancement.
3:29A lot of states are looking at DEI and the problems associated with it.
3:35Some states are passing new laws, but the reality is we don't really need to.
3:39Most every state has a longstanding Civil Rights Act.
3:43I think the Civil Rights Movement did some wonderful things to ensure the rights, the
3:48benefits of our Constitution are being afforded to all people equally.
3:52And today, we've seen the pendulum swing so far where people are being discriminated against
3:59because they're white. So look, fans at home, they're not wanting teams to hire people
4:04based on color. They care about the color of the jersey of their team.
4:08They want to see their team win.
4:10They don't care what race is winning.
4:12They want to see people hired and promoted based on merit.
4:16So what do you expect to happen based on this letter?
4:19And by the way, I think you're 100 % right on the law.
4:22I've been one of the few people who's been pointing out for some time that
4:25this flies in the face of, I think, not only a lot of state law,
4:29but federal law. Given that roughly a third of NFL teams are based in the
4:34state of Florida, what have you asked the NFL to do and what do you
4:38anticipate going forward? Well, I've asked the NFL to get back to me by May
4:441, so a little over a month away, and confirm that they're going to remove
4:49this rule, remove these requirements that are unlawful here in Florida and I believe many
4:54other states. If they don't do it, then we'll pursue formal legal action in court.
5:00But I'm a big believer in trying to work things out, talk things out.
5:04Hopefully they'll do a deep dive and realize that their policy is indeed illegal.
5:10And look, if minorities are getting jobs and doing well, performing well, I am all
5:16for it. I could not be happier.
5:18But what does this rule say to minority candidates that are getting jobs on merit?
5:24How do they... know if they're being hired and advanced because they deserve it and
5:29not because of some other legal technicality.
5:32So when I took this job, I told my team, we're going to do the
5:35right thing no matter what.
5:37We're going to do the right thing, even if it brings negative press and costs
5:41us something. And this is one of those examples where this violates the law and
5:45we got to do the right thing.
5:46Speaking to Florida Attorney General Uthmeyer and Mr.
5:51Attorney General, you have obviously been involved with the Alligator Alcatraz situation here in this
5:58state. It's got a lot of national attention.
6:00We talked about it. What is the status of that detention facility?
6:05And how would you say the cooperation level is going with federal authorities for lawful
6:15deportations to be occurring at the pace that the administration is seeking?
6:23Well, Alligator Alcatraz is still up and running.
6:26You know, the media doesn't talk about it anymore after they, you know, helped incentivize
6:32and promote a bunch of sham lawsuits that were all struck down.
6:35So it's been operating every day, never, never once was closed down despite some reports.
6:41And I'll tell you, it, you know, I understand the name, it gets some attention,
6:46gets a chuckle. But the reality is the location was important.
6:52Money on some new perimeter is 32 square mile of runway, which is a, you
6:59know, non public use airport for law enforcement training.
7:02It was abandoned for commercial use back in the 60s or 70s.
7:07It's got a two and a half mile runway.
7:09So when it comes to deportation flights, people can get bused there, you know, they
7:13can't really escape. If they do, there's nowhere to go.
7:16And then there's an easy one way out flight to get them back to where
7:20they came from. I'll tell you, I've looked at the roster of people that have
7:23been housed there going back to the beginning.
7:25And a lot of these people, they serve time or were charged with some of
7:29the most heinous offenses, murder, attempted murder, sexual assault, abuse of children.
7:34The media never talked about that.
7:36They acted like this place was inhumane, but they did not highlight, you know, the
7:41victims out there that suffered greatly at the hands of some of these people that
7:44never should have been. You mentioned that the overall worries like Minnesota here.
7:51You mentioned that the overall crime rates have been declining precipitously in Florida.
7:56And I know we have a lot of Floridians who would be very happy with
8:00that. Where can you do better?
8:01Are there parts of the state that still have too high of a crime rate?
8:06Uh, how much, uh, you know, we've, we've talked in Memphis, for example, where I
8:10live in Tennessee, the mayor of Memphis has been somewhat willing to work with the
8:14Trump administration. How much are Democrat mayors fighting you on some of these things?
8:18Where do you think the state of Florida can still improve when it comes to
8:22trying to tamp down on crime?
8:25Yeah, well, you hit the nail on the head.
8:28Our crime rates are not where they should be in areas like Broward County, Orange
8:32County, that's Orlando. And these are areas where we have Democrat officials in charge.
8:37They just, they do not take it seriously.
8:39We had a prosecutor in Orlando who stipulated to let a guy who attempted to
8:44murder somebody out on probation only where shortly thereafter he shot and killed three tourists
8:50at Disney, um, just a couple months ago.
8:53This stuff cannot happen. Uh, we're fighting this epidemic across the country.
8:58We need to lock bad people up for a while.
9:01Uh, one area in Florida, we still have to address a human trafficking is a
9:05big deal, especially in South Florida.
9:07It's the third highest trafficked area in the country because of the wealth, the international
9:11presence, the entertainment. Uh, so I've made it a big initiative working with our prosecutors
9:16and local law enforcement. They're going into world cup, FIFA, going into F1.
9:21We're going to be all hands on deck to, to stop this predatory practice.
9:25That's very, very criminal. Is there any, uh, specific outreach or connectivity with the Trump
9:31White House on, you know, you, you haven't had the situation of, um, national focus
9:37that say DC has had, or we mentioned Memphis before, and I know we're talking
9:42statewide now with Florida, but with, with any city here, it hasn't come up in
9:46that conversation of there's an emergency like Memphis, like, uh, Chicago, like DC of persistent
9:53crime numbers that are too high and don't come down.
9:55But is there some federal, uh, working with you or working with state authorities to
10:02help in an area like Orlando, for example, or are those resources not really, uh,
10:07needed at this point, the way they are in some of those other cities?
10:11Now, this federal government has been fantastic.
10:14Everything from, uh, the FBI, the Homeland Security to, to the marshals, you know, we've
10:20rescued almost 400 missing kids in the last year.
10:24And, and the U S marshals have been a fantastic partner in that operation.
10:28Um, you know, we, we had some cases where we were not getting help under
10:32the Biden administration. Uh, we had a trafficking, uh, case where a guy had molested
10:37and trafficked children and we, we couldn't get DOJ under Biden to take it seriously.
10:42And within a year, uh, we've locked somebody up for the rest of his life.
10:46Cause we had a federal government that shared evidence and supported us on that.
10:50That example is not isolated.
10:52across the board so we're we take advantage of it we're very blessed james uh
10:57there is a video and i know you may not want to comment on a
11:00specific case but i'm sure that your team has seen it of a famous online
11:05influencer shooting alligators allegedly um what is the rule on something like that and how
11:14often nowadays do people begin to investigate crimes sometimes maybe even it's often based on
11:22social media posts yeah well look in in that case what i'll say is i
11:28know local law enforcement is is already engaged they were right away uh the fish
11:34and wildlife commission uh has certainly seen the video and is investigating as well uh
11:39my you know the head of my communications team jeremy he told me i need
11:44to go and announce that i recommend against crim and maxing in florida i don't
11:48even know what that means which means i'm not as plugged into the social media
11:52sphere as some but the reality is when you want to do stupid things to
11:57get attention you know if you break the law here in florida there's no exception
12:01for influencers or public media specialists you break the law you're going to pay for
12:08it so we're going to look at this and if there's criminal activity which you
12:12know seems somewhat apparent based on first glance there will be serious repercussions just to
12:17follow up on clay's question shooting it and i know that it's allegations video outside
12:22of the facts of that case that everyone can see that everyone's seen the videos
12:25online just as a matter of law shooting an alligator is very much illegal in
12:30this state right yeah you know we we've got licensing programs for for alligators and
12:37turkeys and deer and you know anything you want to go on hunt you can't
12:40just go out and start shooting animals shooting alligators uh without the proper tags so
12:46yes it is a crime right yeah i didn't know you this is much less
12:50serious than that i didn't realize you were a national champion florida gator athlete uh
12:56my team just told me uh about this that you ran for the florida gators
13:01what did you think of the loss to iowa for the defending florida gator national
13:07champs and what do you think of the new football hire buck's wife is a
13:11florida gator grad as well uh what can you tell us as a former athlete
13:15with the gators about the status and stature of the florida gator athletic programs right
13:20now uh well our athletic program is is always one of if not the best
13:26in the country we we get the all sports awards very frequently you know the
13:30the lesser known sports uh you know tennis lacrosse uh baseball distance running track you
13:38know we we've always had top national teams uh the football team it's you know
13:42it's had its struggles of late you know i was there for the whole tebow
13:45era and it seems like yesterday but i guess i'm getting older uh we'll we'll
13:50be back one way or another uh the basketball loss was heartbreaking you know i
13:54i do think that team had even more talent than the the team the year
13:58before and you know in the march madness things have to drop your way and
14:03you know we we didn't get some of the lucky bounces some of the penalty
14:06calls we didn't have the the hoops dropping where we needed them but i think
14:10a lot of that team's going to be back so i'm very optimistic i think
14:13we've got a good coach a good team uh we'll be ready for next year
14:16you are also endorsed by trump and on the ballot this year um for people
14:23who don't know how can they go find out about your race and uh and
14:27support you because i think you've done a really good job well i appreciate it
14:32um people you know people hopefully are seeing me out there i've done the job
14:37as much as i can you know as a longtime staffer that focused on policy
14:42it was an honor to be governor de santa's chief of staff for almost four
14:46years and to be part of the you know the great policies on public safety
14:51education school choice you name it over the last few years uh it's weird now
14:55to be a candidate and be forward facing but i'm out there fighting the fight
14:59i'm going to support law enforcement i'm going to do everything i can to put
15:02bad guys away uh the people at home hopefully uh you know have seen that
15:06or or will see it uh if you want to learn more um you can
15:09visit james4fl .com i'm on social media everywhere i love good ideas if there's a
15:15wrong we need to address in florida i'm ready to do it no matter who
15:18it's going to take off awesome i live i live here and you've done a
15:22great job as attorney general for the years that i've lived here uh mr ag
15:26uthmeyer so thank you so much appreciate you being with us all right i think
15:30we might have lost that high five yeah he has done a great job um
15:35look all over the country of israel right now it is incredibly difficult uh for
15:42so many people out there to deal with the challenges um of the constant missiles
15:48of the constant drone strikes and as a result there are a ton of people
15:53that are constantly finding themselves in bomb shelters you know the international fellowship of christians
15:59and jews is one of the top locations out there for providing bomb shelters to
16:04so many different people of all different backgrounds in israel they also provide food and
16:10emergency supplies and they care for the elderly including holocaust survivors right now people of
16:17israel need your help you can join both buck you and myself in helping those
16:22in need at the IFCJ, ifcj .org.
16:28That's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
16:31You can also call 888 -488 -IFCJ.
16:35That's ifcj .org, 888 -488 -IFCJ.
16:42Sometimes all you can do is laugh, and they do a lot of it with
16:47the Sunday Hang. Join Clay and Buck as they laugh it up in the Clay
16:52and Buck podcast feed on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
16:57Welcome back in. Clay, Travis, Buck Sexton Show.
17:01We'll take some of your calls as we continue to roll through the program, get
17:06to some of your talkbacks.
17:07Mike Baker is going to join us.
17:09Buck, he's a former CIA analyst.
17:11You can correct me if I'm wrong.
17:12No, no, no, no. Oh, no, no.
17:15Oh, no, no. No, Mike's going to come on.
17:17He's going to have to throw an elbow on that one.
17:18He's a former case officer.
17:20I'm an analyst. Oh. I used to walk around like, excuse me, sir.
17:24I thought it was going to be totally wrong.
17:26No, no, no. That's pretty for the civilians of us.
17:28In CIA land, Clay, it's like you just confused somebody who was on the football
17:34team with being a member of the marching band.
17:37Like, they get very uppity about this stuff.
17:40Like, I was there like, bop, bop, bop, with the trombone, and Mike is like,
17:44hey, I'll sign the football for you after the game, honey.
17:48We will talk with him, who's much more of a badass than I was giving
17:53him credit for, on the backside about the situation in Iran, on the ground, everything
17:57else. I want to tell you, Sweet 16 and Major League Baseball coming back this
18:04weekend. My Atlanta Braves are back on the field after a long offseason, and my
18:11University of Tennessee volunteers are going head -to -head with Iowa State tonight.
18:16It's going to be a fun day of sports.
18:18If you love sports like I do, and you want to be involved in all
18:2250 states, you can play along with our friends at PrizePix.
18:25You give them $5, they will put $50 deposited into your account.
18:31That's prizepix .com, code CLAY, C -L -A -Y.
18:35$5 turns into $50 automatically.
18:38You can play it in Florida.
18:40You can play it in Georgia, Texas, California, New York, wherever you are across the
18:45nation. You will love it.
18:47prizepix .com, code CLAY. That is prizepix .com, code C -L -A -Y.
18:53Welcome back into Clay and Buck.
18:55My CIA brother from another mother joins us now.
18:58Mike Baker, retired CIA covert operations officer, specializing in counterterrorism, counter -narcotics, counterinsurgency operations.
19:07A lot of counters. And you know what you don't have in there?
19:10Analyst. You don't have analysts in there, Mike, which don't worry, I didn't let Clay
19:13get away with such crazy smears as to call you an analyst.
19:19I thought I was giving him a compliment.
19:20You never wore a pocket protector.
19:23You didn't have to return from the war zone because of a running nose.
19:29I like how you said that we get uppity about it.
19:33Oh, no, you guys definitely get uppity about it, Mike.
19:36Let's be honest. Let's be honest.
19:38If an analyst ever, ever messed up on that.
19:42We can be a little bit up our own asses, that's for sure.
19:46So you're right. We can take offense easily.
19:49So we had a woman call in, I don't know if you know about this,
19:53it's amazing, caller Linda came up with the idea, we think, well, she came up
19:57with the idea, and we think it made it all the way to the White
19:59House to put ice in the airports, and that's been amazing.
20:02And we said, maybe she can call in and fix the Strait of Hormuz.
20:05She hasn't called back with that one yet.
20:07So I'm going to put this to you.
20:08You're a former CIA covert operations officer.
20:11Fix the Strait of Hormuz.
20:13Fix the Iran war. What do you see going on?
20:14By the way, Mike also hosts the wildly successful PDB podcast, which all of you
20:18should go check out. But Mike, fix the Strait of Hormuz.
20:21Fix Iran. What's happening? Yeah.
20:24Well, you know what? I'm with Linda.
20:25Let's send a heist out to the Strait.
20:28See what happens. Look, this is the problem here.
20:32You can believe contradictory things at the same time, right?
20:36Multiple things can be true.
20:37So you can believe that the Iranian regime was well -deserving of a serious ass
20:43-kissing, ass -kicking. But you can also believe that we should have seen that the
20:50Strait would be the leverage point, right?
20:55That it would all come down to the Strait of Hormuz.
20:58Because we've seen this before, right?
21:00And they've done this before.
21:02They've created chaos in the Strait when they've, you know, felt threatened or they're trying
21:06to make a point or they're looking for negotiation tactics.
21:08They've threatened to close the Strait for decades.
21:12So while I fully support this military operation to massively degrade the military capabilities of
21:22Iran, I'm a little concerned that it seems like we perhaps didn't think through what,
21:29admittedly in hindsight, but I think it was clear before, that it was going to
21:35come down to this, right?
21:36That we should have had scenarios in place already that would then say, if this
21:42happens, which it was going to happen because the Iranian military can't go toe -to
21:46-toe with the U .S.
21:47Israeli militaries, this was the only direction they could go to impact the situation and
21:54to try to extract concessions.
21:56So I'm a little concerned that we now seem to be in reactive mode as
22:02opposed to, you know, pulling the playbook off the shelf, knowing that this was going
22:05to happen. And look, I filled up my truck yesterday, $102.
22:12It's untenable from a political perspective.
22:14Republicans are going to get an ass kicking in the midterms.
22:19Okay. So at this point in time, we are where we are.
22:23Would there be any benefit to putting any boots on the ground in the Strait
22:29of Hormuz related area from your perspective, analyzing that situation?
22:34Because there's been a lot of talk about taking Carg Island, potentially putting guys and
22:39gals potentially in the Strait of Hormuz area where we could control ingress and egress
22:45more so smart. Is it then becoming even more of a mess?
22:50How would you assess that if you were asked by the president?
22:55Yeah, well, look, I think they've already tried to cover their potential options.
23:00They put out two Marine expeditionary units, about 2 ,500 soldiers each and a couple
23:05thousand sailors to support. They've got the 82nd Airborne sending out its elements.
23:10Got a lot of assets out there.
23:12And the problem is this.
23:15It doesn't take much for the Iranian regime, as it exists now, even after having
23:22its leadership decimated, to create this mess.
23:27So if you're talking about taking a handful of islands and it's not just the
23:32Strait, we talk about the Strait all the time, but the Iranians have created trouble
23:36in the Gulf, right? And so their reach is pretty significant.
23:42They've got a massive coastline.
23:43And so if you're talking about, you know, a season occupy operation with these assault
23:52forces. And you're talking then about you have to combine that with this international naval
23:59force that the president's been talking about, which a number of allies are somewhat reluctant
24:05to join in on while they're still fighting going on.
24:08That's well and good. You can create an environment where you could allow for, it'd
24:14be slow, but safe passage of vessels, but you've got the threat still.
24:20You're talking, so it's not in any way a long -term fix.
24:28And you've got to create an environment where the shipping and insurance industries feel comfortable
24:33enough to get back to business.
24:34So when you talk about seizing some territory or you talk about using this international
24:40naval force, how long are we talking about, right?
24:44You can't run that indefinitely.
24:46And so I'm not sure where they're going.
24:50I suspect the president is really working hard to try to find a way to
24:54cut a deal. That means making some concessions to the Iranians.
24:58And that's not going to be very popular.
25:00Speaking of Mike Baker, host of the PDB podcast.
25:05And Mike, you're bringing, I think, a seasoned and somewhat salty, but in a good
25:13way, perspective to the situation because war is hell and it is certainly complicated and
25:18the enemy gets a vote as well and all this.
25:21It sounds to me like your sense of this, and by the way, this is
25:24great because we've had people asking us to have on more conservative voices who are
25:28educated on these things, which you certainly are, who are, you know, more critical, maybe
25:33a little more skeptical, however you want to position it, about some of the president's
25:37military action in Iran. So I think you're bringing that interesting or that necessary perspective
25:43into the conversation. It sounds like, I've thought this way too, by the way, for
25:47a while now. I just want to make sure that this is where you are.
25:50Regime change, that's just not happening.
25:52Is that how you see it like we're going to be negotiating with some form
25:56of this regime and that's the way this is going to play out?
26:00Yeah. Yeah. Look, I would love, I would love to see regime change, right?
26:04You're never going to have anything resembling long -term peace and stability in that region
26:09or a better, more prosperous, more opportune life for those people in Iran with that
26:15regime in place in whatever form.
26:17And it certainly looks like the hardliners have, you know, cemented their position, the IRGC
26:22in particular, right? They've pushed that political group, Mr.
26:26Pazeshkin and all the others to the side.
26:28I don't even think the clerics really are, are, you know, in, in a position
26:32of authority. I think they realize, okay, from an optic in the narrative position, sure,
26:36it's still a theocracy. The IRGC is running that show.
26:40And so you've got to find somebody to have a discussion with, but I would
26:45love to see that regime go.
26:48There's no doubt about it.
26:49Like I said, they have deserved this ass kicking for a long time, but I'm
26:56just talking from an operational pragmatic perspective.
26:59This is messy. This is, this is really problematic because again, it does not take
27:04much to do what they're doing with this straight of Hormuz and disrupting global energy
27:11markets and supplies, right? Because because it does.
27:15you're dealing with, you've got to convince the commercial sector, you've got to convince the
27:21insurers and the shippers that it's safe to do this.
27:25And I refuse to think that the U .S.
27:27is going to wrap itself into a long -term indefinite position out there.
27:31And so then you have to look at what few options you've got.
27:36And that comes down to can we find somebody who can cut a deal within
27:39the Iranian leadership as it exists and, you know, then call it good.
27:46But what does that do?
27:48Essentially, every administration has been putting lipstick on his pig for decades, hoping that the
27:55next administration would let them deal with it.
27:57So I'm glad that we have significantly degraded the military capabilities of Iran.
28:03I think what we've done is we've kicked the can much further down the road
28:07than it's been kicked in the past.
28:09And so you call that a success and then and then you move on.
28:14But the problem is the Iranian regime, if it's still there and there's no sign
28:20of a serious fracture inside that regime at this point, if it remains, you know,
28:26they're looking for some concessions in order to cut that deal.
28:29And then they've always got this potential for them to take the international community hostage
28:32again by just a little bit of disruption in that area.
28:36To what extent do you think there's likely to be a full divergence in perspectives
28:43between the United States and Israel?
28:45In other words, could Trump declare victory, say, the United States component aspects of this
28:51mission are complete and then Israel continues because they're still going to have air superiority,
28:57I would expect, to protect this mission so long as they desire to do so
29:03on their own. How unified do you think this mission will be in the months
29:09ahead? Yeah, I think you've pointed to the key difference between Washington and Jerusalem, which
29:17is Netanyahu and Israel, they have looked at this as a regime change operation.
29:24Of course, they wanted to degrade that missile program as much as possible.
29:29But for them, a success is getting rid of this regime.
29:33And I think that was, you know, a hope for a result from the U
29:37.S. side, but not the primary objective.
29:42So that's a problem. I don't think if the U .S., you know, declares victory
29:47and figures out how to get out of it, that I don't think Israel will
29:52continue their efforts in Iran, right?
29:55They'll be focused on Hezbollah and, you know, some of their ground operations in southern
30:00Lebanon. Mike, I think you have some – I'm sorry, go ahead.
30:05Well, no, no, I was going to say, we may likely see the map redrawn
30:08where they end up occupying sort of that turf south of the Latane River, which
30:15would be – that's a significant change.
30:18Mike, just one more thing before we've got to close out into a break.
30:21And Mike hosts the PDB podcast, which you can all go check out, where he
30:25covers a lot of national security, political issues every episode.
30:30Mike, you said the midterms you're worried about, you're not alone there.
30:33I just think that, historically speaking, if you look at what generally happens, Republicans probably
30:38are going to lose control.
30:39Again, people don't yell at me and everything else.
30:41I could be wrong, but, historically speaking, this is the trend, right?
30:45You're worried it could be a little worse than that, or rather it could be
30:47– it sounds like it could be something of a wave in the House that
30:51goes against Trump because of this Iran situation.
30:55Do you feel like that's now baked in?
30:57Or if Trump off -ramps, effectively declares victory, gets some kind of a cessation of
31:04hostilities with the Iranian regime, Hormuz opens up, do you think people will forget about
31:10this, and it will be more of those kitchen table issues that usually are the
31:13deciding factors in a midterm?
31:16Yeah, I mean, look, I think if – the best result would be if there
31:22is somehow a regime change, right?
31:25If there's just conversations going on that we don't know about and that there's some
31:29top commanders in IRGC that have said, fine, we're done, this is ridiculous, because they're
31:34not ideologues for whatever reason, and they provide top cover for the people of Iran
31:39then to come out in the streets and not be slaughtered, as they were in
31:43the past, by the internal security apparatus, that's a great result.
31:46I think that could actually mitigate some of the midterm losses and could actually be
31:51such a win in terms of a sea change in the Middle East that the
31:57Republicans could hold the House.
31:59You know, other than that, you know, I'm no different than everybody else.
32:04You know, I'd go into the fuel pump and pay in, you know, that much
32:07more money. It depends on where that price is.
32:10You know, if they can get a resolution back out, the global markets stabilize, you
32:16know, they calm that, everybody drops the angst and the prices drop, then sure, yeah.
32:23But I do think, historically, as you pointed out, typically, you know, it's not going
32:27to go well in the midterms anyway.
32:30But unless those prices come down, I think there's a real problem.
32:34Mike Baker, hey, Mike, appreciate you, and thank you for being here, as always, with
32:39us, and come back soon.
32:39All right, we'll talk to you more about this stuff as it unfolds.
32:42Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks, guys.
32:44I appreciate you. Yeah. And I won't let Clay call you an analyst, I promise.
32:48He's not going to pull any of that crap on my watch, all right?
32:50You know what? All right.
32:51I was – the bottom line was I was never smart enough to be an
32:54analyst. So – Well, I was about to say – I was about to say
32:57your analysis just now was really good.
32:58We could have used you back in the day in that Iraq conference room.
33:02So thank you, Mike. Good to see you.
33:06All right. There's no shortage of smart investors in this audience.
33:08I wouldn't have to look to find more than one listener that purchased gold many
33:12years ago, like 20 or so years ago, who has benefited from a great increase
33:17in gold's value. A 750 % increase.
33:20That's right. Over 20 years, gold has increased about 750%.
33:23Gold's value just in 2025 shot up over 65%.
33:27And a lot of very smart analysts believe gold is going to continue to go
33:32up in value because of global instability like the Strait of Hormuz, for example, money
33:36printing, the debt. But gold, my friends, makes sense.
33:40And Birch Gold Group can help you not only get gold or silver sent to
33:44your home, but Birch Gold Group can help you convert an existing IRA or 401K
33:49into an IRA in gold.
33:51I just like working with Birch Gold Group.
33:53They're very straightforward, very on it, and I think you will too.
33:57Text my name, Buck, to 989898 to receive your free info kit on gold.
34:02There's no obligation, just useful information.
34:04Text my name, Buck, to the number 989898.
34:08Text B -U -C -K to 989898.
34:13Keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast.
34:20Clay and Buck highlight Trump replays from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern.
34:24Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
34:28Welcome back in. Clay Travis, Buck Sexton Show.
34:32A news. President Trump has signed an executive order to pay all the TSA agents
34:38the past and going forward.
34:40So that has occurred. We'll see whether or not Democrats challenge his authority to do
34:45so. And we have a bunch of talkbacks.
34:48I want to get to as many of those as we can.
34:51And let's see, let's go to H, Anthony, in Brooklyn with some high heat to
34:58take us into the weekend.
34:59Listen. Guys, you're spoken as true dog people.
35:02I'm a cat person. Cats are actually more loving than dogs.
35:06And if the cat loves you and they don't give their affections lightly, that is
35:11high praise indeed. A dog is the pack animal.
35:14A cat considers himself or itself an equal to you.
35:19Ah, cat versus dogs. We got a big battle there.
35:24I'm going to go with dogs are way more loving.
35:26Ken in Lincoln, Nebraska with the absolute worst argument in the history of the show,
35:33perhaps. Listen to Kay. Clay, Buck, good show.
35:38Good having Jesse on. Clay, you're lost.
35:41This is Ken from Lincoln.
35:42You are so lost. The only thing good about Chick -fil -A is that they're
35:47sauce. Their meat, it is juicy, but there's no flavor to it.
35:53Red lobster all day long.
35:55All day long over Chick -fil -A.
35:59Dude, Ken, we love you, man.
36:00But, I mean, I can only eat the grilled nuggets.
36:04And I think the grilled nuggets are delicious at Chick -fil -A.
36:06I think that's a rough take from Ken.
36:08Worst argument of all time that Chick -fil -A sandwiches have no flavor.
36:11Chris in Franklinton, North Carolina, cut L.
36:16Barbecue potato chips in ice cream sounds disgusting.
36:21And I don't know what that guy's talking about, real Americans and flavor.
36:26Because Brussels sprouts are amazing when they're cooked right, seasoned right.
36:34I don't know what he's talking about.
36:35Nice steak with some Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes.
36:38That's almost perfection. I'm going to give a little bit of backup to Jesse on
36:43this, actually, on the Brussels sprouts.
36:45Never mind the Whispering Angel.
36:47Clay, if they're not fried, Brussels sprouts.
36:49Kind of gross. This is an iHeart Podcast.
36:53Guaranteed human.