The Manosphere Report

0:00This is an iHeart Podcast.

0:02Guaranteed human. Welcome, everybody, to the Thursday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton

0:10Show. Great to be here with all of you across this great land of ours.

0:13We have updates on the air campaign against Iran, the war from the sky.

0:20Continuing on, President Trump weighing in with his assessment of how this is going so

0:25far. Concerns rising as the Strait of Hormuz has become a bit of a ghost

0:33town. Not a lot of shipping going through there because of concerns about Iranian reprisals.

0:39Oil prices jumping a little bit.

0:42Some are starting to hit the panicking button on that one.

0:45We will look at the analysis and where things actually are and what is likely

0:50to happen. More on that Texas Senate race.

0:52More on James Tallarico, and I have to say, some of the chatter online is,

0:57guys, we have to hold some of these clips until closer to the election because

1:02some of them are truly astonishing.

1:05And the fact that Democrats believe that this is a person who will win a

1:10Senate seat in Texas, I wouldn't want this person in charge of the Mr.

1:16Softee stand on the corner.

1:17However, this guy is a loon.

1:19This guy is crazy. But we'll get into it.

1:22But he quotes the Bible.

1:23So if you work for the New York Times, anybody who kind of sounds like

1:27this and quotes the Bible has to be a godly man.

1:30And so he must know something, even though he thinks that Jesus, all about transing

1:35the youth, big Jesus, huge into transing the kids, according to James Tallarico.

1:40We'll talk more about this, and also, I'm a little too excited about this, actually,

1:47but apparently it's not the first of its kind, but a rule, a rule for

1:53the skies has nothing to do with our air warner on a rule for the

1:56skies. When it comes to air travel, that is, I think, in defense of Western

2:03civilization itself, I think finally the savages are on their back heels thanks to a

2:10United Airlines rule that if you'd, you know, Clay, I don't want to get into

2:14it right now because we have more important things, but this gets me very excited.

2:18And you know what it has to do with headphone usage on planes.

2:23The savages can no longer have their way with just playing their iPads and their

2:27phones with no headphones. So we all have to hear whatever garbage they're watching or

2:33listening to. It is. There's a bunch.

2:39We're going to have some fun and also talk about serious things that are going

2:43on right now. I love the James Tallarico story because this thing is just an

2:48utter disaster. We're going to go to Israel, by the way, at the bottom of

2:51this hour with Yael Eckstein and hear what it's like in Israel right now.

2:56And then our buddy Ryan Gerdusky is going to be on with us to talk

2:59some of this Tallarico and decision making as it pertains to the Senate landscape as

3:05the primaries have started. But, Buck, I think the biggest and most important thing about

3:12Iran right now, if you look at the overall trajectory of where we're headed, is

3:17what is the exit strategy for Iran in the context of to what extent are

3:25they going to reach a leader that we are okay with?

3:29Because I would suggest, I'm curious if you would, how you would analyze this.

3:35Iran's strategy right now, I think, is going to be, hey, we'll just take as

3:39many bombs as necessary. And the president is not going to stay committed to this

3:45long range. And all we've got to do is withstand four or five weeks of

3:51significant bombing, and then we'll stick our heads up, see who is still around, and

3:57we'll just elevate somebody. I think this is what the government in power right now

4:01is thinking. The next Ayatollah is not going to be a lot different than the

4:06past Ayatollah, and we will try to rebuild from the destruction that is there.

4:11I think the question is, to what extent is the new leader signed off on

4:16by America, and what is the time frame?

4:19Because I think the longer this goes on, the tougher it gets for Trump.

4:23But the reality is, when we're bombing from a distance, I don't think it really

4:27impacts a lot of Americans in a very significant way.

4:31Well, this is why I mentioned the oil prices situation.

4:36The oil prices spike is something that, certainly if this continues on, and if it

4:43happens along the lines of what we saw with the Russia -Ukraine war, where I

4:46think it got up to $120 -something a barrel at one point because of concerns

4:51over access to fossil fuels, to natural gas and oil.

4:59So that's something that they have to take into consideration here.

5:02The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic choke point.

5:06About 20 % of the world's global oil supply does go through that strait, and

5:11there are currently hundreds of ships, tankers, etc., idling, not really sure where they're going

5:19and what they're going to do because they're not going to be able to enter

5:21or exit the strait under the current circumstance.

5:24That happens. has to change.

5:25Trump, meanwhile, saying this has cut 14.

5:28Things are going great from the aerial war front, even better than he expected them

5:33to. Play 14. We're doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly,

5:39I would say. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it?

5:43I said about a 15.

5:44Their leadership is just rapidly going.

5:46Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead.

5:51And it's an amazing, amazing thing that's taking place.

5:58And he's saying on a scale of 10, I would rate it about 15.

6:03Clay, Trump seems to be very pleased with how this is going so far, that

6:08we are in a position to essentially destroy all of the offensive capability.

6:14One of the big parts of this is tracking and destroying what they call the

6:18missile cities. Wall Street Journal had a big piece on this.

6:22These underground bunkers, essentially, where they store a lot of missiles, and then they have

6:28these mobile missile launchers. Those are like the first things that U .S.

6:32and Israeli planes are looking to pick off.

6:34Not only are we picking them off the moment they move to try to fire,

6:37but also we're destroying those bunkers in place, caving them in.

6:42And so all of a sudden, thousands of missiles will no longer be accessible to

6:46the Iranian regime. The military outgunning that we are seeing right now is, I think,

6:53far beyond what a lot of people would have expected.

6:55I think that's completely right.

6:57And again, one of the things that is so interesting, and you know this because

7:02you're a military history person as well, is conflict accelerates technological advance.

7:09And initially, wars are fought on the technology of the past war.

7:14Everybody says, hey, this would have beaten the past war.

7:17And then you start to see an evolution rapidly.

7:21You've seen it with Ukraine and Russia.

7:23I think there is an argument, and I'm not sure how long it's going to

7:28exist, but I think there's an argument that boots on the ground is not a

7:34requirement anymore like it would have been in the past because you can find and

7:39track people through the technological sophistication and evolution that we have seen in a way

7:46that didn't exist in the past.

7:47And let me hit you with this question, Buck, because I was thinking about it

7:50this morning as I was doing my prep.

7:52When we did the first Gulf War, I think a lot of people thought, hey,

7:57we should have continued on.

7:59This is the one in 1990 -ish.

8:01And we could have taken out Saddam Hussein.

8:04We didn't. And then we went back in in 2003 and all of the disaster

8:08that ensued from there. In today's technology, we would have just been able to wipe

8:14out Saddam Hussein without ever having to have the mass troops in the same way.

8:21And I wonder how that would have changed 1990 and 2003 if we had been

8:27able to decapitate Saddam Hussein like we did with the Ayatollah.

8:31And I do think that President Trump, who just said to Axios, Khamenei's son is

8:40a lightweight. There are reports that the Ayatollah's 40 -some -odd young son is going

8:45to be elevated. I have to be involved in the appointment.

8:50President Trump to Axios, I have to be involved in the appointment.

8:55So the current kid that they're trying to elevate, I say kid, he's in his

8:5940s, according to Trump is a lightweight.

9:02And Trump says, I need to be involved in the choice that they make as

9:06to who the next leader is.

9:07So I think what you're seeing is the White House sees this as a Venezuela

9:14-like situation. Now, the wild card here is, is it possible that there could be

9:22people out there who are rising up inside of Iran?

9:26You're skeptical on that, that it's more difficult without us being boots on the ground

9:31to actually have a regime change?

9:33Well, I got to tell you, and we have so many veterans, GWAT veterans listening

9:38right now, many of whom serve tours of combat in Iraq, many of whom serve

9:45multiple tours, spent years of their lives over there.

9:50And you start talking about using the Kurds as the cleanup force for Iran, which

9:55is being reported all over the place.

9:56Now, the White House has said, no, no, we're not confirming that.

9:59They're not denying it. They're not confirming it.

10:01But everybody who remembers the rough days in Iraq knows that the Kurds, they have

10:08a utility. They are good allies for what they are in the areas that are

10:14Kurdish. But the moment that you start telling people who are non -Kurdish that the

10:20Kurdish overlords, so to speak, have arrived, you get big problems.

10:25There's big problems in Iraq.

10:28And it could cause, I think, big problems in Iran.

10:30And I think that's why the administration knows.

10:32I don't think they're going to do that.

10:33I think they'll want the Kurds to just do what they did in Iraq, stabilize

10:37the more Kurdish portions of Iran.

10:40And the point here is, Clay, we got to find somebody else that has some

10:44kind of federalist, unifying capability here to get them.

10:50First of all, you have to get out of, you have to.

10:52to oust the people who still have control of the guys with the guns which

10:55has not happened yet we've taken out the major military equipment but until people aren't

11:00afraid that men with masks and ak -47s will come in the middle of night

11:04and execute them in front of their families for speaking out this thing is a

11:08long way from over we have to get through that phase which means we need

11:12somebody with ground uh you know ground strength of some of some level and then

11:18we have to have somebody who will oversee a transition to elections and a basically

11:23i think what they want is a constitutional monarchy rather i think that would be

11:27the best situation you bring back the shah you have a constitution you have elections

11:31the shah is kind of a figurehead for a period of time maybe that's the

11:35way but this is the big missing piece here i mean i feel much better

11:39about what's going to happen in venezuela or i should say higher confidence level about

11:44what's going to happen in venezuela over the next three years than iran right now

11:47it's just an unknown i think all that is uh is well said here's one

11:52thing that i would i would say i think the way we could get out

11:56as we declare victory we allow someone that we don't think is uh is actually

12:01anywhere near as bad as the ayatollah to come to power and here's the uh

12:07stick the carrot is okay you're the new ruler of iran here's the stick buck

12:13we have demonstrated that we can kill any leader of iran basically whenever the president

12:20of the united states or israel decides to do so and i would think that

12:25if you get a new ruler that the president is in some way in favor

12:29of that in the back of their mind knowing wait a minute that could be

12:34me too uh makes it far more likely that they are going to follow the

12:39direction of the president and uh i think to a large extent marco rubio and

12:44look that's the deal that delcy rodriguez has right now in venezuela they if you

12:49read what happened there they said hey we took maduro she was like no way

12:53and they were like here's a video of him he's in our possession you either

12:58are going to work with us or we're going to take you out and prosecute

13:02you too and i have to believe that those are the kind of conversations that

13:07are going to take place in iran now in an ideal world you would end

13:11up with a constitutional monarchy and you would have sane rulers and you would have

13:16a brand new regime that comes in and iran would become a flourishing uh marketplace

13:20of ideas in a way that it was prior to the rise of the islamic

13:25republic that might be too optimistic um so uh having a ruler that we know

13:31doesn't have the ability to get nuclear weapons is a supreme success we said yesterday

13:37if we could go back in time and keep north korea from having nuclear weapons

13:41the world would be much safer here we may well have done that for uh

13:45iran and what i come back to is this is the antithesis of what most

13:49politicians do most politicians just worry about the time when they're in office and then

13:55they leave big messes for the next politician to have to try to clean up

13:59trump is making here to his credit a generational decision that he will not personally

14:06necessarily benefit from very much in the next two years and change that he has

14:11to be president of the united states and that is actually incredibly commendable um trump

14:17is trying to do a lot of things right now that i think are generational

14:21in nature that will not inure directly to his benefit in fact if you look

14:26as you mentioned at the price of gas in the short term it honestly has

14:30a political cost that is more substantial for him than the benefit that he will

14:35get out of it we shall see that's my biggest takeaway from all of this

14:41people that are saying it's great people that are saying it's terrible no one knows

14:45yet i have a lot of faith in trump and his team but it is

14:49faith it is not a done deal so let's see what they're able to pull

14:54off here they have just like with tariffs i said trump has earned the right

14:58to have us say all right sir see this through this is why we elected

15:02you all right if you took twenty thousand dollars from your savings account in 2006

15:06exactly 20 years ago and invested it into gold just gold it would be worth

15:11about 165 thousand dollars today that's more than 800 percent increase over two decades smart

15:18americans have been diversifying a portion of their savings into precious metals like gold for

15:22years and you can too by the way with global instability concerns about oil markets

15:27uh guess what gold tends to do well when the world gets worried so now

15:32might be a really good time to get some gold i mean actual physical gold

15:36or birch gold group can help you convert an existing ira or 401k into an

15:41ira in gold just text my name buck to 98 98 98 to receive your

15:46free info kit on gold no obligation just useful information text my name b -u

15:52-c -k to 98 98 98 today making america great again isn't just one man

16:00it's many the team 47 podcast sundays at noon eastern in the clay and buck

16:06podcast feed find it on the iheart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts

16:11welcome in our number two clay travis buck sexton show we appreciate all of you

16:18hanging out with us we're going to talk with ryan in the third hour.

16:22We were just talking with Yael Eckstein in Israel in the first hour of the

16:27program. Let's talk about a couple of things here, Buck, that I think are interesting

16:34on the American political front.

16:37First of all, the fallout of what happened in the Texas primary on Tuesday has

16:45led to reports that President Trump is potentially going to endorse and that he is

16:52ready to have a nominee in the Senate in Texas.

16:57What is that telling us about the landscape in general?

17:02I think it is that President Trump is really seriously focused on preserving the majority

17:09in the Senate. The House, I think, is going to be more challenging because there

17:15are a lot of different races to focus on.

17:19In the Senate, we've got a 53 -47 advantage for the Republicans right now.

17:24Given that J .D. Vance breaks the ties, that means that Democrats would have to

17:29pick up four different seats.

17:31And if you look at the way the landscape of the different states are setting

17:37up, Maine is going to be tough for Susan Collins.

17:41That is a blue state that I know they break it up and that there

17:45is a red part of that blue state.

17:48But Susan Collins seems to be almost the only Republican that can win in Maine

17:52right now. You've got a really difficult race shaping up in North Carolina.

17:57Open Senate seat. Michael Watley is going to be going up against Roy Cooper.

18:01Roy Cooper is a popular former governor who has been elected statewide before.

18:06So that is going to be a tough battle.

18:09And then you've got Georgia, which is probably the best opportunity of Republicans to pick

18:15off an existing seat where Ossoff is running.

18:19But you start to run through all these different maps and it almost becomes impossible

18:25for Democrats to win control of the Senate if Texas is preserved.

18:31And so I think President Trump is making a calculated decision about what exactly he

18:38wants to do to preserve that Senate majority.

18:41And you say, OK, what's going on with that Senate majority?

18:43I think there's a decent chance, Buck, that one of the older Supreme Court justices,

18:48maybe even more than one of the older Supreme Court justices, decides to step down.

18:53Given the fact that we have a basic majority gets a Supreme Court justice life

18:59tenure. I don't know how long it's going to be until Republicans have control of

19:03the Senate and the presidency again might happen this year, but you would like to

19:08have it happen for the next couple of years, given the ages that everybody is

19:12in the Senate right now.

19:14So there's going to be a lot of focus on the House and we know

19:17what they will do. They will impeach.

19:19It will become difficult to get anything through Congress at all.

19:22I would argue it's very difficult to get everything through Congress now.

19:26But Ken Paxton, who we just reached out to, to invite on the program, has

19:30just said he would drop out of the Senate race if the SAVE Act were

19:37passed and they ended the filibuster in order to do so.

19:41I think this is an intriguing political situation that we're in because John Thune now,

19:47the leader of the Senate, is put on the hot seat a bit here because

19:53he knows that basically his preservation of a Senate majority is almost guaranteed if they

19:59pass the SAVE Act. But that is the challenge that we face.

20:05And again, we have an offer out to Paxton.

20:07There have been reports that Trump is going to endorse Cornyn, the sitting incumbent.

20:13One bit of update for all of you out there.

20:15There is a live press conference update in Austin, Texas on the shooter that killed

20:23multiple people in an Austin nightclub bar shooting scene.

20:29And so we are running on that and we will get you an update on

20:34that information. Although, Buck, I think, as we said on the program, when you show

20:38up in a Iranian t -shirt, kind of a suggestion that maybe you're acting out

20:45as a basis of terrorism for that behavior.

20:48So we will talk about all of that.

20:52Now, what's your assessment here, Buck, as you analyze this?

20:57Again, the Texas Senate, to me, it's the larger story here is President Trump sees

21:03that Texas Senate seat if it's in Republican hands.

21:06The map just doesn't add up for Democrats very easily.

21:12Maybe you get Maine. Maybe you get North Carolina.

21:15You might be favored there.

21:17But then you would have to flip Ohio.

21:18You would have to flip Texas.

21:20We just had Steve Daines step down in Montana.

21:23But Montana would be a tough flip.

21:25And that presumes that you win the toss -ups in Trump states, in Georgia, in

21:30Michigan, that kind of map.

21:33Iowa's out there too, but seems difficult.

21:35I think Trump feels if he has Texas in his back pocket, that the Senate

21:39majority is confirmed. And I think that's motivating a lot of his actions.

21:44Yeah, I think that the Senate's looking good for Republicans over I think that you

21:50are going to have a tougher time with the House, and this is the conventional

21:54wisdom that everyone has on this because it's probably going to be the case.

21:59I would say James Tallarico, here he is.

22:04This is cut seven. He says they're going to call me a radical leftist and

22:08a fake Christian. Maybe because you are, James, but let's talk about this.

22:12Play seven. They're scared of the movement we are building.

22:15They're going to throw everything they have at us.

22:18They're going to call me a radical leftist.

22:20They're going to call me a fake Christian.

22:22They'll call our movement un -Texan, un -American.

22:26They'll call us a threat.

22:28The only truth is we are a threat.

22:30We're a threat to their corrupt system.

22:342 ,000 years ago, when the powerful few at the top hurt those at the

22:39bottom, that barefoot rabbi didn't stay in his room and pray.

22:43He walked into the seat of power and flipped over the tables of injustice.

22:49To those who love this state, to those who love this country, to those who

22:55love our neighbors, it's time to start flipping tables.

22:59Oh, just comparing himself to Jesus.

23:01This guy, very humble, very humble fellow.

23:03James Tallarico, this tweet has been getting more attention.

23:07This was him speaking, or rather tweeting, after the Ahmaud Arbery case.

23:15He wrote, this was in 2020, White skin gives me and every white American immunity

23:24from the virus, but we spread it wherever we go through our words, our actions,

23:30and our systems. We don't have to be showing symptoms like a white hood or

23:35a Confederate flag to be contagious.

23:38Our inherent racism as white people, Clay, is contagious.

23:42And we have to seek to contain that contagion by just having our white skin.

23:48This guy doesn't think he's a leftist?

23:51I really want to ask the question.

23:52Between the, God is trans or non -binary, you got to trans the kids, abortion

23:58is exactly what Jesus had in mind, Jesus loves abortion, it's great to kill babies,

24:05and white skin is a form of contagion that pollutes society everywhere it goes.

24:10If these are all his positions, if he is not a leftist, who is a

24:15leftist? I want to know, if he is not to the left of the Democrat

24:19Party, who is? I'm just curious.

24:21I'm going to say this, and some of you are going to say you can't

24:23be serious, Clay. I'm serious.

24:25I think he may be crazier than Jasmine Crockett.

24:27Oh no, I think so too.

24:29I think so too. It's possible that this guy is further left -wing than Jasmine

24:36Crockett was, and I think he's crazier.

24:38I mean, he posted, did you see this?

24:40I shared this. In December of 2021, he said his favorite Christmas gift was a

24:47Dr. Fauci action figure, and he said that everybody in Texas needed to make sure

24:52that they got their COVID shot and had gotten their most recent round of boosters.

24:57December of 21. Yeah, and that's, you know, December of 21 is a lot of

25:03people, you know, March, April, 2020, you go back in time.

25:07By May of 2020, somehow you and I were smart enough to be able to

25:11deduce everything that had to do with COVID, so I'm giving people passes in March

25:15and April of 2020 and kind of the confusion of the moment, but by May

25:19of 2020, like, the whole COVID game, the rig job should have been apparent if

25:25you were paying attention. December of 21, posting a Fauci action figure, you are a

25:32committed left -winger, and you mentioned this a little bit in the first hour, but

25:36I think Tallarico actually is an interesting dynamic because it feels very much like Tim

25:45Walz. Because this is people who are leftists, left -wing women largely, trying to pick

25:53guys that they think will appeal to normal guys and failing miserably because they don't

26:01understand how to talk to normal dudes.

26:05Remember when they tried to call Tim Walz Coach Walz and they put him in

26:09the plaid shirt and they gave him a gun and they sent him out and

26:13he said, look, he wears boots, he's a totally normal guy, and then totally normal

26:17guys watched Tim Walz and they said, this is not a totally normal guy.

26:21James Tallarico is a lesbian's idea of a white guy that will appeal to normal

26:29white guys and normal men out there.

26:31No, to Christians specifically. Just because he does the, I talk about Jesus thing, he's

26:37going to appeal to anybody who believes in Jesus.

26:40This is the New York Times editorial board version of a white Christian guy from

26:46Texas who other people who go to Christian churches are going to find common ground

26:53with. It's absurd. Again, they just have no idea.

26:56It's like a different species to them.

26:58It's like an alien life form.

27:00They're trying to translate a language that they don't really understand and find someone who

27:06they think can speak to people that they recognize they have lost.

27:10And so I just don't think there's going to be any, any...

27:15here whatsoever to corral voters.

27:20Now, on the Paxton front and the Cornyn front, I think this is a tactical

27:28decision from Trump that he wants to allocate resources so that we can make a

27:35real run in Michigan. He knows that Georgia is going to be pick -up -able.

27:40He knows that Maine and North Carolina are going to be super difficult battlegrounds.

27:45And you got Ohio and Iowa and Texas and Montana and all these other different

27:50states. And he's trying to figure out how we can spend the least amount of

27:55money necessary in Texas to win this race.

27:58And I think Trump has been convinced that that is by him endorsing John Cornyn.

28:04Now, Cornyn beat Paxton by a small margin of votes in the primary.

28:11And I believe what happened was the Cornyn people went back to Trump and they

28:15said, Ken Paxton wasn't able to beat us head -to -head in the Republican primary.

28:21You have to get over 50 % support in order to be the official nominee.

28:25So we have the runoff in late May.

28:28And they are saying, he's not going to be able to beat us in May

28:32either, whether you believe that or not.

28:34And then there's going to be $100 million spent or more in this additional primary,

28:41potentially. And then you're going to have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more

28:46if Paxton is the nominee in order to beat Tallarico.

28:50Now, here's what I would say.

28:51I think whoever the Republican nominee is is going to beat Tallarico.

28:55I think they're going to raise a lot of money for him just like they

28:58did for Beto. But I think this guy is actually a far less appealing version

29:03of Beto. I think he's crazier.

29:05I think he's got further left -wing opinions.

29:09Just saying, Beto's a little more handsome.

29:11Beto's a better speaker. Beto's a better -looking guy.

29:14Better -looking guy, you know.

29:16Beto in those Wrangler jeans, a little more exciting to the ladies and some of

29:21the guys than Tallarico is.

29:23So, you know, we can just call it out.

29:25We'll say it like it is.

29:26But I think that this guy is toast in the election.

29:32I think there's no chance.

29:34And now, you should never say that.

29:35Texans, you need to show up.

29:36You need to vote. You need to make sure that this doesn't end up happening.

29:39But they're not even running a passable version of a Texas centrist in this campaign.

29:48They're running an ardent leftist.

29:51I mean, he is a leftist.

29:52There's no way around that.

29:54Just because you talk about God doesn't mean you aren't a leftist.

29:58In fact, there are a lot.

29:59I can speak from the Catholic Church side of this.

30:01There are a lot of commie Catholics running around, including in the clergy, which is

30:04very disappointing. Well, I think also you could see where Jasmine Crockett had a base.

30:10Black female voters in particular were going to show up for her in a substantial

30:14way. I'm not sure what James Tallarico's base is.

30:18And so, again, I think either Paxton or Cornyn would win.

30:21But I do believe that now that we're in sort of strategic season for analyzing,

30:27there's been a lot of talk about the quality of Senate nominees in different states.

30:33And we've talked about this before.

30:34In Georgia, Republicans have lost three straight Senate races that they should have won.

30:41Just point blank. Three straight Senate races in Georgia were all winnable.

30:46Warnock and Ossoff are not great candidates.

30:48And Georgia Republicans have not been able to get across the finish line because they

30:52haven't had good enough nominees.

30:53Meanwhile, Brian Kemp wins by eight points.

30:56Every other office in the state overwhelmingly comfortable wins.

31:01We've got to get better nominees across the board.

31:05And so I think this is the strategic analysis.

31:08We'll open up phone lines.

31:09A lot of Texans will have strong thoughts on this.

31:11We also have invited Paxton and Cornyn both on the program as this is playing

31:17out in real time. But in the meantime, you heard us talk with Yael Eckstein

31:20just a little bit ago.

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32:24Each day, spend time with Clay and Buck.

32:27Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

32:31Welcome back in. Clay Travis, Buck Sexton Show.

32:35You know, Buck, there's a lot of good news out there, and I don't think

32:39we discussed this on the program yet.

32:42I saw this. And I thought to myself, you know what, we should dive into

32:47this. And I meant to mention it a day or so ago, but your home

32:50state of Florida. I know there's a lot of frustration out there.

32:55People say, oh, you know, what's the impact?

32:57Nothing ever changes. It doesn't matter who wins races.

33:02It's all going to turn into, I think, a sometimes people just get so much

33:10negativity running. And I do think this is important and worth breaking down.

33:18Florida voter registration. Did you see this?

33:20This is from a guy named Michael Pruiser who does the data on this.

33:24Let me hit you with some numbers because I think Governor Ron DeSantis and a

33:29lot of the Republican Floridian establishment has not gotten enough attention.

33:34And I do believe the story of Florida is occurring across many different states simultaneously.

33:42According to the most recent numbers that came out, this is the beginning of March.

33:47So through the end of February, Republicans now have an advantage of nearly 1 .5

33:53million overall voters in the state.

33:57That is 5 .5 million registered Republicans in Florida.

34:03There are now about 4 .4 million registered Democrats.

34:09Now, that's a pretty impressive overall outcome.

34:13But what's interesting, Buck, is if you go back to just, let's see, just 2016,

34:21right as Trump was coming into office, right before DeSantis came into office, there were

34:26just 4 .5 million registered Republicans, and there were 4 .9 million registered Democrats.

34:34So Democrats have lost about 500 ,000, and Republicans have added roughly a million.

34:42Palm Beach County, which used to be a bastion of the Democrat Party, is going

34:48to flip red very soon.

34:50I believe that will leave only three counties, three or four counties total, that even

34:57have a Democrat majority. So if you're out there and you're frustrated, and I get

35:02it, and you say, hey, who gets elected doesn't matter, and I know there are

35:07some of you out there in the market because we hear from them all the

35:09time, Florida, I think, is an incredible story about what happens when there are good

35:15policies put in place, when there are smart, committed Republican leaders put in place, and

35:23when they execute. And I would argue right now that Florida is the base of

35:28the Republican Party. And for those of you out there who can remember Florida as

35:32the ultimate swing state battleground in all of the nation, it's really kind of incredible

35:38to see, and sometimes we miss progress that is occurring because it's easier to focus

35:45on negative stories, and it's easier to be upset on a day -to -day basis.

35:49But Florida is one of the greatest success stories in Republican Party history if you

35:55look at what's happened over the last decade.

35:57And you as a Floridian now, Buck, are part of that mass influx of people.

36:01I actually think Florida is poised to become even more of a leader in Republican

36:07Party circles going forward. It's really an incredible story, and I don't think it gets

36:13talked about enough in a positive way.

36:15No, I think it's fantastic.

36:17It's obviously, I live here, and I'm so pleased to see how well everything is

36:22going. So the numbers speak for themselves.

36:26Fortress Florida is stronger than ever.

36:29For Ron DeSantis, who has stepped away from the national spotlight a bit in the

36:33last couple of years, but he has done a phenomenal job as governor, and I

36:39think there's still some very worthwhile stuff that he's trying to get through in his

36:43last year. And it just shows you that you can have reasonable, competent people in

36:52charge of state government. It is a thing that can happen, and it's a good

36:57thing when it happens. It makes people safer.

36:59It makes businesses more prosperous.

37:00It makes your day -to -day life more efficient.

37:03The streets are cleaner. I mean, all these things that you'd like to think all

37:08government is doing at some level, or rather all necessary government, is functioning in a

37:12way to make your life better, or at least not make your life worse.

37:15And unfortunately, in New York City, I experienced the other side of this.

37:18So I know what it is like on both sides of this coin.

37:23I know what it's like to be in a place, New York, where the people

37:26in charge are, in some cases, ideologically dedicated to destroying your quality of life and

37:33taking from you and blaming you for the problems that some of their policies are

37:39exacerbating. And I've seen the other side of it where you are welcomed, and if

37:45you are law -abiding, you have the benefit of law enforcement around you.

37:49So therefore, you get to lead a safer, more orderly, and more pleasant existence.

37:54And that is what we have in Florida.

37:56So, yeah, man, it's great.

37:58And I just, the people that are still holding out in some of these other

38:02places who are, I'm not talking about the Republicans who live in California.

38:05I get it. You've got family there.

38:07You love your state. It's a beautiful state.

38:08You want to go. I mean the Democrats who are.

38:10in these states who don't get it i don't understand what they don't get at

38:16this point well i i do it's a delusion like a manufactured delusion which is

38:20a fantastic book that all of you should get from the new york times bestseller

38:24list last week i highly recommend it i um it is a spectacular book uh

38:31i'm told it sold many copies and uh i i do believe that one of

38:37the the big untold stories right now is florida is an example of the census

38:44and how the census is going to swing in a really transformative way for the

38:51map the map is not going to change until 2030 but the legacy of covid

38:56when you look at what's happened with texas with tennessee with florida there are a

39:01lot of other states to point to as well is democrats ability to win nationwide

39:08elections is going to be severely curtailed starting in 2030 now 2028 is still going

39:16to be a battle that's fought on frankly a map that has shifted in republican

39:20party directions uh but all of this is going to be i think a super

39:27uh important story that is not getting enough attention and buck this doesn't even take

39:32into account what i think the supreme court is going to do and again this

39:36is not being i'm trying to be positive here because there's so many things that

39:39i think don't get enough attention i was thinking about the florida numbers um and

39:43the uh the fact that people are voting with their feet because of the leadership

39:47of ron de santis and others but also look at what the supreme court's likely

39:52to do when it comes to race -based congressional districts i don't think they're going

39:57to give their ruling in time to impact the 2026 midterm cycle because i think

40:02they're going to say it's too political but they i believe are going to do

40:06away with race -based congressional districts right now it is considered constitutional to say hey

40:14we're going to have a majority black district and we'll draw that district so that

40:18it encompasses all these different uh interstates and neighborhoods and you look at some of

40:23the most gerrymandered communities out there many of them are race -based drawn districts uh

40:30for black voters the country has actually become so much more diverse with hispanic and

40:35asian and uh and and other people of different backgrounds that this black -white dynamic

40:40and black -based districts i think are not going to be allowed and you say

40:43okay clay what's your what's the impact of that going to be by 2028 that

40:49could swing 20 seats towards uh republicans because those districts being not able to be

40:57gerrymandered that way so if you think about that ruling which i think is going

41:02to come down this summer and then you think about what's going to happen with

41:06the 2030 census and using florida as an example of how population has shifted the

41:12map for 2030 and beyond is going to be massively in favor of red states

41:19and here's something else i think the acceleration of voters from blue states is going

41:25to move even faster because if you look at the budgets of new york and

41:30california for example they spend way more than a state like florida or texas big

41:36states would spend and they get far weaker results and i think that is all

41:41going to again this is big picture talking next five six years all of that

41:47is going to that transformation is going to occur even more rapidly so i understand

41:51a lot of people out there saying uh and i get it because i'm impatient

41:55i want things to happen as quickly as they possibly can i don't think that

41:59we're talking enough about how much difference that's going to make in the years ahead

42:04now should we still pass the save act and ensure that uh that federal elections

42:09are reliable and that we do something crazy like require somebody to show up with

42:15a photo photo id in order to vote yes that is a non uh non

42:20-negotiable to me it should happen and i understand how that can be frustrating when

42:24things like that aren't happening but i do think the larger trend lines here are

42:29not being talked about enough and they are incredibly favorable and this is what good

42:34governance does people do notice and they vote with their feet indeed that is excellent

42:41clay's good at the whole stump speech thing everybody you think he's getting any ideas

42:46could be kind of a wide open field in 2028 laura we should talk i'd

42:50be a great chief of staff i'm just saying i'm just throwing it out there

42:54mr clay travis you have the political gift of gab sir i feel like i'm

42:59ready to move to tennessee and i live in florida it's already great here i

43:03just think that again results really do matter and sometimes it's frustrating when you don't

43:09see those results in real time look at florida it really is a great story

43:15you've never lived in a deeply dysfunctional well i shouldn't say that you lived in

43:21dc but wait we got breaking news wow wow all up on the screen oh

43:27boy i was asking i was asking buck if we should bring this up because

43:31there was a bunch of uh noise i've got the vapors i've got the vapors

43:35bucks bucks good christy noem has been fired everybody Kristi Noem has been fired, they're

43:40telling me. Oh, Lord. So this is the first cabinet secretary to be removed from

43:47office. We were talking off -air about the fact that the odds in the prediction

43:51markets had gone to 90 % that she was out.

43:54Wall Street Journal has really kind of come after her with a bunch of stories

43:57about spending. And so Kristi Noem now out.

44:01Turns out someone who's corrupt cheats on her husband and shoots dogs for fun isn't

44:05the best person to put in charge of maybe your most important federal agency.

44:10I'm glad the administration is moving in the right direction here.

44:13So now who is going to be the DHS secretary?

44:16That's going to be the next question.

44:17So Kristi Noem out. That's breaking news.

44:19Just came up on Fox News as an alert.

44:22There's a possibility, I guess, that Tom Homan could slide into that.

44:27I should say alleged, by the way, with all of that.

44:29Alleged. These are all allegations, of course.

44:31Yes. Kristi Noem is going to step down and Tom Homan is taking over?

44:36Maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure who that next person is going to be.

44:40Breaking news. We'll come back and talk about who might be.

44:43Oh, wow. She's being replaced by Mark Wayne Mullen, Oklahoma senator.

44:50There we go. Just on the show this week.

44:54Friend of the show. Mark Wayne Mullen.

44:56That's according to breaking news from Fox News.

45:00Senator from Oklahoma will now take over as the head of DHS.

45:04Apparently the hearing was disastrous from Republican and Democrat sides of things.

45:09We didn't really cover the hearing, but Noem had a hearing on Capitol Hill.

45:12She was asked about a special government employee who travels with her, who is not

45:16her husband, and that did not go over well.

45:18She was asked a number of things that did not go over well, including a

45:21$200 million ad campaign starring her.

45:25However, that's taxpayer dollars, everybody.

45:28$200 million. So, President Trump, this is big news.

45:32So, look, we're going to go to break.

45:34We'll come back and we'll talk about it.

45:35This is the first cabinet secretary in 2 .0.

45:38There's been a lot of stability so far.

45:40This is the first cabinet secretary out.

45:43Michael Walls has shifted, right?

45:46They moved him to ambassador to the U .N., if I'm not mistaken, from inside

45:51of the government. So that's the biggest move prior to now.

45:54But, again, breaking news, Kristi Noem out and Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma up

46:00now to be the new head of DHS.

46:03We'll talk about that when we come back.

46:04Again, breaking news coming down right now.

46:06I just love to see this Trump administration making smart decisions and doing the best

46:11thing for the American people and for the mission.

46:13That's where I come down on this.

46:15Buck and Kristi Noem, not exactly best chums for those of you who have been

46:19longtime listeners to the program.

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47:58You ain't imagining it. The world has gone insane.

48:02Reclaim your sanity with clay and buck.

48:05Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

48:10Third hour of Clay and Buck kicks off now.

48:13Our friend Ryan Gruduski joins us.

48:15He is the host of It's a Numbers Game, a fantastic podcast.

48:20Breaking down all the data in politics.

48:22You can be smarter than all your friends about what's happening in these elections and

48:26the polls and all the things going on.

48:28Check out It's a Numbers Game on the Clay and Buck Podcast Network.

48:31Ryan, thank you for being back with us.

48:33I want to get to Texas.

48:35I want to get to all that stuff.

48:37But first I have to ask you, you might have heard the big breaking news.

48:40Kristi Noem fired from DHS and has some.

48:44Actually, Clay, do you want to read what the job is that she's now being

48:46moved to? Because it's a doozy.

48:49Go ahead. Yes, President Trump has posted on Truth Social.

48:53And by the way, we should mention she's speaking right now here in Nashville.

48:59So they demoted her and then she's going directly in front of the media right

49:05now. And from now, too.

49:06speak um so here in nashville um so that seems like a difficult spot where

49:11i am uh here is what president trump posted i am pleased to announce the

49:16highly respected united states senator from the great state of oklahoma mark wayne mullen will

49:21become the united states secretary of homeland security effective march 31st 2026 the current secretary

49:28christy noem who have served us well and has had numerous and spectacular results especially

49:34on the border will be moving to be special envoy for the shield of the

49:40uh americas our new security initiative in the western hemisphere we are announcing on saturday

49:47in dorale florida i thank christy for her service at homeland uh and then a

49:54very strong endorsement of mark wayne mullen as her replacement again she is speaking right

49:59now ryan has she been sent to the archives because special envoy to something i've

50:04never heard of before doesn't sound that good yes she might as well be ambassador

50:08to greece that's how much she's on the outs um this has been the rumors

50:12about christy noem and the dislike of christy noem has been going on basically since

50:17she became dhs secretary the the very expensive four foot long weaves and wigs and

50:23the press conferences and it's been a lot a lot of people haven't liked her

50:28heard her association quote unquote with um with a former trump campaign manager cory lewandowski

50:35has not done favors from anyone in the interior of the trump administration from the

50:39close people associated with him who do not like cory lewandowski so there was a

50:44lot going and basically what trump said is he accused her of lying to congress

50:49which is a federal crime he said that he knew nothing about the 200 million

50:52dollar ad featuring christy noem i don't know i imagine there'll be another congressional investigation

50:58of democrats take the house yeah this is a uh this is interesting again she's

51:04speaking right now and i would just suggest to you she tried to throw she

51:12tried to throw trump under the bus is actually what happened here she got caught

51:16with her hand in the till 200 million dollars of christy noem's face everywhere you're

51:20a government employee like you're not running for office right now and she says well

51:25trump said it was okay and trump is saying i did not say that was

51:29okay so it is a it is a mess this is the first cabinet secretary

51:34to uh to lose his or her job and again if you're looking on the

51:40senate side uh ryan confirmation for senators who rise to uh or ascend or i

51:48guess it could theoretically be a demotion depending on your perspective but usually it's seen

51:52as a promotion um to become a cabinet secretaries usually they get confirmed fairly rapidly

51:59as sort of a senate nod in their direction and so i would think this

52:05will not be something that gets bogged down in a significant way uh but what

52:10it does mean is oklahoma is going to need a uh new senator in what

52:14is a fairly even uh united states senate right now yeah and i haven't had

52:21a chance to look at the process of how they either appoint or or nominate

52:25a senator remember the senate the current governor of oklahoma is very moderate especially on

52:31immigration he has said that he doesn't believe that illegals are going to vote or

52:36the democrats want illegals to vote um and he has been very complimentary towards illegal

52:41aliens there is another candidate running for governor who has called for basically unbedded immigration

52:47so oklahoma and james langford worked with biden on a bill that would have given

52:52them you know 5 000 illegals crossing a day oklahoma for a conservative state has

52:56not always elected the best people mark wayne mullen is definitely the most conservative member

53:00of the delegation so it'll be sad to see him go but it will be

53:04very interesting who who is his replacement more details coming out here uh bill malusion

53:11reports senator kennedy uh of louisiana had that contentious back and forth uh said that

53:18when he told trump about it trump was quote mad as a murder hornet that

53:25christy noem claimed he approved the 200 million dollar ad contract uh kennedy said he

53:31was upset by that contract he called the white house told them in advance he

53:36was going to press her on that at the hearing and the white house was

53:42not opposed to it so this feels a little bit like a political hit where

53:47senator kennedy who is a republican usually you guys all watch these hearings usually republican

53:53witnesses cabinet members are treated pretty kindly uh by the party that is the same

54:00as theirs and grilled on the opposite side when this hearing as buck mentioned last

54:05hour kind of went off the rails a little bit and republicans came after her

54:10it was a sign that there was this uh disapproval on both sides uh and

54:17now again mark wayne mullen is in and christy noem is out i would just

54:22add to this uh ryan that it's not over minneapolis from what we can tell

54:27minneapolis seems to have played very little now i'm sure that that's uh you know

54:31you could say that that was compounded into all of this you But it's not

54:35that she messed up the the messaging in Minneapolis, which I think she certainly did.

54:40It's that when push came to shove, she tried to shove Trump under the bus

54:44because there's no way to justify a two hundred and twenty million dollar ad budget

54:48starring you as a government employee about a government program.

54:54Yeah, it was. As I said before, there have been a number of people who

54:58really question why she ever got the job.

55:01They never liked her in that position.

55:04They didn't like her with her.

55:06I mean, South Park humor humorized it very well.

55:09But the fact that she has this expensive makeup ads and expensive makeup jobs and

55:14these giant weaves and is on television every 30 seconds kind of promoting herself, that

55:21it doesn't come as a shock that they did not oppose Senator Kennedy wanting to

55:25ask her about this. And it's yeah, it sounds like this is there.

55:31There's been a lot of blood, no love lost between the two for a very,

55:36very long time. Well, I just I bring this up, Clay, just because to me,

55:38it's Trump is loyal to people who are loyal to him.

55:41And Kristi Noem's main asset had been an unflinching loyalty to Donald Trump.

55:46I will say that for her.

55:47She was unflinchingly loyal to Donald Trump because she thought it benefited her.

55:51And then when she got grilled and the heat was on, she turned on Trump

55:55and Trump said, see you later.

55:57That's what I see happening here.

55:58So I don't I don't disagree either.

56:01Ryan, I'm going to ask you about the larger Senate issues at play, because now

56:04Mark Wayne Mullen factors in a bit here.

56:07But Senator Fetterman has already said, as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, ranking

56:13member of the subcommittee, I'm not sure how many of my fellow Democrats will vote

56:18to support Mullen as the next DHS secretary.

56:22But I am I. So he is saying a he is saying that he is

56:27yes, which would get us theoretically to 54.

56:31I don't think you can overlook sometimes these cabinet battles can get really contentious.

56:39It sounds like Trump is making a choice here for somebody that he thinks will

56:43get confirmed quite easily coming out of the Senate.

56:46But let's talk about the Senate here for a minute.

56:48Ryan, Texas, this is what we initially had you on to talk about.

56:52We know that Maine and North Carolina, where there are Republican senators currently in position,

57:00there are going to be tough battles.

57:02Right. Susan Collins and the open seat in North Carolina, Georgia and Michigan, and maybe

57:08to an extent, Minnesota. There has been some optimism that Republicans could put Democrat seats

57:13in play. But really, so long as Republicans keep Texas, Iowa, Montana, states like that,

57:22Ohio and Alaska, a good one to bring up.

57:27How much of what's going on right now in Texas is really just about the

57:32Trump White House saying we need to make sure that Texas is not a seat

57:36on the board? Because if you take Texas off, the math starts to get more

57:41difficult. Yeah, I mean, listen, part of it is, is that Paxton underperformed.

57:47He did very poorly in this primary.

57:50Cornyn spent a fortune. But to his credit, he was polling in the low 30s

57:56and ended up coming up number one.

57:59Had Cornyn come out with 30 percent, as some of the polls said, I'm sure

58:03this call would not be being made right now.

58:05But Paxton underperformed polling. He was up by five and six points in most polls.

58:09He ended up being down by a point and a half.

58:12Paxton had the fight of his life.

58:13And I'll give – sorry, Cornyn did the fight of his life.

58:16And I give credit to the old man.

58:17He came out slugging and he won.

58:20So there's no – had he come in a second or a distant second, he

58:24would not be getting this treatment right now.

58:27But you can't – I said this in my podcast episode that comes out tomorrow

58:31for a numbers game. Do you remember a single moment during this campaign where Paxton

58:36actually had a viral moment, had a reason for running for office, sat there and

58:42really nailed down why Cornyn was an insufficient Republican senator?

58:47I don't remember it. I don't – and I pay attention all the time.

58:51Paxton was completely MIA. And I talked to people in Texas who said he is

58:55a very lazy campaigner and he's overly exaggerated constantly.

58:59And there was a case to be made against Cornyn.

59:01But Paxton doesn't look like he was ever going to be the one to really

59:05work for it the way that it was needed to be.

59:08Can we – Clay, let's keep Ryan through to talk Tallarico and the general here

59:11in a second because I want to talk to you about those numbers, Tallarico, how

59:14that all plays out. These clips, Ryan, I mean you've heard some of them.

59:18We might even be able to play one or two when we come back.

59:20They're wild, the stuff that this Tallarico guy says.

59:23I mean it's pretty astonishing.

59:25So stay through with us if you can.

59:27It's a numbers game is Ryan's podcast.

59:28We'll talk about the Texas general matchup as well as how this primary continues to

59:33play out and the overall Senate picture.

59:36We'll return to that here with Ryan Gerdusky in a second.

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1:00:06Grab your cell phone and dial pound 250.

1:00:09Say the keywords, Clay and Buck.

1:00:11Pure Talk's team can help you switch in 15 minutes or less.

1:00:15Dial pound 250. Say Clay and Buck.

1:00:18And you'll also save 50 % off your first month.

1:00:22Pure Talk, America's wireless company.

1:00:24That's pound 250. Say Clay and Buck.

1:00:28News and politics, but also a little comic relief.

1:00:32Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

1:00:34Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:00:39This is an iHeart Podcast.

1:00:41Guaranteed human.

Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Mar 5 2026