Verdict with Ted Cruz - Bonus： Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Sep 30 2025

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.640 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.300 People ask us all the time how we can save the next generation.

00:00:08.400 We've got our show and the info is an antidote,

00:00:10.960 but we also have a couple books coming out, Clay.

00:00:13.420 That's right, and you can pre-order both of them right now

00:00:16.400 and be book nerds just like us.

00:00:18.420 You'll laugh, you'll nod, and you'll get smarter too.

00:00:21.360 Mine's called Balls, How Trump, Young Men, and Sports Saved America.

00:00:25.160 And mine is Manufacturing Delusion,

00:00:27.020 how the left uses brainwashing, indoctrination, and propaganda against you.

00:00:31.980 Both are great reads.

00:00:33.240 One might even say they would make fabulous gifts.

00:00:36.480 Indeed.

00:00:37.100 So do us a solid and pre-order yours on Amazon today.

00:00:41.000 Welcome in.

00:00:42.080 Hope all of you are having fantastic Tuesdays

00:00:45.380 wherever you are across the country or around the world.

00:00:49.660 We have got a ton of different stories to dive into with you.

00:00:54.300 Buck is in Taiwan, as I said yesterday, for the entire week.

00:01:01.360 So he will be back on Monday.

00:01:03.760 I'll read a couple of the tweets that he has shared as he has been over there

00:01:07.560 doing meetings and checking out what could become one of the major geopolitical flashpoints

00:01:13.640 in the world.

00:01:14.820 He is there for this week.

00:01:16.560 Like I said, we'll be back on Monday.

00:01:18.260 A couple of guests coming your way in the third hour.

00:01:20.160 Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma and Steve Scalise will join us as well

00:01:26.880 as the looming government shutdown nears closer, inches closer and closer.

00:01:33.140 Big speech this morning by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

00:01:39.440 It can be summed up as,

00:01:41.360 Don't be fat if you are a general or an admiral.

00:01:45.500 You should be in decent shape. 1.00

00:01:47.560 And also, the job of the military is to kick ass. 0.97

00:01:52.260 And so if you can't fulfill basic standards for health and fitness and lethality, 0.99

00:02:00.200 then you shouldn't be serving in our armed forces.

00:02:04.600 And it's very well received speech.

00:02:06.840 We may play a couple of cuts of that for you.

00:02:09.100 Eventually, President Trump also spoke and has been basically speaking all day so far.

00:02:16.680 And a lot of it focused on both the military and also now on the cost of prescription drugs.

00:02:23.940 And he is right now in the process of letting everyone know

00:02:29.180 that he is doing his best to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.

00:02:34.380 So all of that is underway.

00:02:36.080 We are awaiting news on whether Hamas is going to agree to the Middle East peace plan

00:02:42.120 that was laid out yesterday near the end of the program.

00:02:46.660 And we will continue to monitor the looming, as I said, government shutdown,

00:02:52.000 which is likely to not impact very many of you very substantially.

00:02:57.540 And again, I'm sorry for being cynical on this, but eventually they're going to reach an agreement.

00:03:04.000 It's going to lead to deficits increasing and nobody's life is really going to be that impacted.

00:03:11.180 I feel like they've overplayed their hand on the government shutdown as a major narrative that people care about.

00:03:19.040 It's been going on for the first time I really remember it becoming a major issue was in the Clinton White House.

00:03:25.860 And maybe the most significant aspect of the Clinton government shutdown issues

00:03:30.940 were that that was when Clinton initially met Monica Lewinsky

00:03:35.300 and ended up engaging in salacious behavior in the Oval Office.

00:03:40.760 Maybe put it mildly.

00:03:41.880 That may be the most consequential thing that happened from the government shutdowns back in the 90s

00:03:47.540 was the Clinton impeachments and the Monica Lewinsky fracas.

00:03:52.940 But again, this is eventually going to get it.

00:03:57.620 It's eventually going to get itself fixed.

00:04:01.160 So let's play a couple of things just off the top that I do think are significant of the news.

00:04:10.780 Here is Trump announcing that Pfizer will offer prescription drugs to Americans

00:04:15.700 at most favored nation prices.

00:04:19.080 This just happened.

00:04:19.940 Cut 32.

00:04:20.720 Today, I'm thrilled to announce that one of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers

00:04:25.420 and one of the best anywhere in the world, Pfizer,

00:04:28.600 has agreed to offer countless prescription medications at major discounts in the United States.

00:04:33.740 There's a result of the most favored nation drug pricing order

00:04:37.940 that we established earlier this year.

00:04:40.500 Because, you know, the United States is paying sometimes ten times more than other countries

00:04:44.980 for drugs.

00:04:46.300 And a lot of excuses were made for that.

00:04:48.260 But we're on for many years.

00:04:49.740 Many, many years.

00:04:50.500 Decades.

00:04:51.660 And it's not going on any longer.

00:04:53.660 We're going to be paying the lowest price.

00:04:55.880 Now we're going to be paying whatever the lowest price is.

00:04:59.040 Favorite nations.

00:04:59.780 This will save American taxpayers and consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

00:05:04.260 Okay, so that is what's going on right now.

00:05:08.420 Let me play some of these because I do think the cuts from Pete Hegseth earlier today talking

00:05:13.820 to his generals and his admirals is significant because what it's coming to represent is we

00:05:21.660 are pushing back aggressively against the idea basically that diversity is our strength 0.99

00:05:30.180 or that men and women are the same and that the ability of someone basically to kick ass 0.97

00:05:38.200 is not paramount inside of the military. 0.99

00:05:41.820 Hegseth is saying, look, our job is to kick ass and we're going to do everything that it 0.92

00:05:47.620 takes to make sure that everyone in the military is capable of doing that. 0.94

00:05:52.240 Let's listen to a couple of these cuts because I do think culturally this is significant.

00:05:56.500 Pete Hegseth cut 15.

00:05:58.660 Today at my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS,

00:06:04.440 for every designated combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only because

00:06:11.200 this job is life or death.

00:06:13.300 Standards must be met and not just met at every level.

00:06:16.380 We should seek to exceed the standard.

00:06:19.660 This is important because I know a lot of you are in the service and they have developed

00:06:24.220 this idea that there is a male standard for physicality and a female standard for physicality. 0.98

00:06:30.580 And if your job is to kick ass, the standard should just be the kick ass standard. 0.98

00:06:34.440 Not, hey, men have to do this to qualify and women have to do this lesser ability to qualify. 0.99

00:06:41.820 That doesn't make any sense when the job actually requires ass kicking.

00:06:46.660 And so I think this is significant.

00:06:48.560 It also ties in with this cut 18.

00:06:52.300 Biology matters. 0.94

00:06:53.600 Men and women are different.

00:06:55.080 Listen to cut 18. 0.93

00:06:56.280 As foolish and reckless as the woke department was, those officers were following elected political 0.97

00:07:02.280 leadership. 0.99

00:07:02.840 An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane

00:07:08.340 fallacy that, quote, our diversity is our strength.

00:07:11.660 Of course, we know our unity is our strength.

00:07:13.980 They had to put out dizzying DEI and LGBTQI plus statements.

00:07:19.240 They were told females and males are the same thing or that males who think they're females

00:07:23.580 totally normal.

00:07:24.980 They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks.

00:07:27.980 They were told to kick out Americans who refuse an emergency vaccine. 0.99

00:07:31.620 They followed civilian policies set by foolish and reckless political leaders. 0.95

00:07:36.500 You know, this is also a standard that Hegseth is applying going forward when it comes to the generals 0.61

00:07:46.760 and the admirals as well in terms of what do you want your leadership to look like?

00:07:54.940 Cut 16.

00:07:55.500 The new War Department golden rule is this.

00:08:00.220 Do onto your unit as you would have done onto your own child's unit.

00:08:06.340 Would you want him serving with fat or unfit or undertrained troops or alongside people who

00:08:11.320 can't meet basic standards or in a unit where standards were lowered so certain types of troops

00:08:15.840 could make it in?

00:08:16.720 In a unit where leaders were promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting?

00:08:21.700 The answer is not just no, it's hell no.

00:08:25.180 Okay, this is important and the military is symbolic of this.

00:08:29.940 In many ways, what the Trump administration is advocating for is a simple and basic return

00:08:37.680 to the idea of the meritocracy.

00:08:40.360 That is, the best man or the best woman should have the most success, not the person who looks 0.99

00:08:47.040 a certain way, and that we don't need to have, and I think this is essential, integral even,

00:08:56.180 we don't need to have our nation directly reflecting what the population looks like as a whole when

00:09:04.900 it comes to elite jobs.

00:09:07.100 And I'll give you an example from the world of sports that I've been hammering for a long

00:09:11.320 time.

00:09:11.780 Now, what Pete Hexas said, diversity is not our strength.

00:09:16.920 I think that's 100% true.

00:09:18.520 Now, diversity of thought matters in many respects, but what matters is that the most elite are

00:09:24.140 able to achieve at the highest possible level.

00:09:27.500 Let me give you an example.

00:09:29.840 The Olympics are next year.

00:09:32.380 The United States men's basketball team may not have any white, Asian, or Hispanic athletes

00:09:40.960 on it.

00:09:42.420 Think about that for a minute.

00:09:44.560 Black men represent around 6% of the overall population.

00:09:50.260 They are going to have 100% potentially of our U.S. men when it comes to the Olympic team

00:09:59.820 that we put on the court next year.

00:10:01.600 And if they don't have 100%, they're going to have 90% or 88% or whatever the math is.

00:10:06.920 Those overwhelming numbers, that is one of the foremost examples of a lack of diversity

00:10:15.140 at elite positions anywhere in the United States.

00:10:21.020 Yet, those guys are the best.

00:10:23.220 If we said we need a men's basketball team that accurately reflects the American population,

00:10:30.540 we would have 60% white guys.

00:10:34.260 We would have 13%, 14% Hispanic guys.

00:10:39.540 We would have right around 12%.

00:10:42.100 This is assuming, by the way, that we're willing to acknowledge there's a biological difference

00:10:46.140 and not saying that women should be on the team too, because that would more perfectly

00:10:51.680 reflect the American population, right?

00:10:53.940 But let's say for the U.S. men's basketball team, we're only going to have men, because

00:10:58.020 men are better at basketball than women. 1.00

00:11:00.680 That would mean if we did a perfect snapshot of America, you'd have to fire a lot of black 1.00

00:11:06.620 guys. 0.98

00:11:06.940 In fact, nine probably black guys on the roster would lose their job, and they would be replaced 0.97

00:11:14.940 by other basketball players that are not as good.

00:11:19.260 And the result would be our basketball team would perfectly reflect American diversity, majority

00:11:28.160 white, same number of Hispanic guys as black guys, Asian guy. 0.99

00:11:33.520 And boy, it would be a cosmetically beautiful photo, but we'd get our ass kicked, probably 0.98

00:11:41.880 by a lot of other countries, because in trying to perfectly reflect American diversity on our 0.92

00:11:47.760 basketball team, we would actually end up with a far less meritocratic team that is the

00:11:54.680 best players wouldn't actually make the U.S. men's basketball team.

00:12:00.400 It's a great example for those of you out there that have to deal with DEI all the time in your

00:12:07.600 own jobs.

00:12:09.940 There's no DEI in basketball.

00:12:12.560 Basketball is actually among the least diverse, high-earning jobs in America.

00:12:18.740 Nobody points to it.

00:12:20.260 Nobody says, hey, what's wrong here?

00:12:22.080 They're getting this wrong.

00:12:23.400 This basketball team doesn't look like America. 0.99

00:12:26.260 There's way too many black guys on it. 1.00

00:12:28.060 You never hear it said. 0.98

00:12:31.880 And in fact, if the basketball team looked like America, we'd all be worse. 0.97

00:12:37.240 Well, I think you could make that argument in the military, too.

00:12:41.320 Don't we want the baddest-ass warfighters on the planet to rise to levels of command and 1.00

00:12:48.920 to rise to the levels of the most significant ranks in our military?

00:12:53.860 We don't want Admiral Levine, that dude pretending to be a chick, trying to lead our troops. 1.00

00:13:04.180 That isn't actually a strength at all. 0.91

00:13:07.460 In fact, it's, I would argue, an example of mental illness inside of the military that that

00:13:13.540 is someone who was in a position of authority.

00:13:15.420 We should want, in all facets of American life, the absolute best, most talented people with

00:13:24.480 the most significant jobs.

00:13:26.420 We've got to bring back the meritocracy in America.

00:13:30.380 And sometimes that might mean that the positions at the absolute apex don't 100% reflect America.

00:13:40.000 There's a lot more Asian dudes working at a high level in Silicon Valley right now than

00:13:47.380 there are Asian dudes in the country.

00:13:49.600 Is that racism?

00:13:51.520 No.

00:13:52.700 It's that those guys have a skill set that they are putting to work in Silicon Valley that

00:13:58.060 vastly over exceeds, as a population per capita percentage, what you would expect to see.

00:14:03.840 The best men or the best women should be at the absolute apex in this country. 0.53

00:14:11.680 That hasn't been true in the military.

00:14:13.260 So I give credit to Pete Hegsack for that speech that he gave.

00:14:16.700 Why I think it's significant culturally is it represents a major pivot point from Joe Biden

00:14:22.360 saying, I'm going to put a black woman on the Supreme Court. 1.00

00:14:25.820 I'm going to pick a woman to be my vice president. 1.00

00:14:28.460 You're not saying you're picking the best person for the job.

00:14:31.680 You're telling us that you're checking a box.

00:14:34.040 And in the process, you're actually delegitimizing the people that you are picking.

00:14:38.640 This is a real decision that has to be made.

00:14:41.420 The best man or the best woman, not the best man pretending to be a woman, should be on the 1.00

00:14:47.440 medal stand when it comes to the end of every sporting event.

00:14:50.840 And the best man or the best woman, or some combination thereof, should be in leadership

00:14:55.540 everywhere.

00:14:56.460 We're going to dive into this.

00:14:57.660 I want to go back yesterday.

00:14:58.780 I mentioned J.K. Rowling and what I thought was so profound about what she said.

00:15:04.640 I want to dive into that.

00:15:05.580 I'm going to play some of the cuts from my Paul Feinbaum interview that went everywhere.

00:15:09.520 Don Lemon and Joy Reid have some thoughts on race in America.

00:15:13.660 And I think you're going to enjoy those.

00:15:15.480 And by enjoy those, I mean, you're going to fall off your chairs.

00:15:18.920 You're going to have to grip the steering wheel tighter because you're going to look around

00:15:22.980 and say, I can't believe that this is what passes for thought leadership on the left in

00:15:28.880 this country.

00:15:29.980 But first, I want to tell you, the two-year anniversary of October 7, 2023 in Israel is

00:15:36.100 rapidly approaching.

00:15:37.180 And this Sunday, you're going to witness a show of support for Israel in this nation.

00:15:40.720 Like one you haven't seen in a very long time.

00:15:43.820 Grassroots effort to honor the memory of those lost two years ago in the brutal Hamas terrorist

00:15:48.100 attack.

00:15:48.820 You'll see Israeli flags on display in yards, storefronts, cars everywhere.

00:15:53.540 It's a movement of support for the people in Israel called the Flags of Fellowship.

00:15:57.600 And it's organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

00:16:01.000 Millions of Americans across our nation will display an Israeli flag in honor and solidarity

00:16:05.820 with the families and victims of that Hamas terror attack.

00:16:09.400 You can be a part of this movement, too.

00:16:11.480 Go online to ifcj.org, send a message, stand with Israel, join the Flags of Fellowship movement.

00:16:18.320 Visit the fellowship online at ifcj.org.

00:16:22.280 That's ifcj.org.

00:16:25.620 Saving America, one thought at a time.

00:16:29.520 Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

00:16:32.180 Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:16:37.120 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:16:38.880 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:16:43.360 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:16:47.080 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:16:48.260 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:16:49.480 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:16:53.240 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of

00:16:58.120 their journey.

00:16:58.980 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:17:02.220 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:17:06.260 Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show.

00:17:12.000 Yesterday, I spent some time talking about how I have so much admiration for J.K. Rowling

00:17:19.600 because she is, I would argue, one of the most fearless women in the world, one of the most

00:17:29.480 fearless people on the planet.

00:17:32.640 And you say, okay, what do you mean by that, Clay?

00:17:34.360 Um, J.K. Rowling became a billionaire because of the Harry Potter books.

00:17:40.420 Once you become a billionaire, you basically have no risk in life remotely anymore if you

00:17:49.860 decide to have an easy life.

00:17:52.000 That is, all of the, uh, all of the things that most of us worry about on a day-to-day

00:17:58.780 basis, they're all eliminated from your life as a billionaire.

00:18:02.340 I'm not saying that everything in life is perfect when you have a certain amount of money because

00:18:08.480 health can be an issue.

00:18:10.660 Your family's health can be an issue.

00:18:13.260 There are lots of things that no matter how much money you have, there can still be issues

00:18:17.960 in your life, but in general, billionaires do not have the same concerns that you and

00:18:24.680 me and most of the rest of us would have.

00:18:27.980 And what has often frustrated me is lots of billionaires may agree with everything I say

00:18:34.680 on this radio program or everything you think out there listening, but they're so concerned

00:18:41.240 about what other people think about them that they don't say what they really think.

00:18:47.060 And to me, the only reason to have money is to have no constraints on what you are able

00:18:55.300 to say, because otherwise you're just putting on a pair of golden handcuffs.

00:19:01.940 You ever hear that phrase?

00:19:03.800 Golden handcuffs.

00:19:05.640 Such an interesting phrase.

00:19:07.200 I never heard it because I didn't grow up with substantial amounts of money.

00:19:11.560 The first time I ever heard it was in law school.

00:19:13.720 Because young lawyers, you come out and you make a lot of money.

00:19:18.140 And I remember somebody saying, the money's great, but really it's just a form of golden

00:19:24.100 handcuffs.

00:19:25.500 Somebody a little bit older than me.

00:19:27.000 I said, what do you mean?

00:19:28.600 So, well, in order to make that money, you are selling your labor to the law firm and you

00:19:35.100 are giving up much of your life in exchange for the money that they're going to give you.

00:19:40.880 So, you don't have as much freedom when you become a young lawyer as you do when you're

00:19:47.220 a law student.

00:19:48.200 Now, you have way more money, but you have way more responsibilities, way more obligations.

00:19:54.380 And I bet a lot of you, as you have grown in life, have come to understand that concept.

00:20:01.560 Maybe you bought a house that's a little bit too much expensive for you.

00:20:04.660 That's a form of golden handcuffs.

00:20:06.200 It's a beautiful home, but can you pay the mortgage every month?

00:20:10.420 Maybe you bought a car that's a little bit too expensive.

00:20:13.400 Oh, it looks good.

00:20:15.400 Oh, can you imagine what the girls are going to think when you pull up at the bar in this 1.00

00:20:20.340 one?

00:20:21.720 Can you imagine what everybody in the neighborhood is going to think when you're rolling down

00:20:25.420 the street in that car?

00:20:26.400 Oh, but, you know, there's a pretty big payment that comes with that car.

00:20:30.400 It's golden handcuffs.

00:20:32.080 Maybe you got a kid and you're excited because they just got into a good college or a good

00:20:38.400 private school, but you're looking at that tuition bill.

00:20:41.260 It's golden handcuffs.

00:20:43.400 You have to keep working harder and harder.

00:20:46.320 However, your things may be getting nicer, but you don't really feel that free because

00:20:51.840 your expenses often are growing at the same rate as your income, sometimes exceeding it.

00:20:59.240 So you'll look back and you'll be like, man, I thought if I ever made twice as much money

00:21:04.240 as I do now, I'd be fine.

00:21:06.560 But somehow you have just as little money making twice as much money as you did before, right?

00:21:11.620 And there are all sorts of financial consultants out there that'll say, oh, well, it's all about

00:21:16.340 budgeting and there's a lot of truth to that.

00:21:18.280 But in life, metaphorically, if you are too concerned about what people think about you,

00:21:26.160 you are putting golden handcuffs on yourself because you may not speak out and say what

00:21:33.380 you really think.

00:21:34.240 And it seems to me a lot of billionaires do that.

00:21:37.060 And that's why I am so impressed with J.K.

00:21:39.880 Rowling. 1.00

00:21:40.200 She could have just done the Hollywood circuit where everybody kisses her ass for the rest 1.00

00:21:45.640 of her life. 0.99

00:21:47.180 She could have just relaxed on the fact that she wrote this seven book series, Harry Potter,

00:21:53.300 and they built this fabulous Universal Studios world, Harry Potter, which is truly unbelievable

00:22:00.320 and spectacular.

00:22:01.120 If you got young kids who like to read these books, an entire generation of kids she inspired

00:22:06.220 to read, she could have just kind of rode on the path of genius and wealth and only people

00:22:14.900 would have said nice things about J.K.

00:22:17.540 Rowling for the rest of her life.

00:22:19.100 She was on that path.

00:22:20.060 But she saw this gender insanity and she said, I can't stay quiet about this. 0.99

00:22:29.800 She saw everybody suddenly arguing men can become women and she was the person who said, actually, that's 0.93

00:22:37.840 not true.

00:22:38.360 You ever notice how you've probably been in a room where somebody has said something that

00:22:46.640 you know is not true and most people won't call it out?

00:22:51.540 You may have been at, maybe it was at church.

00:22:54.140 Maybe it was at business.

00:22:55.400 Maybe it was at a PTA meeting.

00:22:56.780 Somebody says something that everybody knows is untrue, but everybody just feels like they

00:23:03.060 have to stay quiet because they're afraid of everybody looking at them.

00:23:08.980 J.K.

00:23:09.680 Rowling was like, actually, I dissent, right?

00:23:12.640 If you watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, one of the funny things about the Larry David series,

00:23:16.800 which I love even though he's a super left-wing liberal, is that he actually says a lot of

00:23:23.820 what everybody else thinks.

00:23:26.620 I think I have an element of that in my life.

00:23:32.780 What J.K.

00:23:33.500 Rowling did, though, is super rare.

00:23:36.780 Men can become women. 0.79

00:23:38.420 Oh, yeah, yeah, this is, oh, good for you.

00:23:40.360 You go, girl.

00:23:41.460 She said, no, no, this is actually not true.

00:23:45.640 And worse than that, it's actually anti-feminist.

00:23:49.620 When you say a man can become a woman and the first flippin' year he's a woman, he gets 1.00

00:23:58.760 woman of the year?

00:24:01.900 It's not even the first movie he was in. 1.00

00:24:06.260 He's got a penis. 1.00

00:24:07.720 He can't be the woman of the year. 1.00

00:24:10.260 What are you chicks doing? 1.00

00:24:11.880 You're crazy. 1.00

00:24:12.620 A lot of women just went along with it. 1.00

00:24:16.000 J.K.

00:24:16.320 Rowling said, no, excuse me, this is not right.

00:24:21.440 And this Emma Watson, Hermione Granger for all of you out there who watched the movie,

00:24:29.280 she's been going after J.K.

00:24:31.660 Rowling for years now over these gender issues.

00:24:35.720 And yesterday, J.K. 0.98

00:24:37.540 Rowling woke up and she just said, I'm sorry, I'm going to end this bitch. 1.00

00:24:43.580 And I got to read some of what she tweeted yesterday because this is 100% true. 0.97

00:24:50.120 Last night when I was getting ready for bed, I turned to my wife.

00:24:53.320 We're getting, or lights are out almost.

00:24:55.040 I pulled my, I was like, did you see what J.K.

00:24:57.460 Rowling said about Emma Watson?

00:24:59.020 Wife's like, no, I didn't see it yet. 1.00

00:25:00.760 And I was like, well, let me just read some of this for you.

00:25:03.440 That, because I went back last night before I was going to bed to reread this because it

00:25:10.080 was so well said.

00:25:11.300 And I just want to hit you with a couple of these segments.

00:25:17.200 Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology.

00:25:22.500 This is the words of J.K.

00:25:23.900 Rowling.

00:25:24.740 Such beliefs are legally protected.

00:25:26.600 And I wouldn't want to see any of them threatened with loss of work or violence or death because

00:25:32.760 of them.

00:25:34.800 But she says, Emma and some of the other kids that grew up on the Harry Potter set have

00:25:41.080 ripped her to shreds.

00:25:43.060 And she says, years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role

00:25:50.080 of the de facto spokespeople for the world I created.

00:25:56.200 Well, some of these sentences, I mean, are just again, they continue to assume the role

00:26:03.520 of de facto spokespeople for the world I created, says J.K.

00:26:07.540 Rowling.

00:26:07.800 I think she may have a future in writing.

00:26:09.900 I think she may one day be able to make a decent living when you've not.

00:26:14.100 This is J.K.

00:26:14.660 Rowling continuing.

00:26:15.860 When you've known people since they were 10 years old, it's hard to shake a certain

00:26:20.780 protectiveness.

00:26:21.680 Until quite recently, I hadn't managed to throw off the memory of children who needed

00:26:28.200 to be gently coaxed through their dialogue in a big, scary film studio.

00:26:33.960 For the past few years, I've repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma.

00:26:40.740 I told the producers I didn't want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said.

00:26:46.180 And then she continues, Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me

00:26:53.600 which contained the single sentence, I'm so sorry for what you're going through.

00:26:59.760 She has my phone number.

00:27:02.120 This was back when the death, rape, and torture threats against me were at their peak, at a

00:27:08.180 time when my personal security measures had to be tightened considerably, and I was constantly

00:27:14.340 worried for my family's safety.

00:27:17.180 Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one-line expression

00:27:23.180 of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.

00:27:30.320 And then this paragraph.

00:27:32.080 Buckle up. 0.96

00:27:32.700 Like other people who've never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma 1.00

00:27:41.260 has so little experience of real life, she's ignorant of how ignorant she is. 0.99

00:27:48.180 She'll never need a homeless shelter. 1.00

00:27:50.620 She's never going to be placed on a mixed-sex public hospital ward. 0.74

00:27:55.420 I'd be astounded if she's been in a high street changing room since childhood.

00:28:00.420 Her public bathroom is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside

00:28:08.580 the door.

00:28:09.800 Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? 0.76

00:28:16.320 Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis center that refuses to guarantee an all-female 1.00

00:28:24.940 service?

00:28:25.580 To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who's identified into the women's

00:28:33.400 prison.

00:28:34.400 I wasn't a multi-millionaire at 14.

00:28:38.480 I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous.

00:28:44.760 I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women's rights in which 1.00

00:28:52.980 Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges. 0.91

00:29:04.080 Adults can't expect to cozy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's

00:29:10.300 assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love as though the friend was

00:29:17.240 in fact their mother.

00:29:19.120 Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public.

00:29:25.660 But I have the same right and I finally decided to exercise it. 0.96

00:29:33.860 Holy crap.

00:29:37.280 That thing has 58 million views right now on Twitter. 0.78

00:29:42.340 And the reason I wanted to share it was twofold.

00:29:47.100 One, we need more J.K.

00:29:48.660 Rowlands.

00:29:49.700 More people who are fearlessly willing to stand for what is right, particularly those of you

00:29:56.560 out there.

00:29:57.580 This is directly addressed to you.

00:30:00.280 Who have the money and wherewithal to do so. 0.99

00:30:04.320 Why are you such cowards? 0.94

00:30:06.140 Why do you continue to try and stay behind the scenes because you're worried about what 0.96

00:30:12.780 people might say to you when you know that they are wrong?

00:30:18.460 Two, I think there are a lot of you that are parents and grandparents that can particularly

00:30:25.180 connect with what J.K.

00:30:29.120 Rowling said there.

00:30:30.160 You have gone through struggles that your kids and your grandkids, if you are fortunate

00:30:36.900 enough to have built for them, can never even comprehend.

00:30:41.680 They don't even know what they don't know.

00:30:46.760 And I just, I love, I've never met J.K.

00:30:49.740 Rowling.

00:30:50.180 I don't know that I ever will.

00:30:52.260 But when I read that, it is so perfectly said on so many different levels that I wanted

00:31:00.120 to make sure that I shared it with all of you.

00:31:02.580 We'll link it on Clay and Buck, but I think if you go read it for yourself, most of us are

00:31:08.660 not going to write best-selling novels and become multi-billionaires.

00:31:14.720 But all of us in our lives are going to be dealing with young people who are oftentimes 1.00

00:31:21.460 standing on the shoulders of giants and they have no idea that that's what's going on.

00:31:27.640 Another way of putting it is they're standing on third base and they think they hit a triple.

00:31:32.680 They've got no idea what actually has to happen in life for them to have had the opportunity

00:31:37.840 they have been given.

00:31:39.600 So earlier in the show, I came out against DEI.

00:31:43.140 I'm also against people who haven't achieved anything thinking that they are the greatest

00:31:49.540 in their line of work.

00:31:50.720 As she said, she had no money when she wrote the book that made Emma Watson famous.

00:31:58.400 So well said.

00:31:59.840 J.K. Rowling, again, I wanted to make sure that I read that for all of you because I

00:32:04.640 see it as a personal opportunity to challenge all of you out there with the resources like

00:32:10.480 J.K. Rowling.

00:32:11.580 You're listening right now.

00:32:13.020 You're watching right now.

00:32:14.420 Where is your spine?

00:32:18.080 Where is your bravery?

00:32:20.040 Why is J.K. Rowling willing to put everything that she has on the line to stand for truth

00:32:25.100 and you are still hiding in the shadows because you're worried about what some charity board

00:32:31.320 is going to say if you come out and speak the truth?

00:32:34.080 I hope you can have some of the bravery, just a smidge that J.K. Rowling showed in that post

00:32:41.760 and that she has shown in the past several years of her life.

00:32:46.020 A challenge from her to all of you.

00:32:49.260 Look, there are certain documents you always want to have in order.

00:32:52.140 Annual tax returns, going through that right now.

00:32:54.680 Your kids properly registered for all the things that they do.

00:32:58.040 That's a constant challenge to the parent.

00:32:59.880 Having a will and a trust in place, definite must have.

00:33:02.320 If you haven't yet created one or both, trustinwill.com is a website that allows you

00:33:07.240 to do it online without having to find an attorney.

00:33:10.540 Trust in Will makes the whole process a lot easier too.

00:33:13.680 The result will give you peace of mind now and your surviving family members clarity in the future.

00:33:18.580 The website to get started, save 20%, is trustinwill.com.clay.

00:33:22.900 They're experts in creating personalized trust and wills that protect your legacy.

00:33:28.060 Visit trustinwill.com.clay.

00:33:30.360 You're going to feel better about having those in place for the benefit of your family and loved ones.

00:33:34.940 I have a trust and a will in place.

00:33:36.780 You should too.

00:33:38.160 Trustinwill.com.clay.

00:33:42.220 Patriots, radio hosts, a couple of regular guys.

00:33:46.400 Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

00:33:48.800 Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:33:53.580 Hey Buck, one of my kids called me an unk the other day.

00:33:56.220 An unk? 0.64

00:33:56.700 Yep, slaying evidently for not being hip, being an old dude. 0.99

00:34:00.340 So how do we un-unk you?

00:34:02.620 Get more people to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

00:34:05.700 At least that's what my kids tell me.

00:34:07.280 That's simple enough.

00:34:08.140 Just search the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show and hit the subscribe button.

00:34:11.960 Takes less than five seconds to help un-unk me.

00:34:15.140 Do it for Clay, do it for freedom, and get great content while you're there.

00:34:18.500 The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show YouTube channel.

00:34:21.700 Welcome in.

00:34:22.640 Appreciate all of you hanging out with us.

00:34:24.580 We are rolling through the Tuesday edition of the program.

00:34:28.160 Encourage you to go subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already.

00:34:32.720 And you will be glad that you did.

00:34:35.660 You can also go subscribe to us on YouTube.

00:34:38.180 You can find us basically on any social media platform under the sun.

00:34:43.140 And you can check out the first couple of hours of the program.

00:34:46.120 Buck is in Taiwan.

00:34:47.780 He will be back on Monday.

00:34:49.520 In the meantime, we are joined.

00:34:52.040 We're headed up to D.C. for this third hour.

00:34:54.480 And we are joined now by Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen.

00:34:59.380 And let's dive right into it.

00:35:02.220 Is there going to be a shutdown?

00:35:04.220 And if so, Senator, how is it going to impact the average listener of ours out there right now?

00:35:10.760 So, Clay, thanks for having me on.

00:35:13.180 And, yes, I don't see there's any way in the world we can avoid a shutdown.

00:35:16.840 Chuck Schumer is so scared of AOC in his own state running against him that he's willing to hold the American people hostage.

00:35:25.940 Because what we're doing here is we're putting a clean CR.

00:35:28.900 Clean CR means it's the same funding, same language that Chuck Schumer voted for six months ago and the same language he voted for a year ago.

00:35:40.240 So nothing has changed that he's voted already twice on this same funding package.

00:35:44.900 Except now he's been threatened that if he votes for it from the left that they're going to primary him.

00:35:52.040 And AOC is either going to run against him or going to find somebody to run against him.

00:35:55.800 So he's running scared, and he's holding the American people hostage over it.

00:35:59.700 If that happens, and we do go to a shutdown, which, Clay, I don't see there's any way we avoid it at this point.

00:36:05.960 I think we're going to a Chuck Schumer shutdown.

00:36:09.920 It's not really going to affect anybody for the first two weeks.

00:36:14.760 And it depends on what is deemed essential and non-essential.

00:36:19.060 That's the president's discretion at the time.

00:36:21.040 But for those in the military, they get paid October 1st.

00:36:24.580 All their paychecks will still go out.

00:36:27.720 They'll be paid in full.

00:36:30.020 On the 2nd is when federal employees get paid.

00:36:34.120 Their paychecks are already processed.

00:36:36.220 They will go out, and they will be paid in full.

00:36:39.280 When all Social Security benefits, Medicare, Medicaid benefits will still be intact, still be moving forward because that's discretionary or that's mandatory spending, not discretionary.

00:36:51.080 We're fighting over discretionary spending at this point.

00:36:53.580 And so the – but in two weeks, on October 15th and 16th, if we are still shut down, then federal employees and military won't be paid because – why?

00:37:07.720 Because you have a career politician, Chuck Schumer, who has decided that his job is more important than keeping the American people in a government funded.

00:37:19.400 What is the dispute over right now in a succinct way?

00:37:23.720 So as quick as you can put it, there is – the dispute is really over their hatred towards President Trump.

00:37:32.160 So the question is, is what is their demand?

00:37:34.120 Their demand on funding levels, by the way, that they've already voted for already twice, and they voted for a CR 13 times underneath Biden.

00:37:43.260 The difference now is Trump's in office, and they want to slow walk any policies that he has, regardless that the American people elected President Trump and kicked out their agenda because it was horrible for America.

00:37:54.020 That put President Trump in place in November, what their demand is now is they want to extend a policy that they had put in place during COVID that they could have made permanent,

00:38:06.880 but they knew that it was temporary, to basically subsidize ACA, affordable health care, which affordable health care is supposed to be affordable, right?

00:38:16.980 But during COVID, they put a subsidy in that waived all requirements, meaning there was no proof of citizenship.

00:38:25.220 There was no proof of income that you needed help or anything.

00:38:27.360 Everybody was eligible for this subsidy, and they funded insurance companies to allow them to sign up people unchecked, and this is a tune of about $350 billion to the taxpayers.

00:38:43.040 Now, COVID is over, and they intended for this to shut down to begin with because they sunsetted.

00:38:50.320 They were in control of the government at the time, complete control.

00:38:52.700 They could have made it permanent if they wanted to.

00:38:54.160 They decided not to.

00:38:55.160 And so now they're saying that they want this extended, and we're saying, wait, COVID is over.

00:39:03.140 Why do we need to be paying a subsidy to insurance companies now that are making record profits, which I'm all about people making profits, but why are the taxpayers still subsidizing that?

00:39:13.340 And why are we allowing illegal aliens to get these benefits for free? 1.00

00:39:18.120 Because those that came here illegally, they should be getting shipped back. 1.00

00:39:21.660 That's what the American people voted for in November, but this extends that coverage to them.

00:39:26.020 Why?

00:39:26.700 Because there's no checks and balances to say if they're eligible or not.

00:39:30.380 They just automatically get enrolled into Obamacare, and that's what Chuck Schumer is fighting for.

00:39:35.960 So basically to still have taxpayers pay for these illegals to have health care insurance. 0.97

00:39:41.060 We're talking to Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma.

00:39:45.480 Inevitably, these issues eventually get decided.

00:39:49.660 And by the way, along with virtually everybody listening right now, what Democrats are seeking is absurd.

00:39:56.460 Do you think we'll have a resolution before October 15th, before individuals' paychecks could be impacted?

00:40:06.220 Well, you know, I always tell people I'm good for a big fight and a good fight as long as I know what victory looks like and it's possible to win.

00:40:12.780 But if you go into a fight, which is what the Democrats are doing here, what does victory look like for them?

00:40:18.980 Because it's hard for them to explain that a clean CR that they've already supported twice and why they wouldn't – what's different today than it was a year ago or six months ago.

00:40:29.780 So I would assume they would come to their senses before that, but you can't reason with crazy, and that's what Chuck Schumer is right now. 0.97

00:40:38.860 He's crazy. He's running scared. 0.98

00:40:40.700 You've got to keep in mind in 1996 when I was a senior in high school, which was 29 years ago, Chuck Schumer then was a congressman.

00:40:49.400 He went on the House floor and reeled against benefits going to illegal aliens that came to this country illegally.

00:40:55.520 That was in 1996.

00:40:57.260 Oh, yeah.

00:40:57.500 And now he's willing to shut down the government as a senator and as a Democrat leader over giving benefits to illegals. 0.72

00:41:04.620 So you can't rationalize with that kind of thinking.

00:41:07.520 So I would assume that people – cooler heads would come to the table, and they would accept the clean CR, but you can't – at this point, you can't rationalize what they're even thinking here.

00:41:21.240 You can't – as my mama said, you can't argue with crazy.

00:41:24.220 I think that's well said by your mama, by the way. 0.81

00:41:29.120 Also, we're around the same age, and a lot of Democrat talking points in the 90s are actually Republican talking points now for people like Chuck Schumer who were involved long enough.

00:41:42.060 I mean, Bill Clinton, heck, 1992 would be a Republican now.

00:41:46.320 I mean, in all seriousness, if you go back and look at it.

00:41:48.680 He could get out of the Democrat Party for sure. 0.99

00:41:49.840 Yeah, when you look at what happened in the November election about 11 months ago, Trump won a landslide, won all seven swing states, won the popular vote, kicked Kamala's ass coast to coast. 0.98

00:42:03.860 Democrats had two choices. 0.73

00:42:05.200 One, they could look in the mirror, and they could say, as I think a lot of people try to do – I don't know, I know you were involved in sports back in the day – sometimes you get beat, and you say, boy, we really beat ourselves.

00:42:18.460 We didn't execute the game plan we had.

00:42:21.260 You know, we turned the ball over too much.

00:42:23.960 If we had played like we expect to play, we would have won.

00:42:27.440 Your game plan then, you just have to go execute it better. 0.99

00:42:30.020 Other times, you get your ass kicked, and you're like, boy, that seems a lot better than us, and either we're going to have to change our game plan, change the trajectory, or we're just going to keep getting our ass kicked going forward. 0.99

00:42:40.500 Seems to me that Democrats had a choice, Senator. 0.99

00:42:43.580 They could look in the mirror and say they heard our message, they didn't like it, and we got beat accordingly, or they could say we just got to double and triple and quadruple down on crazy. 1.00

00:42:55.420 It seems like they chose the second option, which just means they're going to keep getting their ass kicked, probably even worse. 0.97

00:43:01.900 Well, to use your sports analogy, it's like the kid that gets beat in wrestling, because wrestling's our family, and you get beat and you blame it on the ref every time. 0.98

00:43:10.900 And you don't realize it's probably your practice habits, and it's your training partners, and it's what you put in that you're not getting back out.

00:43:17.940 And so it's easier to blame somebody else.

00:43:20.040 And so you double down on the blame game.

00:43:22.440 Well, that's exactly what's happening here.

00:43:24.080 You're absolutely correct.

00:43:25.080 Instead of them taking a licking and looking back, that's what we call from Oklahoma, right? 0.98

00:43:30.060 You're taking a licking. 0.99

00:43:30.820 That's when you get beat. 0.95

00:43:32.080 When you get beat and looking back and going, wow, some of the best lessons learned is when you lose, because if you reevaluate it and you can learn what you did wrong, correct it, you'll only be stronger and better.

00:43:45.260 Or you double down and blame somebody else.

00:43:48.620 They're blaming the American people, the Democrats.

00:43:50.680 They're blaming the American people, saying you got it wrong.

00:43:52.940 You got it wrong.

00:43:54.120 You didn't understand what you voted for.

00:43:56.920 You got it wrong.

00:43:59.060 Well, actually, they didn't.

00:44:01.000 They knew exactly what they were voting against because they had four years of it.

00:44:05.080 They had four years of embarrassment from an administration that wanted to go away what all American values have always traditionally stood for.

00:44:15.200 They wanted to go away from what America has stood for and move us towards socialism, and it didn't work.

00:44:21.900 It was an experiment that failed.

00:44:23.480 And so now the left is running the Democrat Party.

00:44:28.620 You could go to JFK, and you could say the same thing that you did about Clinton.

00:44:32.820 JFK wouldn't belong to this party anymore.

00:44:34.920 And when he says they're the party of JFK, that's not accurate because this party is the party of Madami, or however you say his name, a communist socialist.

00:44:46.320 This is a party of AOC and Bernie Sanders and Jasmine Crockett that go out there and openly claim to be a socialist.

00:44:56.340 This is a party of Tlaib and Omar who is – they go out there and hate America, and I mean that sincerely. 0.99

00:45:06.380 And so you go, where's the Democrat Party today?

00:45:10.480 They got beat because of what they stand for, and the polling shows.

00:45:14.460 The Democrat Party is least popular now than they've ever been in history.

00:45:18.680 And you have leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries that's leading them down this tumbling path of identity crisis.

00:45:27.800 What did you think of – I saw your push-up, pull-up challenge, which you absolutely crushed.

00:45:34.680 I think it was like three minutes and 40 seconds or something, if I remember it off the top.

00:45:38.460 Three seconds, yeah.

00:45:39.420 Yeah. 0.78

00:45:39.840 I mean, that's ridiculous for somebody, anybody, but especially for somebody who's on Capitol Hill.

00:45:45.880 What did you think of Pete Hegseth's address to the warfighters of America this morning?

00:45:52.420 Hey, man, lead from front, right?

00:45:54.380 When I was running my companies and building my companies every single day, I told my management team,

00:45:58.720 hey, if you want your employees to show up on time, you need to be there 30 minutes earlier.

00:46:03.120 If you want them there at 7.30, you'd be there at 7.

00:46:05.260 If you want them to work late, you work 30 minutes past they do.

00:46:08.060 If you want them to answer the phone when you call, you better always answer your phone.

00:46:11.420 And, by the way, if you want them to show up with a clean shirt and clean pants on every day,

00:46:14.600 then your shirts need to be starched.

00:46:16.540 If we're having – and this is what's always bugged me about coaches too.

00:46:20.260 Coaches are coaching athletes.

00:46:22.080 They have access to every piece of equipment and every trainer that their athletes do.

00:46:26.500 There's no excuse why a coach in football, wrestling, basketball, I don't care what it is that's out of shape

00:46:33.660 when you're trying to get your players and your athletes in shape.

00:46:38.480 In the military, you're fighting for the heart of our country.

00:46:44.160 You're fighting for the existence of our country.

00:46:46.240 You're protecting the freedoms of those home and abroad.

00:46:49.620 And we should expect excellence.

00:46:53.500 And if you're going to expect excellence, then the generals who's leading from the front need to express that

00:47:00.760 and show that every single day in themselves because they set the standard.

00:47:06.540 And no one's going to lead or meet that standard unless that leader is meeting that standard too.

00:47:13.680 And so whatever your expectations are, you need to set yours higher than what everybody else is below.

00:47:19.620 So I commend Heck Seth in saying this.

00:47:21.780 We're going to get our butts in shape. 0.97

00:47:24.180 Fat generals and fat admirals walking through the Pentagon is no more. 0.98

00:47:29.320 And I commend him for that. 0.57

00:47:31.420 I actually seen him a text message and I said,

00:47:33.820 Brady, my chest is pumping with pride for what you just said.

00:47:38.260 Amen.

00:47:39.120 Senator, we appreciate the time.

00:47:40.680 Let us know when you need to come back on.

00:47:42.820 And we appreciate you sharing the Capitol Hill with us.

00:47:45.620 Thanks, Clay.

00:47:46.260 See you.

00:47:46.660 Bye.

00:47:47.320 Yep.

00:47:47.580 Senator Mark Wayne Mullen with us.

00:47:49.960 And I got to tell you, gold keeps setting record highs.

00:47:54.620 Buy more gold to balance the declining value of the dollar.

00:47:58.440 That's what's happened to a lot of people who have benefited from the rise in gold.

00:48:04.080 We all should own gold in our portfolio, no matter the quantity, large or small,

00:48:10.000 whether it's to diversify your savings and retirement counts or as a hedge against inflation.

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00:49:28.380 Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

00:49:30.980 Mic drops that never sounded so good.

00:49:34.900 Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:49:39.840 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:49:41.900 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:49:45.880 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk Podcast.

00:49:49.740 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:49:51.000 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:49:52.220 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:49:55.960 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:50:01.720 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:50:04.960 Listen to the Honest Talk Podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:50:10.360 Welcome back in.

00:50:11.480 Clay Travis, Buck Sexton Show.

00:50:13.380 Appreciate all of you hanging out with us.

00:50:15.400 We are joined now by Congressman Steve Scalise.

00:50:18.980 He has been through a lot.

00:50:21.380 And we're going to run through all of the things coming up with a big turning point event that he's going to be a part of shortly.

00:50:30.580 But Congressman, I want to start with, we haven't had you on since the Charlie Kirk shooting.

00:50:36.500 But you've been a victim of political violence.

00:50:38.900 You almost lost your life while you were preparing for, I believe it was the baseball game, but just practicing with other members of your team.

00:50:47.940 What did you think when you saw the Charlie Kirk video and how much of it created flashbacks for you of what happened to you about eight years ago?

00:50:58.160 Hi, Clay and Buck.

00:51:01.000 Thank you for having me.

00:51:02.140 You know, it was such a tough day.

00:51:05.860 I mean, you know, my gosh, just to just to see somebody, you know, at the time we didn't know Charlie was was dead.

00:51:14.800 But you could just see it was something bad happened to Charlie.

00:51:19.180 And that alone was was just unearthing.

00:51:22.840 I mean, alarming.

00:51:23.800 And, you know, it makes you angry to see that, you know, somebody as talented as Charlie was out there just talking to people.

00:51:31.340 I mean, you know, encouraging people to debate in a civil way, which is what we all should be celebrating.

00:51:38.980 And the idea that somebody thinks they can just take away a life because they disagree with you politically is insane.

00:51:46.720 And so I had a lot of anger.

00:51:48.460 I had, you know, just a lot of feelings you feel for Charlie personally, for his family.

00:51:53.580 I mean, you know, he's got a young family and I'm thinking all those things.

00:51:56.260 And then obviously along the way, some of the, you know, thoughts go back to 2017 and the shooting, you know, with with me and my other colleagues.

00:52:04.680 You know, we had a crazed shooter that went and he wanted to kill every Republican on that ball field.

00:52:09.540 And this idea that you've got these people, I think you can solve, you know, your political differences with violence is it's against everything America stands for.

00:52:19.380 And it was just a horrible day in a lot of ways.

00:52:24.060 We're talking with Steve Scalise.

00:52:25.720 Steve Scalise is the House Majority Leader and he's in Louisiana's first congressional district.

00:52:31.060 I'll get into what in the world's happened to LSU's offense with you in a moment, Congressman.

00:52:36.020 But you've got a big turning point event that you are a part of.

00:52:41.360 What's going on there?

00:52:42.420 What should people know about it?

00:52:43.700 And what is the importance of this event in the wake of, as we were just talking about, what happened to Charlie?

00:52:49.080 Well, I think something just remarkable has come out of a horrible situation, and that is that it really has awoken people to say, wait a minute, we are not going to live in fear.

00:53:05.200 We're not going to allow a voice like Charlie's to, you know, have this movement that Charlie created just end.

00:53:13.240 And, in fact, I think the movement is going to grow even stronger.

00:53:16.340 You've seen Erica, his widow, just powerfully, powerfully talk about how she's going to grow it into something even bigger. 1.00

00:53:23.840 And it's really happening.

00:53:25.600 I mean, you know, we've seen, you know, 50-plus thousand young people have said, I want to start a turning point chapter on my college campus or high school campus where it doesn't yet exist.

00:53:36.040 And we've seen a lot of turning point chapters.

00:53:38.780 You know, LSU, where I went to school, we've got a turning point chapter.

00:53:42.860 And Charlie was going to be speaking in just a few days to that campus chapter, and the event will now go on.

00:53:51.260 Our governor, Jeff Landry, is going to be highlighting it, and, you know, it's the old saying, the show must go on.

00:53:56.620 And I think you're going to see a lot more people, including people maybe that never even knew what turning point was about, who now have seen it.

00:54:04.440 They've gone back and looked at Charlie's speeches, and he's inspired a whole new generation of people.

00:54:09.680 So this idea they were going to silence him has truly backfired.

00:54:13.380 I mean, I think you've seen the movement already grow stronger, and young people will not be silenced.

00:54:19.980 Young people, look, they're sick and tired of these leftists telling them what to do and how to think.

00:54:25.160 And you've got to hate institutions and religion.

00:54:29.680 And it's also brought a new awakening in religion.

00:54:33.180 People going to church for the first time and understanding.

00:54:36.200 And Charlie had such a deep faith in God as do I.

00:54:38.680 People now, I think, are maybe getting back in touch with God, too, and that's a good thing.

00:54:43.500 You mentioned the impact that Charlie's having.

00:54:45.760 I interviewed Paul Feinbaum.

00:54:47.700 I know you're a college football fan, as was Charlie.

00:54:51.240 And Paul told me he's thinking about running for the Senate in Alabama as partly a result of what he saw happen to Charlie Kirk.

00:55:00.000 He just left him shaken, and he wanted to think about what he could do to be the most impactful in his life.

00:55:07.760 I think that you are hearing, as you mentioned, a lot of people from all walks of life, regardless of what their background is,

00:55:16.120 sitting around and thinking, how can I embody the courage that Charlie showed, that you showed after you were shot,

00:55:22.740 to help take the country to a better place?

00:55:25.380 Well, it's so true.

00:55:26.740 And I saw Paul's statements, and I think you're going to see a lot more things like that, more people.

00:55:31.620 But maybe we're on the sidelines, or maybe if you're in media, they might have been scared to speak out,

00:55:37.800 because you know the culture in media is so far from the left, and they're worried about cancel culture.

00:55:43.020 I don't think people are going to be worried about that cancel culture anymore.

00:55:46.120 I think it's reversing the other way, where it's, you know, the pendulums do swing in life and in politics.

00:55:51.200 And I think people are disgusted by this idea that, you know, radical leftists can just shut you up if they don't agree with your point of view.

00:55:59.500 They were trying to do it in social media.

00:56:01.440 Those days are over.

00:56:02.860 And I think the days of trying to shut people up are only presenting one point of view in mainstream media are over, too.

00:56:09.680 A few people are watching some of those shows anyway that do that.

00:56:12.900 But I think the rest of the public wants free speech, embraces free speech, and realizes how much it's threatened by the left.

00:56:21.780 The left, ironically, are the ones who seem to want to shut down free speech.

00:56:26.080 And we're not going to let it happen.

00:56:27.540 We're talking to Steve Scalise, congressman from Louisiana.

00:56:32.400 What should we know succinctly?

00:56:34.540 We talked with Senator Mark Wayne Mullen earlier this hour.

00:56:37.420 But from your perspective, what should our listeners know about the potential shutdown that would start tomorrow?

00:56:45.840 Well, we passed a bill through the House two weeks ago to keep government funding at the current levels.

00:56:52.800 And you're seeing Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, the far left fringes that want a government shutdown, not for any particular reason,

00:57:01.100 but just they don't like the results of the election last November.

00:57:03.980 And the far left base, the radicals in the Democrat Party, just want to fight with Donald Trump.

00:57:09.860 And a temper tantrum is not an excuse to shut down the government and disrupt the lives of millions of people.

00:57:16.060 Think about it.

00:57:17.000 Our men and women in uniform will not get paid.

00:57:20.080 TSA agents won't get paid.

00:57:21.900 You know, federal parks are shut down.

00:57:23.260 A lot of bad things happen in people's lives that get disrupted just because Chuck Schumer wants to have some kind of bar fight with Donald Trump

00:57:32.660 because he doesn't like the results of the election in November.

00:57:35.320 Think about this.

00:57:36.740 Democrats and Republicans voted for these very same funding levels in March.

00:57:42.360 Nothing's changed since March, except the far left elements that are about to elect a Marxist in New York City

00:57:48.920 are also clamoring for a government shutdown.

00:57:52.620 And ultimately, it's going to be up to Democrats in Congress.

00:57:55.500 Are they going to feed the craziest voices on the left?

00:57:58.760 Are they going to do the right thing?

00:57:59.800 And the right thing is, keep the government funded.

00:58:02.000 This isn't a permanent solution, but at least for seven weeks short term while we negotiate our differences.

00:58:08.080 Clearly, we have differences.

00:58:09.380 But you don't have a tantrum and disrupt the lives of millions of people during that difference to negotiation.

00:58:16.900 Let's keep government funded at its current levels.

00:58:19.380 The bill's in the Senate, so it's all on Schumer right now.

00:58:22.100 If there's a government shutdown, it's only because Schumer decided to cave to the far left elements of his radical base

00:58:29.400 and disrupt the lives of millions of people.

00:58:31.820 I hope he doesn't do it.

00:58:33.460 And there's a chance that cooler heads will prevail.

00:58:36.300 But right now, Schumer's looking for a shutdown.

00:58:39.680 And we'll see where it goes come tomorrow.

00:58:42.300 All right.

00:58:42.620 Right now, the biggest story in the state of Louisiana is not government shutdowns.

00:58:48.540 It is the Tiger offense.

00:58:51.660 So we got a lot of people listening all over the country.

00:58:54.880 But for people who don't know, LSU couldn't stop anybody on defense last year.

00:59:00.320 This year, the offense has vanished.

00:59:03.000 Our buddy Lane Kiffin, I think he's been on the program up at Ole Miss celebrating.

00:59:08.060 A lot of Rebels fans, big rivalry there, really enjoyed the win.

00:59:13.520 Congressman, you've got to solve everything in the world right now.

00:59:17.000 Solve what's going on with your LSU Tigers.

00:59:19.620 What do they need?

00:59:20.340 What's wrong?

00:59:21.960 Well, you know, give me about another $10 million in NIL money.

00:59:26.000 We can solve it.

00:59:26.840 But no, look, I was in Oxford, Mississippi, and it was tough.

00:59:30.880 It was tough being an LSU alum.

00:59:32.820 You know, I love my Tigers, and we're going to bounce back.

00:59:35.260 But, you know, we've been having some offensive problems the last few weeks.

00:59:39.080 And Garrett Nelson-Meyer is a great quarterback.

00:59:41.020 You can see his numbers from last year.

00:59:42.940 He did have an injury at the beginning of this year.

00:59:45.200 Not sure he's completely through that yet.

00:59:47.760 Once you see him 100%, I think you'll see this team bounce back.

00:59:51.120 We've got some tough teams ahead.

00:59:53.040 We still go to Alabama.

00:59:54.180 We have A&M coming in.

00:59:55.620 We go to Vanderbilt, who's undefeated.

00:59:57.380 You know, we've still got some tough games to prove ourselves.

01:00:00.700 And I believe in Coach Kelly.

01:00:02.000 I think they're going to bounce back.

01:00:03.280 Our defense is much better.

01:00:05.300 You know, it's the FCC.

01:00:06.460 I mean, we just lost to the No. 4 team in the nation.

01:00:09.160 So let's not pull the panic button.

01:00:11.420 But let's get better.

01:00:12.640 We can.

01:00:13.420 And we have the capability with a great quarterback to do it.

01:00:17.840 The Grove is a spectacular place to go tailgate, watch a college football game.

01:00:22.980 I'm fortunate to have been to a bunch of games there.

01:00:26.180 LSU on a Saturday night is about as good as it gets.

01:00:29.360 For people who have never been and may never go to an LSU Saturday night football game,

01:00:35.960 what should they know about what the experience is like?

01:00:39.940 Well, first of all, don't deprive yourself of that treat of being in Tiger Stadium at some point on a Saturday night in your life.

01:00:46.440 I mean, it's a box everybody needs to check.

01:00:49.200 The tailgating alone, you've got to go up there early.

01:00:51.700 I mean, just for the food experience, you know, everybody knows what New Orleans food is like, some of the best food in the world.

01:00:57.520 You have better Cajun chefs at some of the tailgates before the game at an LSU game than you'll get at some of the finest restaurants in New Orleans.

01:01:05.800 It's world-class.

01:01:07.260 They take it seriously.

01:01:09.000 And then the game itself, you know, 103,000 incredibly screaming loud fans.

01:01:14.000 You know, you get Garth Brooks playing Colin Baton Rouge on the speakers, and, man, the crowd goes nuts.

01:01:20.260 It's a scene like no other on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

01:01:24.440 You've got to come.

01:01:25.840 I'll be there, and I think we'll have to get everybody to check that box on their dance card to come to do that one time in their life at least.

01:01:34.740 No, I've been.

01:01:36.080 It's an amazing time.

01:01:37.760 Congressman, we appreciate the time.

01:01:39.440 Always happy to have you on.

01:01:40.800 Good luck with that Turning Point event, and good luck with LSU figuring out what's going on with the offense.

01:01:47.600 Hey, go Tigers, and God bless.

01:01:49.180 Let's keep getting this country back on track.

01:01:52.140 Amen.

01:01:53.000 That is Congressman Steve Scalise, as you heard, running through all of the challenges right now on Capitol Hill,

01:02:00.240 and also, much less significantly, the challenges for the LSU Tiger offense.

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01:03:42.340 Keep up with the biggest political comeback in world history on the Team 47 podcast.

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - October 01, 2025

Bonus： Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Sep 30 2025

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