Daily Review with Clay and Buck - May 13 2026

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch Inns' Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. August 21 through 23rd brings some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govir.net. Vital doesn't always mean visible. Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our war fighters, delivers mission-ready intelligence, advances life-saving healthcare, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage. You want your master's degree. You know you can earn it, but life gets busy. The pack schedule, the late nights, and then there's the unexpected. American Public University was built for all of it. With monthly starts and no set login times, APU's 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life. Start your master's journey today at APU.APUS.edu. You want it? Come get it at APU. Welcome in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. President Trump is officially on the ground in Beijing. It is midnight in Beijing. I guess it is Thursday, early, early morning in Beijing. Much of the news we will find out as this state visit officially progresses. He landed Buck with a ton of high-powered. heavyweight CEOs who were also on the trip. Among them, Elon Musk, the band is back together again. And many others, Jensen Long of Invidia, just a huge collection of pretty formidable leaders of major corporations in the United States. They feted him on his arrival with a red carpet in Beijing. and we will see what progresses there. I was doing a lot of reading about this visit.

as we are beginning it as to what might happen. And Buck, I would say there are two things that are standing out to me. We'll get to that in a moment. I'm curious what's standing out to you as the state visit begins, the first for an American president in China since 2017 when Trump went during his first term. L.A. mayor's race fireworks, a lot of drama building there as we come up on the California primary. as well as the California governor's race were the top two advance from the so-called jungle primary there. We've got COVID testimony from a CIA whistleblower in front of Senator Rand Paul. The CIA official is saying, that Dr. Anthony Fauci interjected himself into the investigation of where COVID came from and that the CIA was prepared in 2021 to say publicly that they believe that COVID came from a Chinese lab, which it feels like at this point Buck everybody kind of acknowledges was what happened, but remember it was racist to say. that COVID came from a Chinese lab, according to the New York Times, for some time. And so we've got a bunch of cuts from that. And I do think that is at least intriguing testimony. We also have an offer out to Senator Rand Paul to potentially join us. We'll also be going down to your home state of Florida, where Congressman Byron Donalds's, who is the leading contender to be the next governor of the state of Florida, is going to join us at 1.30 Eastern. All that coming. But Buck, there are two things that stand out to me about this Chinese state visit from President Trump. One is what's going to happen with the Strait of Hormuz. China gets a huge percentage of its oil and gas via oil that transits through there. There are reports that there have been a lot of back channel discussions that China may be leaning on Iran. which is one of the foremost providers of oil and gas for China and saying, guys, open up the straight or we're not going to continue to give you the favorable treatments that we have given you in the past. We'll see whether anything emanates from that, whether while Trump is in China, we may get some form of resolution associated with Iran. How involved will China get? Point two, you traveled to Taiwan, Buck. And so you know of the intense... severity, complexity of the relationship between Taiwan and China and the United States, what the United States is willing to see. We've had this strategic ambiguity policy as to what we would do if China invaded Taiwan for a long time. So those are the two things. And maybe will Jimmy Lie, this goes directly with the show, because we talk to Jimmy Lai's son.

Will he be released from a Hong Kong prison for effectively standing up for basic human rights around the world? That is kind of my big picture take. What are you expecting? What are you paying attention to as this Chinese state visit begins? Well, Xi Jinping has elevated Taiwan to the absolute top of the agenda. And he's trying to use... what he wants when it comes to Taiwan as a primary bargaining piece against what Trump wants, which is a whole range of things on the U.S. side when it comes to trade. One of the reasons why, of course, Trump went with all these mega CEOs, if you will, some of the biggest, the most powerful CEOs, really the biggest, the most powerful CEOs in many cases in the world. So it's worth noting that we signed, and as you mentioned, Clay, I went to really so that going forward, I knew China would be a big issue. I went to Taiwan with Steve Yates, by the way, who will be with us tomorrow, talk about the first run-through, if you will, of the Xi Jinping talks. But when we were there, the Taiwanese are incredibly concerned about even signaling from Trump that somehow Taiwan is on the menu, if you will, that there could be enough daylight between America, Japan, very important ally as well in this whole issue, and Taiwan, that the Chinese think that now is the time. Now it's go time. So the leverage that we have, I might note, is just to continue essentially status quo. Trump approved an $11 billion arms package. for Taiwan. So we are selling them stuff, advanced munitions, and the Taiwanese are ramping up. I think, Clay, they're going to spend 5% of GDP on defense this year. That's a lot, everybody. You think about what the NATO requirement is, I think, 2%, which none of those countries hit, 5% is a sizable chunk of GDP. For a country that, let's remember, just wants to stay doing exactly what it's doing. It has no offensive intent whatsoever. So all of that is defensive. It's not, it doesn't have bases all over the world. It's not trying to invade a neighbor. It just wants to be left alone. It wants to make sure the quills on the porcupine are long enough and sharp enough that the Chinese dragon does not decide it's lunchtime. So that's a huge part of this. Trump is going to want to make sure that we get continuity on the rare earth minerals piece because we found out oh wait a second China has a lot of rare earth and if they use that against us that can create supply chain disruptions and problems for us Trump wants Taiwan to offshore clay a lot and I remember I went to I went to see the premier manufacturer of chips in Taiwan

and a TSM, and it's like a country within a country. Yeah. Imagine an industry in a nation that is so essential and so powerful to that country and to the world. that it is a strategic asset globally as well as locally. That's what TSM is. Now, they've moved, Clay, some of their facilities into the U.S. They're building a big fab, a fabrication facility in Arizona, and TSM walked me through a lot of what they're doing. But here's the problem, Clay. We want them to build more stuff here, of course. But they're looking at us like, and this includes even talking to the president of Taiwan about this, they're looking at us like, guys, first of all, We kind of like being the best in the world at this, just going to be honest with you, and having it on our own soil. And second of all, you can't allow China to seize this. So isn't it a good thing for us that we have this incredibly important intellectual property and strategic asset? 90% of the high-end chips, everybody. We think AI is going to change our lives and already is. 90% of high-end chips are made in Taiwan by TSM. And it looks like magic when you see just versions of like videos of how they put all this stuff together. So, Clay, it's high stakes with Trump here in China. You know, Trump is going to say that he kicked ass and got the best deal possible. I think he'll get some good things done. But the Chinese have some bare-knuckle tactics that they're going to use here too. So it is a real showdown on trade, on economics, and on strategy. Also, the Chinese have the advantage of knowing that, in theory, their leader is going to be in control for far more than the next six months, which is, you know, when you balance out how all of these scenarios are in play, and somebody say, okay, what do you mean by that, Clay? If the midterms go against President Trump, President Trump is still in office, but in terms of being able to implement anything through the relationship with Congress, that's basically over. And so already, I think the odds of China having to do anything that's particularly beneficial to us, given their time situations, is less significant. I would just say this, too. China has begun a decline. And I do think this is significant and not receiving enough attention by the end of this century. They are now projecting that China's population will be cut in half from what it is right now. And China's population has already begun to decline. They were supposed to catch us for world's biggest economy. You remember reading all those feverish articles a decade ago about how China's progression was such that soon they would get. They're not close. And we are actually creating more of a gap between ourselves and the Chinese. Again, I think to a large extent, that's because President Trump.

stopped bending over backwards and allowing China to take advantage of us in terms of trade to such a significant extent. So China, while they have a longer range leadership certainty, they've actually got a worse overall. I would say global trajectory than we do. And China's one of those first countries. I mean, what's the population of the world now, $8 billion? I think if we end up continuing on these trend lines, the global population may well have already peaked. It's going to start to decline, and China's going to be a foremost proponent of that decline of overall population. One thing on the demographic side, Clay, that is a bit unsettling for us. is that when you have a country that has a large male population without female pairing because of China's monstrous one-child policy when you think about this, I mean, for what is it, about 30, 40 years, you had a one-child policy, hundreds of millions of births prevented through either restriction or abortion in China. Hundreds of millions of people. And, of course, what that also meant because of one child, people, a lot of them chose, has to be a male. I need an heir to keep the family name going and for economic reasons and, you know, all these different things. So you have a bulge of unmarried Chinese men in their, you know, 20s, 30s, 40s now. And what are they going to do? And this is a big problem. Now, historically, when societies have a huge surplus of unmarried men, I'm just going to say bad things happen, including wars. So that's something that I think is very concerning for us on the demographic side of things. And even with a massive drop in population, Clay, there's still over a billion people. So it's, you know, it's one of these things on the China-Taiwan issue, depending on which expert I talk to, I will get, and I've talked to a lot of them, right? And depending on who even the government you talk to over there, it's all going to be fine. Status quo will continue. People need to calm down. Don't worry, Taiwan and Japan and America together will defend themselves aptly. If China does invade, there's no issue. Or Taiwan's totally screwed. It'll take a few days. China will take it. And that's the range of quote-unquote obvious outcome here. From experts in quotation marks. That's what's really concerning is that I'm telling you, depending on who you talk to, China could invade and kick their asses in a few days. China would get wiped out in the straight. It's a total mess and a disaster. I mean, you know, and they're all so certain of their answers. And that's why I sit here and say, if everyone is certain and they all disagree with each other, it means no one is certain. And that's where we are as Trump is sitting down with Xi Jinping to work out deals that will have implications for us here at home for sure, but also for the whole world, quite honestly. It's a big situation.

It's big stuff, big stakes going on over there. And like I said, we'll cover that more here and also our friend Steve Yates. Maybe he can do part of the interview Clay with us in Mandarin just to show off a little bit, you know. I got to tell you, seeing that guy walk around Taiwan and just whip out perfect Chinese everywhere, because, you know, Yates. Yates is like a big white dude. You know what I'm saying? You wouldn't expect it? It was pretty cool. I would think for him, eavesdropping would be incredibly valuable because nobody is expecting that he's having any idea what they're saying. And he's got it mastered. I will tell you that I went into a place and I was getting a, they do a lot of reflexology there. And as I was getting reflexology, one of the women said that my feet are weird. And it was very sad for me. He told me this. Because they didn't think that I would be able to understand, which of course I couldn't, but he could. So I have weird feet. according to the ladies in Taiwan. All right, we're all creatures of habit with one thing or another. Tonight, for instance, will you go through the ritual of turning off lights and locking the door, making sure your home is safe before bed? We do this because somewhere in our mind, we register a threat to our safety slightly, as it might be to some of us. Threats don't come with warnings. They come when the house is quiet or when someone you love is home alone. One of the reasons Sabre has sold so many self-protection devices, including their Sabre Home Defense Launcher, It's their non-lethal protection that helps you respond to multiple threats at a distance. Sabre home defense launchers easy to use and deliver seven powerful pepper or impact projectiles, two more than most competitors. And right now you can save up to 15% on select bundles. When safety matters, America chooses Sabre, the number one brand trusted by police and millions worldwide. Don't wait for a close call. Get protection now at saberprotect.com. That's SABRE. SabreProtect.com or call 844-824-safe. 844-824 safe. Laugh, learn, and hang with the guys. Clay and Buck. Preset on the iHeart app. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch Inns's Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. August 21 through 23rd brings some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govIR.net. Vital doesn't always mean visible.

Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our war fighters, advances life-saving health care, combats cyber threats, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage. Online education is convenient, but sometimes it can be lonely. Sometimes the extra help you need can only come from someone else. At American Public University, they make online education personalized, affordable, and memorable. With 24-7 mental health support available in multiple languages, access to career coaches who are industry professionals and lifelong career services, you'll never feel alone on your path to success. APU. Digital by nature, human by design. Learn more at APU. APUS.edu. Second hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. We are going to talk about the recently released report on what happened on October 7th because this is a true compilation of all of the evidence. that what Hamas did wasn't just a terrorist attack. It wasn't just a war crime. It was truly crimes against humanity and our most basic decency. And this should be a part of any discussion about Israel and its actions in Gaza. Well, we'll get into all this. And also Nicholas Christoff, the New York Times writer, who I've always thought is a smug, slimy, and vile propagandist. I do not respect him or his work. He does, he just carries the water for the left in every way that he can any time that he can. And he wraps himself and caring about women and the underprivilege and the dispossess. But really, he just is like a might as well just be a Soros operative. He, uh, He put something out there on the same day that this report came out that we should discuss, and it's preposterous. But it's really a blood libel, too. It's meant to be so incendiary as to distract us from what is true and what has really happened there. Clay, I did want to return us for a second because we had a call or a moment ago, and I thought people would want us to at least handle this assertion. First of all, he has great taste in radio. He was saying, fabulous job, the two most well-informed people that he listens to on the radio. This is a man of high IQ and exceptional taste. So I wanted to respect our caller's key point here beyond him saying very true and very, very wise things about this program. He said that it was an intentional release. I am not. I'm 100% that the virus came from the Wuhan lab. And just to be clear, I was one of those people very early on. But I was also somebody who thought we should reopen and just go about our lives and try to just give as much care to the elderly as we could by Easter of 2020. That's who I was on all this. Easter of 2020, I was like, yeah. And I also thought masks were stupid the entire time, the entire time, because it made no sense. So I'm that guy.

Just to give a little bit of my bonafides there, okay? I'm the, and you know, Clay, we still have, I know you had Barentson on Monday, we still respect. Some people seem to have forgotten about the role that Alex played and all that, Alex Berenson. I still, and we still have a tremendous amount of respect for what he did because he provided a lot of the necessary data analysis for us to fight back against the madness at a time when there were very few people willing to do that. Okay, that's all one way of saying. I don't understand why it would have been released intentionally by China or by, I don't, I don't, looking at it purely from motivation, why would they do that? Do you see, I think it was, by the way, a super contagious virus accidentally leaking from a lab in China. I mean, that's not even, that doesn't seem like a stretch at all, right? This stuff is they're made to be communicable. It's made to be something that goes quickly from person to person in the air. You can't see it, right? Do you think it was intentional? I'm open to being persuaded on this. I don't understand why they would have done that. It affected China just like it affected all the rest of us. Yeah. So I think of everything probabilistically like this. I think there is a world where some malactor could have intentionally decided, hey, I want this to go out there. I want there to be intentionally a negative outcome from this leaking. So I wouldn't discount that. I don't see a direct benefit of why China would have intentionally leaked it unless, and again, I understand why so many people go down conspiracy rabbit holes, Buck, because when the conspiracy ends up being right as often as it was during COVID, then I understand why there's a deep suspicion and a susceptibility for conspiracies to spread. The only real argument I've seen that would make any sense is that China wanted to undercut Trump. The United States was roaring in February and January of 2020. Trump was coming into his full fruition economically. I think Trump, if COVID never happens, I think Trump wins reelection easily. And that somehow China decided we're going to disrupt the entire world and we're going to intentionally leak COVID into the global economy. I don't find that to be likely. But if it were going to be an argument of it being an intentional lab leak, that's the only real motivation that I could see made sense from a Chinese perspective. But I think the most likely outcome is it leaked and then they covered it up and Anthony Fauci completely panicked because he knew that American tax dollars had been used to help fund the gain of function research and that they immediately tried to put in the code red. This is to kill this story. This is where Anthony Fauci, to your point, Buck, not only do I think he was a malignant force inside of government. He was the highest paid and one of the longest tenured figures in all of our government. Which is highly suspicious. Just to tell you this right now. When you were the single most overpaid federal government employee.

something's up like i don't i just don't trust you i don't care who you are okay when you're making more than double what the president makes and you're not he wasn't even that people always think he was the head clay of n i h the cdc he was the head of naiad which was like a sub unit of n i how does this guy the highest paid guy ever some people and you've got people who work at your uh at your place of employment who do this aren't really great at their jobs, but they're really good at manipulating the bureaucracy. Getting that next promotion. By the way, it's Clay. This is a plague within the federal bureaucracy. The worst people, look at James Comey, look at Brennan, look at these people, look at Anthony Fauci, look at these people that have made their way to the top of these bureaucracies. They're not smart. They're not good at their jobs. And yet they wield enormous power. The best people that I knew, with some exceptions, but the best people that I knew within the CIA, and they know this too. They all leave, and this is going to sound self-congratulatory or like, oh, I was one of them, but everyone leaves Clay five to seven years in. Because you just get burned out over the bureaucracy and the half of it and how hard it is to do anything. Yeah. After five of you're like, I've done some cool stuff, but I've been ground down by the stupid bureaucracy and the idiots who run the security office here, who all they do is harass people and they never catch the actual spies. And I'm just done with it. five to seven years i can still go to grad school i could still start a new job i could you know that's the that's the uh and i don't know some people will tell me that they've seen that in their own bureaucracies within the government but i can tell you in the intelligence community 100% the case What I will say, I appreciate our caller on this front. So I don't think, so I think Anthony Fauci immediately knew how to manipulate the levers of government. I knew how he knew how to grease bureaucracy. Remember, he had a great deal of power over federal funds, the distribution of them to so many different organizations. And so he had manipulated all that. He had a crew that he could help cover it up. Let me just say this, though. I simultaneously do not. judge anyone who believes that it was an intentional leak and I understand skepticism over it because there is so much that we were told about COVID we can run through 20 things probably Buck where you and I were out there saying I don't know You know, like remember we played the clip when suddenly even on the left, it was John Stewart who went on with Stephen Colbert and he ridiculed the idea that this was anything other than a lab leak. And suddenly everyone in that Stephen Colbert audience who had been hectoring and lecturing all of us for saying, hey, I'm not sure the official narrative lines up.

They were laughing along with John Stewart as he punctured the absurdity of the series of stories that they had bought, which were all untrue. And so I think that whole era, there were so many lies told that I understand why anyone would think there are additional lies being told and why there are additional story angles. that we haven't gotten to the bottom of it. I just want to note, you know, if someone calls in, even if they're an esteemed and appreciated listener, which all of you are, and they say something that I truly think is just wrong or incorrect. We'll say so. We're not always right. I mean, we're pretty much always right, but we're not always right. But we would say, or I would say, and you would say, respectively, no, I'm sorry, I think that that's wrong or that's incorrect. I'm not saying the gentleman who called in is wrong. I'm just saying I'm not there on the analysis. I'm open to the possibility. You know, I am absolutely there, as I think everybody is, that it came from that lab, obviously. I still think it's more likely than not that it was an accidental release than it was an intentional release because the motivations to me still go for door number one and not door number two. But, you know, I'm open to being persuaded otherwise. That's where I would put that. And as for Anthony Fauci, It's just amazing when you go back and read all the propaganda about this guy early on because I think people forget Trump had to look to this guy and look to the health bureaucracies early on with the idea that, come on, we're all on the same team here. Like we just don't want people getting sick. We don't want things to happen that are terrible in society. This isn't a partisan moment, right? Wrong. That was, I think, one of the big. misapprehensions early on and I think that Trump which is I don't blame him for this and that's why I hate this thing they do by the way Clay they'll say Well, Trump shut down school. The Trump did this. It's like, what you did in April or May of 2020 versus what was done a year later by Biden are night and day in terms of the data, what we had seen, what we had been through, what we had learned, all this other stuff. And they always intentionally conflate this. Trump looked to the health bureaucracies early on when we were told that in Italy people were all on ventilators and everyone's dying and this is so terrible and what are we going to do? And Anthony Fauci

was clearly a partisan actor who at the first opportunity started to undermine and eventually betrayed Donald Trump. Now, people said he should have fired Anthony Fauci. Well, that would have just created the, that would have been the James Comey Martyr Complex on steroids. It would have been he got rid of the top health guy during a pandemic. So Trump was in an impossible position with that early on. I think that's a fair way to. to grade what was happening there. And I spoke to Trump in the Oval Office in May of 2020 about COVID mostly, also about CIA stuff, but mostly about COVID. And he said, look, we're going to let states. He wanted to let the federal system play, a federalist system play out, where states could do things and then we could compare the data. And I think that that was a very sound approach to it early on. And yet, the health bureaucrats effectively sees the narrative and sees control. And I think they helped deliver the election to Biden. Two things. One, your point on deferring to federalism. There's never a time when someone could have taken over. Look at what Biden did a year later. More dictatorial powers than Trump had the opportunity to take on in the spring of 2020 and the summer of 2020. And he mostly deferred to individual states and mayors. Two, this, I'm going to go back to the caller. This is the other part of the timing that I think is suspect. And this is why I said, one, if China had done it intentionally, it would be designed. for for Trump. The fact that it to harm him in a political election year, the fact that COVID hit in the spring of a presidential election year was also the worst possible time for COVID to hit. By which I mean, if COVID hits in 21, after Trump has won re-election, I think there is far less insanity. If COVID hits in 22, even though it's a midterm election, far less insanity. If COVID hits in 23, far less insanity. The fact that it hit in the spring of an election year when Trump was cruising to re-election, and it led to, and I always feel like I need to put it in quotation marks, 81 million votes for Joe Biden. And even Democrats are starting to look around. Even the most strident, oh, anti-Trump Democrats, Buck, they're starting to look at that 81 million in the wake of this past election compared to Obama in 12, compared to how people voted in 16. There's no one, I think, with a functional brain that believes that Joe Biden got 81 million legal votes at this point. The math, it's like steroids in baseball when you had guys who used to hit 20 home runs and then one year they hit 50 and you looked at a picture of them and you said, boy, they put a lot of muscle on in the off season. Biden 2020 was for elections what steroids was to baseball. He cheated.

uh there's not 81 million real votes out there now what exactly is that number i think even democrats are starting to look around i don't think they'll get to 81 million votes in 2028 let's remind everyone that what you just said now clay i don't think it will now but a couple of years ago that would have gotten this this bounced off of uh youtube Yeah. Our clip would be removed from YouTube. They removed an interview we did with the former president from YouTube over election stuff. Remember that? Oh, yeah. They took Rand Paul interview. YouTube took a Rand Paul interview about COVID off with us. And they took the former president of the United States. They would not allow us to post our president Trump interview. This show was censored to the point where we had a sitting senator and a former and future president not allowed to say what they wanted to say. And we were pulled off the biggest platform, video platform online. It tells you a lot. Look, Patton will forever be remembered for leading from the front. I'm reading all about World War II right now. Soldier's idea of a general, men fought hard for him because he fought hard himself. That's a pretty good quotes out there, too. Colorful language. It's foolish and wrong. As we come up on Memorial Day weekend, it's foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, he said. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived. This Memorial Day honored the legacy of our men and women left behind, remember their courage, reflect on their sacrifice, and recognize the responsibility that comes with the freedom they secured for all of us. Citizenship in this country shouldn't be passive. It certainly wasn't in Patton's time. It's not just about the rights we enjoy. It's about the duty we care to enjoy them, a duty to our country, to our communities, and to each other. Our friends at Americans for prosperity take that duty seriously. We know you take it seriously, too. Does your neighbor, your friends? It's time to make sure they do as well. If you believe we all share a responsibility to preserve what makes this country strong, go to afp clay.com for your free guide on how you and your community can get involved. That's afp clay.com. dot com paid for by americans for prosperity if you truly care pass along this common sense to family and friends clay and buck owning the airway well welcome back in clay Travis buck sexton show as we are rolling through the wednesday edition of the program there is a press conference going on right now uh that i am watching uh with vice president JD Vance with dr oz and others They have announced a fraud task force, a new crackdown that is going to be coming, that is being led by JD Vance. It comes on the heels of substantial fraud that has been uncovered in Minnesota, California, Ohio. It really feels to me, Buck, like a monstrous percentage of our health care spending is fraudulent in nature. Just... Off the charts, these home health aides, when you look at the number of employees that exist in New York and the money that the government is paying oftentimes for someone who couldn't physically be able to do the job, these autism centers that I've seen the reports on.

Again, I think the original sin here is the government having gotten aggressively involved in health care. Nobody has any idea what health care costs. Nobody has any idea what medical treatments actually are necessary when a volume-based business is going to run you through 20 different tests that you probably don't know. Let me give you one positivity because I'm getting fired up in a negative way about health care. Have you been reading about these body scans? that are becoming more and more prevalent. I don't know if you've ever had one done. I have not, but... I am told from people who are way more sophisticated than I am that these body scans are becoming cheaper and cheaper and that you're going to be able to, I think in the future, do a body scan. Maybe you do it yearly. You just go in, they look at your entire body. They make sure about whether you've got any sort of beginning tumors or cancers related issues. And you have... sort of a, I guess what would you call it, like a baseline of what your body looks like, and then you can compare it in the years ahead. And I am cautiously optimistic that the tech there, in conjunction with, and you've talked about this, with AI being able to get all of your meds that you can give AI and just say, hey, here's what my blood test results have shown, what do I need to know, what can I do to be healthier? I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to be moving into a new era where people's own health is going to be better able to be directly treated and everybody's going to be better off. This is where I advocate for everyone to use AI. And I understand every time you type in anything health related into these various platforms, whether I use GROC, some people use. Gemini, some people, you know, all these clawed, all these different things. I'll always say this is not health advice because they don't want to get sued. This is not health advice. I'm not a doctor. Consult your doctor. By the way, I actually agree with that as the guiding principle, but use these things as a tool so you understand more. And then when you actually sit down with your doctor or when you have a console with your doctor, you are so much more squared away about what your blood work tells you. Because you can get all these questions out there first, and the AI models will come back with real detail telling you about things. And, you know, it's also, by the way, you can put... You can put a photo of yourself into AI. I have not done this, but I have friends who have done this who are professional bodybuilders down here in Miami. And it will tell you about the proportionality of your musculature in your arms versus your legs, your body fat percentage. You can do all. I mean, the amount of data that you have access to now that pertains to your overall health and wellness is just leaps and bounds ahead of what it was even 10 or 20 years ago.

So I, yes, I have uploaded my blood, you know, for annual checkup purposes and stuff. I've uploaded my blood work into GROC. And then I've asked detailed questions and then gone to my doctor and I'm like, hey, so is this, you mentioned this, is this really? And you can learn so much. And then your questions for the expert are better. I will also tell you, although the experts won't like this. Sometimes you'll catch that the expert was actually kind of a little off on something. Doctors don't like this. They don't like Dr. Google. I know. I've experienced two. But all you care about is your own health and you have to be, Clay, this is one of the reasons why, no one will talk about this, but it's true, why Medicaid fails so miserably is that a lot of people who are on Medicaid are thinking that the system is going to make them healthy, not understanding that you have to navigate that system and bring knowledge to what is going on. If you just show up when things are broken in your body and say, ow, this hurts, fix me. Yeah, sometimes they can do that. But a lot of the time, it's going to be much more of a long-term issue, a long-term fix. You have to find the right specialist. You have to find the right modality of treatment. And this is why people think having a health care card, whether it's from the government or a private company, is health care? Having health insurance is health care. It's not. Health care is an active process and artificial intelligence makes it far more possible for us to be our best advocates for all of this stuff. So that's, you know, that's my TED talk on that today for all of you. But I'm telling you, it's true. Speaking of fraud, which is what they're having the press conference about right now, Chris Rufo reports, Buck. California spent nearly, this is going to get a lot of you. seriously angry in California. And I think this ties in with why Steve Hilton's campaign, why Spencer Pratt's campaign, Hilton for Governor Pratt for Los Angeles mayor is sort of catching fire with a lot of different people out there. California spent buck nearly $189 million to give every prisoner a free iPad. Rufo says we interviewed a dozen death row inmates who told us prisoners are using the tablets to watch porn engage in X-rated chats and groom minors on the outside. 90,000 iPads the state of California purchased to give every prisoner behind bars a brand new free iPad.

Can you imagine? I mean, this is where your tax dollars are going in California. And I just listened to Karen Bass. We had this audio pulled. Karen Bass is upset that AI videos that are pro Karen Bass, that are pro Spencer Pratt as the L.A. Mayor's race is underway. She says that she's really upset about them. Can we play that cut? What's worrying me now is that his social media is now taking on a violent turn. And that worries me. Because when you do that and when your messages are so hateful or when you demonize people, then you do provoke people who are unstable. And you can jeopardize people's safety. You mean like the throwing of the tomatoes? Well, the throwing of the tomatoes, which look like blood, or drowning me and the governor in a reservoir. But there's also other violent seeds. And so I've noticed that it's taking on a violent trend. Okay, so... This, I do believe, is going to be a huge test for California. Next month, you guys are going to be voting, if you're listening to us in California. You're going to be voting in the mayor's race. You're going to be voting in the governor's race. It's probably not a surprise. Spencer Pratt did so well in the L.A. mayor debate that the other two primary candidates have refused to debate anymore. I mean, you know you did well and that it went well for your campaign. when both of the other two candidates say, yeah, we're not going to do this anymore. And I think, again, it just comes back to, are people in L.A. frustrated enough? Are people in California frustrated enough to potentially leave the Democrat tribe and be willing to take a chance on someone like Steve Hilton, on someone like Spencer Pratt? I think it's a legitimate question. about how exactly this is going to shake out. This is one of the primaries that I'm most excited to see what the results are, because I have the sense that people in California are fed up. I have a lot of good friends in L.A., and they are fed up. When I talk with them, they are very fed up. Falk is skeptical than anything good. I like your optimism here, but I got to tell you, it's amazing. The resilience. the enduring quality of lib lunacy in the real hubs of the greater New York City area, Los Angeles, these people are so deeply entrenched that telling them things, that facing up to how wrong they've been on crime, on climate change, on tax policy, on anything. It's like telling somebody who's been an ardent believer their whole lives, there's no God. I mean, they can't process. They can't even begin to understand like the basis for their wrongness because it's so unmooring to them. So this is Clay, you know, because I speak from the perspective of somebody who grew up around a lot of these libs in New York.

I do not understand how any people ask me, how is it that you grew up in speaking to me, how do you grow up in New York City and you're so right wing? And I mean, I've been asked that question so many times, more times that I can even begin to count. And I always want to say to them, I don't know how anyone else could grow up in New York City experience life day to day in that city. What happens when Democrats get their way? What happens Republicans can get their way? By and large. and not be right wing. I don't understand how it's possible for somebody if they actually believe in safety, rule of law, clean streets, all these things. The conservative stuff always is good and works, and the liberal stuff makes you feel good until you realize that the crazy homeless people are hitting old ladies over the head with hammers for the hundredth time. That's it. So I don't know. And W.R. listeners are not talking about how these psycho libs don't get the memo. They can't figure this out. It's been decades. It's why a woman who said that she got shoved down the stairs, but she didn't want to prosecute because she was afraid about mass incarceration. I mean, so sorry to Clay, that is encapsulated exactly what I'm saying. I think it's a perfect analogy. And then what happens? An innocent 76-year-old gets killed because the guy did to him the same thing that he did to the woman. And I was talking about this last night at dinner and then had a couple of drinks afterwards. I think there is a way, and I could be totally wrong on this. I want you guys to think about it. We hear so much about, oh, that lady thought she was being empathetic, right? She thought that by not putting this guy in prison, she also said she didn't want another black guy to be put in jail. I would bet that she was a white woman, liberal college-educated white woman, who thought she was being kind by not prosecuting that guy and putting in prison. What if you redirect the empathy to the people that are actual victims of crime? That 76-year-old is dead because that woman's empathy was misdirected towards a criminal and not towards the future victims of that criminal. Can we retrain people's mind to the empathy, the emotion is powerful. I think left-wingers have been overtaken by emotional response. But if you want to be incredibly empathetic, shouldn't your empathy go to people who are completely innocent that are going to be victimized and not to the victimizer? That feels like a transition that could occur and an argument that could be made that I hear very few people making. But that situation in New York City is a perfect distillation of it. Woman gets shoved down the stairs, doesn't prosecute the guy who did it. Next time it happens, 76-year-old isn't as fortunate he's dead because she didn't prosecute and that guy wasn't put behind bars. That is the sort of epitome.

of the urban lib mindset and it's like something is deeply wrong with them and there's there's some way that they cannot process their empathy has been has been taken advantage of and they think they're being good people by doing what she did and that's what i'm saying like you did the manufacture delusion can we manufacture sanity you Can we manufacture sanity and still use the same empathetic desire, which I think women in particular share, generally speaking, more than men? Can we use the empathy to direct the empathy to the actual victims of crime that will occur if the bad guys are not put in prison? That to me seems like a shift that could occur if it were an argument made well. Maybe some of you can start to use that argument with people that you interact with in your own lives. When it pours, and it does a lot here in Miami, you've got to have a sturdy roof. That means solid materials and experienced installers, and Erie Home has both. 50 years in business and 150,000 homeowners to vouch for them. They're the real deal, not just a man in a van that repairs your roof one year and then goes out of business the next. Erie Home has longevity as a company with a team of true professionals. If there's a new roof in your future, start by getting a qualified opinion from Erie Home. They'll inspect your roof free of charge with a 25-point inspection. Their roofing materials have a great look, and that's really important, especially when you think about how visible a roofline is as part of your home. Erie Home champions the use of newer materials made to mimic the look of your current roof, and if you're in your forever home, This kind of roof comes with a 50-year transferable warranty. So schedule your free inspection at eeriehome.com slash buck today and get up to $1,200 in a discount. That's eeriehome.com slash buck. This discount is maximized at $1,200 valid on new roofing installation. Only minimum purchase required. Restrictions apply so you rep for warranty or promotional details. It's like having your house at the perfect temperature all the time. Preset Clay and Buck on the iHeart app. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu.org. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch Innsa's Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. August 21 through 23rd brings some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govir.net.

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redistricting. I think you see Hakeem Jeffries is now out saying that they're now going to go to blue states and they want the blue states to gerrymander even further. And by the way, let's be clear. Blue states have been gerrymandering for politics way longer than red states have. Way longer. New York's maps. The state of Massachusetts does not have any Republicans in it whatsoever. You can go to Illinois where they basically strip mine Chicago. to make the suburbs blue districts because they use Chicago's Democrat base to make a bunch of other seats go away. California's been doing this for a long time. So only when Republicans say, okay, enough's enough, we're going to start doing what you do. Now they're upset and now they're going to go further. But we're going to win anyway, and that's just the way it's going to be. Joy Reed called you a house pet of the Republican Party. I'm reading directly from her quote. I want to let you respond to it. She said he lets white men pat him on the head in the United States of Representatives. You represent, by the way, I think a majority white district in South Florida. You, I believe, are going to be the next governor of the state of Florida. people of all different races are going to vote for you as part of that. What was your reaction when you saw what she said about you? And I'm sure she's not the only one saying things like that about you as this campaign rolls on. Well, I think that's one of the reasons she doesn't even have her show anymore because one, she's never really been that entertaining. Two, she's not really that good at her job. And so she has to resort to these type of tropes in order to get attention. I find it to really be disgusting. And, you know, it is what it is. As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to keep doing my job. And what I stand for are free markets, free enterprise, secure borders, common sense, you know, protecting girls. in their sports, making sure that we protect the puberty of young kids and in having a sensible economic system where whether you're black or you're white or you're Hispanic, you have an opportunity to build the American dream for yourself. That's what I support and that's what the people who have voted for me in the past support. And let's be very clear, that's what the vast majority of American support, whether they're a Republican or a Democrat. What Joy Reid does is what too many Democrats have been doing for far too long. They play these racial games, these racial politics to use the paths of America to try to keep political power. And I think it's disgusting. I think people are over it. They just want common sense solutions for the issues facing America. And, you know, the way doesn't come with any solutions. So she has to do this kind of craziness. So I don't really care about her. It is what it is. You know, look, I'm sitting here in my office. One thing I know is that if you're doing something right, people take shot at you. That's just the way it is. Appreciate you being with us, Byron. It's Buck, Florida residents. One of the migration that has helped turn your state. I know you're a Florida guy through and through, but we have now taken it to a 1.4, 1.5 million Republican registration advantage. So the American migrants from elsewhere to Florida have helped make this place nice and bright red. You are the likeliest, based on all the polls, to take over as governor for Ron DeSantis.

To borrow from Clay's World a little bit, this would be like... being the coach who takes over after Bear Bryant retires or something, right? Clay, Bear Bryant was very good. Very good back in the day, yes. Yes, one of the best coaches. That's the only SEC football coach I could think of. You're going to be taking over for this coach, and you're going to have a state that the rest of Red America, whether than a blue state or red state, is looking to for a lot of leadership. Now, I'm not trying to, you know, say you got a lot of pressure here, big shoes and all that. I think you know that, Byron. But what is top of the agenda? I mean, there's the continuation of what's happening now in Florida, which it sounds like you and currently Ron DeSantis are aligned on the big issues. But what is top of your agenda to keep Florida in this position where it's just leading the way on fiscal governance, on bringing people here who want business to thrive, all these things. Like what's the top of the list for you? Well, first, you know, Ron DeSantis has done a great job leading our state. He's to be commended for all his work the last seven and a half years. But I think what's top of mind for me is efficiency. We, you know, everybody saw the mess in Minnesota. We're starting to hear more and more reports about the different places where federal money and state money is being misspent, misallocated, or there's outright fraud. I think the future of not just Florida governance, but really in the entire country, is using every tool possible to weed out a fraud, to weed out wasted money. Like, we have to make sure that services are being provided. but we just can't waste taxpayer money. The other thing is modernizing a lot of our internal operations. Like government, though today and moving forward has to move at the speed of business, not at the speed of government. Because time's money. Time is money and money is expensive. And so we want to be a very efficient government, make sure that we're doing the necessary checks that we have to do. But we're going to be efficient with people's time, with people's resources. And I believe that's going to continue to have Florida be the best state in the country. built on the foundation being left to us by Ron DeSantis of, you know, law and order, common sense, conservative policies that allow a society to thrive. We're going to just build on that and make sure our state is even more efficient than it has been in the past. There's a huge Cuban population, as you well know, in South Florida, but really all over the state. We've got to figure out what to do with Cuba now that Venezuela has largely been liberated from the Majuro regime. What do you think should happen with Cuba? I think we need a free Cuba. I want to see the regime go away. I want to see it fall. I think it's time for Diaz Canal to go. We want to see a Cuba that respects property rights, respects religious liberty, economic liberty, personal liberties, free speech. We want to see the political prisoners that they still have released. And we think these things are possible, especially with the work that President Trump and Marco Rubio are doing.

We think these are possible, and the free Cuba will have a friend in Florida. But it's got to be free. It's got to respect individual liberty, and there will be a friend for them in Florida. Let me ask you this. If the president... of the United States, the commander-in-chief, Byron, who I know you know and has endorsed you. And so this isn't really a far cry from what may happen or what might have happened. If you're with him at Marlago or the White House, or I guess these days it would be Bedminster. He said, you know, Byron, we have a plan. Very similar with Maduro where we could send in a tier one unit, whether it's Delta or the Seals, and we could take into custody. a few of the top leaders of the Cuba communist regime and make them face justice for a whole range of things here in the U.S. Would you tell them to give the go order? Yes, I would. Look, look, let's be very clear about what's happening 90 miles off the coast of Florida. You have a communist dictatorship that's been in place since the 60s, which has been an ally to our enemies on the world stage, and that is a fact. And so I think it's time for the regime to fall. I do. What would you tell President Trump, and you may have already talked to them about it? He is, what is, is 145, I think, in the morning right now in Beijing. He's landed in China for the state visit. What do you expect to come out of that state visit? What do you hope we get out of it? Well, I mean, look, a couple things. One, obviously, the president is working through to finalize whatever deals we need to get done with the Chinese. Two, what's kind of looming in the background is this conflict with Iran. And I think that obviously because of the tradeholder moves being in a position that it's in, which is raising global oil prices. I think that definitely is in the interest of the Chinese to be able to get resolved as quickly as we can. And we need to make sure that they don't have a nuclear weapon. I think the one thing that's been so misleading from the press, you know, they keep saying, oh, the president doesn't have a goal in what's happening with Iran. And that's not true. He's been clear from the beginning. They cannot have nuclear weapons, period. End of story, full stop. And so I think that potentially with what happens, in Beijing over the next couple days. We might be able to get a solution on that front as well. And I think that'll be good when it comes to not just global security, but obviously global oil markets. Byron Donalds, running for governor, Congressman Byron Donalds, appreciate you being with us here, sir. Best of luck to you. We'll talk to you again soon. Listen, thanks, guys. Appreciate you. Take it easy. I think he's going to win, and I think he's going to do a good job. But we're going to, because we, unlike the view, allow people to make the case of why you should vote for them. We're making it as clear and transparent as we can be. We're going to let everybody talk to you who's running for office when we have one candidate on, unlike the view. So you pay attention to that going forward. Fast-growing trees. I'm looking out right now at many different, awesome.

Some would say spectacular trees that are growing in my yard. And that's partly due to fastgrowing trees.com. These guys are blown away by how much you love trees, plants, shrubs. So many of you out there are signing up that every time we share what producer Ali is bought, they sell out. So I'm not going to name any particular plant, tree, or shrub. in this particular ad because I don't want you guys to flood and go by exactly what I just told you. But Ali just got her mother-in-law something called, well, I'm going to say it now, perfecto mundo. That was close to something else. The perfecto mundo. I don't even know what that is, but I bet it is going to sell out now on fast-growing trees. Ali says it's awesome. Her mother-in-law... I loved it. Make sure that you spell it correctly. It starts perfect. Perfecto Mundo on fastgrowing trees.com. Look, they have the alive and thrive guarantee. It is awesome. Right now, any tree, plant, or shrub you want, you get for 20% off when you use my name Clay. So go to fastgrowing trees.com. Check it out. Put in your zip code. And they will tell you whether you live in South Florida like Buck does, whether you live in Nashville like I do, whether you're in the New York City area, whether you're in L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, heck, anywhere, all over Texas down on the border. Wherever you may be, they will tell you, Arizona, very different plants, what works perfectly in your particular zip code. Get hooked up today at fastgrowingtrees.com. My name's CLAY for 20% off. That's fastgrowingtrees.com. Code Clay. Laugh. Learn. Hang with the guys. Right there when you need them most. Clay and Buck. Just preset them on the iHeard app. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step, wherever life takes you. American Military University, made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch Innsa's Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. August 21 through 23rd brings some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govir.net. Vital doesn't always mean visible. Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our war fighters, delivers mission-ready intelligence, advances life-saving healthcare, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage.

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