Verdict with Ted Cruz
Bonus: Daily Review with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton - Mar 20 2025
Thu, 20 Mar 2025
The Daily Review with Clay and Buck If you love Verdict with Ted Cruz, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show might also be in your audio wheelhouse. Politics, news analysis, and some pop culture and comedy thrown in too. Here’s a sample episode recapping four talking points on Thursday. Give the guys a listen and then follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Clay & Buck on Apple Podcasts 1.) Pay your fair share! Clay and Buck discuss the ongoing judicial challenges facing the Trump agenda. The conversation then shifts to the happiness index in the United States, highlighting the impact of social media on mental health, particularly among young women. Clay asks: Is social media more addictive than nicotine? The left is always saying, "Pay Your Fair Share" - Clay and Buck unpack what that really means. Clay and Buck also provide updates on border enforcement and Trump's stance on the predicted recession, emphasizing his confidence in the economy. 2.) The left is rooting for failure Clay and Buck explore the controversy surrounding Tesla and Elon Musk, discussing the affordability of electric vehicles and the political attacks on Musk's company. They also touch on Chuck Schumer's leadership within the Democratic Party, comparing it to the Obama era and questioning the effectiveness of current Democratic strategies. The hour wraps up with a lively discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on education, the inefficiencies of the Department of Education, and the broader implications of government spending and taxation. 3.) Data guru and Clay and Buck network podcast host Ryan Girdusky Incredible data from our favorite nerd on the growing support for Trump among minority groups and the generational divide in political preferences. Also, some fascinating data on white, college-educated women and MAGA supporters. 4.) Julie Kelly on the Judicial Coup Author and J6 journalist, provides insights into the judicial resistance against Trump and the treatment of January 6th defendants. She highlights the lack of elite legal representation for these defendants and the double standards in the legal system. Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts: ihr.fm/3InlkL8 For the latest updates from Clay and Buck: https://www.clayandbuck.com/ Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Social Media: X - https://x.com/clayandbuck FB - https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/clayandbuck/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ClayandBuck TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clayandbuckYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: Who are the guests on today's episode?
Welcome, everybody. Thursday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show kicks off now. And we've got a lot to break down with all of you. Our friends, plural there. I had to make sure I threw in plural. Our friends, Julie Kelly and Ryan Groduski, will be joining Julie in the second hour on the judicial coup that is still very much underway and a major challenge for the Trump agenda.
Chapter 2: What are the latest developments on the judicial challenges for Trump?
But one, I think they are up to the task of... Tackling. And then Ryan Groduski on some of the numbers, including Clay. That discussion yesterday that we had, I had a lot of people reaching out to me off air, either about hearing us on the show, talking about that, or even just in my life who had seen those numbers.
And we got to put some of these questions out there again, like college educated white women. Zelensky is the thing that they are the biggest outliers on how much they love Volodymyr Zelensky. There's some crazy NDEI.
Chapter 3: How is social media affecting mental health in the US?
Yeah, and I think also I saw today, and it ties in with what we were talking about yesterday, I think, because I said if we overlaid the different groups, I think what you would find is that white college-educated women are the least happy of all of those groups, whether it's non-college-educated white men and women or men who went to college. Did you see this today, Buck?
It's actually really kind of sad. The United States overall happiness index, to the extent that they track this, hit an all-time low. And it's being driven by people under the age of 30. And I would bet that it's women under the age of 30, overwhelmingly, who are unhappy. And I think it's hard not to believe at this point that all of this isn't directly connected to social media.
I mean, if you go look at the charts, overall mental health rates, now certainly COVID didn't help, but overall mental health rates just collapsed about 2014 when social media became prevalent in everybody's lives.
And I think we're going to find out that this is like the nicotine or cigarettes of our generation where we allowed these phones and these social media apps, particularly for young people, to really kind of lead us astray in terms of our life's pursuits. So there's an early big-picture idea that I think ties in with yesterday.
So we've also got some updates on the border. Tom Holman pointing out that they are rocking on all cylinders here to enforce the law, comparing it to Biden. We'll give you those updates. Trump on the recession that people are predicting. This is not a recession. He is not worried at all, which is, I'm sure, not a surprise to any of you. The war against Tesla, which we discussed a bit yesterday.
There's more on that. It is... Just insane and destructive and wrong on every level. And I know yesterday I shared that I'm thinking about getting a Tesla. I'm trying to convince Carrie. The problem is we don't really use the car that we have that much. We still have a lease on it.
Do you have two parking spots or one? Two parking spots, one car.
But we have a lot of guests who come over here. So we have friends that come visit. So it's nice to have a little guest spot. Anyway, thinking about getting a Tesla and people think, oh, Tesla's for rich. You can get a Tesla right now. I know I sound like a Tesla salesman for about what you can get a like reasonably equipped, you know, Toyota Corolla for a new Toyota Corolla.
I mean, you can get a Tesla for like three something a month. which is really low compared to what you can see across the car marketplace. Cars have been very expensive recently. Anyway, we have that.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of Tesla's political controversies?
They want to destroy it. We are not letting them do it, and we're united.
They're just a left-wing authoritarian party, Clay. That's really what the Democrats have become. They want to tell you what to do with everything, and they control everything, even though they're imbeciles.
I want Democrats to have to answer the question. And I know we're not very far away from April 15th, which is not a very happy day for a lot of our listeners out there. But what is a fair share? I pay 40% of my income to the federal government most years now. 40%, boom, I work until May, so I'm still working basically for the federal government. What would be a fair share?
We have an insanely, an insanely aggressive tax policy for people who actually pay taxes. First of all, and very few people talk about this, income taxes are only paid by about 50% of the United States population. So, first of all, right off the top, over, I think it's 51% of people don't pay a single dollar in federal income tax. Now, payroll taxes is different, right?
I'm talking about federal income taxes. And then a lot of you... You live in New York, you're listening to us right now. You live in California. You live in Illinois. Then you have to pay another 12% or 13% state income tax, and then that doesn't even get into what your property taxes are going to be or what your sales taxes are going to be. I mean, the government is taxing us like crazy.
I live in New York, too.
I haven't lived in New York in, what, going on three years now, two and a half years? And they still want me paying taxes there somehow. It's crazy, okay? The system we have is absolutely nuts.
I got taxed because Fox Sports is based in L.A., and I would travel a lot to L.A. to do television shows. And, Buck, I remember when they would take that money out of my paycheck.
It's by the day. It's by the work day. Same thing in New York City. Same thing, I think, in Utah, if I remember correctly. When I've been to Salt Lake City in the past, I've had to pay, like,
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Chapter 5: How are taxes impacting Americans today?
And I think a lot more people are looking around in the Doge era when we're recognizing how much money is wasted, and this conversation becomes even more paramount than it should be, which is it's important all year round and all the time, but I think Elon has elevated it.
There's also some big philosophical distinctions here that I think should be made. Clay, for example, as we have seen from the efforts of Elon and Doge, thank you, Trump, for putting them in the game to do this, every dollar of government spending is somehow sacred to Democrats. This is what we've seen. Have they actually said... On anything that Doge has done, look at what Doge has been finding.
Look at some of the ways that your money, you know, we talked about the transgender Muppet shows in Mongolia and all this stuff that's going on. Every dollar the government spends is both sacred and it's not enough. There always should be. You can never cut and there always should be more. Meanwhile, the American people whose hours, labor, creativity and effort are what is actually the economy.
This is the thing that Democrats in the government don't really understand. It's not that the government creates the economy. The government, if it's operating well, should create some of the guidelines, the rules of the road, and enforcement mechanisms for contracts within the economy.
But it is all of you listening who show up somewhere and build a good, provide a service, do something that is worthwhile to society, and you get money for that. That is the actual economy, the productive economy. And anybody within that who feels like the government, that every dollar is sacred and never isn't enough spending, if we say that something needs to change, that's terrible. Yes.
This whole thinking needs to be flipped on its head because... What are you really getting for your money with so many of these things? What is really worthwhile? Remember, we have a state government, too. The fact that Trump's about to shut the Department of Education, right? That executive order is going to come down and people go, oh, no, education.
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Chapter 6: What is the status of the Department of Education under Trump's administration?
The Department of Education has nothing to do with educating your children. All it does is make it worse and create a holding pen for boring bureaucrats that get paid to do nothing.
And we're wrong about everything COVID. I was reading Buck yesterday to credit of the New York Times, which has suddenly realized, hey, we screwed up everything with COVID. They had a story about Oakland area kids, Buck. And I've met a bunch of these kids as I've been traveling around and started to speak on some college campuses.
These kids in many parts of New York State and California and Illinois, but this particular kid's in Oakland, Buck. They shut down their schools on March 15th of 2020. They never came back to school if you were a junior. I don't know that we talk enough about how many kids out there, and I know some of you are listening to us right now.
I remember we had a caller from Utah, a young woman who was voting for the first time, 18-year-old, talking about how angry she and some of her classmates were. It was a great call. Good memory.
But, I mean, it hit me because can you imagine if you're out there listening to us right now, think about all the things that happen to you when you're 16, 17, and 18 years old and how embedded in an integral fashion so much of your life experience happens 16, 17, 18 years.
You remember, everybody out there, you'll remember things when you're 16 better than something that happened when you're 36, 46, or 56 because all the years start to run together. It imprints on you in an interesting way. Those kids went home in many parts of our country in March of 2020, and they never came back. You miss your junior year prom. You miss your junior year spring sports season.
You never return, Buck. The article in the New York Times talking about these kids came back at the end of May for graduation, and they had to be six foot distant, and they didn't even recognize each other. Because also, think about how much you change in that year and a half. They just all went home, and they never were in physical location together again.
i get angrier the more i think about it even though it's been five years and so i think for my you tell me that i have to cut checks it's one thing if i think the government's doing a great job it's another thing if i'm still furious about what they did in particular the department of education to keep our kids from being able to be in school
And they now are at the point where I think they're on the edge of seeing the Department of Education get officially shut down. There have already been cuts made. I know a judge is going to reverse it if he hasn't or she hasn't already, and they'll also reverse the shutdown.
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Chapter 7: Why is there criticism against Chuck Schumer's leadership?
I bet almost the entirety of the 2022-23 NBA season, all the regular season, then about half the playoffs. And I learned that, I mean, it's probably what I should have expected, but I learned that it's pretty hard. I went on a huge heater at the start of the NBA season where I was up like 70,000 bucks. I'm like, man, I'm really good at the sports betting stuff. But then things change.
Now that Marge Madness is upon us, we're talking bracket strategies and a whole lot more. Join us and listen to Risky Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We have our friend Ryan Groduski joining us at the bottom to talk about some data and particularly diving into what we learned about white college-educated women yesterday. They idolize Vladimir Zelensky. which is very strange for a lot of women who I think have probably, very likely, very few of them ever seen combat, know anything about war or the military, but they're all about Zelensky.
So the propaganda there has clearly, clearly been effective. We'll talk to Ryan about that. Democrats are turning on Schumer, which is not a surprise because they're in the panic phase of things. This is where in Lord of the Flies they all start sharpening sticks and just poking each other with them because they don't know what else to do and there's no real leadership. It's a great book.
You remember reading Lord of the Flies in school back in the day?
Lord of the Flies, Buck, is my argument. Everybody has one friend who reads one book and tries to analogize everything that ever happened. Not somebody who reads a lot of books. I had a buddy who read one book in his whole life, and it was Lord of the Flies, and he would try to analogize anything that happened to the one book that he had ever read, which was Lord of the Flies.
Well, that's like a lot of people now with Harry Potter. No offense, because I know you read a lot of other things, too, and you're a Harry Potter guy. But everything is Voldemort. Everything is the Quidditch. You know, Harry Potter became so dominant.
At least there are seven Harry Potters, although a lot of people didn't even read them. They just watched the movies.
I did neither. So there we go. I probably should get on that. Now, we have the Democrats turning at each other, turning on Schumer, and we've got all that happening. But I wanted to spend some time here on the war on Tesla and how it...
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Chapter 8: What are the economic impacts of rooting against major corporations like Tesla?
And you've got a couple of voices weighing in on this, defending the... Remember, it's not really about defending Elon personally. This is about the company. This is about Tesla, which is doing great things. It's innovating. It's employing people. It's making incredible products. There's so much about it. It's here in America. The cars are made here in America.
It's not some... We're not having some sweatshop somewhere putting together iPhones. Just saying. Again, I wish I could tell you I don't have an iPhone. I do, but it's because I don't like the other options, but I'm aware of what goes on here, right? It's not always perfect to make these kinds of choices. Kevin O'Leary, though, points out that Tim Walsh is a bozo. This is Mr. Wonderful cut nine.
I'm talking about Tim Walz and his comments about the Tesla stock. He says it gives him a boost to see that stock going down.
That poor guy didn't check his portfolio in his own pension plan for state. It's beyond stupid what he did. He's talking down a 3.5% weighting in his own pension plan. I mean, what's the matter with that guy? He doesn't check the well-being of his own constituents. That's their investment fund. What a bozo.
He's pointing out the economic illiteracy of somebody like it's in walls. Companies like Tesla are what have been moving the market in recent years, which means 401ks, which means pension plans. The growth of the major American corporations is lifting up the overall market. And even if you think, oh, I'm not in the market. Oh, no, you're in the market. Because it affects the cost of borrowing.
It affects the cost of your rent or your mortgage or the payments on your car or the credit card interest rates that you have. There is no escaping the market if you're operating in America today.
And to want companies, whether it's Tesla or NVIDIA or the magnificent seven stocks I'll talk about, when you root for those to fail, you're rooting actually for the American economy to feel pain and there to be less wealth in this country. And that's what they're doing because they don't like Elon because he's too nice to Trump.
And again, they're also rooting for climate change, which is like at its most basic level. Did you see this idiot astronaut, Mark Kelly, Senator from Arizona, went and traded in his Tesla and went and got a gas guzzling SUV to replace it? So what is the story that you support, right? I mean, again... I think part of being adulthood, you mentioned the iPhone.
Part of being an adult is recognizing that everybody's not going to agree with you on every single thing and still making decisions that are somewhat rational when it comes to products. I don't want my toilet paper to have a strong position on any political issue. I just want them to kind of make toilet paper that doesn't fail, right? That actually works.
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