The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Hour 2 - Clay Wants to Invest in Cuba

37 min
Feb 13, 20262 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton discuss strong economic indicators under Trump's administration, including 4.4% GDP growth and 2.4% inflation, while analyzing geopolitical implications of Venezuela's political shift on Cuba's imminent economic collapse. The hosts explore potential capitalist transformation of Cuba and debate the professionalization of acting versus athletics.

Insights
  • Venezuela's political instability is creating immediate economic pressure on Cuba through oil supply disruption, potentially triggering regime collapse within weeks rather than years
  • Strong macroeconomic metrics (GDP, inflation, stock market, border security) achieved in first year of second Trump term mirror Reagan-era economic patterns and suggest potential for sustained growth
  • Professional acting careers offer less tangible rewards and stability than commonly perceived, with production mechanics being tedious despite industry prestige elevation in 20th-21st centuries
  • Cuba's transformation to capitalism could unlock significant economic value for South Florida and Caribbean tourism industries, with historical precedent in cruise industry's current avoidance of Cuban ports
  • Political polarization in entertainment industry creates chilling effect where conservative-leaning actors self-censor to protect career viability
Trends
Geopolitical economic warfare through energy supply disruption as tool for regime change accelerationPotential for rapid authoritarian regime collapse when dependent economies lose critical resource suppliersDecentralization of celebrity influence and prestige as social media creates alternative pathways to fameConservative political expression becoming career liability in entertainment industryRenewed interest in paranormal/occult content among Gen Z audiences through YouTube and streaming platformsHorror film genre maintaining highest profit margins relative to production costs in entertainmentRemittances as critical lifeline for authoritarian regimes with failed economiesReal estate investment opportunities in post-authoritarian regime transitionsTourism industry dependency on geopolitical stability and energy infrastructureReagan-era historical parallels informing current Trump administration policy outcomes
Topics
US Economic Performance - GDP Growth and Inflation MetricsVenezuela Political Crisis and Maduro RegimeCuba Economic Collapse and Capitalist Transition PotentialUS-Mexico Energy Policy and Oil Supply PressureSouth Florida Economic Impact and Cuban DiasporaBorder Security and Immigration PolicyGovernment Employee Reduction and Federal WorkforceStock Market Performance and Investor ConfidenceCartel Activity and National Security ThreatsNancy Guthrie Kidnapping Case InvestigationActing Industry Economics and Career ViabilityHorror Film Genre ProfitabilityBell Witch Legend and Paranormal Content TrendsReagan Administration Historical ParallelsCruise Industry and Caribbean Tourism
Companies
Royal Caribbean
Cruise line operator that circles Cuba without docking, highlighting tourism potential of free Cuba
Carnival Cruise Line
Major cruise operator based in South Florida that avoids Cuban ports due to embargo restrictions
Blumhouse Productions
Horror film production company known for high-profit-margin horror content with minimal production costs
iHeart Media
Podcast network distributing The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
People
Donald Trump
President discussing economic metrics, Venezuela policy, and potential military operations against cartels
Claudia Shinebaum
President of Mexico pressured by Trump administration to restrict oil and gas supplies to Cuba
Nicolás Maduro
Venezuelan leader arrested in military operation with cascading economic effects on Cuba
Ronald Reagan
Historical parallel for Trump's second-term economic performance and geopolitical strategy
Andrew Jackson
Historical figure who visited Bell Witch haunting location, referenced in paranormal discussion
James Van Der Beek
Actor and baseball player discussed as example of humble entertainment industry professional
Ron Johnson
US Senator scheduled to discuss budget, sanctuary cities, and Senate committee hearings
Quotes
"We're a little bit over a year into Trump 2.0. 4.4 percent GDP at the end of the year. That's extraordinary. 2.4% inflation, record high stock market, lowest murder rate since 1900, most secure border in history, and a 10% decline in government employees."
Clay Travis
"Cuba would be if you really kind of put resources behind it... one of the most beautiful countries, I think, in the world. If we could turn Cuba into an actual capitalistic country, the amount of beautiful countryside beaches... Cuba would explode."
Clay Travis
"The idea that I would desperately care what somebody who sits around in a trailer and says the same line from 40 different angles thinks about politics."
Clay Travis
"Actors throughout history were like a step above clowns and prostitutes. And I'm not even sure a step above the clowns."
Buck Sexton
"My career ended pretty quick once President Trump was coming down the escalators. I was an avid voice, and Hollywood's like, well, we can't have this crazy MAGA guy in here."
Brian (caller/former actor)
Full Transcript
This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Suxton Show podcast. Welcome in, everybody. Second hour of Clay and Buck kicks off right now. And we just have some updates for you from President Trump, talking about a few issues that we wanted to bring to your attention. Now, the audio on this is not going to be perfection because it is near Marine One. but we will make sure that you want to play it for you. Here the president says, the best of our ability. And then we'll talk about some of these issues because he does discuss, of course, the latest economic numbers. I think the Trumpster's feeling pretty good about, as he should, he feels good and he knew that he would. It is, in fact, a strong economy. Here is Trump on, this is just moments ago, getting into Marine One, the helicopter. This is 24. Play it. Good financial numbers, very low inflation. We brought costs way down, and the numbers were surprising, except me. They weren't surprising. So the inflation numbers that just announced, as you know, are way down, and we have it back in track. We had the worst inflation in the history of our country, and now we have very modest inflation, which is what you want to have. Clay, it's all true. This is the reality. And you'll notice if it wasn't true, this is something you always have to remember about Trump. If what he was saying, if there was a ready rejoinder to it, if there was some other side of the coin that they could focus in on right away, we'd hear it. But no, these numbers are what they are, and they're all trending in the positive direction. Yeah, here's what I tweeted out a little bit ago in the wake of the inflation that Trump just hit. Sometimes I think it is hard because there's such a daily drumbeat of insanity that's happening in the country. It's sometimes hard to think big picture and you get kind of bogged down in the details. But just think about this. We're a little bit over a year into Trump 2.0. OK, 4.4 percent GDP at the end of the year. That's the latest GDP numbers we have. That's extraordinary. 4.4%. And there's rumors, Buck, as we have discussed on this program, that GDP might be 5% or better in 2026, which is unheard of. People say, you know, typically you want 2% or 3%. If you got 5% to get 4.4% is extraordinary. 2.4% inflation, that's the number that just came out this morning. Record high stock market. lowest murder rate since 1900, most secure border in history, and a 10% decline in government employees. That's honestly pretty extraordinary for year one. Now, I understand, and trust me, I'm sure the Trump administration understands there's more work to be done. But if I had told you that we were going to end 2025 at 4.4 percent GDP, 2.4 percent inflation, record high stock market, lowest murder rate since 1900, most secure border in history, and a 10 percent decline in government employees, I don't think that most of you would have believed that was possible. I don't. And by the way, I was asking the question because I do think there is a little bit of a historical echo 1992 versus 2026 democrats gained 26 seats in reagan 1982 the midterm of reagan uh and the senate basically didn't change at all and then in 1984 we had the landslide reagan election victory over mondale uh what did i jot down but democrats won the national popular vote in 1982 by 11. So if you had... Well, how'd they do in 86? I think 86 would be a better analogy to where we are now, because we're in the second term of Trump, and we just had a huge Trump win. The challenge, I think, Buck, is you got double Reagan terms, so I almost think we got two one-term Trumpers, right? So to me, the analogy, Trump won bigger in 24 than he did in 16. So to me, yeah, your 86 analogy is not a bad one. I'm sure that Ronald Reagan lost seats in the House and the Senate because I believe, and this is off the top of my head, I think in the modern era, only in 1998 and 2002 did the party in power gain seats in midterm elections. Usually the party in power loses seats and is on its back foot. Again, I think that's one of the challenges here. 2018 was a rough one for trump's first term unfortunately in the house as we recall uh and also unfortunately we've lost a number three should have won senate seats in georgia alone we gave up three senate seats in one state that when you go back and look at look at what happened there it was total own goals by the republicans uh in every sense in every one of those uh but let's get back to trump here what he's saying uh because some some questions about national security here about potential strikes on colombia venezuela and even mexico against the cartels this is 25 let's hear what he said what about it don't worry about it uh it's a very trump answer he goes more here though clay this is 26 he says he's gonna have to go to venezuela himself that will be really interesting play 26 then we had a good meeting with colombia And Venezuela still very much remains to be seen how successful the aftermath of the Maduro arrest is really a military operation, but they have arrested him. He's in federal court now sitting in federal prison. So we'll see where that ends up going, Clay. But that's something that I think the president is going to have to focus in on and drive some of that policy himself. Not only that, Buck, you're you're down in South Florida. I'm up on the panhandle, so I'll be in the panhandle for the weekend up in North Florida, which I love it here. But Cuba, we have not talked a great deal about Cuba as a major reverberation of the operation that took place in Venezuela. I don't know if you read this, Buck, but there is so little fuel now in Cuba because Venezuela used to be providing a lot of the oil and gas to allow Cuba to exist. Trump has put pressure on Mexico and Feinbaum, Shinebaum. Feinbaum is a friend of mine. Shinebaum, who's the president of Mexico. Not to be confused with Feinbaum. Very different. Shinebaum and Feinbaum, two different people. One talks about Southeastern Conference football, is a friend of mine. The other is the president of Mexico, Claudia Shinebaum. he has basically put pressure on Mexico not to continue to give oil and gas to Cuba either, such that the places that fly into Cuba, and evidently there's a lot of Russian tourism and a lot of Spanish tourism. People still go to Cuba from Europe. They don't have enough gas to be able to fly in and refuel at Cuban airports. So they're basically having to fly and refuel in other countries and start to pull their tourists out. In other words, why do I bring this up? Cuba is within weeks of a complete economic collapse. And I don't know that a lot of people have focused on this, but one of the primary impacts of what happened in Venezuela has actually been what's taking place in Cuba. And it is possible, I say possible, that after, what is it, 79 years, basically 69 years, whatever the math is, since Fidel Castro came into power, it's possible that Cuba could be really, truly collapsing and freedom could be returning to Cuba on some level. I think it's actually been under the radar. A lot of people focused on Venezuela and there's the oil story there and everything else. But maybe the more immediate outcome might well be the collapse of the Cuban government and some forms of market-based economy returning to Cuba after generations where that was not allowed And in South Florida I bet this is a major topic of conversation but Cuba could be an absolute jewel of the global economy if they would just embrace capitalism. It's a beautiful country. It is surrounded by thriving Caribbean countries that particularly have taken advantage of sort of economic resource allocations, meaning the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands and some of these countries that have allowed businesses to be based there with low tax rates, I think Cuba would explode. And there is an argument that it could be utterly transformative to South Florida in many ways for the economic conditions there, because Cuba, in any way, embracing capitalism would take off. Have you ever been on a cruise? You ever been on a cruise ship? I have not. I am not a cruise guy. It doesn't surprise me. But the last cruise I went on was the Disney cruise with my kids. They loved it. Five people in one tiny little cruise cabin. Not ideal. We were all five in the same place. We went right by Cuba so close, Buck, that you could see all of the spires and all of the buildings of Havana as we were passing. If you go look at the cruise industry in general, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, whatever you want to point to, the entire cruise industry by and large, at least based in the South, in Florida, they just circle Cuba. That's all they do. They just go to all of the beautiful islands around Cuba. I don't think people understand how transformative a free Cuba would be. A lot of people have forgotten, you know, Cuba was Las Vegas. Havana was where people would hop on fast boats and head down to Havana. Look at Godfather Part II. That was the whole thing. Hey. I think that we are potentially seeing with Cuba, Venezuela, we'll see what happens with Iran. Again, the echo of the Reagan era with Trump. I don't think most people are realizing how quick the capitulation and collapse of Cuba could really be. We're on the precipice of that happening right now. There will be something really full circle about that moment when the incredible gleaming tower of Trump International Caracas goes up and Trump International Havana goes up. You know? Yeah. Not impossible. I would even say I give it 50-50 that at some point it happens in both those places. I don't think it's crazy at all. Let me ask you this because I know Venezuelans are already having these conversations. How many people go back? America's an awesome place, right? The idea has been the Cubans toast and they say next year in Havana, all these things. How many people? I know there'd be a lot of cross-pollination. I think very few. Yeah. Very few. People don't like to necessarily admit that until they have to make that decision, but America's America. It's pretty awesome here. Yeah. South Florida's really nice. Yeah, Venezuela could get better, but Caracas is a long way from being South Beach, my friends, and that's not going to change anytime soon. And Havana, I mean, they basically can't keep the power on in Havana right now at all. But if you're an illegal and you're here, guess what? It'd be a good time to go back. I will say this. I'd like to invest. I'd like to put a lot. If we could turn Cuba into an actual capitalistic country, the amount of beautiful countryside beaches, it's one of the most beautiful countries, I think, in the world. I mean, Cuba would be if you really kind of put resources behind it. There's a lot of Cuban money. I'm curious how much of that money would eventually go back. You know, the remittances is basically the only reason Cuba has an economy at all right now is people giving money back to their family members who still live in Cuba. So anyway, I just want you to put a pin in that story. I know some of you who are Cuban South Floridians are paying more attention to it. the biggest impact of what we did to Maduro in Venezuela may actually be occurring in Cuba in the short terms. And we'll continue to talk about that. I know we have a huge listenership in South Florida. Buck and I like to have fun with 80s and 90s throwback. Lots of memories. Guess what? Recorded back in the day on old school camcorders. And lots of us from that generation, VHS tapes, old photo albums, priceless memories. Heck, just about, how about, you thought how cool it would be to share some of your old high school photos with some of your friends from high school? These were pre-digital photos that are out there floating around. They aren't easy to be distributed. That's what Legacy Box can do. They can take your old eight millimeters. They can take your old family photos that have been hanging on the walls, that maybe were in the attic, that were in the garage, and they do a tremendous job. Over 200 technicians, their job is to bring your memories into the 21st century. Legacy Box, simple and safe solution for digitizing old media. You order one of their specialty-made shipping boxes, send off the tapes, film photos to Legacy Box, and their team will digitize everything by hand to ensure your memories are safely handled. You get your original media back, and man, it's like opening a time machine. time capsule. It's awesome. We've relied on Legacy Box with great results. Memories matter. Your family will love reliving all those great moments. Go to LegacyBox.com slash Clay for 50% off today. They do a great job down in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I've toured their facility. They'll go to LegacyBox.com slash Clay. we'll continue to update this story even though uh we don't really know much of what frankly has happened and what's going on but president trump on his way to the helicopter on the south lawn of the white house was asked do you think the cartels might be at all involved in the nancy guthrie state case. Here is his answer. Cut 27. I think Trump is actually right there. And the problem is that he's talking about the illustrating. We really have no idea either. This is what we said, either this was a clear calculated attempt to kidnap someone with a goal of getting back millions and dollars in ransom which is one pathway or this could be just a totally psychotic person who convinced themselves that this was necessary to be done and it's hard to even logically trace any of their decision making regardless we're coming up on two weeks now of this story dominating the news cycle. And really, we still have virtually no actual information out there about it. I mean, we've talked about it as we've tried to on the show as some of the reports have come out. But here we sit, what, 12 days after her kidnapping? And there's still not very much knowledgeable information that is actionable in any way out there. Yeah, I mean, you have the president saying, really, it could be anything at this point. and I think he's pretty up to speed on what's going on here. So I still am of the mindset that it's a very hard thing to do. He was asked whether it was a cartel connection. Very hard to pull off this kind of a crime and stay in the U.S. and release the person. I think it would be very, very challenging to do that. So I'm not sure where that leads us, but that's just my first sense on this. There's been a play. people are deeply fascinated by this. There's a lot of coverage of it going on everywhere. What's kind of remarkable is how little new information there is, given the amount of coverage there is. So we continue to watch this, but we really, there's that, the photos are out, and that's where we are. Really not much beyond that. All right, look, power outages happen, particularly when there's severe weather. Suddenly you're cut off from the people you care about most, unless you have a set of rapid radios at the ready. 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For those of us who grew up in a certain region, I don't think it was well known. We were told don't screw around with the Bell Witch. Have you ever heard of the Bell Witch legend? B-E-L-L. They kind of based, you remember the movie, the handheld movie back in the day. uh i mean blair real talk here for a second real talk here clay we're friends did you have a banjo growing up like i feel like i did they made the they based the blair witch project to a certain extent on some of the legacy of the bell witch but back in the day when the bell witch was the one that we focused on the most and actually the bell what's the story of the bell witch i don't know anything tell me bell witch is very famous. In fact, Andrew Jackson, back in the day, went to the home where the Bell Witch was supposedly haunting. And there's a Bell Witch cave, which you can still tour. I think it's kind of had a new life on YouTube, because there's a lot of these kids, you know this, that go to the most haunted places and just take their own personal YouTube paraphernalia, film it. It's super popular. I know they've done television shows about this, but there's a certain genre of it on YouTube that my teenage boys have ended up following that has gotten a lot of attention. And so there's been, pardon the term, a resurrection of some of these old sort of ghost stories back in the day that have found a new life on social media, the internet. I think well-written. I'm not a horror genre guy in general, but a lot of it, too. First of all, the older I get, actually, the less I'm okay with, like, really extreme violence in movies and things. I just, I don't want that negativity, like, entering my consciousness and my sphere. So, anything that, I don't like the slasher genre is what I'm saying. The more occult, it's eerie, the writing, that stuff, I think can be very well done. and I think is far more effective as actual horror than the like, you know, guy with like the Friday, the classic. They don't really make those movies anymore, but the Slasher films back in the day, Slasher films, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Michael Myers. That was a huge genre for a while because dollars in dollars out, it may still be the case. I know it was the case that horror movies were the most profitable genre of film to be involved in. Think about it. What are your costs? Like fake blood? You know, a hockey mask? Yeah, the Bloom, I think it's Jason Blumhouse has made a, it might be Blumhouse. I've read all about it. You're still right. The horror universe is the most profitable. Let me give you a couple of things here. The Conjuring movies are incredible. Have you watched the Conjuring movies? I have not seen those. I have not seen them. I think you would like them because they're basically, it's about a husband and a wife. They are so well done. And it's really about their marriage as much, but they are they're basically exorcists. They're investigating on behalf of religion the idea of evil in the world. And I'm sure they're Hollywooded up, but they're based in reality on this husband and wife couple that this is what they did. They went and they investigated evil of a of a vile nature from a religious perspective. And the movies are supremely popular. That actually sounds like it's pretty good. Like, it sounds like an interesting premise. They are really well done. I don't know what percentage of this audience would have watched them. They're scary. Was there ever a movie that you watched when you were younger as a kid that was so scary that you had to turn it off? Or, like, you're like, I can't sit. I can't do this? Oh, it's Friday the 13th. I mean, sorry. Really? No, sorry. Nightmare on Elm Street. When I was a little kid, because Freddy came to you while you were sleeping. So if you were a kid and you got in bed and you had a wild imagination, like I did, and you would be trying to go to sleep and you would think, I mean, that was what made, I think, the Nightmare on Elm Street movies so particularly well done, was they were going to get you when you went to sleep. So you weren't even safe once you fell asleep. That was the danger. Let me give you The Conjuring are really good since it's Friday the 13th. Scream movies. I still really like the Scream movies. I think those are more crime thriller than they are horror. There's nothing super nasty. It's really just a serial killer. Yeah, I mean, it's typically stabbing. So, I mean, it's kind of nasty in the sense that you're getting stabbed with a knife. Yes, stabbing is not, I'm not going to say, as a genre. But they're not supremely gory, to your point. So they're coming out with a new Scream, Scream 7. This is the seventh version of it. So I would say, to a large extent, you're right. Would you make a cameo, Mr. Thespian, in Scream 7? People are coming after me. People think that acting is awesome. That's what I thought. I was like, man, there's nothing cooler than being in a movie. It's really boring. You sit in like your little, you know, on set. You go out. You do the same thing 40 different times from 80 different angles. I was like, this is not as fast-paced as I thought it would be. My mom is going to chuckle right now. But before she had to just do the mom thing full time, when she was early on married to my dad, she she was on a soap opera doctors, which I told you about for a season. She was a she was a cast regular for a season. She was the starring role in a Hallmark movie, Summer of my German Soldier. She was in and I mean, these were real like, you know, kind of. So was she the one who dated the German soldier? Yeah. Yeah. She was the love interest for the German soldier. Yeah. and and so she was in a number of these things so she did she was a working actress like a person that was making a living acting she says it's work it's brutal it's a brutal profession because it's so fickle and it was work it's not all the stuff that people think about the like red carpet and everything else that's the very end process that's that's signing the books at barnes and noble my very limited yeah that's yeah my very limited time as involved in doing acting and again I've only done it in the context of being an adult. I love that you're even talking about you doing acting. You played yourself. Come on. Come on. I played myself, but I have to say, I did an incredible job playing the role of Clay Travis. Playing Clay Travis. This is hilarious. That's really very funny. I had never thought that I've only played myself in film and movie. I don't think I've ever played anybody else. With this mustache, there's no telling who I could play. But my point on it is having done a limited amount of it, the idea that we give credence to actors. I spent one day in a trailer, you know, like everybody goes and sits in their trailers or whatever. First time I ever did it. And I was like, why have I ever cared what anybody who did this for their for a living? I'm not saying, look, there's great, you know, art that can be produced, all those things. But the idea that I would desperately care what somebody who sits around in a trailer and says the same line from 40 different angles thinks about politics. I remember having that revelation where I thought it was way more challenging and impressive of a thing to do until I did it. Clay, this is where I get to remind everybody. This is where the history nerd comes out. Actors throughout history were like a step above clowns and prostitutes. Yeah. And I'm not even sure a step above the clowns. like actors for thousands of years going back to ancient Greece were kind of a disreputable bunch and it was really only with the rise of cinema in the 20th century and then I would say in our I think actors and music acts in our lifetime were elevated to their absolute pinnacle of prestige and power and I think in the last decade we have seen a dramatic decline because there's also so many other ways and so many other people who get famous now because of the online world we live in So it has dispersed a lot But I wanted to go back to horror for a second So you said Friday the 13th movies were scary What is Nightmare on Elm Street? Scary. That was the one that I couldn't sleep after watching. Friday the 13th was fine. But Nightmare on Elm Street was the one that I was like, I'm terrified of. Whenever one of these movies would come on, even if it was flashed on for a second, if I was, my dad was around, he was always like, I would just take my double out book and I'd finish this guy. He was always like, Jason's not that scary. I'd take my 45. That guy would be toast. I'm like, yeah, but that's not really the point. But anyway, tell me, for you, the scariest movie that you have ever seen is? That really hits the peak of the sort of fear center in your brain when you're watching that movie. For me, there is one. What is your answer? My mom read to be in the movie as the starring role, by the way. Oh, wow. Yeah. What was the movie for you? The Exorcist, no question. Number one, still by far, The Exorcist. So I watched Paranormal Activity, and I was afraid to go to sleep after watching it. This has probably been like 15 years ago. I was a grown-up. I mean, back in the day when I was a kid, it was Freddy Krueger, but I watched, I think it was Paranormal Activity, and my wife and kids, and again, this was like 15 years ago, were out of the house and I was sleeping in the house by myself. So I went to go watch the movie by myself. My kids were out of town. My wife was out of town. And then I came back home and I turned on every light in the house and I barricaded the bedroom door before I went to sleep that night. As an adult? Oh, yeah. I was probably. yeah oh yeah dude i was probably seriously i was probably probably 30 probably it was about 15 years ago not now i know i love the one doing all the firearms training laura laura's laura's on the ball with the firearms training i turned on every light in the house and uh and i put something in front of the bedroom door that that was 30 i watched the paranormal activity movie it was really really scary wasn't that the most successful financial again not most there's not the most money that's like avatar in these big movies but dollars in dollars out as a percentage of profits nothing to make and it was insanely profitable as a hit uh i always my story about the blair witch project is i was a junior counselor so i think i was like 16 at a at a at a camp in vermont and when it would rain, it was all outdoor stuff. We had these little, when it would rain, what do we do? We'd go into Burlington, we'd go into town, and we'd go to a movie. And the older counselor, who was like 19 or 20, who was like the main counselor, he was a crazy guy from New Zealand who was definitely like a little nuts. And he was like, Oi, let's go take the kids to the Blair Witch Project. And I was like, they're like 14, dude. Like, you really were going to take all these 14-year-old kids to the Blair Witch Project? He was the adult who were in a camp. I was still in a camp. And he almost, I will tell you, he almost got fired and, like, sent home over it. Because I actually, I'm not just saying this now. I was like, I think, I'm not going to say his name, but I was like, I think, dude, this is not a good idea. And he's like, oh, he basically pulled rank on me. He's like, that's fine. These kids will be good. Let's go. And I was like, I don't know. Clay, we had to go back to a dark, rainy campsite that night. and the kids, the 13 and 14 year old kids were shaking like leaves after watching. Oh, I don't doubt that at all. That seems like, by the way, Brian in Florida is with us. He's a former actor. I mean, if let me put it this way, if you're a professional baseball player or a basketball player, football player, it's awesome. Right. A perfect that that job is really cool. You get to play games, golfer, whatever it is like, I can see why people would aspire to it. I've gotten to cover it. I've thought to myself, this would be something really fun to do. I'm not kidding. Acting, I don't think, would be a very fun job. That's why most actors are weirdos. But, Brian, go ahead. Yes. First of all, you guys got me cracking up. You brought up Jason Blum. I actually did productions with Jason Blum. But, Clay, I will say, I chased both of those dreams. I was a college athlete. I did try to pursue playing Major League Baseball. I fell short. I was a little older. I went out of high school to the military. but I was doing like modeling down in Miami where Buck is before as a teenager then got into business and then when I came home from the military I was like oh let me go I you know went to junior college in LACC started playing ball and then I was doing my Hollywood stuff and and you're so right like I I was just caught up in it trying to chase the dream really for my family and then you learn like these people are a bunch of communist idiots and demonic and and And it was just, yeah, it's not fun. It's not like how they put on that perspective of, oh, it's such a – it's highly – no, man, it's brutal. Everything you guys were saying was whited on the money. And low-key, when I – well, let me tell you, I played on a baseball league with James Van Der Beek. He was very kind. He was a very humble man. He actually never acted like he was better than anybody. He was a shortstop on our team. I was first base. And so you kind of talk to these guys a little, and you – like me, I was kind of open about being a conservative. I didn't care. Like my career ended pretty quick once President Trump was coming down the escalators. I was an avid voice, and Hollywood's like, well, we can't have this crazy MAGA guy in here. And then I ran – when I found out really the undercover is when I ran for United States Congress during the China virus in 2020, and I was never wearing a mask in California. I would have a lot of these actors, like, send me a message, bro, like, that's awesome, man. Like, I can't really come out publicly and support you because my career would be over. But, like, go for it. But you guys are so right. You guys are cracking me up because it is. Like, I wanted to be a baseball player. That was my, like, like you said, Clay, you're out there playing ball. You're playing a game, doing something you love to do. Acting, yeah, it's fun being different characters and different things like that. But like you said, you're sitting sometimes on the set for hours, bro. Like, you're seeing, you're seeing like, oh, let's cut. And then we got to do it again. And then you didn't even get to really get in there. And then you got to wait again for that scene. And sometimes the actor could not even say this stupid line or two, right? Then they got to cut that. And then you're waiting for them to redo the lighting. Or even if you're outside, then you got to wait for the lighting even outside to get. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the call. Look, if you could do a scene one time and be done with it, I would say, okay, this is better. I can understand why doing a Broadway play would be pure because you do it for two hours. That's it. You're gone. But the actual production of movies for people who dream of being an actor in Hollywood and stuff like that, the actual mechanics of it in my limited experience is awful. Look, how many throw blankets are too many in winter? I'm down here in Florida right now. And guess what we have? a bunch of Cozy Earth cuddle blankets. North Florida. It's not as warm as where Buck is down in South Florida. And this is one of the softest, most luxurious items Cozy Earth makes. Over Thanksgiving, my sister came in. We had one on the couch. She put it on, like covered herself with it and said, oh my God, this is unbelievable. She went online and bought it right then and there. She had no idea that we did ads for them because cuddle blankets are just that awesome. And by the way, how incredible is the name? Cuddle Blankets. Valentine's Day coming up. We can have some fun with that. CozyEarth.com. Plentiful qualities. Variety of colors. Totally risk-free. 100-day money-back guarantee. 10-year warranty. Go online to CozyEarth.com. Use my name, Clay, to get up to a 20% discount on their cuddle blanket. And if you get a post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about CozyEarth right here. One more time. cozyearth.com promo code clay to get the discount on the purchase that's cozyearth.com promo code clay when we come back we got all fired up there we'll have senator ron johnson on with us to talk about the budget sanctuary cities and his big battle yesterday in senate committee hearings all that and more final hour of the week coming up next on Clay and Buck. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.