The lead event is Sean Hannity's special Patriot Awards broadcast, which features bestselling author and Outkick founder Clay Travis. Sean frames their discussion around Clay's new book, "Balls: How Trump, Young Men, and Sports Saved America," highlighting how sports act as a unifying force above politics while also exploring the intersection of culture, masculinity, and politics in America. Guest Clay Travis dives deep into why he believes sports are the last meritocratic institution and how the politicization of athletics parallels broader societal shifts. This matters because, as Sean and Clay explain, issues like identity politics, the erosion of traditional manhood, and the future of political movements are all at stake and the answers may reside in unexpected places like the scoreboard and locker room.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hour two, Sean Hannity Show, 800-941, Sean is a number if you want to be a part of the program.
So here we are.
We have the Patriot Awards tonight.
It is sold out.
It is going to be spectacular.
Melania Trump will be here.
Erica Kirk will be here.
Jason Aldean is here.
He's in the house.
And we have the greatest lineup of American heroes you could ever want to that you'd ever want to know in your life.
So pleased and honored to have all of my colleagues, my friends, among them Clay Travis.
You know, he founded Outkick, the most influential sports media site on the internet and the co-host of the extraordinarily successful Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show and the author of five books.
He now has beaten me by one, Dixie Land Alight on Rocky Top, Republicans Buy Sneakers 2, American Playbook.
And his new book is just out today.
It's called Balls, How Trump, Young Men and Sports Saved America, which I agree with.
My friend Clay Travis, so glad to have you on the show.
Every once in a while, our studios, when I used to be in New York, his studio was next to my studio, and I jump in with, you know, him and Buck, and we just start shooting the Adam Schiff.
And we had a great time together, always.
And he's been great on TV.
He's been great on Fox.
And I consider him now a close friend.
Sean, that's an incredible introduction.
Let me continue the praise a little bit.
I think you are the most successful and influential person in the history of television.
I know nobody will brag on this, but it's hard.
That's a big statement.
No, no, no.
Think about it.
In our lives, it's hard to do.
First of all, people know this, but I don't think they really think about it that much.
It's really hard to do television well.
And it's really hard to do television well for, and I'm not trying to date you here, Sean, because I think you started when you were 15, but what is it like 35 years straight?
You've been doing a show now.
I mean, it really is.
I don't even think you were born when I started on radio.
Let me put it that way.
1987, if you can believe it.
What year were you born?
79.
I'm the oldest Gen X. You're the oldest Gen X.
Well, I'm still part of the great.
Well, I don't know.
What am I?
I'm a baby boomer.
I'm barely.
You're Sean Hannity.
I think that goes without anything.
Yeah, there you go.
I got to tell you, so you and Buck were one day talking about me on the air.
And Clay and I just have a fun relationship.
And it actually came up on TV last night.
And Clay loves sports.
He's got an encyclopedic knowledge of sports.
I love it, but not as much as he does.
Him and my son and Stephen A. Smith, you put them in a room.
They're not coming out for 48 straight hours.
And they're going to go back and forth and just be one-upping each other the whole way.
And so, but over the years, I've had a number of bets with Clay, and he's yet to win one.
And you were talking about it on the air.
It was funny.
Let me play it.
Phoenix, K-F-Y-I also love the state of Arizona.
Great place.
Yeah, this is true, but listen to her.
Hey, Clay.
Was listening to Hannity the other day, and he said that he's made several bets with you, and you haven't paid up at all.
Can you comment?
I owe Sean a lot of money.
It's true.
I mean, you can flip this.
They can play it.
They can play it on Hannity.
I owe Sean hundreds of dollars.
I think he's won every sports bet with me.
And it's been convenient.
I don't carry a lot of cash.
How do I know this?
Sean Hannity is smoking the outkick guy when it comes to sports bets.
I've lost a lot of bets with Sean.
I owe him hundreds of dollars.
And it is funny.
Every time I see him, I'm like, I just don't have a lot of cash.
I do not typically carry a lot of cash, but he's not lying when he says that I owe him and that so far I haven't paid him.
I got hundreds of dollars.
You should have to like join him in their New York City studio next time you're in New York and pay up on air, Clay.
I'd be happy to make amends.
He's dodging New York City like you are, though, now.
He's got his studio down in Florida.
And you're dodging it too.
What are you talking about?
You're in Tennessee.
Now, the thing is, I do it for kicks and giggles.
I never really, and it was never a real bet to me, but it's just fun.
And you're like, all right, 500 bucks, thousand bucks.
By the way, it's not hundreds.
It's thousands.
But, you know, not that I'm keeping school.
Not that I'm counting.
I love your encyclopedic knowledge of sports.
I love your insight into politics.
Where did this passion all come from?
Because this really dovetails into the new book.
By the way, we're putting it up on Hannity.com, Balls, How Trump, Young Men, Sports Saved America, Amazon.com, Hannity.com.
As of today, in bookstores now all around the country.
Where did this passion come from?
Yeah, it's a really good question.
And I've always been a huge sports fan.
And the thing that I love about sports is when your team wins or your team makes a basket, you don't think about the race, the gender, the ethnicity or how someone voted around you in the stadium or the arena.
You're all united in a common tribe and you turn around and you give high fives to everybody.
And I got an idea here for you, Sean, because I think it's true.
Nobody's beat it.
The last trusted source that everybody in America believes in is the scoreboard.
And why is that?
Because we try to get it right.
If somebody steps on the line for a three-pointer, we go review it.
Did they get their feet in or not for a touchdown?
Everybody starts at zero.
The clock does not change for anybody.
It's the ultimate meritocracy.
It's the best man or woman wins.
And when I saw Trump win, and he did such a great job of wedding sports, you know, the Leah Thomas, the book opens with Leah Thomas, a six foot three man winning an NCAA women's championship wearing a swimsuit.
To me, it was the culmination of woke identity politics taking over sports.
And I've been covering this because I used to just be a guy who would talk about sports.
And then it really started about 2014.
And Sean, when I went back and really thought about it, it was Michael Sam.
If you remember him, he was an NFL player, but the only reason people covered him was because he was gay.
And prior to that, you get a lot of attention, but all of our coverage went to the talented athlete.
Not to say there might not be drama or extenuating circumstances off the field, but it was the best quarterbacks or the best hitters or the best pitchers or whoever it was in field of play that we would cover.
And that was when for me, they started trying to take over sports.
And I think it was all about winning culture and recognizing that a lot of young men, you find them in sports.
It's harder to get people to come to where you are.
You have to go to where they are.
And I saw what they were trying to do.
They were trying to take over sports.
And it turned to me, sports into another form of politics.
And I just couldn't shut up about it.
And obviously then we led into Colin Kaepernick and then the Trump era and COVID and everything else.
And they became inextricably intertwined, which is a big part of this book.
And obviously the other thing is you've got a son.
I've got three boys.
Manhood's under attack in a way that we've never seen.
And I think we have to make being a man good again in the culture.
And that's a huge part of this book, too, getting men to recognize that masculinity is not toxic at all and that we need more of it, not less of it.
I can't disagree with you in any way.
And by the way, as part of Alkik, I have come to really like and admire Riley Gaines.
She's amazing.
And she's amazing.
And like Charlie Kirk and like Turning Point USA, they go into these hostile environments and she's been through a lot.
They put her through a lot.
And what happened, I mean, she tied Leah Thomas.
She tied her in that race.
And then they said, oh, we're just going to give it to this person.
And I'm like, no, that's not how it works.
You just don't pick the one you like and make the politically correct choice.
I do believe that all of this combined led to the backlash in 24 and the election of Trump.
I also believe that they overreached by so much.
And you go into this in your book and you explain how Democrats are alienating men and why Trump really won.
That is a big part of the equation.
It is the equation, I think.
And the question that the book also grapples with is how do we grow it going forward?
You know, this book really idea came out, Sean.
I went to talk at the University of Chicago and it was about gender in the 2024 election.
And you should have seen it.
I'm sure you've talked at some of these places, but you have to go sometimes to audiences where you're the bad guy.
And I said on stage, I said, there are no masculine Democrats.
And men were super impressed with Trump, especially after Butler, Pennsylvania.
It was impossible not to think that guy is a badass when he stood up like that and screamed fight, fight, fight.
And I think he won the election on that day.
I think that moment is going to resonate for long after the life of anybody listening right now.
But I said, who's the most masculine Democrat?
Chuck Schumer?
Is it Mayor Pete?
And the moderator there cut me off, Sean.
And she said, but Trump's like a grandpa.
And I said, yeah, grandpa who took a bullet to the ear.
But a lot of kids reached out to me after that and they said, she saw that as an insult.
And all these kids emailed me after that went viral, Sean, and they said, no, no, no, no.
I look up to my grandpa more than anyone in the world.
And that's what we need.
We need strong male figures that are role models.
What she saw as an insult.
Oh, Trump's like a grandpa.
All these young men, they look at Trump and they see him as an aspirational avatar of masculinity.
Not that he's perfect, but a strong male figure who has taken care of his family.
And honestly, he's trying to take care of as much as he can with the country.
And so it's funny.
When I finished that, by the way, you'll like this.
My wife said, how did it go?
And I said, the crowd at the end, it was like I had just ripped the head off a kitten.
Like they were just sitting there in stunned silence.
And I didn't know how it was going to play, but it went viral on the internet.
It did not.
They did not love what I said in that room.
All right, quick break.
Right back.
We'll continue on with my friend Clay Travis.
His brand new book is out today.
It's called Balls, How Trump, Young Men, and Sports Saved America.
We've got a link on Hannity.com.
It's on Amazon.com.
And of course, bookstores all around the country.
And don't forget the Patriot Awards tonight.
Just watch on FoxNation.com.
We've got such a great show.
Anyway, more with Clay Travis on the other side.
Then your call's coming up, 800-941-SHAWN as we continue.
Radio show you don't want to miss.
All right, we
continue now with our friend Clay Travis, who's with us.
By the way, his brand new book is out today.
It's on Hannity.com, Amazon.com, bookstores around the country.
Balls, How Trump, Young Men, and Sports Saved America.
You know, one of the things after the assassination of Charlie, I went back and I watched videos of him and Erica.
And then you can count people like Riley Gaines and all the young people that are participants now in the growing exponentially turning point.
And what they do is so remarkable because they enter that hostile environment where you would think that kids maybe learn about comparative religions or God.
And they'd go in there, they would challenge conventional beliefs.
Maybe shocking to kids that never heard.
Hookup culture may not be the choice you want to make in your life.
Look, I think all you just hit on is a huge part of what we're talking about in the book because there's a sense, I think, for young men and young women that things aren't working.
And how do we get back to a society where men respect women and women respect men, but men don't want to be effeminate men and women don't want to be masculine women because what that does is actually divide us.
You can be equal and different.
And that's what makes unions between men and women work.
We can be equal, but we don't have to be the same.
And I think when you talk about Riley Gaines and so many people out there that are going and speaking on these campuses, and I try to do it as much as I can too through the prism often of sports, Sean, is finding those students there, the manosphere is out there.
They're going to find someone to emulate, someone to follow.
If you're wondering about the world that your kids are in, you've got two kids, Sean.
I've got three, 17, 15, and 11.
All three of mine are boys.
This book is about trying to see the world through their eyes and project what the world can be like if we deliver correctly as men and women.
And if we can build on the win that Trump had in 24, because as good as any president is, they're only as good as the number of wins that they can string together after their term as well in terms of other elections.
And so I think people are really going to like this book, Sean.
I want to get it on the New York Times list because I want it in the front of bookstores.
That's why we have one on the New York Times list.
And by the way, I now have my copy.
I had somebody on my team go to the local bookstore and buy it.
And I'm reading it now as we speak.
I urge everyone to get it.
It's called Balls, How Trump, Young Men, and Sports Saved America.
It will make you think you're going to learn a lot.
It breaks through conventional, politically correct thinking.
It's on Hannity.com.
If you want to order a copy, it's on Amazon.com.
If you want to order a copy, it's in bookstores now around the country.
And I have the pleasure of seeing Clay tonight.
I'm looking forward to seeing you, hanging with you.
And my best also to Buck Sexton, who's a great guy.
And congrats on all of your success.
I hope people get the book today.
Yeah, just one downside.
That's all amazing.
You know, I forgot my wallet again, Sean.
I'm not looking for the money.
I never really missed the woman.
I was just bringing it.
I meant to bring it.
I don't know how it happened to get it.
You know who always wins sports fantasy leagues?
My son.
Yeah, he's great.
He like wins, you know, he's in like five leagues.
He doesn't bet, by the way.
He's not a gambler, but he just does sports fantasy, and he's so good at it.
It's unreal.
Now, your son is awesome.
And I just wish I had the money.
I really feel bad about it.
But yeah, go get the book.
Maybe eventually I'll have money to pay Sean off.
Maybe you'll autograph the book and we'll call it even.
Well, that's definitely not a good deal for you.
But in all seriousness, you're killing it.
I'm glad to call you a friend, and I'll see you tonight.
Same here, brother.
All right.
Stephen Colbert.
Not funny.
You know what?
Why he got fired?
I have no idea.
No conservative that I know ever came out and said, fire Stephen Colbert.
Nobody watches him.
And he actually goes, I guess, on a podcast somewhere.
I have no idea where he was.
I showed it on TV last night.
I am more conservative than people think.
Clay Travis made a good point.
Follow-up question.
Tell me where you're conservative.
But here's where I would argue I call complete BS on this.
When Joe Biden didn't know what day of the week it was, hello, couldn't utter two sentences together, was a complete incoherent cognitive mess.
I don't remember Colbert doing what we did pretty much every day and every night, and that is play Joe Biden in his own words, showing his significant radical cognitive decline.
But he says he's more conservative than people think.
Well, that was what you'd call free material.
And I hate to say this.
You know, I'm sorry, New York City, that Kami Marx's Mamdani won, but I'm going to be blunt.
You know what?
That's called free material for me on a daily basis.
Every time Jasmine Crockett speaks, every time Bernie, Grandpa Bernie speaks, every time the squad speaks, that's called, oh, show prep.
And so anyway, here's him trying to make this case.
You think, you know, old, you know, people perceive me as this sort of lefty figure.
I think I'm more conservative than people think.
I just happen to be talking about a government in extremis.
And so what I'm giving you is my reaction video to the day.
And my reaction video is like, you know, it's like the screen.
I'm not sure of what other reaction would be an honest one.
It's hard to have a balanced reaction to the idea of troops on the street of a city that actually is not undergoing an invasion.
No, but it's not something you want to react to, a president even before he's elected in 2020.
They're all men and women created by the thing, the thing.
Joe God, the creator of everything, that guy.
Anyway, 800-941 Sean is on number.
You want to be a part of the program.
Wow.
Still a lot of people want to react to this New York, New York song.
I can't believe it.
Joe Paggs.
Now, I wrote it.
He sang it.
He's got such great pipes.
I'm very fond of Joe.
Have been for a long time, friend of this program.
Gary in Arizona.
Gary, how are you?
Glad you called.
Thanks for checking in.
And we are on Long Island in New York, and we're doing talk radio today.
What's going on?
That parody was fantastic.
I believe somebody called in and said that it was being disgraceful to Frank Sinatra, which it wasn't.
His song was when New York was a wonderful place to be.
And the parody is showing what happened to it, especially now that this Mundami got in.
That's the difference between the two.
I don't know how they voted for this communist.
I hope it doesn't turn out as bad as I think it's going to do.
But something's wrong with these people the way they voted.
Listen, I said on the air for the sake of my friends that I left behind over two years ago now, I wanted the best for them.
I didn't want this for them.
Now, I can tell you where we are right now.
The county that I'm born in, was born in was Nassau County, Long Island.
And it went hardcore, solidly red.
Bruce Blakeman is the county executive.
I like him a lot.
I saw him earlier today, and he welcomed me back.
asked if I was coming back.
I said, you did a great job, but the state still sucks.
Your county's great, but the state sucks.
And he goes, well, we're going to fix that too.
And he's very optimistic.
I do admire the people that want to stay in the fight.
Like I really came to like Jack Chitterelli.
You know, I didn't go up to New Jersey because I felt like getting a pork roll, even though Mikey Sheryl didn't know what Owen was.
I thought he had a real shot.
We ignored it, you know, three years ago, four years ago.
The sad thing is nearly a quarter of a million people left, migrated out of New Jersey in a three-year period of time.
And that, you know, the voting pool, I would argue the majority of those people would have voted for Jack Chitterelli and it would have been a very different night.
But they've been chased away.
You know, these states are losing, that are losing this massive population, this mass migration.
They are pushing people away.
And a lot of people, you know, it's a hard decision for a lot of people.
It's not hard for me because, you know, I was a radio nomad forever.
And, you know, I lived in Rhode Island five years, California five years, Alabama, two years, Georgia, four years, number, two decades in New York.
And then now I'm in the free state of Florida.
I can live in a box if you really want to know the truth.
Not everybody in my life can live in a box.
So I have to have a property to live in.
But putting it out aside, I mean, it's so much nicer.
And the people are nicer.
And it's much safer.
And the taxes are lower.
And the quality of life is outstanding.
I like to just listen to the ocean.
I may sound silly.
I find peace and God and serenity there.
So anyway, my friend, I appreciate your call.
Thanks for your input on this.
Jason in Texas, God bless Texas.
Jason, how are you?
Thanks for checking in.
Doing great, Sean.
Glad to take the call.
I was calling in response to your colleagues yesterday, the professed atheist.
And we always seem to get the question of why bad things happen to good people.
It comes from even people that have good faith.
They ask that question.
And my family members have asked that.
And the best answer I could give you is that us as humans, as mortals, we need that perception.
If every day was a sunny day and people didn't get cancer, you know, and die at an early age and, you know, planes fall from the sky, all the bad things that happen in this world, we would have no perception or appreciation of the sunshine days, you know, the happiness, the joy, the love that people feel.
You wouldn't be able to appreciate that without the context.
And that's the hardest part to get across, I think.
You know, if what I said yesterday when God, when Moses saw the burning bush and was speaking to God, and who should I say sent me?
And he said, I am.
There's a lot I interpret from that.
This is my interpretation.
It's other biblical scholars' interpretation.
And I've read a lot of them.
And C.S. Lewis is one of them.
And great, you know, it's called apologetics.
And I've read David Limbaugh is one of the best and he's one of my best friends.
And we've talked at length about a lot of these issues.
And that's Russia's brother.
And he, you know, you just, that's predicated on a belief always was, is present and always will be.
And it's hard for us to wrap our minds around it.
If God wanted us to know that, he would have told us.
And, but you cannot convince me.
You know, the guy started talking about, well, the quantum particles.
I'm like, well, where did the quantum particles come from, if not from a God, all-powerful, almighty creator that envisioned this?
Now, I don't have the answer why good things happen to bad people.
The Bible does tell us, though, that we will all go through challenges in our life and to prepare for them.
And that God puts us in seasons in our life, some that are much harder than others.
Why did Donald Trump have to go through four years of absolute hell and his family and then get to the other side of it?
And then, you know, I think he's, you know, the greatest president we've had by far and in decades and decades and decades in this country.
And but I do believe in the promise that, you know, the Bible says the eye hath not seen, nor had the ear heard, nor has it entered into the hearts of man what God has stored in stored for those that love the truth.
And in my father's house are many mansions.
And I go, let not your heart be troubled.
I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am, ye shall also be.
I believe that with my heart.
And now, I'm never going to talk an atheist into it, but he seems to want to judge God, but you can't believes that something can come from nothing because to be an atheist, you have to, that's what you have to believe.
Well, and that's where the perception comes in.
They have to wrap their mind around the fact that without certain things, we will not be able to discern the opposite, the counterpart to that.
Without some sort of sadness, you can never experience true joy.
You know, if every day was sunny, you wouldn't, you would never appreciate the sunshine.
Without a rainy day, there is no upside.
Let's put it this way: everyone in their life has an opportunity where they're afraid.
You know, you get on the high dive for the first time as a kid and you look down.
Most kids, I think the natural inclination would be to be scared.
And you cannot be courageous unless you're confronted with fear and a moment that you have to, you, you have to transcend the fear and do it anyway.
And, you know, that does describe a lot of things in life.
I could tell you that if I'd be lying to you if I didn't tell you the first time I did a radio show, I was sweating and probably having a mini panic attack.
But, you know, then after I finished, I wanted to do it again and again and again.
The first time I spoke in front of an audience, same thing.
Number one fear most people have is public speaking.
I've given zero thought except writing my monologue for tonight's Fox News Patriot Awards.
I'm like excited.
I want to do it.
It's fun.
So, but it, you know, that accumulates over time.
That's called confidence.
But I want, and that I just want people, especially young people listening to this show, don't be, don't let fear stop you, intimidate you, prevent you from living life to the fullest.
You can feel that fear, feeling it isn't a bad thing, but don't let it stop you, paralyze you, or impede you from moving forward.
At that point, when you dive off that board, jump off that board, you will be that much more courageous for the next challenge in life.
And, you know, there are seasons in the Bible they describe where God will pull back from us and so that we eventually cry out to him to come back, please.
I can't do this feeling empty like this.
And I've experienced that.
We're mind, body, and spirit.
I believe all of it.
And I don't really care.
You know, the biggest misperception, and tell me if you agree with this.
Everyone has this attitude: oh, Christians, they're holier than now.
Ah, these past self-righteous.
Ah, I'm sick and tired of them forcing their values down our throat and proselytizing.
I don't proselytize.
Believe whatever you want.
We live in a free country.
We believe in freedom of religion.
But I can tell you this: to me, the first step to becoming a Christian is acknowledging that you can't do it on your own and that you failed and that you want help and that you want to be better.
Doesn't mean you're instantaneously perfect, just the opposite.
It's a process.
Do you agree with that?
I do wholeheartedly, Sean.
I've experienced some of those things, same things myself.
I think it's part of the human experience.
I think it's universal.
We all experience that.
That's part of our humanity.
You know, you got to nurture your body.
You know, you got to stimulate your mind.
And you also, you know, that quiet time I was talking about earlier, you know, I like to get quiet.
I like to just turn off the TV and put down my phone, which I don't do very often.
And I like to see the majesty of God's creation and really look at it.
And if I'm at a beach, I'll look at the beach.
If I see a beautiful full moon, I'll try to pause and stop and reflect on it.
If I see a clear night and I can see Mars and Venus, believe it or not, you can.
And I have a great telescope.
You know, it's majestic.
And then to understand there are universes within universes, within universes, within universes, and we keep discovering even more.
To me, that's so deep and profound.
I'm never going to convince an atheist.
But for them, if there's no God, you have to believe something comes from nothing, or else, and I don't believe with the perfection of creation that that's even possible.
Anyway, appreciate the call, my friend.
Thank you.
Final hour roundup is next.
You do not want to miss it.
And stay tuned for the final hour free-for-all on the Sean Hannity Show.
