Clay Travis broadcasts solo while Buck Sexton is away for a family funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, opening with the rapidly approaching 2026 midterm elections and his weekend in Knoxville for the Texas-Tennessee college football game. Clay describes President Donald Trump’s appearance at Neyland Stadium, including the striking Air Force One flyover, and argues that bringing the President into major sporting events provides Republicans with an opportunity to reach voters who do not ordinarily follow politics. Reflecting on his own path from sports media into political talk radio, Clay recounts how the COVID-19 pandemic, school shutdowns and cancellation of sports transformed his career. He recalls advocating for reopening schools and restoring college football in 2020, criticizing the prevailing pandemic response and explaining how his audience grew as he challenged lockdown policies. He then recounts making the move to political radio following Rush Limbaugh’s death in 2021 and connects that experience to the challenge Republicans face in motivating less-political voters, particularly young men and sports fans, to participate in the 2026 midterms. Clay argues that Donald Trump successfully reached many of those voters in 2024 and says Republicans must find ways to keep them engaged when Trump himself is not on the ballot.

Clay is joined by renowned criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz for an extensive conversation about his departure from the Democratic Party, his new book Why I Quit the Democrats, and So Should You: Confessions of a Reluctant Republican, the future of Jewish voters, Israel, DEI, meritocracy, identity politics, transgender athletes in women’s sports, higher education and the Lindsay Clancy trial. Dershowitz explains why he first became an independent and then a self-described “reluctant Republican,” saying he wants Republicans to retain control of Congress even though he does not agree with every position in the party. He identifies attitudes toward Israel and Hamas, as well as what he sees as the Democratic Party’s movement away from merit-based decision-making toward diversity, equity and inclusion, as major reasons for his political transformation. Clay and Dershowitz discuss whether other longtime Jewish Democrats could make a similar political shift, particularly in battleground states such as Michigan, and Dershowitz argues that Republicans are now better aligned with his priorities involving America, Israel and world peace.

The political strategy conversation expands with Nicki Minaj, whose comments about President Trump, Democrats and the media become another major focus of Hour 2. Minaj argues that repeated negative media narratives about Trump can become accepted as fact by younger or less-informed audiences and encourages people to conduct their own research. Clay says celebrity political endorsements matter not necessarily because celebrities possess special political expertise, but because stars such as Minaj can reach enormous audiences outside traditional conservative media. He uses her comments to argue that Republicans must expand the Trump coalition, particularly among young voters and people who do not routinely follow politics, rather than simply "preaching to the choir." Clay worries that voters energized by the 2024 presidential election may pay less attention to the 2026 midterm elections, while highly committed Democratic voters continue participating in midterms, special elections and local contests.

Clay returns to the Lindsay Clancy case and plays remarks from attorney Edward Paltzik representing the holdout juror. The attorney emphasizes the three children as the victims of the case and strongly condemns Clancy. Clay praises the holdout juror for refusing to change his position despite days of deliberations and subsequent public criticism, and he says the show would welcome the juror as a guest. Clay closes the hour with a broader argument about courage, conscience, truth and individual responsibility, using the juror as an example of how a single person can resist intense pressure and affect the outcome of an important proceeding. He ends the Monday program by noting that Buck Sexton, who was attending the burial of a family member at Arlington National Cemetery, is expected to return Tuesday.

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