Hour 3 - Let Him Cook 


Author: iHeartPodcasts February 23, 2026 Duration: 36:46
Podcast episode
Hour 3 - Let Him Cook 

Hour 3 opens with Buck Sexton solo‑hosting and hitting rapid‑fire headlines before a deeper dive into law, national security, and 2026 election politics. He leads with a patriotic recap of Team USA’s Olympic men’s hockey gold, praising Jack Hughes and the grit of a player who finished the game with a broken front tooth—framing the win as a unifying, USA‑first sports moment. From there, the tone shifts to security: Buck details the armed intruder shot and killed at Mar‑a‑Lago, emphasizing the persistent, elevated threats against President Trump and crediting the Secret Service’s swift response.

Buck then revisits the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling from the prior week, explaining how the Court said the president could not use IEEPA to raise tariff revenue, prompting Trump to pivot immediately to other legal authorities. He outlines Trump’s response: a temporary global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (10% and then 15%) and continued enforcement via existing Section 232 and Section 301 measures. The discussion highlights Treasury Secretary Scott Besson’s defense of the program—arguing tariffs have helped rebalance trade, reduce the goods deficit, and catalyze factory reshoring—while Buck notes the broader economy’s resilience despite dire predictions from establishment economists.

Staying on national security, Buck tracks breaking developments in the war on cartels. After reviewing the weekend operation that killed a top Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) boss with a $15 million bounty, he reports a same‑day kinetic strike destroying a narco‑terrorist boat in the Caribbean, with no U.S. casualties. He describes CJNG as a hybrid criminal‑terrorist organization driving fentanyl trafficking into U.S. cities and warns that, under Trump, expect more direct and persistent counter‑cartel action—covert and overt—to disrupt supply chains that fuel overdoses, gang violence, and corruption.

On the legal front at home, Buck highlights a win for Trump in the classified documents case: Judge Aileen Cannon blocked public release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s extensive report, citing grand jury secrecy and the presumption of innocence. Buck frames it as part of a broader pattern where legal efforts aimed at stopping Trump have “backfired,” noting the former president’s durability—from surviving multiple indictments to resuming campaigning after being shot.

The hour turns to 2026 election messaging and culture war dynamics through the lens of Gavin Newsom. Buck critiques Newsom’s appeal to a largely Black audience by calling himself a “960 SAT” guy who “can’t read,” calling it clumsy identity‑politics pandering. He also breaks down Newsom’s CNN comments on trans athletes, where Newsom urges Democrats to be more “culturally normal” and to find “nuance” in competitive sports—Buck argues this hedging won’t resolve the core fairness issue of biological males competing in women’s sports, which he says remains electorally damaging for Democrats. He situates that debate within a larger critique of gender ideology, contending that enforced denial of basic biology becomes a political loyalty test the Left uses to consolidate power.


Throughout, Buck weaves audience engagement and light personal moments—mentioning he’s recovering from a bug, joking about Pedialyte, and closing with a warm story about his dog “Ginger Spice” staying by his side—before previewing Clay’s return tomorrow. In sum, Hour 3 blends tariff policy, Supreme Court fallout, border and cartel warfare, Trump legal battles, election‑year culture fights, and patriotic Olympic victories—a full‑spectrum snapshot of the show’s politics‑plus‑culture formula.

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