James Buckman Sexton (born December 28, 1981), known professionally as Buck Sexton, is an American radio and television talk show host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show he presents with Clay Travis, and the host of Hold the Line, a weeknight program on The First TV.[1][2][3]
Sexton is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, first joining as an analyst in 2005. His assignments included the Al Qaeda-focused Counterterrorism Center (CTC) and the Office of Iraqi Analysis.[5] His agency concentrated on threats from Al Qaeda and affiliated jihadist networks in the post-9/11 era.[6] Sexton's analytical duties supported counterterrorism operations, including evaluations of terrorist tactics, recruitment patterns, and operational threats derived from intelligence reporting.[7]
In 2006, Sexton transferred to the Office of Iraq Analysis, where he contributed to assessments of post-invasion security dynamics, insurgent activities, and stability challenges in Iraq. His responsibilities encompassed reviewing debriefings from sources in theater, synthesizing data on terrorist networks exploiting the power vacuum, and informing policy-level threat reporting amid the surge of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shia militia violence.[8]
Sexton completed multiple tours of duty as an intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting field-based threat assessments in combat zones. These deployments involved real-time analysis of high-risk environments, such as monitoring foreign fighter inflows and IED campaigns, providing grounded insights into the causal mechanisms of asymmetric warfare that contrasted with domestic analytic assumptions often shaped by incomplete or politicized inputs.[9]
New York Police Department
In 2010, Sexton joined the NYPD Intelligence Division as an Intelligence Research Specialist assisting on counterterrorism cases.[10]
Broadcasting
In 2011, he joined TheBlaze — the news and commentary platform established by Glenn Beck — as a contributor and writer specializing in national security analysis,[7] later rising to national security editor while continuing as a contributor.[11] By 2012, he co-hosted TheBlaze TV's Real News program, providing on-air breakdowns of security threats, drawing on his declassified insights and field experience.[12]
Sexton built his profile through podcasts and columns pre-syndication before launching The Buck Sexton Show on TheBlaze Radio Network in 2012 to fill a weekend slot that expanded to weekdays by 2013. Relying on his CIA background, he provided listeners with structured dissections of threats like ISIS recruitment data and sanctuary city vulnerabilities. He emphasized verifiable metrics—such as casualty figures from Iraq tours and deal compliance timelines—over emotive appeals, fostering a reputation for insider-informed skepticism that led to broader distribution by 2017.[13]
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
On June 21, 2021, Sexton began co-hosting the syndicated conservative talk radio program The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show alongside sports journalist Clay Travis, with Sexton moving from an evening show he hosted for Premiere Networks. The program is billed as a successor to The Rush Limbaugh Show, replacing Rush Limbaugh's time slot after his death earlier in the year.[14][15][16][17]The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, launched on Premiere Networks on over 400 affiliate stations nationwide, expanding to 550 affiliates in March 2025.[18][19] The show features discussions of major news and current events interspersed with political humor and listener interactions.[20][21] It has sustained strong performance metrics, including over 4 million monthly podcast downloads as of March 2024 and rankings among top U.S. podcasts by weekly downloads in early 2025.[22][23]
The program extends its reach through iHeartRadio podcasts and the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network, which added programs like The Karol Markowicz Show in 2023.[24][25]
Writing
In 2012, his book, Occupy: American Spring – The Making of a Revolution, regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement, was published under ISBN9781451695618.[26]Manufacturing Delusion: How the Left Uses Brainwashing, Indoctrination, and Propaganda Against You is published by Sentinel, an imprint of the Penguin Group, in hardcover with a release date of February 17, 2026.[27]
Personal
In late February 2023, Sexton married Carrie Flatley, a former former television producer for FOX News. They have a newborn son named Speed. The Sextons moved to Florida from New York City in their first year of marriage and now live in Miami Beach.
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