BUCK: Congressman Ted Budd is with us now from North Carolina. He is in a very important Senate race there. Congressman Budd, thanks for calling in.

REP. BUDD: Glad to be with you all. We’re traveling all across North Carolina. Thanks for making time. This is a tight race here in North Carolina. I appreciate all your viewers — or your listeners — paying attention to it, and anyway, we got three days to go and we’re going to run hard. And, you know, it is it is a statistical margin-of-race. We’re a couple of points ahead. But look, I don’t believe it. I know we’re going to run like we’re behind, and we could sure use everybody’s help to look up TedBudd.com and help us win this race.

CLAY: What’s the biggest issue that you’re hearing on the ground? We were just talking with Mike Lee from Utah —

REP. BUDD: Yeah.

CLAY: — and he said the number one thing he’s hearing is inflation, inflation, inflation. North Carolina obviously has become kind of a bellwether state for how the nation may well go for people who are going to be watching these results come in on Election Night, 33 days from now, when we expect for you to be winning that seat. What are people talking about in your state? What’s the focus?

Cheri Beasley’s campaign has one focus: to support Joe Biden’s failed policies. Cheri has proudly backed each of Biden’s policies, regardless of how much it hurts North Carolina. Voting Republican this November has never been more important. pic.twitter.com/iiRY6h5K6m

— Ted Budd (@TedBuddNC) October 4, 2022

REP. BUDD: Well, it’s inflation for sure — that’s the number-one issue — but it’s closely followed by crime and education. I mean, when we talk about inflation, it’s not bar graphs and pie charts. It’s people talking about how do they put groceries on their table and gas in their tank this week? And last month, parents were trying to figure out how to afford back-to-school clothes for their kids. You know, it just gets worse, and now we’re looking at power bills going up this winter.

I mean, that’s a crisis for folks that were just starting to get traction under the previous president and now under Joe Biden, it’s a train wreck. And my opponent, Cheri Beasley, she would double down on those policies. She would help subsidize 87,000 more IRS agents and rich people buying Teslas, but she won’t help to do anything to lower your power bill or your gas bill. So, it’s breaking people’s hearts here and breaking their banks here in North Carolina. And when it comes to crime, I mean, sheriffs and law enforcement’s coming up to me all around the state and they’re saying every single county in North Carolina is now a border county because of Joe Biden’s policies, and those are the policies that Cheri Beasley would support.

Instead of begging foreign countries for oil and raiding our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Biden should reverse his disastrous policies and unleash domestic energy production.https://t.co/dkMymnewQz

— Ted Budd (@TedBuddNC) October 6, 2022

BUCK: We’re speaking of Ted Budd. He is running for Senate in North Carolina. He’s currently a congressman there. You know, the Biden economy has obviously been a huge drag on the Democrat Party’s fortunes up to this point and for good reason. What has…? I mean, inflation for the folks in your state, how bad is it and what are some of the stories you’re hearing about its impacts?

REP. BUDD: Well, you know, our largest industry here in North Carolina is agriculture. It’s close to $100 billion a year. I just left a farm meeting with farmers from all over the state and people with different farm organizations, and at the very end, you know, they said, “Thank you for your work.” The Farm Bureau came up. They gave me the Friend of Farmers Award for my work in Congress to support them. But when it comes to energy, you know what feels like pain at the pump for all of us, it’s also even more painful if you’re driving a truck or a tractor that takes diesel fuel to get crops in the field.

Cheri Beasley doesn’t think convicted child sex predators with multiple offenses should be subject to GPS tracking. Cheri Beasley is soft on crime. #ncsen #ncpol https://t.co/wn05ZPgdEe

— Ted Budd (@TedBuddNC) October 5, 2022

Now that it’s in the fall, get crops out of the field and out to the grocery stores. So it’s more and more expensive, and it’s the policies that Joe Biden did by shutting down the Keystone pipeline, shutting off energy production here in the U.S., and now going over to Saudi Arabia and begging for fuel. And then, you know, and they say, “No, we’re going to cut it by 2 million barrels a day,” and then he goes to Venezuela and said, “By the way, I know you’re hostile to the U.S., but we’re going to ease sanctions on you all who hate the U.S. and we’re going to try to do more business with you.” It’s completely backwards. And, you know, while that’s foreign policy, it all matters at the pump. It all matters in wallets here in North Carolina, and it’s hurting people right here across the state.

CLAY: We’re talking to the next senator from North Carolina. He’s Ted Budd. I believe you went to App State for undergrad if I’m not mistaken.

REP. BUDD: (chuckling)

App State shocks #6 Texas A&M and the college football world, again.

Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies are once again disappointing at home. This won’t sit well in College Station. https://t.co/AerAQxHuZd

— OutKick (@Outkick) September 10, 2022

CLAY: This is not going to be a serious, gotcha question but I’m curious. Were you watching the game against Texas A&M — sorry for the Aggie fans who are listening right now — and if so, how did you celebrate?

REP. BUDD: You know, we celebrated. It was down to the wire. I’ve got lots of friends, those in Congress, that were calling me and congratulating me. They were heartbroken, of course, but way to go to the Mountaineers. We’re very proud of them. They’ve got such they’re such a powerhouse, and my degree is worth even more now than it was back then. But they’ve done such a great job at AB State and of course back then we called it Appalachian State, but they’re still the Mountaineers, and I’m very proud of them.

BUCK: I’m proud of the Mountaineers, too, Clay.

CLAY: (laughing)

REP. BUDD: (laughing)

CLAY: They got the big win over Michigan, one of the greatest upsets in the history of college football. Buck couldn’t believe it when it happened — and by the way, this is a joke. I took him for the first time, Congressman, to a college football game. He had no idea what he was into. Now, I know North Carolina is also got an illustrious college basketball history, but Boone, North Carolina, is a fabulous place for people who have not been there before.

REP. BUDD: Well, I’m proud to have gone to school there and get back up to Watauga County-Boone area as much as I can. You know, the folks in western North Carolina, they say, “When you get to Boone, when you get to Asheville, you haven’t even gotten there yet. You’ve still got three hours more mountains to go out west,” and I’m grateful for all their support, and I love getting up there every time that I can.

BUCK: Senator… I’m sorry. Soon-to-be Senator Ted Budd.

REP. BUDD: (chuckling)

BUCK: Congressman Ted Budd of North Carolina. If people want to help out, get involved with your campaign, support you. Where should they go?

REP. BUDD: Just go to my website if they can get the D’s in the right place. It’s Ted with one D, Budd with two D’s, TedBudd.com. That’ll steer you right to ways you could support us, and certainly would appreciate everyone’s help. This is a statistical margin-of-error race, and you can find the links to social media on there as well.

CLAY: Ted, we appreciate you. We’re rooting for you and look forward to you being able to celebrate becoming a United States senator here in about 33 days.

REP. BUDD: Clay and Buck, God bless you all. Thanks for what you do.

BUCK: Thank you.