
Who is OutKick founder Clay Travis, who's cosy with Trump and Musk? A lawyer turned sportswriter turned political commentator, he says he was a ‘lifelong Democrat' before 2016
OutKick founder Clay Travis joined President
Donald Trump and his entourage, including
Elon Musk , aboard Air Force One last weekend for a trip to the NCAA wrestling tournament in Philadelphia.
Clay Travis and President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One. Photo: @ClayTravis/X
As a member of the White House press pool, Travis sat down with Trump for an in-flight interview on various topics, from fantasising about
Caitlyn Jenner beating up Tim Walz to giving advice on Kamala Harris' career in politics. The OutKick the Show podcast host and Trump even discussed conspiracy theories about John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. According to Reuters, the president believes that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, might have had help, contrary to the Justice Department's conclusion that Oswald had worked alone.
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At the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Trump was greeted with a standing ovation, fans chanting 'USA' as the president walked in to take his seat in the Wells Fargo Center arena.
Clay Travis with Elon Musk. Photo: @ClayTravis/X
A 2020 article in The Washington Post referred to Travis as 'Trump's secret weapon'. Over the years, the conservative sports radio and podcast host has used his OutKick platform to push right-wing ideas to sports fans.
From spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and attacking transgender athletes, to downplaying police brutality against Black people in the United States, here's everything to know about Clay Travis.
He's a lawyer
Clay Travis with wife Lara Travis. Photo: @claytravisoutkick/Instagram
Before becoming a radio host and running his own site, Clay Travis, 45, was a lawyer. He then pursued a career in sportswriting and commentating.
Travis was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in history before returning to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt University Law School.
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The Defense Department should be part of broader, whole-of-government efforts – including State, Commerce, Energy, Treasury and others – not just to counter the PRC, but also to erode its influence. The lethality of US forces should not merely be enhanced; partners should know the United States will use it to good ends, including their defense against unprovoked aggression. The Trump administration need not worry about empowering political leaders who do not share its vision – political parties of the right are leading the charge against Chinese influence in Manila, Seoul, Tokyo and elsewhere and, despite its name, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party is a big tent more committed to Taipei's autonomy than to political progressivism. Nor should such moves be seen as interference in the domestic affairs of partners; Washington has worked with unlikely partners in countries where politicians have campaigned on skepticism of the United States – until they, and the constituencies that elected them, saw what the alternative to the United States was. But before the United States can convince these countries that they should arm themselves, Washington must first convince regional countries that there is a threat to prepare for and that the United States is the reliable partner it claims to be. A trillion dollars in lethal weapons systems, by itself, will not buy that. Rob York ( rob@ ) is director for regional affairs at Pacific Forum International. He is the editor of Pacific Forum publications and spearheads Pacific Forum outreach to the Korean Peninsula and South Asia, as well as programming on countering malign influence in US partners. He earned his PhD in Korean history in December 2023.