Paul Finebaum Told Clay Travis He Was 'Devastated' When ESPN Shot Down Trump Interview; Mom Hated His Politics

The interview between OutKick's Clay Travis and ESPN's Paul Finebaum is the gift that keeps on giving.

Finebuam discussed how the assassination of Charlie Kirk impacted him deeply and personally. And that led to one of the biggest revelations from the interview, with Finebaum telling Travis that he has considered leaving ESPN to run for US Senate as a Republican. An incredibly honest and courageous admission to make at far-left ESPN.

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Paul Finebaum 'Considering' Leaving ESPN To Pursue U.S. Senate Seat As A Republican

But Finebaum also spoke more about how ESPN has been inconsistent in how it handles politics, depending on which prominent figure is involved. In one part of their discussion, Finebaum said he had an opportunity to interview President Donald Trump in Washington DC ahead of Trump attending a game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers during his first term. 

"What do you think would happen if you told ESPN that you were going to have President Trump on your radio show?" Travis asked. 

"I almost did that once," FInebaum said. Travis asked what happened, and Finebaum admitted that ESPN "killed it," preventing him from what would have been a gigantic opportunity. 

Finebaum said he reached out to a friend in DC, who said he might be able to get him an interview with Trump as part of the promotion around the Bama-LSU game. His friend said it was "looking good" to get Trump on Finebaum's show. Then they stopped it from happening.

"I called my boss," Finebaum said. "And they killed it."

Travis asked him, "What's the reaction when you think you're going to interview the president, and they say, ‘nope, not happening?'"

"I was devastated," he responded. "They told me that we are not allowed to mix politics and sports."

But of course, there's a near certainty that would not have been the response for a politician with a different ideology. 

"What do you think they would have said if it were Barack Obama and you had the opportunity," Travis asked.

"Well, I think the answer is pretty evident," Finebaum said. "Andy Katz went to the White House every year [for the bracket]. It was a turning point for me. It really wasn't about politics at all, it was the idea of going to the White House to interview the president. And it wasn't about politics, it was about a football game, the biggest game of the year in college football."

A game that Trump was going to attend as well. 

"I never exactly knew where the kill button came from, but it didn't happen."

Only at ESPN would it be perfectly acceptable to do fun videos with Barack Obama with March Madness brackets every year, then shut down Finebaum from having Donald Trump on the radio to talk college football. 

ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum. Photo: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Finebaum Says His Mom Wasn't Happy With Republican Vote

Finebaum also said others in his personal life weren't happy with the fact that he supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, including even his own mother. 

"What do you think the reaction is going to be in the larger college universe, so to speak, of Senator Finebaum, or the possibility of Senator Finebaum," Travis asked. "Because I think to your point, and I'm going to give you credit for this, you have been a Republicans buy sneakers too guy, a Democrats buy sneakers too guy, a Michael Jordan-era, ‘Hey I want to try to talk to everybody that likes college sports.’ Obviously, to get elected, you have to pick a side, what do you think the reaction to this process will be like for you?"

"Clay, there might be some surprise. Because I don't think anybody knows what I am. I grew up the son of two liberal New York Jews. My sister was born in New York. Not long before my mother died in 1994, I called her on election day…I told her I voted for the Republican, and my mother, who I love dearly, maybe the most important person in my life, because my Dad died when I was 15, she hung up the phone."

"I had one of my best friends, who I grew up I told a number of years ago I was going to be on Fox News…He said, ‘I’ll refuse to watch it.' So I grew up around a lot of this. 

"My mother hanging up on me, still stings, and she might hang up…but that's ok."

Finebaum also said he's not running away from anything, saying that Trump had been a Democrat, and that it's possible to move past the views you have as a younger person. His wife, he added, is a Republican and comes from a Republican family.

This is much more representative of the average American family situation than the Mina Kimes, Jemele Hill type personalities that have so frequently operated with impunity around politics. And it's humanizing to hear Finebaum's story. Check out a short video of it below.