Clay Travis is usually one to stir the pot on divisive issues. Whether it is chastising athletes for expressing a non-sports opinion, inviting politicians on his show, or questioning medical advice surrounding Covid-19, Travis has never been afraid to state his opinion and stand his ground no matter how unpopular.
That wasn’t the tone he struck on Wednesday morning though. The FOX Sports Radio morning man addressed parents the morning after voting concluded in the US Presidential race. He said that it was important to let kids know that they are safe.
“There’s gonna be a lot of noise, and they may hear adults who are angry about the election or they may hear grandma and grandpa or somebody else’s parent. I think it’s important to let your kids know, especially right now when this has been such a chaotic year already, the country’s gonna be fine,” Travis said.
He noted that as a country, America is “incredibly fearful” and that is reflected in the way candidates for every office structure their message. In a year like 2020, with so many kids stuck at home instead of being able to attend school, it can be hard for them not to become overwhelmed by some of those messages.
“I do think there is a great deal of apprehension among kids, because they see these television commercials that convince them that the world is going to come to an end if one side wins or if another side ends.”
Clay Travis pointed to the country’s election history. He mentioned elections that took place during the middle of the Civil War and World War II and noted that “an election in the middle of a pandemic that may be extremely close” isn’t outside the realm of what Americans can handle.
“It may be ugly for a few days or even a few weeks. It may be messy,” Travis said in a reassuring tone, addressing any kids in the audience directly. “There may be a lot of mean things said back and forth. But ultimately, the great thing about the United States is we are durable.”
There will likely be plenty that disagree with Travis’s assessment that everything will be fine or question if he is seeing the world today from only his point of view. As he said, we are very divided right now and both sides tend to be going to extremes in their view of the worst case scenarios the other could bring about. But he deserves credit for thinking about the way young, still-developing minds are receiving the messages that are being spread right now. This was undeniably a smart way for a sports talk host to address the 800 lb gorilla in the room the morning after a contentious, confusing, and yet-to-be resolved election.
