Clay Travis: Usual Olympics excitement undercut by media attacks on American exceptionalism

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Media top headlines July 27

In media news today, PolitiFact declares that claim Biden, Harris distrusted COVID vaccine under Trump is 'false,' an ESPN writer says he was troubled by the American flag at the Tokyo Olympics, and Biden calls a reporter a 'pain in the neck' following her question about the vaccine mandate for VA front line workers.

Outkick founder and radio host Clay Travis feels the mainstream media contributed to the lack of American spirit that he said is plaguing the Tokyo Olympics. 

"I think that an attack of America, an attack on American exceptionalism by the media, which is real, has certainly undercut a lot of Americans' joy and excitement in celebrating America," Travis told Fox News.

The opening ceremony, delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, drew 16.7 million viewers for NBC on Friday, the smallest audience for the network broadcast since the 1988 Seoul Games. Travis said many things have contributed to the current Olympics "tanking" compared to past editions, such as "absurdly ridiculous COVID protocols" and the massive time difference, but corporate media is also at fault. 

Outkick founder and radio host Clay Travis feels the mainstream media contributed to the lack of American spirit that he said is plaguing the Tokyo Olympics. 

NBC HAS 33-YEAR LOW VIEWERSHIP FOR TOKYO OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY: ‘NOT A HAPPY’ BENCHMARK

"When I was a kid and it wasn't that long ago, the medal count was a big deal because you wanted to win more medals than the Russians or the Germans or the Chinese or whoever our geopolitical foes were, because competition on fields of athletic glory helped to, I would say, endorse the idea of American exceptionalism," Travis said. "Now, I just don't think that there's that same level of excitement."

Travis pointed to "individual athletes who have undercut the idea of American exceptionalism" and are rewarded with fawning coverage by ESPN and the media.  

"Whether you want to talk about members of the U.S. women's soccer team or members of the U.S. men's basketball team, both extremely prominent teams that a lot of people would otherwise, I think, be interested in rooting for aggressively," Travis said. "It was hard to miss that there was a certain amount of joy on the side of the Americans when the U.S. women lost to Sweden or when the U.S. men's basketball team lost to France. I think that's unfortunate."

CLAY TRAVIS: TOKYO OLYMPICS PLAGUED BY 'GENUINE LACK OF AMERICAN SPIRIT'

The U.S. women’s soccer team kneeled before their match on Wednesday in protest of racism, discrimination and inequality. Men's basketball head coach Gregg Popovich has called the United States a "racist country," critics of Black Lives Matter "ignorant," and routinely bashed former President Donald Trump as "deranged," comparing his 2016 election to the fall of Rome. Both members of the women’s soccer team and Popovich enjoy adoring coverage from ESPN and the mainstream media for their liberal activism.

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Travis, who has spent years condemning liberal politics seeping into sports, said he would never root against an American team but understood those who feel differently. 

ESPN WRITER TROUBLED BY AMERICAN FLAG AT OLYMPICS: ‘I KEEP THINKING BACK ON THE CAPITOL RIOTS'

"I certainly understand why some people feel compelled to do that, because they feel like their way of life and support in America is being under attack by, you know, multi-millionaire athletes. And they don't want to lend their voice to support them," Travis said. "I tend to still be a believer, even though it's evidently a minority opinion in the field of sports media and media that I'm in now, in American exceptionalism and in overall American excellence." 

If corporate media wants to help rehabilitate the America spirit that it helped erode, Travis feels the first step would be to stop listening to Twitter. 

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"I think Twitter has destroyed a large degree of American sports fandom because it vastly over-indexes the ‘America is awful, I want there to be a massive amount of political statements being made during my sporting events,’" Travis said. "So many executives and so many people in my field are terrified of trending on Twitter and getting attacked by a bunch of random people that may or may not be real for an opinion."

Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.