Sports media personality and conservative crusader Clay Travis’s political beliefs are nothing but a marketing ploy, according to media rival Nick Wright.Wright, a top pundit on FS1, claimed during a recent interview on The Bulwark Daily podcast that Travis admitted as much to him 11 years ago. Travis has previously described himself as a supporter of Democratic Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and claimed he never voted Republican until Donald Trump’s doomed 2020 White House bid.Since then, Travis has become a favorite pundit of the Trump administration, while persistently accusing leagues and networks of harboring a liberal bias.But according to Wright, Travis’s conversion to conservative politics wasn’t an organic process, but a business decision aimed at conquering an untapped market.’One of my first TV things ever was with Clay,’ Wright told Tim Miller of The Bulwark. ‘And then we went to dinner after, and he told me, he was like, “You know I worked for Obama, and I just do this” or whatever.’Luckily, there was a third person at this dinner, so if he disputes it, I have a witness,’ Wright said. ‘I told him, I was like, “I want to be very clear. If what you’re saying is true—that you don’t really believe what you’re saying, it’s just for audience and enrichment, I actually think that’s worse, and it is impossible for me to ever respect you.”‘ Clay Travis’ conservative political conversion began before the 2020 election, he said Nick Wright, a top pundit on FS1, claimed during a recent interview on The Bulwark Daily podcast that Travis admitted to fabricating his political ideology for audience engagement ‘And I left,’ Wright, a self-described ‘liberal Democrat,’ told Miller. ‘That was the last time I ever talked to him. That was 11 years ago.’Travis has denied the allegation in a response posted on X.’I was a Democrat in 2015 — and 2016 — which he now says is the date of our dinner,’ Travis said. ‘He did not storm out of a dinner after telling me off. This is a very girly thing to brag about, but I’m pretty sure I would remember that because I would have found it funny. I don’t recall our dinner conversation from a decade ago.’Travis included a link to an X post containing a 2017 email exchange between himself and Wright.’You can read that if you wish,’ Travis continued. ‘At the time I considered myself a radical moderate and felt alienated from the far left and far right.’In the email, Travis said he hoped to see people on both sides of the political spectrum become miserable, while insisting he was more moderate politically.’I didn’t vote for a Republican for president until 2020,’ Travis said. ‘Covid radicalized me, as it did many people. As I’ve said and written for years, I didn’t leave the Democrat party, the Democrat party left me.’Travis then offered a $1 million wager involving a lie detector machine before refocusing on one of his preferred issues: trans athletes in women’s sports.’The first question can be, “do you believe men pretending to be women should be allowed to play in women’s sports?”‘ Travis asked. ‘I’m [pretty] confident I will pass the test when I say “hell no.” Will you pass when you say “yes,” Nick?’Wright has since responded on X, saying the interaction occurred in August of 2016 at the bar of the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, adding that the agent the two once shared at the time can confirm the story as well. Clay Travis greets fans before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas Longhorns at Neyland Stadium on September 26. Travis is a major supporter of SEC football Travis has made no secret of his proximity to Donald Trump over the last few years Wright then turned the tables by making his own $1 million wager.’So, I’ll pull a page out of your book; I’ll bet you $1,000,000 I’m telling the truth,’ Wright wrote. ‘I assume you’ll pretend you never saw this tweet & continue the grift. And that’s cool, but we both know what the facts are. Also, let this be a reminder that while you have found an amazing lane where you often are actually the smartest guy in the room, this ain’t that lane. So my advice would be to tread carefully.’Wright is not the first media personality to accuse Travis of faking his conservative conversion.Eric Sollenberger, a podcaster who runs the parody X account @PFTCommenter, previously said Travis told him he was trying to reach an untapped audience by marketing his erstwhile sports and culture website, Outkick, as a conservative response to liberal media bias.’Clay’s such a fraud,’ Sollenberger said. ‘He literally told me back in like 2015, “There’s no market out there right now for right wing sports, so I’m just going to start becoming a right-wing sports [persona].” He told me what he was going to do.’The Daily Mail has sought further comment from Travis. Fox Sports personality Nick Wright poses for a portrait on the set of ‘First Things First’He’s beloved by the MAGA faithful for his support of Trump policies, but Travis has faced criticism for his hit-and-miss predictions. Most recently, he hypothesized the predicted ‘Blue Wave’ would fail to materialize for Democrats during the midterms, only to see the GOP suffer historic losses on election day.Many sports fans first learned of Travis in 2015, when then-Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins celebrated a five-year-old tweet from the podcaster and media personality.’There is a 100% chance that Demarcus Cousins is arrested for something in the next five years,’ Travis wrote at the time. ‘100%. Write it in stone.’Cousins had clearly set a reminder for the occasion.’Today’s the day!!’ Cousins wrote in a tweet five years later. ‘Let’s all show [Travis] some love!!’