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Paul Finebaum reveals ESPN ‘killed’ interview with President Trump as college sports icon weighs up political run

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By JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER and JAKE NISSE, US SPORTS WRITER

Published: 12:38 BST, 30 September 2025 | Updated: 12:38 BST, 30 September 2025

Longtime ESPN college football icon Paul Finebaum says that the ‘Worldwide Leader’ stepped in to stop him from interviewing President Trump during his first term in office.

Speaking to Clay Travis for his show on OutKick, Finebaum revealed that a friend of his in Washington, DC asked if he was interested in having Trump on his show in 2019 prior to one of the greatest college football games of the 2010s when No. 1 LSU defeated No. 2 Alabama.

Finebaum was prepared to travel the short distance from New York City to the White House, but he says that ESPN nixed the project once they got word of it.

‘I called my boss, and they killed it,’ he said. ‘I was devastated. They told me that we were not allowed to mix politics with sports.’

ESPN has a notable policy preventing discussing politics. However, Finebaum believed that the circumstance should have allowed for such an interview.

‘It was a turning point for me,’ Finebaum said. ‘It was just about the idea of going to the White House to interview the President of the United States.

College sports commentator Paul Finebaum says ESPN ‘killed’ his interview with Donald Trump

Finebaum was set to interview Trump in 2019 before a high-profile LSU-Alabama football game

‘It wasn’t about politics; it was about the game that he was going to attend, the biggest game of the year in college football. I never exactly knew where the kill button came from, but it didn’t happen.’

This revelation comes on the same day that the 70-year-old Alabama native revealed that he is considering a run at the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat in the Yellowhammer State.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former SEC football coach, is running for governor of the state and will not defend his current seat.

Finebaum, who has been at ESPN since 2013, said he began considering the run after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

‘It’s hard to describe, not being involved in politics, how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country,’ Finebaum said. ‘And it was an awakening,’ he said.

Finebaum also admitted that he felt ’empty’ doing his four-hour daily show in the wake of Kirk’s death.

On Monday, Finebaum revealed that he could quit ESPN to run for the the Senate in Alabama

Finebaum’s consideration to politics comes after Charlie Kirk was murdered on September 10

‘I spent four hours numb talking about things that didn’t matter to me. And it kept building throughout that weekend,’ he said.

While ESPN personalities are generally discouraged from talking about politics publicly, Finebaum confirmed during the interview that he was a registered Republican and voted for Donald Trump.

And while he’s yet to make a final decision on his future, he admitted it would be tough to tell the President ‘no’ if he was approached by him to run for the Senate seat.

‘Impossible to tell him no. There’s no way I could. I would tell him yes,’ Finebaum said.

Nonetheless, Finebaum revealed that ‘one or two people in Washington’ had reached out to him to broach his interest in running for politics.

‘I ended up talking to someone… who made it clear that there was a desire for me to be involved. And this person… was compelling and compassionate in the approach to me, and I started thinking about this,’ Finebaum said.

Finebaum admitted that he wouldn’t be able to say no to Donald Trump if approached

Former Auburn men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl previously weighed up a Senate run

The longtime college football commentator, who also appears on ESPN shows such as SportsCenter and First Take, added that he was initially hesitant to get involved in Alabama’s Senate race with now-former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl weighing up a run.

However, Pearl ultimately decided not to get involved in the race after retiring from his post with the Tigers.

If Finebaum does jump into the Senate race, he will need to make a decision soon.

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The qualifying deadline for the race is in January, and he said he would like to make up his mind in the next ’30 to 45 days.’

‘I’d love to get to the end of the [college football] season. I don’t know if that’s realistic,’ he admitted.

There is set to be an open seat due to another sports figure – former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville – entering the race for Governor. Tuberville is currently a Senator in Alabama.

Kirk was shot dead on September 10 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.

His death has led to a slew of tributes in the sports world, including from several NFL franchises.

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Paul Finebaum reveals ESPN ‘killed’ interview with President Trump as college sports icon weighs up political run

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