NASHVILLE — A Nashville-based Fox Sports Radio host, who drew criticism for saying on CNN that he only believes in the First Amendment and female breasts, says he may jump into Tennessee's 2018 U.S. Senate race as an independent candidate.

"Hey @cnn, when I get elected to the Senate will I still be banned from coming on air for saying boobs?" Clay Travis tweeted Wednesday to his nearly half million Twitter followers.

Travis recently told female CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin on live television that "I'm a First Amendment absolutist. I believe in only two things completely. The First Amendment and boobs."

That brought a quick end to the interview, which focused on ESPN reporter Jemele Hill, who was in her own controversy over having called President Donald Trump a "white supremacist" on Twitter.

Clay Travis

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On Wednesday, the online Independent Journal Review reported the iHeart Radio host said on air he has "been toying with the idea" of running because incumbent Republican Bob Corker hasn't announced whether he'll seek a third term.

"I think I could win," Travis said, according to the Independent Journal Review. He boasted he has "100 percent name recognition" at a University of Tennessee tailgate party.

"[I] think if you walked around with a camera, I would make the Democrats and the Republicans both incredibly nervous. They would kill to have the recognition in the state."

The story was later picked up by The Washington Examiner.

But Travis said he wouldn't run if he had to give up his day job as a sports commentator because "I'd have to take a major pay cut Is that possible? Can I do everything I do now and be a senator? I think so."

He kept his potential candidacy alive throughout Wednesday on Twitter.

"I could run for Senate in the State of Tennessee and get elected," he tweeted above a picture of himself before a nighttime view of Nashville's skyline. "I could win as an Independent, I'd make the Democrats and Republicans incredibly nervous."

According to broadcastlaw blog.com, Travis, a Vanderbilt University Law School graduate, may have to choose between the day job and a bid for public office.

"[W]hether it be Governor or member of the Board of Education or Water Commission, an announcer-candidate can mean equal time obligations under Section 315 of the Communications Act and under FCC rules for a broadcast station," the blog noted.

Earlier this week, Republican Andy Ogles announced he is running for the U.S. Senate regardless of what Corker does.

Also weighing bids are state Sen. Mark Green, R-Ashland City, who was nominated by Trump for U.S. Army secretary before withdrawing amid criticism for his comments about gays and Muslims, and former state Rep. Joe Carr.

Carr lost a U.S. Senate bid in 2014 and a congressional race in 2016.

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.