Barstool Sports ‘El Presidente’ Dave Portnoy has claimed he was offered a job in the Trump Administration’s Commerce Department.
However, Portnoy said on his Davey Day Trader Global podcast Tuesday, to work directly under United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, he would have had to give up his role at Barstool.
“I got a call a couple months ago and it was like ‘Hey, would you have any interest, Dave, in joining the Department of Commerce?’ working under Lutnick,” he explained.
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The polarizing media mogul added that the “caveat” was giving up the reigns to his company that he founded in 2002. “Somebody would have to run Barstool, you can’t run Barstool and work for the government,” he said.
He was making a comparison to Elon Musk and how his companies are faring, with all of his effort seemingly going into the Department of Government Efficiency. “How do you run Tesla when you’re working on DOGE 24-7? I know Elon doesn’t have a specific title, but you kind of want your CEO with the eye on the ball,” Portnoy said.
Barstool’s bro-in-chief added that the government never actually followed up on the initial call.
“They were like ‘let us know if you could find somebody to run Barstool and if you are interested we’ll schedule a call in a week to go over the next steps.' That never happened, it was weird,” he explained.
Portnoy, who has faced past allegations of racism, sexism and sexual misconduct, is an admirer of President Donald Trump.
He soft-balled Trump in a 2020 interview, offered to Barstool as part of a charm offensive on young men by the Republican Party. Portnoy also endorsed Trump for his successful 2024 presidential bid during an interview with Fox News in September last year.
The Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
