Is Dave Portnoy, Founder of Barstool Sports, a Trump Supporter? What We Know About His Politics

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is a bit of a maverick in the world of politics and news. As the head of Barstool, Dave is both a sports figure and an influencer, with his reach covering millions of subscribers over social media.

With politics taking center stage and becoming a flash point for people who wonder if their favorite celebrities endorse "the right" candidate and politicians, someone like Dave can find himself wading into hot water if he doesn't offer endorsements carefully.

So, does Dave support President Donald Trump, or is he on the anti-MAGA train? Here's what we know about his politics and his thoughts on a major scandal that erupted in 2025 at the dawn of Trump's second term in office.

For the most part, Dave keeps himself out of political conversations. While he occasionally offers opinions on hot-button topics, he doesn't align with either Democrats or Republicans, although he certainly seems to lean more towards a conservative ideology.

In 2024, he criticized former President Joe Biden and celebrated Trump's return to the White House, saying Democrats had given voters "no choice" but to pick Trump.

However, an odd conversation with someone who claimed to represent Trump's cabinet left him wondering what was going on and spurred Dave to blast the Trump administration's lack of accountability.

While speaking on his Davey Day Trader Global Show in March 2025, Dave revealed that he was offered a job in the Trump administration. “I got a call, I don’t know, a couple of months ago, I don’t know when I got the call. And it was like, ‘Hey, would you have any interest, Dave, in joining the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary under [Howard] Lutnick, or the guy working under him?'"

But, the unnamed official said, he would have to let someone else run Barstool. And then no one followed up. "It was weird," Dave mused.

The fact that Dave said Trump was the only choice doesn't mean he supports him blindly.

Also in March 2025, the Trump administration was embroiled in a major scandal after it was revealed that they accidentally added a reporter from The Atlantic into a group chat where several high-level officials discussed plans to bomb Yemen, giving tactical details over Signal.

Dave had absolutely no patience for the administration's fumbled handling of the scandal, especially after it seemed that every official questioned by the press passed the buck and refused to hold someone accountable. Even Trump, Dave complained in a video on X (formerly Twitter), seemed to be unsure of how to respond.

He wondered what would happen if Jeffrey had been an enemy and scolded Trump, saying, "Trump, I get being loyal to your people. I don't like firing people on innocent mistakes that they make. In this new administration, you want to take accountability. Trump, you may love Mike Waltz, you love Pete Hegseth, you may love these guys. Somebody has to go down."

So while it's safe to say that Dave is at least somewhat of a Trump supporter, he clearly has no patience for a lack of organization or accountability, which means he's probably doubly grateful he didn't take that offer to work with the administration.