Two of the most important political voices in America as of April 2025 are Stephen A. Smith and Dave Portnoy.
The two sports personalities have made waves with their political commentary, with Smith in particular considering his own run for the presidency.
While Portnoy hasn’t seriously floated any political aspirations of his own, he has made major headlines for criticism of the Donald Trump administration after being a vocal supporter of his presidential campaign.
First the Barstool Sports founder was critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the Signal scandal surrounding several high ranking officials. This week he has spoken out about the stock market crash caused by Trump’s erratic tariff policies and announcements that have sent the financial world on a dizzying roller coaster ride.
Given his own losses in the stock market crash that he has talked about openly, Dave Portnoy appeared on CNN with Dana Bash and proclaimed that he wasn’t a MAGA loyalist and mainly moved toward Trump because of the secrecy around Joe Biden’s mental condition and lack of a primary. And when asked if he was open to voting for Democrats if financial turmoil continues and the market continues its decline, he said yes.
NEW: Dave Portnoy tells CNN he’s open to voting Democrat if stocks keep falling “I was never some crazy MAGA guy.”
“I don’t think I realized there’d be a market crash.”
“I’m willing to still give him time. I think the big date is the midterms, which is a long time out.”
“But… pic.twitter.com/621CuRsnWq
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) April 9, 2025
“Yea, absolutely. One thing about me, which drives me crazy, I voted for Trump, I support him. I was never like some crazy MAGA guy,” Portnoy said.
“I look at each candidate and I choose who I like. I think the left, and a lot of even what they did with, I want to say hiding Biden’s mental state, not having a primary, really drove me to the right. So, I am not somebody who would just strictly vote based on Republican or Democrat. I vote on the people running, how I think they speak to me, the issues that are important to me. But yes, I will vote how I feel is the best interest of what I believe in,” he added.
Dave Portnoy has become a fascinating barometer of the current political landscape. And he’s become an increasingly visible presence in cable news interviews and social media clips (much to his own chagrin). While many may have assumed he was more of a conservative loyalist, he’s clearly positioning himself as an independent voice, willing to call out the people that he voted for.
We’re this close to saying that as Stephen A. Smith and Dave Portnoy go, so goes the country.
