Dave Portnoy hasn’t been shy to express his support for Donald Trump.
That, apparently, was enough for CNN’s David Urban to share his belief that the Barstool Sports founder and owner wouldn’t criticize the former United States president’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.
“The way this speech is going to be consumed for the rest of the week is not anyone’s going to watch it. You’re going to see tomorrow, Dave Portnoy, everybody on social media going to the Hulkster ripping [his shirt] off. It’s going to be the Trump-Vance shirt. It’s going to be consumed in snippets on social media and it’s going to look really cool,” Urban said. “That’s what you’re going to see. You’re not going to see the boring part in the middle. You’re going to see the great snippets, the highlights. That’s what’s going to be pushed out. Nobody’s sitting around like us, eating popcorn, watching the speech.”
But while many people did, in fact, share videos of Hulk Hogan’s promo that preceded Trump’s speech, Urban was proven wrong regarding Portnoy’s thoughts on the matter.
Taking to X on Friday, “El Presidente” shared the clip of Urban — a former Trump advisor — referencing his name. And in doing so, Portnoy revealed that not only was he not a fan of the 45th president’s latest speech, but that he fell asleep while watching it.
“For the record I am clearly in the camp that the speech was way too long,” Portnoy wrote, referencing a previous post in which he asked if it was the longest speech ever. “I fell asleep, woke up and it was still going. I thought I was watching a replay. There is no human I can listen to an hour straight unless there is a game on or something.”
For the record I am clearly in the camp that the speech was way too long. I fell asleep, woke up and it was still going. I thought I was watching a replay. There is no human I can listen to an hour straight unless there is a game on or something. pic.twitter.com/wQoq1V5X6O
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2024
Portnoy went on to share a clip of the RNC audience awkwardly bopping along to Kid Rock’s Trump-inspired remix of “American Bad Ass” — not exactly the social media support Urban was seemingly envisioning.
Also my favorite highlights of the night were easily watching the crowd try to dance to Kid Rock. Loved the guy rocking out hard! https://t.co/tyQvN3Bmfa pic.twitter.com/GerTsEaFpQ
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 19, 2024
To be fair, Urban wasn’t necessarily referencing Portnoy specifically — although that’s exactly what he did — but rather using him as an avatar for right-wing social media influencers. But while Portnoy has shown plenty of support for Trump dating back to 2016, he’s also been willing to highlight some of his flaws, and even admitted this past January that the former host of The Apprentice wasn’t his first choice for president due to his divisive nature.
As for the speech itself, the 92-minute-plus monologue has received plenty of criticism for its content, lack of energy, and of course, its length. And despite Urban’s insistence otherwise, it wasn’t overshadowed by the viral clips of a 70-year-old pro wrestling legend struggling to rip his shirt off earlier in the night.
