Dave Portnoy New York mayor politics Zohran Mamdani Credit: Fox News
By Matt Yoder on

Dave Portnoy is currently on a book tour to promote “Cancel Me if You Can,” chronicling his personal journey to the top of online influence. But it’s not fully a book tour unless you float a run for political office, which is exactly what the Barstool owner did in an interview on Fox News with Jesse Watters.

Portnoy is not the first major sports media personality to mention the possibility of shifting into politics. Stephen A. Smith has been doing so to an unending degree for the last few years.

For his part, Dave Portnoy hasn’t been shy about sharing his political opinions. They have mostly been right-leaning (with “Barstool Conservatism” even becoming part of the political lexicon). Still, he hasn’t been afraid to call out Donald Trump and others in his administration from time to time, at least compared to 99.9% of actual Republican politicians.

However, the recent success of Zohran Mamdani in New York City has lit the political fuse for Portnoy like never before. He has called Mamdani a “communist” and has threatened to move the Barstool offices out of NYC. And in the interview with Watters, Portnoy said that he just might be motivated enough to try to do something about it himself.

“Depending on what day you catch me in Nantucket when I roll out of bed, I have a nice ocean view, and it’s like why do I want to ruin my life and get involved in this mess because I know what comes with it, but sometimes I do feel like it’s my duty. I can’t turn away. I feel like I could make a change, maybe I do run in politics. So I don’t know, depends on the day you catch me. But let me say this: I spend a lot of my day losing my mind on what’s happening right now, especially in New York. You got the Nazi in Maine. This really, really, really worries me,” Portnoy said.

And after Jesse Watters mentioned a challenge to Zohran Mamdani specifically, Dave Portnoy said that if he were ever to enter a political contest, it would be to run for mayor of New York City against the current incumbent.

“If I was going to run, it would be here. Can I win here? I have no idea. I don’t know the demographics, where they’re getting out votes. There’s a lot of people who like me in New York City. I know that. I’ve done a lot of good in New York City when I wasn’t in politics, whether it’s the Barstool Fund, pizza places, so it wasn’t for show. I’ve had a real job. I’ve done real things, unlike these clown politicians who have never had a job and never been in the real world for a day. But the people voting for these people that just won are like these young, white, Ivy League-ish, elitist women. It’s like, who are they? They’ll never vote for me. They’ll never believe in common sense,” the Barstool chief added.

Mamdani has become an obsession on the political right ever since he first started making waves in the New York City mayoral contest. And now that he’s in office with no real Democratic party leader to speak of, it is only intensifying.

But before he actually goes through with it, Dave Portnoy might want to check the demographics of New York City. It’s been over 20 years since a Republican was elected as mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, but he soon thereafter became an independent. Also, Democrats currently outnumber Republicans 5-1 in the boroughs, according to election data.

But what would obviously be the biggest impediment to Portnoy making a serious bid for public office in New York is the fact that he is a Boston guy and a diehard Red Sox fan. Joe Biden has a better chance of becoming a Barstool podcast host than Portnoy does of becoming New York City mayor. His longshot bid would make for some pretty incredible content, though.

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