Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Monday said he would “love to run” against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, touting his purported accomplishment of having had “a real job” to unbridled mockery from critics on social media.
Portnoy's mayoral ambitions
“I would love to run against [Mamdani],” Portnoy told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “If I was going to run, it would be here. Can I win here? I have no idea. I don’t know the demographics, whether I’d get enough votes. There’s a lot of people who like me in New York City.”
He continued, “I know that. I’ve done a lot of good in New York City when I wasn’t thinking about politics … 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.”
Mamdani's background
Mamdani has had “real” jobs himself, of course, working as a foreclosure prevention counselor in Queens to help low-income homeowners avoid eviction before serving in the New York State Assembly — and becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York City.
Portnoy's accomplishments
Portnoy pointed to the Barstool Fund he launched in 2020 with $500,000 of his own money, which raised $41.6 million to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic, and his popular YouTube series of pizza reviews, to argue he is a viable candidate for mayor.
Social media backlash
Portnoy, who said last year that he might vote for Democrats in the midterms if he isn’t happy with the stock market, was roundly trounced by critics on X for measuring his successes against Mamdani’s.
“Apparently managing New York City isn’t a real job, but writing blog posts about pizza is. Good to know where we’ve set the bar,” wrote one user, with another begging: “I need him to run. I need to see the most annoying man alive get humiliated in front of millions of people.”
Mamdani has been ranked as one of the most popular politicians in the U.S., despite critics such as Portnoy calling the mayor a “communist” who “hates America” — and threatening to move his digital media company headquarters out of New York City because, “I hate the guy.”
“Dave is so mad about paying more taxes … what a fucking baby,” wrote one X user, with another person cheekily pondering: “I wonder what would happen if the least charismatic man in america ran against the most charistmatic man in america.”
Portnoy's political history
Portnoy voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and once suggested convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein had made a “trade” when asking women for sex, before acknowledging the lack of consent. He was previously accused of sexual misconduct himself; he has said the sex was consensual.
Portnoy's philosophical justification
Portnoy tried to quote Plato on Monday by stating, “You know, ‘If you don’t do your public service and run for office, you’re doomed to be run by, basically, dummies.’” The actual quote is often recorded as, “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
He said, “Depending on what day you catch on 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.”
Critics' reactions
Critics are pleading for him to do so anyway — or gleefully begging Portnoy to go for it. One user wrote, “do it lmao oh my god you'll be fucking clowned on for life.” Another said, “Curtis Sliwa has been a NYC fixture since I was a little kid in the 70s, and he was patrolling the streets as a 'Guardian Angel.' He has a BILLION times more street cred than Portnoy, and Sliwa got dusted. Isn't Portnoy from Boston? Yeah, I'm sure Yankee fans will love that.”
A third user commented, “He can’t pull the 'I’ve done a real job, they don’t know the real world' bs when Mamdani has helped millions of New Yorkers afford to live there. All I hear now is 'I’m going to rig it for business people like me and everyone else gfy.'”
