Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy recently addressed the possibility of a mayoral campaign in New York City, stating, "Maybe." He further elaborated, "So I don’t know. Maybe I’m the guy to do it. Depends on how much more he keeps pissing me off."
These remarks were made during a panel discussion promoting Portnoy’s latest book, "Cancel Me If You Can." During the event, the Barstool founder candidly discussed various topics, including the recent primary election sweep by three far-left socialist candidates in New York City.
Concerns Over Far-Left Candidates
Portnoy specifically criticized past statements made by Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate who secured a primary win with support from Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani. Although Chevalier has not yet been formally elected to office, her victory in the Democratic nomination makes her election effectively certain in her strongly Democratic district.
"That lady, Chevalier, just got elected," Portnoy stated. "The things she has said are unbelievable." He continued, "She said all Arab men [and] Black men shouldn’t date ugly colonizers. She said no prisons, no quarters, no jails. She started a group at Columbia that’s goal was to overthrow Western society — she just got elected."
He also highlighted resurfaced comments from Aber Kawas, another candidate backed by Mamdani, who won her primary race for New York State Senate District 12. Kawas had previously appeared to suggest that the United States was deserving of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"[Kawas], who just got elected, said America deserved 9/11," Portnoy recounted. "Like that to me, is just — I can’t even wrap my brain around it." He added, "I don’t know if it’s scary or if I should be scared or like, [if] I gotta get into politics. I am stunned by some of the things that are happening now."
Kawas's controversial remarks originated from a 2017 episode of the Asian American Writers' Association podcast titled "Islamophobia beyond 9/11 with Aber Kawas." In that discussion, she asserted, "The system of capitalism and racism and White supremacy… and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people and so this is a long trajectory, and we're just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11."
Critique of Socialist Ideals and the American Dream
The entrepreneur, widely known as "El Presidente" for his pizza reviews, also targeted Assembly Member Mamdani, criticizing his socialist agenda while maintaining ambiguity about his own potential mayoral run.
"Unlike Mamdani, who’s never had a job, I’ve had a real job," Portnoy asserted. "And I’ve actually done a lot of good when I wasn’t doing it to run for office. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do." He further commented, "I don’t know if I could win this city with a Democrat, but [Mamdani] has said what he wanted to do before he got elected. And I trust what people say before they’re running, and he said some pretty crazy things about what he wants to do."
Portnoy expressed dismay that entrepreneurship, a core tenet of the American Dream, appears to be increasingly maligned by far-left candidates in various Democratic-led cities across the nation.
"To me, I think Barstool is the American Dream. I really do," Portnoy explained. "It’s like, you work your a-- off, you build a company, you employ 400 to 450 people who enjoy it. I’ve become wealthy beyond my reach. It kind of is the American Dream." He continued, to applause from the audience, "I don’t like when I hear that people should be ashamed for being successful — that bothers me greatly. A lot of things [Mamdani] says really do bother me."
Portnoy concluded with a cautionary statement regarding public service: "If you don’t do your job in public service, then you’re doomed to be ruled by people dumber than you."
