Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is one of several Republicans speaking out against the economic impact of President Trump’s tariffs.
On a live stream Monday, Portnoy, who has been a Trump supporter, railed against the crashing stock market, which he said had caused him millions of dollars in personal losses. However, he also pointed to the larger impact the stock market will have on his business, and media companies generally.
Barstool Sports encompasses sports and pop culture blogs, as well as several podcasts and video series.
“Let’s look at Barstool Sports, alright. This economy tanks. Our advertisers who do business overseas and sell products and advertise with us, they sell less products. It gets more expensive. What’s the first thing they cut? Ad budgets. Ad budgets that we get. Suddenly we’re not getting as much money. Suddenly I have to fire Nate and lay people off. That’s how it works,” Portnoy said on the live stream.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that advertisers in major categories, including automotive, consumer packaged goods, and food and drinks, are reexamining their spending in light of the tariffs.
Elon Musk, who has been working closely Trump and the administration, posted on X saying Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro is “truly a moron,” following statements Navarro made about Musk’s company Tesla. In the CNBC interview, Navarro calls on Musk and Tesla to manufacture the car parts in the U.S. in light of the tariffs.
Bill Ackman, the billionaire founder of Pershing Square, a hedge fund management company, and a backer of Trump, also raised the alarm on the way the tariffs were deployed. In posts on X Monday and Tuesday, Ackman still supported the idea behind the tariffs, saying it is “fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country,” but urged the administration to enact a “30, 60, or 90- day pause” before going forward with the tariffs in order to allow negotiations with other countries.
“President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world, and he has gotten everyone’s attention. So far, so good. And yes, other nations have taken advantage of the U.S. by protecting their home industries at the expense of millions of our jobs and economic growth in our country,” Ackman wrote in a lengthy post on X Monday.
The mogul added, “But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital.”
“But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital,” Ackman wrote in a lengthy post on X Monday.