Earlier this month, Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani officially secured victory in the New York City mayoral election. Predictably, not everyone was happy with the way things played out in the election, including one prominent figure in sports media.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy even said prior to the election that he would consider moving the company out of New York if Mamdani won.
“Honestly, I’ve given that a lot of thought — he’s definitely going to win — going to Hoboken or Jersey City or something,” Portnoy said, according to Awful Announcing. “I don’t want to [freaking] have an office (in Manhattan). But then we have all those people who, like, that [messes] up their life because I hate the guy … so it’s a Catch-22.”
“I can’t stand the thought of (Mamdani) running New York City. I can’t stand it,” Portnoy went on. “Then a part of me is like, how much will actually change? But I really have given it thought. I told our finance guys to start looking around for property, no joke.
“Take a principled stand. Thirty-something-year-old Communist running New York City who’s never had a job in his life, hates America, doesn’t seem like the best.”
Many of Mamdani’s detractors likely thought that President Trump would serve to stop many of Mamdani’s plans. However, after meeting the Mayor elect, Trump has completely changed his tune and rolled over in support of Mamdani.
“I can tell you that some of my views have changed. […] I feel very confident that he can do a very good job. I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually, and some very liberal people he won’t surprise them because they already like him,” Trump said after the meeting.
Donald Trump on Zohran Mamdani following their meeting at the White House:
“I can tell you that some of my views have changed. […] I feel very confident that he can do a very good job. I think he is going to surprise some conservative people actually, and some very liberal… pic.twitter.com/owjH59UVIx
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 21, 2025
It’ll be interesting to see if Trump switches to a liberal agenda.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.