Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy prints ‘Portnoy/Musk 2024’ shirts after Elon Musk’s call to run for office
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is selling shirts teasing a potential run for office in 2024 with tech billionaire Elon Musk as his running mate following an exchange of compliments between the two moguls.
Musk urged Portnoy to seek public office Thursday night in response to a coronavirus video rant the Barstool founder posted on Twitter a day earlier that questioned when businesses would be allowed to reopen Across America. Portnoy’s viral video has picked up over 7 million views in two days -- and Musk was a big fan.
“Are we just done as humans? ... You have to take risks! We’re Americans!” Portney stressed in the video.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BARSTOOL SPORTS' DAVE PORTNOY LETS LOOSE WITH PROFANE MONOLOGUE AGAINST CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS
“Well said! Please run for office,” Musk wrote. “The politicians & unelected bureaucrats who stole our liberty should be tarred, feathered & thrown out of town!”
Portnoy’s profanity-laced video questioned how long Americans can afford to have the economy shut down by the government's COVID-19 policies. “Emergency Press Conference - When Did Flattening The Curve Turn Into Finding The Cure,” Portnoy’s video caption said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I would rather die of corona ... or take my chances ... I don’t want to start over,” he said in the video. “There are no great options but you can’t just decimate the entire economy.”
“Thanks Elon,” Portnoy wrote to Musk before sending another batch of tweets unveiling the new threads.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}By Thursday night, the “Portnoy/Musk 20204” was on sale at Barstool Sports’ online store.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
In the U.S., as in many countries, the lockdowns have helped trigger catastrophic levels of job losses. The U.S. unemployment rate soared to 14.7 percent in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression. Roughly 30 million Americans are out of work. Musk, CEO of automaker Tesla, recently said he planned to move jobs out of California over the coroanvirus-related restrictions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Frank Miles and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.