Dave Portnoy’s Trump Interview Was As Fascinating As It Was Fruitless

• Dave Portnoy shocked his followers with a presidential interview on Thursday.
• The President versus El Presidente showed glimmers of fresh discourse.
• Unfortunately, Donald Trump destroyed any hope of real political insight.

Barstool President Dave Portnoy found some time in his busy day-trading schedule to interview Donald Trump, and it was extraordinary. Sadly, though, it showed glimpses of cracking the president’s political veneer. The outcome fell short as Trump retreated into his shell.

Trump, Portnoy & Ali-G

Even Portnoy admitted he was taken aback by interviewing the President of the United States, and most of Twitter agreed with that sentiment.

In terms of the actual interview, things started with a bang as the Barstool boss brought up Trump’s meeting with Ali-G.

I have thought for Trump’s entire presidency that he must be smarter than he looks because of how quickly he saw through Sacha Baron-Cohen’s disguise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ref_Xly7Y

Some of the most powerful (and intelligent) people in the world have been conned into hours of absurd dialogue with the comedian .

Trump’s “no-one gives me credit for that” response was quite endearing. Unfortunately, the need to continually refer back to some of his key political cornerstones destroyed any sense that Portnoy was talking to the man behind the image.

It was a shame that the interview peaked so early because the rambling, often incoherent president, is much more common than the brief glimpses of ‘ordinary human’ Portnoy was able to coax out.

“A Fast Little Guard”

Perhaps the most bizarre moment of the interview was when Trump called Dr. Fauci, “a fast little guard,” referencing his adviser’s brief basketball career.

Unfortunately, the vote of confidence fell flat after Fauci’s first pitch went viral.

Just for the record, I’d be more concerned if a 79-year-old internationally renowned virologist was good at throwing. Just saying.

In a moment of humor or hubris, Trump suggested that “Dr. Fauci wanted to shut the country down for two years,” suggesting he has repeatedly overruled efforts to lock-down the U.S.

With virus cases now above 4 million  and polling forcing a U-turn on masks, Trump can’t seem to get out of his own way on the issue.

Moderate Discourse Is Impossible In U.S. Politics

Dave Portnoy did his best to present an apolitical interview. Given that almost everything you see on television and in the media does have some bias, whether it be right or left, this was a good thing.

Unfortunately, Trump is the opposite of apolitical, and it was the journalistic equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest to get him to say or do anything to the contrary.

It doesn’t take much to figure out that this was, at least on the White House side of things, an obvious play to reach millennial voters.

Ultimately, Portnoy meets Trump gave us two takeaways:

1. President Trump is still capable of maintaining normal discourse, but only in short bursts, and his rambling seems to be getting worse.
2. Portnoy’s valiant effort to be moderate in a world that utterly rejects thoughtful discourse was admirable but futile.

If the day trading doesn’t work out, El Presidente has a job as an interviewer.

---

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.

---