‘When Did He Work on Main Street?’ Dave Portnoy Roasts Millionaire Trump Treasury Secretary Over Defense of Tariffs

Dave Portnoy/X

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy roasted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday over his response to the plummeting stock market.

Since President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on dozens of America’s trade partners, the market has responded with steep declines. In the first full day after Trump’s announcement, Portnoy revealed on a livestream that he was down $7 million as a result of losses in both the stock market and the cryptocurrency market. Days later, Portnoy claimed he had lost at least 10% of his net worth.

On Thursday, concerns about the economy continued as Trump’s 104% tariff on China went into effect. Hours later, China announced its own retaliatory tariffs to bring its total on the U.S. up to 84%.

Speaking Tuesday morning, Bessent dismissed Wall Street concerns and claimed Trump is instead focused on “Main Street.”

“For the last four decades — basically since I began my career in Wall Street — Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before,” Bessent said, “and it continues to grow and do well. But for the next four years, the Trump agenda is focused on Main Street. It’s Main Street’s turn. It’s Main Street’s turn to hire workers; it’s Main Street’s turn to drive investment; and it’s Main Street’s turn to restore the American dream.”

Portnoy, citing Bessent’s background on Wall Street, questioned what the secretary actually knew about “Main Street.”

“Isn’t Bessent worth like hundreds of millions of dollars because of his work on Wall Street hedge funds and shit?” Portnoy said in a tweet. “Now that’s he’s left Wall Street after making infinity money he is saying the stock market is bad? When did he work on Main Street?”

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