'Bet big, move fast and never settle': Are the 'bros' 'abandoning Trump?

05 March

U.S. President Donald Trump's delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

“Bros” may be souring on President Donald Trump’s presidency, journalist Peter Hamby writes at Puck on Tuesday.

Media company Barstool Sports founder and “professional attention magnet” Dave Portnoy represents a mindset that may be common among younger men as well, Hamby argues. Portnoy supported Trump during his presidential campaign, but recently, he has been critical.

In a recent post on X, Portnoy, who told Fox News he was asked to be part of Trump's Commerce Department, raised issue with an anticlimactic release of documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the arrival to the U.S. of two brothers who were charged with rape and trafficking minors in Romania, and issues with the economy.

“If I’m gonna be fair, these questions need to be asked today,” Portnoy posted. “Why is the release of the Epstein list always a shit show? What’s the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers? Why is Crypto in the toilet if Trump is crypto king? How far does Tesla stock have to crash before Elon goes back to work?”

The key question, according to Hamby, is “does this mean the bros are abandoning Trump?”

“Yes, Portnoy is contemptuous of political correctness and the identity politics of the left,” Hamby writes. “And yes, he’s a sports freak and unapologetic bro. But he represents something a little bit more specific and relevant to many of the younger men who abandoned the Democratic Party in the pandemic years and voted for Trump last year. Portnoy is a business role model, a self-made multimillionaire (centimillionaire, perhaps) who took Barstool from a local Boston rag to a massive multimedia empire with a blue-collar grind mentality, an enthusiasm for risk-taking, and an unfathomable lack of shame.”

Pollster John Della Volpe, head of the youth research firm SocialSphere, would be likely to call Portnoy’s disciples “High Risk Hustlers.” They like sports, investing, and crypto. They are also likely to support Trump — and Elon Musk.

“For this group, the hustle isn’t just about ambition—it’s a survival strategy,” Della Volpe wrote in his newsletter last month. “Their financial mindset is shaped by the belief that playing it safe leads to economic stagnation.”

“Their preference for bold, disruptive leaders mirrors their financial ethos—bet big, move fast, and never settle,” he added.

According to his data, Trump’s support from younger voters has taken an “unambiguous hit, as expectations about a shiny new economy collide with our current reality,” Hamby writes.

Trump’s favorability rating for this group is 43 percent, dropping seven points since a poll held shortly before inauguration.

Still, Portnoy types probably aren’t going far.

“Trump’s favorability among young men remains relatively steady, masking their growing skepticism about his economic policies and handling of inflation just a month into his presidency,” Della Volpe told Puck. “Women have already broken with him. If life doesn’t become more affordable as Trump promised, and quickly, even his strongest backers may conclude he can’t deliver.”

From Your Site Articles