Barstool Sports chief Dave Portnoy found himself embroiled in a heated exchange with California Rep. Eric Swalwell after he defended the United States’ bombing of Iran.
Portnoy claimed on Saturday night that the US ‘is on the right side of history’ after attacking Iran alongside Israel and killing the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to try and bring about regime change.
In response, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate told the media mogul to ‘stick to sports’ as he said that the ‘adults will sort out the wars.’
‘Stick to sports. You’re at least half-right there,’ Swalwell, 45, wrote on X, replying to Portnoy’s defense of the American attack on Iran.
Swalwell added: ‘Your whiny-ass ain’t going to an Iran battlefield anytime soon. It’ll be poor kids from where I grew up. Life must be pretty comfy in your suite. Stick to judging your favorite pizzas. The adults will sort out the wars.’
However, Portnoy refused to step back from his political takes and let the issue lie as he fired back at the representative.
Dave Portnoy found himself embroiled in a heated exchange with California Rep. Eric Swalwell
‘Hey Eric I’d never heard of you but [a] quick Google search said you were literally removed from [the] House Intelligence Committee for having your office infiltrated by a Chinese spy named Fang Fang,’ Portnoy wrote, quote-tweeting Swalwell’s bitter response.
‘Can’t even make it up. Maybe sit out the National Security lectures. Politicians, man,’ he added.
Swalwell’s ties to China came under scrutiny in 2015 when Chinese national Christine Fang, also known as ‘Fang Fang,’ joined his campaign efforts.
She was deemed by US officials to be part of a counterintelligence effort linked to China meant to influence and get close to American political figures.
However, Swalwell cut ties with her immediately after an FBI defensive briefing in 2015, and a 2023 House Ethics investigation found no wrongdoing.
Israel said on Saturday afternoon that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei, 86, was killed in the airstrike on his compound in Tehran, the Iranian capital, with Donald Trump later confirming his death via Truth Social and vowing to continue ‘heavy and pinpoint bombing… uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective.’
The attack came shortly after Iran and the United States were in negotiations to curb Iranian efforts to ever obtain a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanction relief that has crippled the Iranian economy.
It appears those unsuccessful talks were the trigger for the intervention, but Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.
Chinese national Christine Fang volunteered as a fundraiser with Swalwell’s 2014 campaign
Donald Trump started a military campaign against Iran in the early hours of Saturday
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in an attack on his Tehran compound
Writing before Israel first said that Khamenei had been found dead, Portnoy, a Trump supporter at the last election, slammed those attacking the President for making such a bold and risky move.
‘I always laugh at yo-yos who don’t have the 1st clue what information the President had that forced this decision. Even politicians who despise him but were briefed on the situation seem to agree with this operation,’ Portnoy wrote.
‘I guess lotta podcasters know better,’ he added, with a crying-with-laughter emoji. ‘Gotta keep the lights on somehow. Borderline traitors if you ask me.’
The latest intervention also comes months after thousands of Iranians were killed by Iran’s authoritarian regime in a desperate effort to quell uprisings and protests against the Khamenei earlier this year.
Referencing the violent response to those protests, Portnoy continued: ‘Iran is a terror nation with a long history of some of the worst human rights atrocities in the world.
‘Nobody disputes that fact. They hate Americans. They hate Israel. They hate all Jews. They hate the West.
‘They would kill us all if given the chance. They just murdered tens of thousands of their own people. The rest of the Middle East is on our side.
‘The Iranian people are on our side. It isn’t that complicated to support our Troops and our country this morning. We are on the right side here. God Bless America.’
On Sunday morning, US-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day. There were explosions in Tehran as Israel said it was taking its attacks to the ‘heart’ of Iran’s capital.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at US military installations around the Gulf, and also at the Saudi capital and the global business hub of Dubai.