Barstool Sports' Bill Cotter running for Congress in former George Santos district — says New York 'getting out of control'

Barstool Sports' Bill Cotter running for Congress in former George Santos district — says New York 'getting out of control'



Barstool Sports commentator and Queens native Bill Cotter is running for congressional office in New York's third district as a Republican.

Cotter, aka Billy Football, will attempt to unseat Tom Suozzi in NY-03, the wealthiest district in the state. The seat was of course vacated by Republican George Santos when he was expelled from the House of Representatives. Santos has planned to run again in NY-01.

Cotter is running on a strong conservative platform as a Catholic and resident of the area. His target issues reflect that of many modern MAGA enthusiasts but also topics that have bipartisan appeal.

"What happened to the American dream? What happened to feeling good about not only this country but state?" Cotter told Newsmax.

"You would never allow your kid to take the public transport nowadays, with all the crime that's happening. There's shootings. There's stabbings. There's people running around New York City just randomly punching people in the face on their phones. It's terrible. The situation is getting out of control."

The 25-year-old also noted that the city has not properly supported the police, which is included on his platform along with supporting the Second Amendment.

"What part of 'shall not be infringed' is so hard to understand?" his website read. Other platform points have included preventing insider trading, ending the opioid crisis, and holding "Big Pharma" accountable.

Along with requiring voter identification and securing the border, Cotter is surely to win some hearts and minds with his sentiments on affordable housing.

Cotter explained that even some of his richest friends cannot see themselves buying a house in the next few years.

"There's a housing crisis in this country. If you ask anyone in my generation, 'Hey, do you think you can buy a house in the next five years?' none of them even have a chance of saying, 'Yes,'" he told Fox News' Martha MacCallum. "Inflation's robbing our savings, the value of a dollar is going down and wages aren't increasing, and we're stuck in a situation as younger members of the population where we don't see the American dream," he continued.

"I want to restore that confidence and that belief in the American dream."

\u201cGuys can\u2019t buy houses\u201d -Billy for President
— (@)

While the Fox News host questioned whether Cotter had acquired and submitted the necessary number of signatures, Cotter's team has since confirmed via social media that he is indeed on the list for a June 25, 2024, Republican primary.

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 @Billyhottakes is 100 percent CONFIRMED to have filed his paperwork for the ballot ON TIME.

Cc: @BarstoolBigCat @ConnerHKnapp @BarstoolTate @stoolpresidente @Greg_Manz @FoxNews @StuartFeiner @marthamaccallum @PFTCommenter @MacrodosingPod @barstoolsportspic.twitter.com/Ckcakm5CEB
— Spot (@StrategicSpot) April 5, 2024

When asked if he would be receiving support from Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy, Cotter said that he would "have to earn" his vote just like everyone else's.

When asked if he was a Trump supporter, Cotter flipped the question and said that he would have to be an "idiot" to reject support at the grassroots level from the 45th president.

Voting in the third district of New York has historically been tight. No candidate has won by more than 59% of the vote since Peter King dominated the district for 20 years from 1993-2013.

The last Republican candidate for the district was Mazi Melesa Pilip, who lost to Suozzi by less than 14,000 votes in February 2024.

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Tweeted and deleted: Is Dave Portnoy petty?



Jason Whitlock delivered a devastating blow to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. Whitlock and BlazeTV contributor and professional troll Alex Stein discussed events that followed a Twitter spat between Stein and Portnoy over a video of Stein trolling the Las Vegas City Council. Barstool tweeted and deleted the video, prompting Stein to call out Barstool’s cowardice, tweeting:

It’s so cute that @barstoolsports is owned by @stoolpresidente who is accused of the most heinous things but they are too afraid to keep my content up
\u201cIt\u2019s so cute that @barstoolsports is owned by @stoolpresidente who is accused of the most heinous things but they are too afraid to keep my content up\u201d
— Alex Stein #99 (@Alex Stein #99) 1661215959

Portnoy replied:

Buddy, shut the f*ck up. A gambling company owns us. We’ve had roughly 9,000 training sessions not to post shit like this cause regulators don’t like it… Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.

A Barstool employee and long-time acquaintance of Stein, Ben Mintz, contacted Stein to let him know that he and Portnoy talked trash about Stein on a podcast earlier that day. After learning that a Barstool employee knows Stein, Portnoy allegedly fired Mintz.

Stein joined Jason Whitlock's show to discuss the incident. At first, Jason considered the possibility that the whole thing is. A publicity stunt but found that Portnoy is just that "petty."


Download the podcast here.


My Immediate Response to Allegations.

Did I call Stein? Yes I did. But I did it to back up @stoolpresidente & @barstoolsports against him! That was clearly a huge mistake but I did it to back up my boss & my company. I am SICK right now. This is the biggest misunderstanding! pic.twitter.com/FECbGEupYU

— Mintzy (@BarstoolMintzy) August 24, 2022

In this tweet, Mintz reacted to being fired by Portnoy.


You’re fat https://t.co/SgNwcUtMR7

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 23, 2022

Portnoy responded to what Whitlock and Stein discussed on Jason's show with a tweet: "You're fat."


Here's the full episode where Whitlock and Stein discuss the whole explosive situation.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock and Uncle Jimmy, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Whitlock: Keith Olbermann’s Barstool insanity shows the danger of living a life based on defending political lies



This question will seem highly partisan and inflammatory. It is asked sincerely and without malice.

Has the agenda of Democrats become so secular and distant from objective truth that it causes people who adopt a liberal/progressive identity to go insane?

I ask this question out of genuine concern for the sanity of Keith Olbermann, a broadcaster I once admired, and many people I love whose identity and worldview are tied to politics, particularly left-wing politics.

Modern-day progressive politics requires a rejection of objective truth and traditional Christianity. You must believe men can be women, that abortion is not an issue of morality but of choice, that white people are God and in control of your destiny, that George Floyd is a hero and Kyle Rittenhouse is a terrorist, that Donald Trump’s mean tweets are an existential threat, that flagpoles can be the primary weapon in a deadly insurrection, that rogue cops are a more lethal threat to black men than street gangs.

A rejection of truth and faith makes insanity inevitable.

I’m concerned for my family and friends. I’m afraid they will go down the same path as Olbermann, an intelligent person forced to ignore truth to protect his political ideology and brand.

Yesterday, via Twitter, Olbermann used the atrocious school shooting in Michigan to attack Barstool Sports and its founder, Dave Portnoy. Olbermann retweeted a Barstool story about a high school football player who lost his life during the school shooting while trying to protect his classmates. Olbermann complained:

“This kid died to stop a school shooter whose mother echoed the Trumpist Fascism of @stoolpresidente and @barstoolsports.”

Portnoy and Trump radicalized a 15-year-old sophomore to shoot up Oxford High School. You need proof? Well, Olbermann pointed to a 2016 blog post written by the alleged shooter’s mother. The blog post praised Trump.

“Mr. Trump, this is why I voted for you. I see the change that we desperately need. I see jobs coming back, people having to work for their handouts, money going to who really deserve it. If this blog even makes it to your eyes, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.”

Within 48 hours, corporate media politicized the Oxford shooting.

This is insanity mixed with a heavy dose of hypocrisy. The Daily Beast wrote a story profiling Ethan Crumbley, who is white. The Daily Beast dug up the old blog post from Crumbley’s mother. The story included lots of information about the shooter’s parents.

Crumbley shot up his high school on Tuesday, two days ago. Let’s contrast corporate media coverage of Crumbley to that of Darrell E. Brooks, the accused Waukesha mass murderer. Does Brooks have parents? He committed his attack 11 days ago. Has anyone written a detailed story about Brooks’ upbringing, his parents’ political beliefs? I can’t find it.

The Big Lie, the biggest lie being perpetrated on the American public, is that liberals are seeking racial justice. They’re seeking racial division and political power through racial division. It’s not just Olbermann.

Yesterday, longtime political broadcaster Marc Lamont Hill conducted an interview with two women discussing abortion rights and the Supreme Court’s possible rejection of the Roe v. Wade decision.

Brittney Cooper, an associate professor at Rutgers University, turned the discussion of abortion rights into a deranged rant about political conservatives not “caring about black babies” and concern “about demographic anxiety.” She opened her rant by taking morality off the table.

“We get caught up in the moral arguments about (abortion),” she fumed. “And this isn’t about that. This is about our rights to have self-determination and autonomy.”

Cooper is an example of where hyper-secularism leads. Morality is a non-issue. Morality is an impediment to freedom, pleasure, and political identity. Morality ended slavery and Jim Crow, gave women the right to vote, made domestic violence taboo. Now we don’t need morals. No reason to get caught up in morality.

The left is unhinged. Keith Olbermann’s descent into lunacy epitomizes where the left is headed.

During the 1990s, Olbermann was one of the best sports broadcasters in America. He and Dan Patrick co-hosted a lively and fun version of ESPN SportsCenter. Olbermann later moved to Fox Sports and led that network’s coverage of Major League Baseball.

In the early 2000s, I enjoyed Olbermann’s work at MSNBC when he pivoted to politics and became a liberal firebrand and President George W. Bush’s harshest critic. During that era, I made frequent appearances on all of the cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. You did not have to agree with the hosts to appear on their shows or networks. I was and am a political free agent.

When Olbermann left MSNBC to rejoin ESPN in 2013, I was honored to be the very first guest on his nightly ESPN show, “Olbermann.” Whether I agreed or disagreed with Olbermann, I found him extremely intelligent and thought of him as honest.

That is no longer the case. Olbermann is crazed. He frequently says and does things that make me question his mental stability. It would be easy to blame it on Trump derangement syndrome. The rise of America’s 45th president has certainly frustrated leftists.

But Trump derangement is a symptom of a much larger problem. It’s the detachment from reality and God that has short-circuited leftists. You can’t live a lie, defend lies, build arguments on lies and half-truths, and remain sane.

Keith Olbermann tries linking story about Michigan school shooting hero to 'Trumpist Fascism' of Barstool Sports, shooter's mother — and gets shellacked for it



Far-left talking head Keith Olbermann has been getting pummeled on Twitter for trying to connect a story about a hero student who died after charging at the Michigan high school shooter this week to what Olbermann termed the "Trumpist Fascism" of the shooter's mother — as well as Barstool Sports and its founder, Dave Portnoy.

What are the details?

Barstool Sports ran a story Wednesday about Tate Myre — a 16-year-old football player for Oxford High School — who was killed after reportedly charging at and trying to disarm the fellow student who also fatally shot two other classmates.

After Barstool posted a tweet about the piece, Olbermann barged in and — with a handful of words — essentially stole the spotlight from Myre by making the story about former President Donald Trump and the alleged "Trumpist Fascism" of the shooter's mother, Barstool Sports, and Portnoy.

This kid died to stop a school shooter whose mother echoed the Trumpist Fascism of @stoolpresidente and @barstoolsportshttps://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1466121181631762440\u00a0\u2026
— Keith Olbermann (@Keith Olbermann) 1638407331

He followed that up with a tweet highlighting excerpts from a Daily Beast story that points a finger at the shooter's parents.

How did folks react?

Olbermann's accusatory tweet to his nearly 1 million followers elicited a massive "ratio" — meaning that comments (about 11,000 as of Thursday morning) far outnumbered likes (about 5,700 as of Thursday morning).

While a number of folks actually agreed with Olbermann, many commenters were angry at and disgusted with the leftist pundit — including Portnoy himself:

Dude wtf is wrong with you?https://twitter.com/keitholbermann/status/1466212735113383941\u00a0\u2026
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy) 1638408162

Here's a sampling of the rest of the outrage directed toward Olbermann:

  • "WTF??? I don’t even know what to say," one user said. "This young man literally gave his life to protect others, and you are trying to make it political. It’s disgusting."
  • "How do you still have a Twitter account?" another commenter asked. "Oh that's right, you're leftist scum, and it's allowed."
  • "You are the epitome of what is making this nation SICK, SICK, SICK," another user noted. "You cannot grasp that a huge swath of Americans DON'T believe your utter BS. You want that click so badly, you beclown yourself w/your disgusting rhetoric."
  • "You need some serious help," another commenter said. "Will wait for you to echo the same for the murders during the parade in Wisconsin influenced by the other side of the political aisle that you and your liberal so-called media colleagues continue to ignore and refer to as [an] 'accident.' But you won’t."
  • "Keith—psychopaths like yourself are the reason Trump won the presidency and the same reason he’ll be in the White House again," another user declared. "You’re an out of touch, virtue signaling piece of s**t. Thx bye."

Olbermann doubles down

For all of Olbermann's faults, he's not one to shy away from the spotlight or criticism — and amid the firestorm around him, he simply doubled down:

Image source: Twitter (redacted)

And previous to his tweet about "Trumpist Fascism," Olbermann posted the following:

Can we PLEASE approach this the way the fascists were, were this kid from a wildly liberal family?\n\nMICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER WAS SON OF TRUMPIST GUN NUTS?https://www.thedailybeast.com/ethan-crumbley-identified-as-oxford-high-school-michigan-mass-shooter\u00a0\u2026
— Keith Olbermann (@Keith Olbermann) 1638405848

Anything else?

As you probably already know, this wasn't the first time Olbermann elicited large-scale outrage:

  • In October he posted a ranting video on Twitter in which he ripped unvaccinated people as "snowflakes," "morons," "losers," and "cowards."
  • In March Olbermann got clobbered for asking on Twitter, "Why are we wasting vaccinations on Texas if Texas has decided to join the side of the virus?"
  • Last year he lashed out at Ted Cruz over a photo of the U.S. senator with a deer he just hunted and killed: "You're not a human being, Cruz. You're a human-shaped pile of dung."
  • Just after the 2020 election, Olbermann shared video of one of his infamous rants and added a caption that read in part, "TRUMP MUST BE REMOVED AND ARRESTED, TONIGHT."
  • Weeks prior to the election he said Trump supporters "must be prosecuted and convicted and removed from our society."

'I want to sue them': Dave Portnoy unveils eyebrow-raising counterattack defending himself against 'sloppy' Business Insider 'hit piece'



Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy vehemently denied allegations recently published in Business Insider of him having sex with women that "turned violent and humiliating." Portnoy claimed that the Business Insider article is a "hit piece" that framed him as a "rapist," "sexual monster," and "deviant."

The article written by reporter Julia Black – which was eight months in the making and is behind the site's paywall – claimed that three women allegedly had sex with Portnoy which "turned into frightening and humiliating experiences that have taken a toll on their mental health." The women – who were not named – claimed to have sex at Portnoy's home in Nantucket. One woman claims she was "literally screaming in pain," and another said she became so depressed after the encounter that her mother notified the police.

Portnoy acknowledges having sex with the women, but passionately declares that all the encounters were consensual during the live press conference on Thursday afternoon. Portnoy shared alleged screen captures of text messages and social media postings that he claims exonerate him of the accusations of nonconsensual sexual encounters. "They're just sloppy," he said of Business Insider.

A 22-year-old woman we will refer to as "Olivia" told Business Insider that her friends were attempting to get Portnoy's attention by direct messaging him, but he "wasn't giving them the time of day." Olivia allegedly encouraged her 19-year-old sister "Allison" to contact Portnoy, who then "completely took the bait."

Portnoy and the young woman allegedly had sex, which purportedly included choking. Allison told the outlet that she felt "very preyed upon." Her memories of the experience are "fuzzy because of her emotional distress surrounding the event." Allison did not classify the situation as sexual assault, but was "deeply disturbed."

Portnoy released text messages that he claims are between him and the woman at the time of the incident. He initially declined her offer to meet up at the Cisco Brewery in Nantucket, according to the alleged messages. The next day, she allegedly asks him to have sex via text message, and he agrees.

According to screenshots of the alleged communication, the woman claimed that she was going to brag to her friends about the sexual encounter with Portnoy. The Barstool Sports founder claimed that he stopped speaking to the woman on Aug. 2.

The alleged victim – who was said to have depression – was reportedly hospitalized a few days after the incident.

Allison's mother said her daughter "basically couldn't talk the next day." The mother called Nantucket police to "pursue some sort of legal action against Portnoy." Her daughter was against contacting the authorities.

The mother filed a police report on Aug. 10, where the mother allegedly told law enforcement: "She heard David always asks girls if they are at least 18-years-old and willing to have sexual intercourse with him."

The mother claimed on the police report that her daughter has "no memory of going to David Portnoy's house."

The police noted that they told the mother, "We haven't had any complaints from any other 18-year-olds about David Portnoy."

Portnoy discussed further allegations detailed in the article from another woman named "Madison." Portnoy said the situation is a "he said/she said" ordeal. In a video posted last week, he claimed that the two had a "disagreement on life."

Now, after we hooked up we were hanging out more and it just became one of those situations where we just disagreed on just about everything from you know, is it raining or sunny out? It was oil and vinegar, just two people who did not see the world the same way and that is why she slept on the couch. I do believe, my recollection is she was still interested in hooking up and I was like this just isn't working. We don't get along. Flew back, I never talked to her again, I never knew she had any issue. It's the first I heard of it and quite frankly was stunned to read and hear about it. I'm obviously not going to say her name. I don't want her harassed. If what she's telling that she didn't enjoy the experience is true, I had no idea and that's horrible and I never want to feel that way but if there was a hidden camera in that room and it wasn't a he said/she said and someone saw the interaction there would be absolutely nothing there. I promise you.

The woman seems to have despised former President Donald Trump, according to certain social media posts. The Barstool Sports founder claims that they had sex three days before Portnoy's interview with Trump, which he surmises may have set her off.

In the hour-long "emergency press conference" video, Portnoy said that he does not want to identify the women who made the allegations against him.

Portnoy noted that Business Insider only spoke with one woman who gave her real name. Portnoy admits that he messaged the woman – Ava Louise – in 2017.

Louise told Business Insider that she willingly messaged him back, "I probably would have let Dave Portnoy do whatever the hell he wanted to me."

Louise was featured in a different Business Insider article from 2020 titled: "The influencer who licked a toilet seat for the 'coronavirus challenge' is finding TikTok fame for music she recorded while concussed."

Louise appeared on the "Dr. Phil" TV show in 2020, where she talked about "clout chasing."

[Other influencers] make their career off clout chasing. They make their career off scandal. When there's a problem in their lives, they put it on the internet because they know people will eat that up. And why can't I?" she asked. "All of a sudden I'm the clout chaser because I have 140,000 followers. But if I had 2 million, would I be a clout chaser, or would I just be another influencer who got herself in some drama?

Portnoy highlighted Business Insider correspondents targeted companies that advertise with Barstool Sports Business, asking if they will continue to advertise with the massively popular sports blog following the accusations against the site's founder.

And just to be clear Patrick sent this to everybody and is going to publish who says and who goes. It\u2019s scare tactics. Write a malicious story with fake facts. Put behind paywall. Write more stories. Threaten advertisers. Business Insider 101. https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1456971145954144256\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/DzkBmb5arT

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) 1636204333

"Not one person from Business Insider has had the guts, the balls, whatever you want to call it, to speak to me," he asserted. "They won't talk. They accused me of rape and ran away."

When talking about the possibility of suing Business Insider, Portnoy said he wants his "pound of flesh."

"Yeah, I want to sue them," Portnoy said, but added that his lawyers give the case little to no chance of being successful.

Lawyers told him that a "famous person cannot win this case."

"I'm still debating doing this, just to drag them through it," he said. "I still may do it just to see them eye-to-eye and be in that courtroom, and this is way more important than money."

"If I lose, I pay their legal fees," he revealed. "If they think I'm done because of that, they don't know the first thing about me."

Portnoy says Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget is now his "arch-enemy."

Meet the CEO of Business Insiderhttps://twitter.com/mdsmaldon/status/1456390155661717504\u00a0\u2026

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) 1636065637

Portnoy said, "This is just the beginning."

"I got accused of rape, it's arguably the most horrific thing you can be accused of with zero point zero evidence, and they f***ing knew it," Portnoy concluded.

Following the video conference on the allegations, Portnoy urged people to cancel Business Insider and tweeted, "Will @BusinessInsider include any of the facts I just dropped on their head?"

(CAUTION: Explicit language)

Dave Portnoy Exposes Business Insider Hit Piece www.youtube.com

After drawing attention with 'Tax the Rich' dress, AOC claims her body is being 'policed'



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) grabbed headlines Monday when she made a political statement at the Met Gala by wearing a gown with the words "Tax the Rich" emblazoned on it.

By Tuesday, the New York Democrat was criticizing the response her stunt received.

What did AOC say?

In responding to the uproar generated by her dress, Ocasio-Cortez decried that her body had been "policed." Mind you, Ocasio-Cortez intentionally used her body — via the wearing of a provocative dress — to make a political statement.

Responding on Instagram, Ocasio-Cortez wrote, in part:

I thought about the criticism I'd get, but honestly I and my body have been so heavily and relentlessly policed from all corners politically since the moment I won my election that it's kind of become expected and normalized to me. The irony is that when women in power take the prospect of criticism to be cautious in their actions, they are then criticized for being "inauthentic" and "too calculated." Ultimately the haters hated and the people who are thoughtful were thoughtful.

In fact, Ocasio-Cortez said she received unfair criticism because she is a woman.

"I am so used to doing the same exact thing that men do…and getting a completely different response," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Such unfair criticism of women is part of a larger problem within American society, Ocasio-Cortez added.

"Honestly, our culture is deeply disdainful and unsupportive of women, especially women of color and working class women (and LGBTQ/immigrant/etc) from the bottom up — whether it's lack of childcare support of especially reserving pillory for elected women and femme people," she said.

What was the criticism about?

People who voiced criticism did not find fault with the fact that Ocasio-Cortez is a woman. Instead, they found her attendance at an event that costs $30,000 to attend — while wearing expensive custom clothes — hypocritical.

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool, summed up that criticism, "'Tax the Rich'……But first I'm gonna go have the time of my life partying with them all at the most extravagant over the top party of the year that is essentially a celebration of richness."

“Tax the Rich”……But first I’m gonna go have the time of my life partying with them all at the most extravagant over… https://t.co/ocgQl6d56s

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) 1631582044.0

Anything else?

A government watchdog filed an ethics complaint against Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday, alleging she received "an impermissible gift" by attending the Met Gala in violation of House Ethics rules.

The American Accountability Foundation sent a letter to the House Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an ethics investigation into Ocasio-Cortez.

"Specifically, we believe Representative Ocasio-Cortez has violated clause 5 of Rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives (commonly known as the Gift Rule) by accepting admission to the Met Gala, an event whose per seat costs is reported to range from $35,000 to $50,000, without having a permissible exemption to allow the acceptance of the lavish gift," the complaint said.

"If Representative Occasio-Cortez has used campaign funds to pay for this ticket, she has also violated FEC prohibitions on campaign funds being used for entertainment purposes," it added.

CA business owner says he has to close up shop after a year of lockdown. Then heroes step in.



Joe Tahanian owns The Wine Bar in Montrose, California. A year ago, he made headlines when he tried to fight the coronavirus lockdowns that were crippling his business.

After even selling his furniture to stay afloat, Tahanian told a local reporter this week that it was the end of the line for his business. But once the story got out, heroes stepped in.

What are the details?

KTTV-TV reporter Bill Melugin tweeted Thursday, "April 2020, I took these photos of Joe Tahanian, owner of The Wine Cave, a bar in Montrose. We did a story w/ him about how he planned to stay open during lockdowns. The day after it aired, authorities threatened him, & he complied. He just called me. He lost his business today."

April 2020, I took these photos of Joe Tahanian, owner of The Wine Cave, a bar in Montrose. We did a story w/ him a… https://t.co/6T7MO7RelQ
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin)1617938906.0

Melugin attached the story he did on Tahanian last year, where The Wine Bar owner explained that he felt he had no choice but to defy lockdowns because his business would not stay afloat otherwise. Tahanian said back then, "Unless they handcuff me and take me to jail, I will not close."

After hearing of Tahanian's plight, celebrity chef Andrew Gruel tweeted Friday, "Just spoke with Joseph. We need to raise $100k to get his business back on track. We will contribute what we can. Please spread the word and help by donating to our gofundme below. All $ from this point forward will go to Joseph."

Gruel has worked to raise funds for restaurants and their workers amid the lockdowns, and has been a thorn in the side of California officials killing the businesses with COVID-19 restrictions.

According to Melugin, Gruel also reached out Dave Portnoy, president of Barstool Sports, who has saved numerous small businesses across the country with tens of millions raised through his initiative, the Barstool Fund.

Portnoy told Tahanian that Barstool Fund would supply the $100,000 needed for him to keep The Wine Bar, and the business owner would also be receiving another $10,000 raised by Gruel.

After posting Joseph’s story regarding his restaurant shutting down, Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente & the… https://t.co/qZ7jax4D3D
— Chef Andrew Gruel (@Chef Andrew Gruel)1618006028.0

In reaction to Melugin's tweets about Tahanian on Friday, one person lashed out at the reporter, saying, "It is not the fault of the government or the authorities that he lost his business. It's the fault of the people who refused to comply with simple and reasonable preventive measures to stop the spread of an infection."

Melugin replied, "He has been shut down since last April. He complied. Even sold off all his furniture on Craigslist to try to stay afloat as long as he could. His reward for complying was losing everything he ever worked for. 100% the fault of government rules. No revenue for an entire year."

@ITS_Crabapple He has been shut down since last April. He complied. Even sold off all his furniture on Craigslist t… https://t.co/g2YXjxExRx
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin)1617987010.0

Anything else?

When reached for reaction to Tahanian's story, Melugin told TheBlaze, "I'm thrilled both Chef Gruel and Portnoy stepped up to help Joe out. He's a really good guy and was on the verge of losing everything through no fault of his own. Happy that his story went viral and he got some quick help! He deserves it."

Outrage: Stock broker service Robinhood shuts down trading of GameStop



Popular stockbroker services were accused of manipulating the market by angry social media users Thursday after Robinhood, Interactive Brokers, and others took steps to restrict trading of GameStop, AMC Entertainment, Nokia, and other "volatile" stocks.

The financial world was captivated this week by the sudden and tremendous rise of video game retailer GameStop's stock price after millions of individual, non-professional "retail" investors decided to buy the stock in an attempt to "squeeze" hedge fund investors planning to short it. These retail investors, who congregate to discuss their trades on the website Reddit in a forum called WallStreetBets, were successful in driving GameStop's stock up from about $17 last week to a high of $376 on Wednesday.

The hedge fund investors attempting to short GameStop stock lost more than $5 billion because of the WallStreetBets campaign. After the news of what was happening went mainstream and some financial analysts began accusing the retail investors of WallStreetBets of manipulating the market, popular stockbroker services used by retail traders began restricting trades of GameStop and other shorted stocks caught up in the buying frenzy. Customers awoke on Thursday morning to find that they could no longer buy GameStop, AMC Entertainment, BlackBerry, Nokia, and other stocks, and could only close their current positions.

Robinhood, a company that prides itself on "democratizing finance for all" by letting customers trade stocks on their smartphone app, issued the following statement:

"We continuously monitor the markets and make changes where necessary. In light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only, including $AMC, $BB, $BBBY, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD and $NOK. We also raised margin requirements for certain securities."

Margin requirements are the amount of money an investor using Robinhood must have in their account in order to buy a stock.

Interactive Brokers, another stock trading service, also made a statement explaining the trade restrictions to CNBC:

"As of midday yesterday, (1/27/2021) Interactive Brokers has put AMC, BB, EXPR, GME, and KOSS option trading into liquidation only due to the extraordinary volatility in the markets. In addition, long stock positions will require 100% margin and short stock positions will require 300% margin until further notice. We do not believe this situation will subside until the exchanges and regulators halt or put certain symbols into liquidation only. We will continue to monitor market conditions and may add or remove symbols as may be warranted."

Customers are furious. Users on the WallStreetBets forum immediately accused Robinhood and other brokers of preventing them from buying these stocks to protect the hedge funds and Wall Street "suits." Some have called for a class action lawsuit against Robinhood, writing "allowing people only to sell is the definition of market manipulation." Others are encouraging other investors to hold their positions, reasoning that Robinhood and other brokers are trying to incentivize users to sell their stocks to bring GameStop and other surging stock prices down.

Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy became one of the fiercest critics of Robinhood after he said on Wednesday that he put $1 million into AMC and Nokia stock.

Wait are people not being allowed to buy $amc and $nok?
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1611840217.0
I will burn @RobinhoodApp to the ground if they shut down free market trading.
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1611840441.0

Portnoy blasted Robinhood, accusing the company of siding with the Wall Street establishment over ordinary people who are just trying to get rich.

And it turns out @RobinhoodApp is the biggest frauds of them all. “Democratizing finance for all” except when we m… https://t.co/OsFR3LgMXc
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1611840553.0
Somebody is going to have to explain to me in what world @RobinhoodApp and others literally trying to force a crash… https://t.co/2C8xktqPSU
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1611840722.0

The controversy has made strange bedfellows. People on the right and the left are uniting to criticize Robinhood and defend the rights of retail traders to take on Wall Street.

It took less than a day for big tech, big government and the corporate media to spring into action and begin collud… https://t.co/58aXqa5Amv
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.)1611842821.0
Straight up collusion to protect the suits in suites. @RobinhoodApp @stoolpresidente https://t.co/RAZ1iWCTqE
— Jason Johnson (@Jason Johnson)1611843058.0
Robinhood is restricting GameStop trading to help their Wall Street Buddies from going under. Yesterday Wall Street… https://t.co/kL1I3cR9vt
— Kyle Kashuv (@Kyle Kashuv)1611846056.0
So @RobinhoodApp, an app named after the guy who took from the rich and gave to the poor, is now blocking the littl… https://t.co/INABtHSBM7
— Erick Erickson (@Erick Erickson)1611845407.0
More like...Transfer any stock you have with Robinhood to another account...Withdraw your money from Robinhood'… https://t.co/qIylizJlLq
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@Yashar Ali 🐘)1611845790.0
Very disappointed in @RobinhoodApp! They said they allow free trading but are now blocking users from buying specif… https://t.co/lONZtnpG97
— Rosanna Pansino (@Rosanna Pansino)1611847479.0

Barstool Sports founder launches fund to save small businesses since gov't won't get 'off their a**'



Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has launched an initiative to help keep struggling small businesses afloat as they continue to suffer from lockdowns, saying something has to be done since government won't get "off their a**" and do something about it.

What are the details?

Portnoy, who has been on a rampage against coronavirus restrictions, said in a video announcing his fund that he is going to put his money where his mouth is and donate $500,000 to what he has dubbed the "Barstool Fund."

He admitted, "Is it the best plan? No. The best plan is the government getting of their a** and issuing relief, billions of dollars to these small business owners who are losing their livelihoods. That's the solution. That's the only solution really, but barring that, we're going to do whatever we can."

Portnoy noted that New York City recently banned indoor dining in response to COVID-19, saying, "How do you expect these people to survive? How are restaurants going to survive? They're already on their last legs, and you're pulling the plug on them. And nobody seems to care in the government—or at least they're not doing anything acting like they care."

Introducing The Barstool FundIf you are a small business that needs help staying in business because of covid ema… https://t.co/ueZjIVmy6r
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1608238281.0

The first recipient from the Barstool Fund is the owner of Borrelli's in Long Island, whose son, Frankie Borrelli, is Portnoy's cameraman.

The elder Borrelli has continued to pay his employees despite all of the government restrictions and lockdowns imposed, which Portnoy says is a requirement for anyone to receive approval.

Mr. Borrelli became choked up in reaction to the news, and said through tears that he would have had to close down in January without the help.

He told Portnoy in a video, "Dave, I really want to thank you for starting this fund. You don't know what it means to us," adding, "My staff, they have mortgages, families. You don't know how many people you are helping."

To @stoolpresidente, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It means more than you will ever know. My Dad can’t w… https://t.co/r6fNcqGTad
— Frankie Borrelli (@Frankie Borrelli)1608241770.0

Anything else?

The Daily Wire reported that beyond the Barstool Fund, Portnoy plans to feature "small businesses on a fundraising platform for others to crowdfund for those businesses that The Barstool Fund cannot support on its own."

In an update, Portnoy said that within just a few hours of his announcement he has seen an "overwhelming response" from individuals and major donors offering to contribute to the fund. He said he expects to have the funding site up Monday, and that Barstool also plans to offer businesses' t-shirts available for sale and that those proceeds will also go directly to the fund's recipients.

Quick update #barstoolfund https://t.co/5moMrpcBYk
— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy)1608255281.0