Donald Trump 'Played a Huge Part' in Charlie Kirk's Assassination, Rages Dave Portnoy — as Barstool Sports CEO Slams 'Insane' Left Wing Over Tragic Killing of Conservative Influencer
Dave Portnoy said President Trump bears some responsibility for the death of Charlie Kirk.
Sept. 11 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy didn't pull any punches when assigning blame for the callous assassination of Charlie Kirk, RadarOnline.com can report.
The businessman said there is plenty of it to go around – including a big chunk placed on President Trump.
The Barstool Sports founder knew the conservative influencer.
The nation has been divided as the manhunt for Kirk's killer intensifies. The 31-year-old conservative activist was shot and killed while hosting a rally at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10.
On Thursday, September 11, Portnoy, 48, echoed Trump's comments about the "demonizing" of political opponents in the U.S., but said some of that was the president's own doing.
"When I say Trump has a huge part in it, I don't necessarily mean he's to blame for it, but he's so divisive," Portnoy said on Barstool Sports' The Unnamed Show podcast. "Even his face is divisive. People hate him so much."
El Presidente, as he is known, continued to call out members of both political parties: "And the left and the right, the rhetoric – especially to me the left, is insane – and it just boils, boils, boils, boils."
Portnoy Recalls Trump's Assassination Attempt
Kirk was shot and killed during a rally in Utah.
Portnoy compared the current level of outrage to the tense emotions after the president was nearly killed on the 2024 campaign trail.
"This happened with Trump, when his assassination attempt, there was like a three-hour period of 'let's tone down the rhetoric,' and then they're right back to it," he said.
He then added: "If you sit there and you call people Nazis over and over and over, and say that they're threatening Democracy and they're fascist over and over... You can't then be like, 'What happened?'"
The Search Continues
President Trump has decried the assassination.
There are suggestions that politics played a role in the attack. On Thursday, FBI agents said an older-model .30 caliber hunting rifle was discovered in the woods near the scene of the Utah shooting.
The Wall Street Journal reports the weapon was wrapped up in a towel, not far from Utah Valley University, and a spent cartridge was still in the chamber.
Three more unspent rounds were discovered in the rifle's magazine – all allegedly engraved with transgender and antifascist messages.
Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the Bureau's Salt Lake City field office, said the assassin jumped down from the roof of a building directly across from the rally and fled into the woods after gunning down the influencer.
The suspect is described as someone who appears to be "college-age" and likely escaped by blending in with the panicked students running from the scene.
Kirk's Last Words
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The FBI has released a picture of a person of interest in Kirk's murder.
Kirk was just minutes into his event when he was shot in the neck. The father of two was answering a question about transgender mass shootings moments before the incident occurred.
"Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?" someone asked the right-wing activist.
"Too many," Kirk responded. The questioner then asked Kirk how many mass shooters there had been in the U.S. in the past decade.
"Counting or not counting gang violence," the conservative's last words were before the bullet pierced him, and he fell to the side. Disturbing footage showed blood gushing out of Kirk.
He was rushed to a hospital in Orem, Utah, where he was pronounced dead.
