Barstool Sports founder and President Dave Portnoy, in a wide-ranging interview, discusses the meme coin world and whether DOGE has anything to do with Tesla’s stock drop on ‘Varney & Co.’

While discussing Elon Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy revealed he was asked to join the Trump administration’s Department of Commerce – under a certain condition.

“They said a condition would be I can’t run Barstool Sports. Do you have somebody who could run it? Now, I don’t know if it was serious if I said yes, but if you’re running a company, it’s tough to also run the government it would seem,” Portnoy said during “Varney & Co.” on Friday.

Portnoy praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s efforts to rid the government of wasteful spending through DOGE, but questioned just how present Musk can be in running his company as his government efforts dominate headlines nationwide. Tesla stock surged after Trump returned to the White House, but is now on pace for its worst month on record.

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“I’m a big stockholder of Tesla and I certainly raise my eyebrows,” Portnoy said. “I like DOGE, I like what they’re doing. But let me tell you this, if you’re going to send out, and you got to call it both ways, if you’re going to send emails to federal workers and say, ‘What have you done for the last five days?’ I think Tesla shareholders are entitled to ask their CEO, Elon Musk, ‘What have you done for Tesla the last five days?’”

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. Elon Musk’s demand that more than two million federal employees defend their work is facing pushb (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Seemingly all he cares about right now is DOGE. Now, could it be coincidence that the stock is down 25% since he really started this? I guess,” he continued. “But I think it’s fair, as a shareholder of Tesla, to say, ‘What are you doing for Tesla shareholders?’ Now maybe you’re greasing the wheels, and you’ll get some deals through the government. I don’t know, but it’s certainly in bounds to ask.”

Musk ignited a firestorm this month when he emailed government employees asking them for five things they accomplished in the previous workweek, or face termination.

“Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk wrote on X on Saturday. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

He later appeared to walk back the termination threat after backlash, confirming shortly before Monday’s deadline that federal workers would be given another chance to respond to the request, and that failure to do so “will result in termination,” although the actual OPM email made no mention of any firings.

Musk later mentioned at President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting that the email was simply a “pulse check.”

Despite questioning how much Musk is able to lead Tesla while his efforts are focused on DOGE, he commended the administration and said he was “overall happy” with the first 40 days – even despite bitcoin’s performance.

“I’m confused… on why bitcoin’s down. He’s the Bitcoin czar. That confuses me,” he said.

Varney also asked Portnoy whether he is staying out of meme coin.

“For now,” Portnoy said.

“Here’s the thing with this world,” he continued. “Everyone yells at you, calls you a scammer or a scumbag because people are losing money. For everyone who makes a couple bucks, someone’s losing a couple bucks. I got a lot of money. Is it worth my reputation to make another five, ten, 20 million? I don’t think so.”