Trump to Portnoy: 'Success' was Bridging the Divide in U.S. Until 'We Got Hit by the China Virus'

“Half the country hates the other half, and no matter what you say, you can’t get along.”

That was an observation from Barstool Sports Founder “El Presidente” Dave Portnoy during his interview with President Donald Trump right outside the Oval Office on Thursday. The interview was released on Friday.

It’s an observation that is all too true in the current climate.

Portnoy, who says he’s “apolitical,” made the above comment as a qualifier to a question on how we can “bridge the divide” between people in the U.S.

“I think it was happening, and then we got hit by the China virus,” Trump told Portnoy. “Success. Our country never did better.”

Trump spoke of the record-setting stock market numbers and unemployment numbers across the board that the U.S. was experiencing until the COVID pandemic hit the globe. The president continued his suggestion that “success” is what brings people together.

Success does it, and we were ready to do it. When you say Hispanic, or when you say African-American, Asian-American, they were all working. Everybody was making a lot of money. Everybody was doing good, and it was coming together. And then China sent us this horrible, bad present. A real bad present. They could’ve stopped it. They should’ve stopped it.

The president also commented on how China prevented the coronavirus from spreading throughout China, but was more lax on preventing from spreading to the rest of the world.

We made a deal. You know, we made a trade deal with China. And it was a great deal. But it means much less to me now than it did then, because I’m not happy with what they’ve done to the world. They stopped it going into to [the rest of] China from Wuhan, but they didn’t stop it going into Europe, the United States and the rest of the world.

Trump went on to speak about his outlook for the next year or so, claiming that “we’re going to have a great next year.”

The interview was split into three parts on Portnoy’s Twitter account, and you can watch all three parts below: