Investor Kevin O’Leary’s January commentary should have been entered into evidence during Donald Trump’s New York fraud case because the "Shark Tank" star eviscerated the state’s argument in less than 10 minutes. The civil case recently concluded, where the former president and his sons are barred from operating any corporate entity in the Empire State for three years, with a $355 million penalty. The crux of the case against the former president is that he somehow defrauded banks through shoddy loan claims. That’s not the case. O’Leary ripped into the whole circus last month:
Mr. Wonderful to CNN:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 12, 2024
“Forget about Trump. EVERY single real estate developer everywhere on EARTH does this!”
“This doesn’t even make SENSE!” pic.twitter.com/zgnW5vpIJ3
Where was the crime? No one lost money? And now, O’Leary and anyone pro-business should avoid New York like the plague. The entrepreneur/ television host torched the judge’s “rogue” judgment (via The Hill):
O’Leary said the judgment came from a “rogue judge” who went far beyond the norms of the law and is putting New York business investments at risk.
“If you’re going to put billions of dollars to work somewhere in the world, the most coveted place to do it is in the United States of America. That is the brand of America,” O’Leary told Blake Burman on “The Hill on NewsNation” Wednesday. “You don’t really want to mess with that.”
“It’s a rogue judge,” he added. “In my view, that’s a rogue settlement and should be repealed, and it will be through the appellate courts.”
Mr. Wonderful also wasn’t shy about sparring with CNN regarding the case either (via Fox News):
"Shark Tank" co-host Kevin O'Leary got into a spirited debate with CNN anchor Laura Coates … over the landmark civil fraud ruling against former President Trump in New York.
[…]
When pressed on whether investors and developers would actually reconsider doing business in New York after the multimillion-dollar damages against Trump, O'Leary disputed Coates' framing of the issue.
"[W]ouldn’t there be many companies who would not want to do business or loan money to people like yourself or investors if they know that they can get away with fraud and there’s no recourse to protect them?" Coates asked O'Leary.
"Excuse me. What fraud?" O'Leary asked. "This is not about Trump anymore."
"When you get a developer that builds a building and he says it’s worth $400 million, and he wants to borrow $200 million from a bank, which happens every day everywhere on Earth, including every American city, every developer is an entrepreneur," he told Coates. "They shine the light on their building and they say it’s worth 400 [million]. The bank does its own due diligence, as was done in this case, because they’re very good at it, the banks are very good, and they say, no, it’s worth 300 [million]. We’re only going to loan you $150 million."
"That haggling has gone on for decades," O'Leary continued. "That’s how it works."
"You really think people want to invest money in New York after this?" he asked.
We’ve become a banana republic in many ways because liberals can’t grow up.
