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‘Shark Tank’ star warns of global impact of Trump’s NY fraud case: ‘Hurting the American brand’

March 23, 2024 | | Print Article

Investor Kevin O’Leary believes the “American brand” is being smeared by New York’s efforts to cripple former President Donald Trump financially, and warns the potential seizure of his assets is having global implications.

“This is hurting the American brand,” the “Shark Tank” star told Fox News’ “Primetime” host, Jesse Watters, on Thursday. “What’s going on in New York, it has nothing to do with Trump. That case is over. What’s going on now is concerning financial markets all around the world, because, in the United States — I don’t care what color you are, red or blue or independent, doesn’t matter — we are the bastion of safety when it comes to investing large pools of capital.”

(Video: Fox News)

“That’s what America represents,” he stated. “We have property rights, we have an appellant system, we have law people trust, and we give you good returns with the least amount of resistance.”

Come Monday, if Trump is unable to secure the exorbitant $464 million bond demanded of him by the court, New York Attorney General Letitia James could start grabbing the presumptive GOP nominee’s assets.

The message that sends, O’Leary said, is “tainting” America’s image.

“What’s happening in New York is tainting the American brand,” he said. “Seizing assets after 22 days? In a bankruptcy court, you get years to resolve this. This is not a good look on New York.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Trump, it could be anybody,” O’Leary said. “I think that’s very bad for the American brand.”

If anyone thinks that James’ actions are helping the Empire State, the Canadian businessman said they should think again.

“I also would argue that if you think this is going to help New Yorkers, they should be asking for better management,” O’Leary said. “The way I look at it — and I speak to many institutional capital fronts, including sovereign wealth, because I’m trying to buy TikTok right now, so I’m running all around the world trying to raise $30 or $40 billion — and they all ask me the same thing.”

“We are watching this New York thing play out,” he explained, “and it looks to everybody like some dress-up court day when the parents are out and everybody got dressed up in robes and had fun acting out some court trial.

“When are the adults coming back into this?” he asked. “There are no adults here yet”

At the top of the segment, Watters noted the press’s disingenuous coverage of Trump’s recent “bloodbath” comment and asked O’Leary if the “media machine” was getting “dangerous.”

The “American public,” Mr. Wonderful said, can navigate the “amount of noise going after” them and smells “BS a mile away.”

“They know it’s coming at them from various different directions, and whether it’s the left or the right or the podcasts or the social media platforms, it’s just all noise,” O’Leary said, adding that he’s “pretty encouraged that we are going to end up in the right place.”

People, he said, need to “get over” the things Trump says and focus on “policy.”

“I want to hear what the strategy is for border security and energy independence,” O’Leary said. “I want to know what the plan is for foreign policy and taxation. I want to hear from both sides.”

“Talking about what Trump says in any 24-hour cycle, are you kidding?” he scoffed. “We’ve been listening to that for nine years. Get over it, everybody.”

 

Melissa Fine
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