Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary flew off the handle on Thursday over Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial, claiming that it “hurts the American brand” to “go after the office of the president with porn star cases” because former presidents should be given “a broad swath of latitude.”
A Canadian investor who became a household name for portraying a “shark” on a business reality TV show, O’Leary has been an outspoken critic of the criminal and civil cases against Trump, especially in New York. Besides claiming that he’ll never invest in the “loser” state again due to his disgust over Trump’s civil fraud ruling, he’s also called the massive $454 million fine against the ex-president an “attack on America.”
During an appearance on Fox News’ midday panel show Outnumbered, O’Leary reacted to sports talk host Stephen A. Smith claiming that the trials give “fodder” to the MAGA argument that liberals are “scared” of Trump and using the legal process to wage a political campaign against him.
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Acknowledging that he’s “talked about these cases for months,” O’Leary insisted this wasn’t just about Trump but rather the country itself. “We don’t do this in America,” he exclaimed. “We don't go after the office of the president with porn star cases!”
In the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial, Trump has been charged with allegedly directing a payoff and then falsifying business records to cover up an alleged sexual affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claims that this is “an election interference case” since the $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels was paid just days before the 2016 election, asserting that Trump tried to hide the potential scandal from voters.
“We give him a broad swath of latitude, and if you’re an ex-president and you murdered somebody, I get it,” O’Leary dramatically continued. “But what is this?! This hurts the American brand! I keep saying that!”
“Mr. Wonderful” then asserted that he was recently in Geneva where representatives “from 150 countries” all bemoaned that a former president was standing trial for covering up a tryst with Daniels.
“Everybody’s talking about this saying, ‘What is this porn star thing?!’ Like, this is an American president, this is the office of the United States of America’s highest office, and we’re doing this?!” O’Leary raged. “This is sheer stupidity!”
Fuming that “we look like clowns,” the reality TV judge concluded by saying the NYC trial “should be pushed until after he wins,” adding that “this isn’t a Trump-loving comment” but instead “about the American brand.”
O’Leary’s over-the-top condemnation of the civil and criminal charges against Trump has been met with more than a fair bit of criticism and mockery. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, for instance, took him to task for claiming Trump’s business fraud is a “victimless crime” and a commonplace tactic in the investment community.
“He’s a guy who’s such an asshole … even the other people on Shark Tank think he’s an asshole. I’m surprised to hear that he’s so chill about overvaluing something that he thinks is victimless, because when someone tries to do that to him,” Stewart said last month before airing a montage of O’Leary berating entrepreneurs over their valuations.
