Shark Tank‘s Kevin O’Leary found himself in choppy waters after he accused Kamala Harris of becoming the democratic presidential nominee by “circumventing democracy.”
The investor told CNN on Friday that he wanted his president to be a “winner,” and that Harris' takeover after Joe Biden‘s decision to step down didn’t fit the bill.
“Only 90 days ago, Pelosi went to Biden and said, ‘You need to step aside,’ and convinced him to do so. He made the decision and he did actually ask her—and we‘ve now learned this—is she the right person to drive this home? He questioned that.
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“He could have said, ’We need to run a process in order for me to make this move,’ but they decided not to. I don‘t know who ’they' is. Was it Obama, was it Pelosi? I don‘t care who it was,” he said.
After equating the situation to a stock picking analogy, O’Leary then suggested that questionable backdoor politics led to Harris’ presidential bid.
“This is the second time the Democratic Party has circumvented democracy,” he said.
“Kevin, Hillary Clinton won a primary, okay? She won a primary,” Phillip reminded him.
“Okay, so did Kamala Harris win a primary?” the businessman countered.
O’Leary and the CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip panel fell into overlapping arguments, silenced by Washington Post journalist Catherine Rampell.
“Your whole schtick has been, ‘Let’s talk about what matters to voters.' Do you really think voters care about the internecine primary process of the Democratic Party?” she asked their guest.
Amid more passionate debate, Phillip dove in with a reminder that winning a primary isn’t part of the democratic process.
“Kevin, I know that you are from Canada, but the primary process is not in the Constitution. The political parties can choose however they want to choose their nominee, and as long as they meet the legal deadlines in the states where they are on the ballot they can do it however they want. They can decide in December 2023 and just handpick somebody, they don‘t have to have a primary. It’s just not a thing,” she said.
O’Leary clapped back, “I was born in Canada, but my kids were born and raised in Boston, all of my investments in the United States, I want the president, whoever it is, to be a winner.”
“You’re describing something as undemocratic that has absolutely nothing to do with the democratic process,” Phillip finally retorted.
