Entrepreneur and media personality Kevin O’Leary issued a scathing rebuke of the “loser state” of New York, denouncing the latest civil fraud judgment against former President Donald Trump as an “appalling” and “un-American” attack on the state’s real estate industry.
In an interview with the New York Post, the veteran “Shark Tank” host argued that the ruling by Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron sets a dangerous precedent that will likely inspire other major real estate developers and business owners to abandon New York entirely.
“That fact that he was found guilty, you might as well find guilty every real estate developer on Earth,” O’Leary told the Post. “I don’t understand where someone got hurt … What developer doesn’t ask for the highest price valued for any building they built?”
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As Valuetainment previously reported, Engoron ruled last week that former President Trump was guilty of manipulating business records and lying about his net worth to secure bigger loans and better tax benefits. The verdict of the juryless trial slapped Trump with a $355 million fine and also banned him from conducting business in New York State for the next three years.
According to O’Leary, this latter penalty, which was also applied to Trump’s two adult sons, is detrimental to the entire New York business landscape as a whole.
“If this judgment sticks, every developer must be jailed. They must be found guilty. They must be put out of business. You can’t do this to one another. It’s not about Trump,” he continued. “It’s appalling. It’s unjust. I would go as far as to say it’s un-American.”
O’Leary doubled down on this assessment in two back-to-back appearances on Fox News over the weekend, urging “Fox & Friends” panelists to “forget about the Trump factor” and asses the situation from a business perspective.
“What does this say to everybody that wants to do work in New York and wants to risk capital?” he asked “This judge arbitrarily decide[d] that this is the right amount. I don’t understand it. No developer does.”
Related: Pro-Trump Truckers Reject New York City Deliveries to Protest Civil Fraud Ruling
“New York was already a loser state, like California is a loser state,” he continued later with Fox Business. “There are many loser states because of policy, high taxes on competitive regulation.”
“I would never invest in New York now. And I’m not the only person saying that.”
O’Leary also suggested that a growing number of businesses will flee New York for states like Florida and Texas, and he encouraged real estate developers to abandon the left-leaning coastal area in favor or places like North Dakota and West Virginia.
Trump himself agreed with this assessment in a Truth Social post, praising O’Leary for “telling it like it is” and predicting a mass business exodus from New York.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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