“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary on Friday slammed top Democratic politicians who have made some blue states places he said savvy investors should avoid.
During an appearance on “CNN This Morning” on Friday, he called the economy a “competition of states,” according to Fox News.
“I don’t put companies here in New York anymore or in Massachusetts or New Jersey or California. Those states are uninvestable. The policy here is insane. The taxes are too high,” he said.
O’Leary cited what he would say to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
“I say, ‘Look, Senator, we’ve got to move the companies out of your state because you are not investable anymore. You are punishing people if they are successful, you overtax them, you hit them with a super tax.’ New Jersey, what a mess! New York, uninvestable,” he said.
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Last month, during an appearance on the Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” O’Leary said Massachusetts “is at war with entrepreneurship. Elizabeth Warren will punish you for success. She will make sure you pay super-taxes if you’re successful. The regulatory environment there is prohibitive for business.”
O’Leary told CNN that New York is no better.
“I had a project in upstate New York behind the grid in Niagara Falls for electricity — a global data center we were building. Eventually it got so bad with the politicians in the local region and the state policy, we moved it to Norway and all the jobs,” O’Leary said.
On CNN, O’Leary teed off on Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
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“She’s great at killing jobs. She kills jobs by the thousands,” he said, referring to her opposition to an Amazon expansion in Queens that fell through in part due to her opposition.
“Where did Amazon take their jobs? They took them away from her. She threatened to sue them if they created jobs. I mean, this is a reality,” O’Leary asked.
O’Leary said there has been a shift in which states are attractive, according to Fox Business.
“Most of the venture capital for the last 40, 50 years, since the mid-1950s was highlighted in places like Silicon Valley and around the Boston area. So Massachusetts, New York, California. These were the heyday years. Nobody wants to do business in these states anymore,” he said.
Referring to an investment he is managing in North Dakota, O’Leary said, “Why would I put that in New York or Massachusetts or California, which I don’t even think is in business anymore?”
“Why put it in Massachusetts where you’re penalized for success? If you’re a successful entrepreneur there, Elizabeth Warren’s policy super taxes you. You’re punished for success. Forget that. I’m going to go to North Dakota,” he said.
In his Fox News appearance, O’Leary said America’s economy has changed.
”The pandemic changed our economy. Forty percent of my staff at every company — regardless what city they’re headquartered in – works remotely,” O’Leary said. “That’s never going to change: Primarily in accounting, logistics, some marketing positions, certainly sales. You just don’t need to be in the office anymore.”
“I know there’s guys trying to get everybody back, but you can see through empty buildings in New York City, they’re just not coming back. They’re never going to. They don’t want to pay those taxes. People don’t want to put the nexus of their business in a place where AOC is telling you, I hate you, I’m going to litigate you, I’m going to sue you, I’m going to make sure that you can’t create a job,” O’Leary said.
