‘Unfair and Un-American!’ Kevin O’Leary Shreds Trump-Backed ‘Big Beautiful’ Bill
Kevin O’Leary — typically a staunch defender of President Donald Trump’s economic policy — trashed the “Big, Beautiful” budget bill the president is trying to push through Congress.
Speaking with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday’s edition of Mornings With Maria, O’Leary — the Shark Tank star who has become a prominent cable news advocate for Trumponomics — made clear he is not on board with the Trump-supported budget legislation.
“We’ve got a situation in this new beautiful bill,” O’Leary said. “And I don’t think anybody reads these things. I read it. I read all these bills through the eyes of small business. And I found a section in there that looks like a cut-and-paste that says the IRS will get extended powers to audit small businesses for up to nine years it took the ERC [employee retention credit]. Now, that is going to cause chaos in valuations if you have that hanging over your head. It almost seems unfair and un-American to do that to small business!”
President Trump is headed for Capitol Hill early Tuesday to try and convince skeptical Republicans to vote for the massive multi-trillion dollar package. O’Leary told Bartiromo that he’s going to Capitol Hill as well to try and talk Republican legislators out of voting for the bill.
“I’m heading down tonight to the hill to get a gong, and walk down the halls banging it saying, what are you guys doing here?!” O’Leary said. “You can’t do that to small business. Somebody should fix this in the big, beautiful bill, because it’s not beautiful for small business. That’s totally unfair!”
Bartiromo pressed O’Leary — arguing the benefits in the bill for small business outweigh the negatives.
“They are taking red tape out, so that small business can move forward,” Bartiromo said. “They want to extend the tax cuts so that the small business can get tax cuts there. They’re trying streamline and reorganize the SBA, and they want to get a focus on American manufacturing and bringing supply chains back to America. So for you to sit here and tell me that there’s nothing in here for small business, and that small business is getting screwed in the big beautiful bill, I just don’t see it.”
O’Leary held firm.
“I agree with all of those provisions,” O’Leary said. “But the one that’s overhanging that really, really hurts is giving more power to the IRS to cause conflict with small business. Who wants to do that? What Republican wants to do that?”
“I agree with that,” Bartiromo said. “I don’t like that.”
Watch above, via Fox Business.
