‘Such an Asshole!’ Jon Stewart Gives Cutting Takedown of Kevin O’Leary Defending Trump Fraud
Kevin O’Leary is not just the co-host of the competitive reality show Shark Tank or a fierce defender of former President Donald Trump’s fraud. He is also an “asshole,” at least in Jon Stewart’s esteem.
Stewart opened Monday night’s The Daily Show with a searing takedown of the conservative media’s “victimless crime” defense of the business valuation fraud for which Trump has been found liable. The TDS host aimed at many targets during his monologue, but hit no one harder than O’Leary.
” The Attorney General of New York knew that Trump’s property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties,” Stewart mocked Trump. “It was all part of a very specific real estate practice known as lying.”
After playing clips of various talking heads in the conservative media realm — including O’Leary — defending Trump’s fraudulent overvaluation of his properties, Stewart feigned surprise that O’Leary would take a position of “who’s next” to be prosecuted.
Stewart parodied Martin Niemöller’s famous quote, saying, “Ah, who’s next? The persecuted minority of ‘the investment community,'” Stewart mocked. First, they came for the arbitragers, and I said nothing, for I was not an arbitrager. And then they came for the quants, which I could be; I don’t know what a quant is.”
“But I’m surprised to hear this from Kevin O’Leary, a guy who’s such an asshole — wait — that even the other people on Shark Tank think he’s an asshole,” which he followed with a montage of O’Leary host barely hiding disgust at contestants of his show… overvaluing their businesses.
Stewart aired a clip of CNN’s Laura Coates’ combative segment with O’Learly from last week in which he claimed that falsification of business records, issuing false financial statements, and insurance fraud was “done by every real estate developer everywhere on Earth, in every city,” and “has never been prosecuted.”
“Leave it to Kevin O’Leary to be unaware enough to say the quiet part out loud,” Stewart said, before going in for the kill. “The fucking entitled arrogance! I don’t know if you know this, but most people just can’t commit fraud and expect to face no repercussions, even if everyone’s doing it.”
“Try getting a car loan by saying you have ten times as much money as you really do, or claim 20 dependents when you have no children, or say you make slightly less money to qualify for food assistance,” he continued. “I will guarantee you there are not just financial consequences for those lies, but criminal ones.”
“But don’t tell that to the investment community, because in their minds, in pursuit of profit, there is no rule that cannot be bent, there is no principle that cannot be undercut as long as you and your fucking friends are making money,” he concluded.
Watch above via Comedy Central.
