MAGA ‘Shark Tank’ Star Called Out On Air After Making Bold Claim About Epstein’s Victims
“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary didn’t come off as wonderful on a recent episode of CNN’s “NewsNight With Abby Phillip.”
On Tuesday’s episode, things got heated while the panel was discussing the controversy surrounding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. During the conversation, Phillip questioned why President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out a pardon for Epstein’s accomplice, convicted sex felon Ghislaine Maxwell.
The speculation surrounding Epstein and Maxwell — two notorious child sex traffickers who were longtime friends of the president — seemed to irk O’Leary. So, in response to Phillip’s question, the investor attempted to quell the whole conversation by making a sweeping statement about those most affected by the duo’s crimes.
“If any of you cared about the victims, you wouldn’t drag these women who are in childbearing years now, some of them now having children, back into the limelight, back into the same story, to expose them again to this hideous outcome,” O’Leary said.
He added, “These guys …. they don’t want you to help them anymore.”
“How do you know that?” former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross, who was part of the panel, asked O’Leary. “What are you basing that on? You’ve spoken to the victims who said that they don’t want justice?”
“You’re speaking on behalf of women,” she doubled down as O’Leary spoke over her. “You’ve personally spoken to victims who say they do not want justice pursued?”
O’Leary then admitted that he was making an assumption.
“I have spoken to no one!” O’Leary said defensively. “I’m just being pragmatic!”
After some back and forth, Mr. Wonderful asked Cross directly: “Don’t you think if it was you, you’d rather get on with your life?”
“No!” Cross swiftly responded. “If it were me, I’d want justice pursued.”
Frustrated, O’Leary tried to put the conversation to rest by saying: “The truth is out. There’s a prisoner, and there’s a dead guy. That’s the truth, alright? That’s what happened.”
Most Americans aren’t satisfied with O’Leary’s desire to close the door on the Epstein case, and the loudest critics are from Trump’s own base, who believe the case files are tied to multiple conspiracy theories. Earlier this year, MAGA thought they would get more information about the case when Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed she had Epstein’s so-called client list on her desk, which many believe he used to blackmail high-profile clients. But earlier this month, Bondi and the FBI sparked outrage when they said the investigation was complete, and they did not uncover any further evidence. Although the Trump administration has attempted to downplay the files, many of Trump’s supporters are demanding more information.
Epstein died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, but Maxwell is still alive and serving time in a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Maxwell last week, and she agreed to testify in front of Congress if she received a pardon from the president.
Trump has acknowledged publicly that he can do this, but he has not yet revealed if he will.
And just so O’Leary is aware, some of Epstein’s victims have recently expressed a desire for justice, despite their trauma. NBC News spoke to four victims earlier this month who said they were disappointed with the Trump administration’s shelving of the case.
“I felt a wave of sadness,” Danielle Bensky, who said she was abused by Epstein, told NBC. “All those years of trying to gain justice just negated. It was just two pages saying they were done investigating with no details about what happened to all of us. It’s like we never existed.”
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