“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary bestowed a new title upon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Friday, recalling her sharp opposition to Amazon.
During an interview on “CNN This Morning,” O’Leary said he is prepared to debate any Democrat who believes heavy-handed government regulations foster a productive business environment.
Specifically, he said would like to debate Ocasio-Cortez.
“I’ll debate them any time of the day you want, particularly AOC,” O’Leary said. “She’s great at killing jobs. She kills jobs by the thousands.”
“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,” he added.
O’Leary was referring to Amazon’s decision to withdraw plans for opening a second headquarters in New York City.
Ocasio-Cortez was the loudest opponent of the plan because New York City and the state of New York had offered Amazon about $3 billion in incentives in exchange for 25,000 jobs. Amazon later said it would open HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia, near the nation’s capital.
Earlier in his interview, O’Leary explained he believes that “blue states,” those controlled by Democrats, are “uninvestable” because those states are “punishing people if they’re successful.”
“I don’t put companies here in New York anymore, or in Massachusetts, or in New Jersey, or in California. Those states are uninvestable. The policy here is insane, the taxes are too high,” O’Leary said.
“The regulatory environment is punitive,” he explained. “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. Norway has it now. Thousands of jobs coming out of that.”
Anything else?
Ironically, Ocasio-Cortez took a victory lap on Friday over her opposition to Amazon’s HQ2 plans in New York City. She was responding to news that Amazon is pausing construction on HQ2.
“When I opposed this Amazon project coming to New York bc it was a scam of public funds, the whole power establishment came after us. Billboards went up in Times Sq denouncing me. Powerful pols promised revenge. Op-Eds & CEOs insulted my intelligence. In the end, we were right,” she said.
“I know I’ll never get an apology for that time, but it was worth it,” she gloated.
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