Many of Kevin O’Leary’s fellow Canadians are increasingly frustrated with his alleged negotiations to unify the U.S. and Canada.
Canadians have gathered in large numbers to mock the Montreal-born figure—who has since abandoned the cold climate for the warmth of Miami Beach—over his attempts to merge his native land with his new country, as recently suggested by Donald Trump.
The backlash erupted following Trump’s post on Truth Social, where he claimed that “many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State,” with some speculating that the presidential hopeful reached this conclusion after a meeting with the former Shark Tank personality this week.
“No Canadian besides that worthless sack of s–t Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank is on board with this,” one user expressed on X, accompanying their comment with a screenshot of Trump’s statement.
Another user added, “I can literally HEAR Kevin O’Leary behind this. That motherf—ing traitor.”
A third individual shared a gif designed to offensively gesture towards O’Leary, stating, “Message for Kevin O’Leary. Nobody appointed you to represent us.”
O’Leary, aged 70, mentioned last month that a recent visit to Canada during the holidays indicated that more than half of its 40 million residents were allegedly “interested” in some form of North American merger.
“Canadians during the holidays—the last two days—have been discussing this,” O’Leary told Fox Business in December. “They’re eager for more information.”
He also indicated that he was set to visit Mar-a-Lago to explore a potential agreement with Trump, who has consistently poked fun at Canada—and its recently resigned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—regarding this idea.
Trudeau, who announced his resignation on Monday, took to social media the following day to assert that Canada is—and will continue to be—completely independent.
“There’s no way in hell Canada would ever become part of the United States,” he wrote on Tuesday.
O’Leary has proposed that Canada might gain from a partnership with the U.S. resembling that of the European Union, suggesting it could include a shared currency and a defense alliance, statements he reiterated this past Monday on Fox News.
A clip of him reiterating this goal was shared on X and, as with other platforms, O’Leary’s remarks faced criticism from his compatriots.
“Kevin O’Leary is loathed in Canada,” read one reply that garnered over 1,000 likes. “He is an absolute clown.”
There is some evidence to support that O’Leary is not the most accurate reflection of the average Canadian’s views.
The businessman, who boasts a net worth of $400 million and claims to be negotiating for the purchase of TikTok’s U.S. operations with other entrepreneurs, experienced a significant defeat from voters when he sought the leadership of the Canadian Conservative Party in 2017, capturing only one percent of the total vote.
