Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary calls out Kamala Harris for…
Kevin O'Leary criticizes Kamala Harris's $25,000 house down payment assistance proposal and made an offer.
O'Leary Ventures founder and real-estate giant Kevin O'Leary has expressed a strong interest in interviewing VP Kamala Harris about her proposal to offer first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment assistance.
Shark Tank's investor is deeply involved in the real estate industry, and he shared his thoughts on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, where he criticized the proposal and called for a live interview with Harris to discuss the plan in detail.
“I'm in the real estate business. That’s a really bad idea, an immensely bad idea, an incredibly bad idea. And I think somebody should talk about that with her. I’d like to interview her on that idea. I’ll do the interview. I want it live!” O'Leary said during the show.
The proposal comes in response to the ongoing struggle many Americans face with rising housing costs, which have made it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to afford homes.
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What is Harris' $25grand first-time homebuyers program
Harris is advocating for up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to help these individuals secure their first homes. This initiative follows a previous proposal from the Biden administration, which called for $25,000 in down payment assistance for 400,000 first-generation homebuyers, along with a $10,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.
Harris' expanded plan aims to extend this assistance to all eligible first-time homebuyers, including families who have consistently paid their rent on time for two years, with additional support for first-generation homeowners. According to her campaign, this initiative could potentially help more than four million first-time buyers over the next four years, providing them with an average of $25,000 in assistance toward purchasing their first home.
However, O'Leary is highly critical of the plan, arguing, “If everybody in the street has $25,000 extra and there’s one home for sale, the seller’s going to get the $25,000 by raising the price $25,000. I’ve been very vocal about this policy.”
“It was more happy talk about the convention slipping over, pictures of the kids — you know what I’m beginning to think? And, look, don’t shoot the messenger. Maybe she can’t do a real interview live with a reporter who asks follow-up questions,” he criticized.
Harris's recent televised interview on CNN with Dana Bash, alongside her running mate Tim Walz, drew mixed reactions from viewers. Some critics felt that Harris appeared “weak” and “bad” for waiting weeks before conducting the interview and for sharing the spotlight with her running mate.