If "Shark Tank" is known for anything other than its eye-popping deals, it's got to be for its outspoken hosts.
The investing and dealmaking show, which has been around for 10 years, has seen its panel shift over the years. One of its most popular hosts, Kevin O'Leary, has stuck around through the years and is one of its most successful investors. He's also one of the most discerning investors, and has garnered both criticism and respect from onlookers.
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O'Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, often appears on cable news panels to discuss business and politics. On July 12, O'Leary appeared on daytime Fox News show "Outnumbered" to discuss Bidenomics -- or President Biden's economic policy.
"The problem with the policies so far...isn't just massive spending, but it's the target of where the spending went," O'Leary said in response to a clip played of Joe Biden claiming he lowered the U.S. deficit.
"Here's the problem," he continued, "most of it's going to S&P 500 companies. They're important, they're some of the biggest employers in America. However, they only represent 40% of the economy. What we haven't seen is the unintended consequence -- that, now, we're seeing -- which is that we're starving small businesses in America. We throw billions to Intel and nothing to a guy in Champaign Urbana, who's running a shop with 58 employees. His cost of capital, because of these rapid rate hikes, has gone through the moon. It went from maybe 6-7% now to 20%."
O'Leary argued that U.S. inflation, rate hikes, and a hesitant lending environment hurts all Americans, specifically the middle class, in the long run.
"There's no Bidenomics for them. They have no capital," O'Leary said.
"Those are the people that are looking for cheaper toothpaste...Core inflation is not down. CPI, yes, but core inflation -- the real inflation -- that hurts a small individual that's trying to live off $58,000, they're getting killed."
Watch the full clip here.
