Fox News and Fox Business delivered a rare on-air apology across numerous shows over unsubstantiated claims made by Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary linking opponents of his Utah data center project to China.
In a roughly 45-second statement at the conclusion of the Big Weekend Show Saturday, host Johnny Joey Jones addressed claims made by O’Leary that Alliance for a Better Utah and Elevate Strategies — two groups which have opposed O’Leary’s Stratos Project data center development — were funded by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Kevin O’Leary appeared as a guest on the show on May 24 and discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding his planned data center project in Utah,” Jones said. “He made certain claims relating to the opponents of his project. Mr. O’Leary has now corrected the record and explained he has ‘no evidence’ that the Alliance for a Better Utah, Josh Kantor or Taylor Knuth are funded by China or the Chinese communist party. Fox News Media is likewise aware of no evidence that they are funded by, or acting in the direction of, or in coordination with Chinese interests in opposing Mr. O’Leary’s project. Fox News Media also apologizes for the error.”
The apology has aired across four shows on Fox News and Fox Business over the past four days. In addition to the Big Weekend Show, it was also aired on the Kayleigh McEnany-hosted Saturday in America — as well as the Maria Bartiromo-helmed Mornings with Maria and the Big Money Show on Fox Business.
O’Leary himself walked back the claims on social media — though he stopped short of an apology.
“Recently I appeared on various news programs and would like to clarify that I have no evidence that Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, Taylor Knuth or Josh Kanter are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party,” O’Leary wrote.
In the original comments, O’Leary made clear he believes the opposition to his project is coming directly from China.
“Who would want us to stop building our electrical grid?” O’Leary said on the May 11 edition of Mornings with Maria. “Who would want to stop us from having compute capacity to develop AI? Which adversary would want that? There’s only one. It’s China.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
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