Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Drops Bid to Be Canada’s Prime Minister

Shark Tank star and businessman Kevin O’Leary has dropped out of the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race, ending his bid to become the country’s next Prime Minister.

In an interview with Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail, O’Leary said he thought he could win the leadership race — similar to a presidential primary — but not an election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“It’s for the sake of the party that I do this, and the country,” he told the Globe and Mail. “Because I can’t deliver Quebec. I can’t win. That’s my opinion. I wish it was different.”

He added that winning Quebec would be critical to winning the election.

“Defining Quebec is…they’re the Florida of Canada. They often decide who wins an election,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary will be endorse Maxime Bernier to be the Conservative Party’s next leader and said he believes Bernier can win the province, thus giving him a greater chance of defeating Trudeau in 2019.

“He’s a frontrunner,” O’Leary said. “I like Max. I can work with him.”