Mark Cuban believes a second Donald Trump term would be “worse” than his first, which is why he’s become one of Vice President Kamala Harris‘ leading evangelists in the 2024 presidential election.
Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur and ABC‘s Shark Tank television star, has vocally backed Harris in interviews and on social media since she received the mantle from President Joe Biden and quickly shored up the Democratic Party‘s nomination this summer after Biden stepped down from the race. While Cuban has said he was initially a fan of Trump’s candidacy when he first announced his intentions back in 2015, he has now soured completely on the former president.
Over the past few months, the Shark Tank star has readily engaged Trump supporters and fellow billionaire Elon Musk to defend Harris against their attacks. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, founder of SpaceX and owner of X, formerly Twitter, has become one of Trump’s leading surrogates, and Cuban has utilized X as a key platform to pushback against Musk and Trump allies.
The businessman told Newsweek that he viewed Trump’s first term as “bad,” warning that a second term will be “worse.” He also views Harris as someone that will work with Republicans and independents.
“She is not an ideologue,” he said, describing her as “far more stable” and “open minded.” In particular, Cuban views Harris’ economic policies as good for the country, saying they will benefit everyday Americans and small businesses.
Newsweek did an exclusive email interview with Cuban on Friday. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Mark Cuban believes a second Donald Trump term would be “worse” than his first, which is why he’s become one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ leading evangelists in the 2024 presidential election.
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Newsweek: You’ve become a very vocal supporter of VP Harris. Why did you decide that it was important this election to be out there in such a big way supporting her candidacy?
Cuban: I thought a first term by Donald Trump was bad. A second term would be worse.
You’ve defended a lot of Harris policies that have been attacked by conservatives. What are your thoughts on policies such as “no tax on tips,” tax credits for new home buyers as well as her plan to crack down on price gouging?
All are worthwhile. For real estate and gouging, they make national programs that were already in place across most states. For tips, I think it’s a way to increase take home pay for those who don’t have consistency in their daily earnings.
One big issue you’ve been working on is the cost of prescription drugs. Can you explain a bit about what you’re trying to do? And how should Harris try to fix this issue as well as health care more broadly if she wins?
I’ve learned quite a bit from CostPlusDrugs.com. In particular that the pharmaceutical industry is the most opaque I have ever seen. It is basically an arbitrage by middlemen trying to squeeze margin anywhere they can. They can do this because the industry is opaque.
What we have learned at Cost Plus Drugs, is that when prices and mark ups are transparent, the market becomes more efficient and prices go down quickly and dramatically. It also allows self-insured companies to reduce their cost of pharmacy coverage.
I think that by requiring all prices to be published, no matter how complex, self-insured employers, that cover 124 million plus members will be able to negotiate far better prices for pharmacy and health care.
In your conversation with other business leaders, what are their sentiments regarding Harris v. Trump? Do you think you are having an influence on your peers in the business world?
I deal with three types of businesses, the big ones, with say more than 100 employees. Subchapter S and LLC businesses and sole proprietors.
The biggest companies that are in oil and gas are more open to Trump. The rest I haven’t seen many people get excited about him. Yes, they may prefer his lower tax rates, but the lack of stability, the possibility of tariffs, particularly hate tariffs like he threatened John Deere with and just the general uncertainty is a huge negative.
They know that Kamala is far more stable, open minded, she has done a great job communicating with business leaders, she is not an ideologue, she takes feedback from Republicans, independents and more.
She has also been clear that she will support and deploy new tech to make permitting and other government functions smaller and more efficient. That’s been a big plus.
For smaller pass-through companies, I don’t think the campaign has done a good enough job talking to the 33 million small companies in this country. There are 23 million solo entrepreneurs, 8 million or so Subchapter S and LLCs that pay taxes at their personal rate. Probably 98 percent of them are taxed at their personal rate.
What the campaign has done a poor job explaining is her promise that no one making $400,000 or less will see an increase in taxes and 100 million will see their taxes [go] down—applies to all of them! Add to this the fact that their deductible start-up costs increased to $500,000, what that means is 100 percent of companies that start this year will see their taxes go down.
What is your biggest concern for the U.S. and the world if Donald Trump wins?
That I have no idea what will happen if he wins. Only he knows.
Many Democrats have said that democracy is on the line and Trump has threatened to arrest political opponents and critics. Do you think these are valid concerns and that Trump would follow through on those threats?
Yes.
Trump is doing particularly well with men. Elon Musk, who you’ve criticized, also has a largely male fanbase. What do you think it is about these male billionaires that is so appealing to many men? And as a fellow male billionaire, what would you say to those men who admire Musk and Trump?
The American Dream is alive and well. I admire Elon the entrepreneur. I also think Elon the Twitter (X) owner is a world class troll.
Some progressives have criticized you for opposing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Lina Khan. What is your response to their criticism?
I don’t oppose her. I’m not advocating for her dismissal. I’ve said many times what she has done with PBMs [Pharmacy Benefit Managers] and scam companies is invaluable. Where I have [said] she has made a huge mistake is her advocacy to break up large tech companies. I think the ability of our large tech companies to win the global AI [artificial intelligence] battle is the greatest challenge our country has economically and militarily.
There has been speculation that you could serve in the Harris administration. Is that something you’re interested in?
No. I love what I’m doing with Cost Plus Drugs and the chance to disrupt all of health care.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
Vote for Kamala Harris!
