Mark Cuban Warns Silicon Valley Knows ‘They Can Buy’ Donald Trump

Ahead of the 2024 election, Billionaire Mark Cuban warned on Sunday that one reason some of the Silicon Valley community support Donald Trump is that they know “they can buy” the former president.

Cuban, an entrepreneur and ABC‘s Shark Tank television star, has backed Vice President Kamala 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.

In a Sunday interview on ABC News’ This Week host Jon Karl asked Cuban about “what is going on” with some of the Silicon Valley community supporting Trump.

In response, Cuban noted two reasons stating that business people in the Silicon Valley community “know they can manipulate” Trump, adding that “if they give them money, they can buy him.”

“A lot of them started their support when Joe Biden was the candidate and it’s understandable you know, Joe Biden did not have much outreach to the Silicon Valley community… and that turned a lot of people off. But now when Kamala comes in she has that outreach, she’s talking to them,” Cuban said.

Adding: “Number two, when you remember back to when Donald Trump was first elected we talked a lot about the adult in the room and people we were going to be dependent on to kind of keep him within the baselines. I translate that to mean there were people who thought they could manipulate him. And I think that’s what’s happened a lot with the higher Silicon Valley folks: They know they are smarter than him, they know they can manipulate him and that if they give them money, they can buy him.”

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment.

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. Cuban says that Harris is the pro-business candidate who can best serve the interests of small businesses and the economy at large.

Cuban previously 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.

However, Karl then interjected asking Cuban if “that’s what happened with Elon Musk“, who has become a vocal Trump supporter.

Cuban responded by stating, “I think he thinks he can manipulate him.”

This comes after Cuban has readily engaged Trump supporters and fellow billionaire Musk over the past few months 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.

Meanwhile, more recently Cuban has poured cold water on the idea that Trump is a “great businessman” during an interview appearance on CNN on Friday.

On Friday, Cuban was asked by CNN host Kaitlan Collins if he would invest in Trump’s campaign efforts if he appeared on Shark Tank, listing some of the former president’s ventures of selling Trump-branded shoes, coins, crypto, bibles, as well as pieces of his suit.

Cuban responded: “No, he’s desperate. You only sell those things because you have to because you need the money. People think he’s a great businessman. If the job of the presidency was investing in real estate, picking curtains and fixtures, he’d probably be the most qualified. But it’s not.”

He continued: “He’s not a businessperson. He’s failed early and often. And the worst part about his business career is how many times he rips off hard working Americans.”