This might be the closest the Dallas Mavericks team owner has gotten to announcing a Mark Cuban 2020 presidential run. The Shark Tank investor told a The New York Times columnist that he is “honestly considering” opposing President Donald Trump in the next election.
At the DealBook conference in New York City on Thursday, Cuban, who endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, told Andrew Ross Sorkin that if he ran, he wouldn’t run as a Democrat.
“The positive about running as a Republican is that you get to go head on with Trump in the primaries,” he said.
If he turns Mark Cuban 2020 into an independent run, he would go straight to the ballot if he gained enough support in each state, but he risks becoming a Ross Perot or Jill Stein —syphoning votes from viable candidates despite the United States not officially being a two-party nation.
“Given the circumstances, there’s a unique opportunity for someone, like me, who’s independent and not affiliated with a party in any way,” Cuban said. “People are looking for a real independent voice, if he at least knows an inkling of what we’re talking about.”
So, why the hesitation?
Cuban asked rhetorically, “What caring, loving parent would put three young children through the disaster?”
(Speaking of disaster… When asked if he would send former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Cuban replied, “Why not?”)
Rumors have also made the rounds about Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, and Bob Iger, the chief executive of Disney, possibly taking on the incumbent POTUS.
“Whether it’s me, Bob Iger, Howard Schultz or anyone else, there’s a door wide open, anyone without a deep affiliation,” Cuban said.
Cuban called Trump “a president who has no common sense and can’t get out of his own way” and added that No. 45 “is to become the least popular president is US history.”
Cuban admitted to meeting with former White House strategist Steve Bannon, eight Democratic senators and Republican Trump critic Jeff Flake.
“I’ll talk to everybody,” he said. “You can’t absorb enough knowledge and connect with people enough.”
