Mark Cuban said on Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning for president against Elon Musk as much as she was against former President Donald Trump, saying the Democratic nominee should be a pro-business choice. He claimed that.
“This is the Harris campaign versus Elon, it’s not even Trump versus Trump,” the billionaire investor and former “Shark Tank” host said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Cuban is tesla SpaceX’s CEO criticized Mr. Musk’s promise to give away $1 million a day to winners of electoral sweepstakes in battleground states, calling it “revolutionary” and “hopeless.”
But Mr. Cuban later predicted that if Ms. Harris won, she would be “100%” able to mend her relationship with Mr. Musk.
Cuban’s comments were the latest salvo from the two billionaires, who have taken increasingly prominent roles in the campaign and have stepped up attacks on each other.
Musk has donated tens of millions of dollars to pro-Trump super PACs. mocked the appearance of CubansAfter Cuban said few other CEOs would support the Republican candidate.
Cuban retorted Thursday: “Can’t stop thinking about me @elonmusk can you?”
In a post on the social media platform Mask “If that were the case, I would have looked for a diversion,” he added. I own it.
Mr. Cuban called Mr. Musk again on CNBC Monday morning.
Asked for his thoughts on the latest polls that broadly show a close race between Harris and Trump, Cuban said: “Nobody really knows. So it’s really about winning the vote.” said.
“And the funny thing is, it’s the Harris campaign versus Elon, it’s not even versus Trump,” Cuban said.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has certainly emerged as one of the Trump campaign’s most prominent surrogates, and also one of the biggest spenders in the 2024 election. He led the vote-getting effort in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, contributing nearly $75 million to his America PAC between July and early September alone.
Trump now regularly boasts about having Musk’s support and has suggested that Musk could play a key role in his administration if he wins the election.
Meanwhile, Musk has accepted his position as one of Trump’s main supporters.
On Saturday, Musk said he would randomly give away $1 million a day to registered voters who signed the PAC’s petition.
“It’s revolutionary and it’s desperate,” Cuban said of the gift on CNBC. “I only do it because I feel like I have to.”
Cuban acknowledged that the sweepstakes was “not a bad idea,” but he wasn’t convinced it would work.
“It could easily backfire,” he said, “but you won’t know until you try.”
Mr. Cuban went on to contrast Ms. Harris with Mr. Trump, arguing in many ways that Ms. Harris is the better presidential candidate for small businesses and the economy.
He said Harris has promised not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year, and Cuban noted that the group targets most small business owners.
Mr. Cuban, the founder of Cost Plus Drugs, also noted that Mr. Harris is focused on lowering health care and drug prices by taking on pharmacy intermediaries. He argued that these savings could help offset inflation for households and small businesses.
“She came out and talked about it. Donald Trump didn’t say anything.”
He also argued that Harris’ approach to combating illegal immigration is better for businesses than Trump’s mass deportation plan.
“I sat in front of a restaurant owner and asked him, ‘What would you do if suddenly there was a knock on your door and someone from the Stephen Miller team asked for your name and address and immigration status?’ Who is?” Cuban said.
“You can’t run a country like that.”
Mr. Cuban also reiterated his criticism of President Trump’s pledge to use sweeping tariffs as a primary tool of both economic and foreign policy. Cuban said it was “insane” that President Trump proposed imposing tariffs to stop China from invading Taiwan.
