As the US presidential election looms, the billionaire Mark Cuban has emerged as an lively marketing campaign surrogate for Kamala Harris. Making the case for enterprise leaders to assist the Democrat over Donald Trump, Cuban has drawn on his expertise (in tech, investments, healthcare and now sports activities, as minority proprietor of the Dallas Mavericks NBA workforce), movie star (as a lead “shark” for 15 seasons of ABC’s Shark Tank) and willingness to confront Trump-supporting billionaires, Elon Musk outstanding amongst them.
The street has not been easy. Final week, Cuban clashed with congressional progressives after criticizing Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Commerce Fee, over her tech-sector antitrust work. That difficulty and others, together with Cuban’s ideas on Trump’s championing of tariffs and the perennial query of whether or not Cuban harbors presidential ambitions of his personal, are addressed beneath, in emailed solutions to 10 questions posed by Guardian writers and editors.
Why did you begin talking up in assist of Kamala Harris? Do you coordinate with the marketing campaign, or set your individual course?
I feel she could be a much better president than her opponent. And I do my very own scheduling. We’re discussing them setting some issues up for nearer to the election [on Thursday, Cuban appeared with Harris at a rally in Wisconsin].
Can Harris attraction to white working-class voters? If that’s the case, how?
I feel her attraction to everybody is similar. She is moral, not an ideologue, open-minded, analytical, she desires to unravel issues irrespective of the place they arrive from. She has mentioned she would appoint a Republican to her cupboard.
She understands expertise and the significance it has to nationwide safety, far, much better than her opponent. When Donald Trump talks about AI [artificial intelligence] he solely talks in time period of how a lot electrical energy it makes use of. Kamala understands the strategic, financial and protection alternatives it presents.
I’ve labored along with her workforce to deliver pharmaceutical prices down considerably and that’s just the start in her decreasing healthcare prices.
Why are males such an issue for the Harris marketing campaign? How would you attraction to them?
I feel we live in a world of memes. Donald Trump does an awesome job speaking in soundbites relatively than with substance. Soundbites are extra meme-friendly. I additionally consider that the algorithms of social media reinforce these memes, which advantages Trump with males.
You’ve gotten identified and handled Trump for a while. Do you suppose he has deteriorated with age, as his critics cost? If that’s the case, how?
Sure. His speeches are longer, extra rambling. The variety of non-sequiturs continues to develop. He used to attempt to give direct solutions to questions. I don’t suppose he even tries or is in a position [to do that] any longer.
What would a second Trump presidency imply for the US, and why ought to businesspeople select Harris over Trump?
Stability is the important thing for bigger companies. They don’t need to get up to a tweet or a brand new tariff that impacts their enterprise, as a result of Donald obtained mad at somebody.
I feel tariffs are additionally a giant difficulty for companies of all sizes: 10%, 20%, 60%, 200%, they’re paid by the importer and handed on to prospects.
Trump makes use of tariffs as a risk to American firms, even when it helps their international opponents. A 200% tariff towards John Deere makes their international opponents inexpensive [Trump threatened the tariff if the company were to move some production to Mexico], even after a ten% or 20% tariff towards their merchandise. That’s insane.
So many small entrepreneurs import merchandise. However tariffs might actually put small retailers and producers out of enterprise.
Small companies don’t have the pricing elasticity of bigger firms. They will’t go on the incremental and administrative prices related to tariffs.
Trump doesn’t perceive how he’ll put small retailers and producers out of enterprise: 75% of producers have fewer than 20 staff. Tariffs on the inputs to their manufactured merchandise might put them out of enterprise.
Underneath Kamala, small-business advantages would profit considerably. Ninety-seven per cent-plus of small firms are Sub S or LLC, which suggests they’re taxed at their private charges. For all of these entrepreneurs, if their incomes are $400,000 or beneath (which is 95% or extra), their taxes received’t go up and can most likely go down.
Kamala can also be proposing rising the power to expense startup prices as much as $50,000 (a 10-time improve), and he or she has childcare tax credit and tax credit for newborns that can enable dad and mom to get the assistance they should preserve their companies working.
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Lots of different profitable enterprise individuals – Elon Musk, Peter Thiel – are backing Trump. What’s his attraction? Why do you suppose they’re incorrect?
I can solely guess. I feel they consider they will manipulate him.
Has Harris informed you the way her enterprise insurance policies will differ from Biden’s, and may she reconcile her big-business-friendly stance along with her stand towards price-gouging?
She has understandably not needed to throw her present boss beneath the bus. However the variations are stark. She got here in at 28% for company and capital good points, far decrease than what Biden needed. She doesn’t desire a tax on unrealized capital good points. I feel she has proven she will likely be far stricter on the border.
Why do you suppose a President Harris – or presumably President Trump in a second time period – ought to take away Lina Khan as chair of the FTC, over her stance on antitrust points? Are you ready for the “brawl” with progressives that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has promised on the problem?
I ought to rephrase what I mentioned earlier than [“If it were me, I wouldn’t” keep Khan, and: “The bigger picture is, she’s hurting more than she’s helping,” to Semafor last Tuesday]. I gave my opinion, which was that whereas I feel Lina has carried out an awesome job with PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers], rip-off firms and extra, I prioritize AI, due to its significance to our financial system, and consider our largest AI firms shouldn’t be damaged up. That mentioned, I’ve no intention of requesting or suggesting that she be fired.
You’ve gotten mentioned you’d have supported a business-minded Republican similar to Mitt Romney or Jeff Flake had they stood for president. Can that kind of Republican ever be nominated once more? What do you say to such Republicans – Romney, Larry Hogan and others – who received’t again Trump however is not going to vote for Harris?
I feel they’ll vote for her. They simply don’t need to say it and take care of the blowback. And my feedback on Jeff and Mitt had been if Biden was the candidate. I’d vote for Kamala over both.
I can’t stress sufficient the significance of Kamala coming to the middle. I feel she’s going to do one of the best job representing all Individuals, not simply Democrats or Republicans. I consider her uplifting method to her marketing campaign: not solely has she tried to stay optimistic, she has not criticized anybody past Trump and JD Vance.
That’s vital. Not a damaging phrase about their supporters. Simply an perspective that tries to deliver individuals collectively. Examine that to the hateful rhetoric of Trump. I imply, saying he hates Taylor Swift, simply because she didn’t assist him, is emblematic of who he’s and the way totally different he and Kamala are.
Had been you ever tempted to run your self – as a Romney-esque business-minded Republican or on every other platform? May you be but?
For about eight hours. Then I awakened. 🙂
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