In a Tuesday episode of the “ViewPoint” podcast hosted by CNN contributor Bakari Sellers, billionaire Mark Cuban, who describes himself as “independent all the way through” and “not traditional in terms of politics at all," said he was considering a run for the White House and drew strong contrasts between himself and President Donald Trump.
“I don’t think anybody who knows me, anybody who listens to me, anybody who talks to me is going to think I’m anything like Donald Trump,” Cuban said on the podcast.
Cuban said were he to run, he would have “no problem” with publicly declaring his business holdings and releasing his tax returns — which Trump famously refused to do. But he said he would not divest from personal business interests if he were elected, saying Trump has only faced problems with his business possessions because he “isn’t transparent about them.”
Cuban, who created a massive personal fortune after investing in startups and other business interests, is famous for being a “shark investor” on the ABC reality show “Shark Tank” and for his high-profile ownership of a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.
During the 2016 presidential election, he endorsed Hillary Clinton and was a vocal critic of Trump, though he had previously expressed interest in joining both Clinton’s and Trump’s tickets as vice president.
When Sellers asked Cuban if he would be willing to campaign against Republicans during the 2018 midterm elections, Cuban said, “Probably not.”
Cuban said key issues facing the country include income inequality, health care and technological competitiveness. Calling health care a “right,” he said the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, was a “step in the right direction” — but added that “any system built on insurance will fail.”
Ultimately, Cuban said he still hasn’t decided whether to run for office.
“If I can come up with solutions I think people can get behind and truly solve problems, then it makes perfect sense for me to run,” he said. “If it comes down to, do I think I can win because I can convince more people to vote for me, then no, I won’t run.”
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