“Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban has been a top surrogate for Kamala Harris, especially on the economy and business, but he hasn’t contributed to her campaign and isn’t interested in serving in a cabinet post.
In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday, the billionaire entrepreneur, who backed Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, said Harris is open minded and not an ideologue, then pivoted to his lack of financial support.
“I haven’t given her a penny,” Cuban said. “People think, ‘you’re giving her a lot of money.’ No, I haven’t given a penny.”
He added that he hasn’t given money to any candidate since 2002, explaining that if he feels passionate about a candidate, he’ll help and doesn’t want money to be an issue.
“I don’t want them to work with me because I paid them to work with me,” he said.
Cuban’s avoidance of any donations contrasts with other Harris supporters in the business sector such as LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings who have given millions of dollars to pro-Harris PACs.
Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has given at least $132 million to help elect Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Even without his checkbook, Cuban touted his effectiveness as a Harris surrogate, saying he can “go into the nitty-gritty of any business topic you want to talk about” and explain the difference between her plan and Trump’s.
Later in the interview, Cuban acknowledged that he briefly thought about running for president in 2020 but said there’s “no chance” now of holding office.
“No, I’ve no interest, no interest in being a politician of any type,” he added. “I have no interest in serving in the cabinet for Kamala Harris or anybody. I like being a disruptor as an entrepreneur.”
Last month, however, he suggested to CNBC that he would be interested in serving as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator is currently led by Gary Gensler, whom Cuban has said should be fired.
“I told her team, put my name in for the SEC. It needs to change,” he said.
And despite agreeing with former Trump administration officials that their one-time boss has fascist tendencies, which his campaign has denied, Cuban said he wouldn’t leave the country if Trump wins.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help this country wherever I can,” he added. “And it doesn’t matter to me who’s president.”
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