Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Shark Tank investor, and all-around billionaire, went from thinking Donald Trump would the best thing that happened to America to joining the #NeverTrump movement.
Why Mark Cuban went from saying Trump is the “best thing” for America to #NeverTrump
“I mean, he had a really good chance to be different and really have a chance to change things,” Cuban said of his past praise of Trump in a Wednesday night appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “But he doesn’t do the work. He’s lazy.”
This is a sharp reversal of Cuban’s previous support for Trump. He’s previously said Trump “changed the game” of American politics, for which he deserved credit.
“I don’t care what his actual positions are,” Cuban wrote last summer. “I don’t care if he says the wrong thing. He says what’s on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years.”
On the second day of the Republican National Convention, Cuban tweeted that he had joined the #NeverTrump movement, admitting that he was “so so wrong” on Trump:
.@herf42 @megynkelly @RealBenCarson I have to admit I've become a #nevertrump
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 20, 2016
.@briancastillo27 @dfwticket it was when he first started.I thought he would be smarter and lie less. My hopes were high. I was so so wrong
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 20, 2016
. @mcjunkind trump is a far greater gamble. He doesn't even know what he will do
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 20, 2016
As a businessman himself, Cuban said he questions Trump’s business acumen. Trump has carried his campaign on building a “very successful” empire and making “great” and “amazing” deals. But for Cuban, the lack of Trump business partners speaking at the convention is a red flag. “They’re not coming forward to speak. They’re not coming forward to give him money,” Cuban said.
This isn’t the first time Cuban has been critical of Trump. In May, Cuban made it clear that his views on Trump had changed since Trump announced his candidacy, calling him a “goddam airhead.”
“There’s that guy who’ll walk into the bar and say anything to get laid,” Cuban said. “That’s Donald Trump right now to a T. But it’s all of us who are going to get fucked.”
Cuban also had some harsher jibes for Trump on The Late Show, joining Colbert for a segment of “Takes the Gloves Off”:
“When you’re going through customs and they ask if you have anything to declare, try not to blurt out, ‘Bankruptcy,’” Cuban punched.
