Mark Cuban Of ‘Shark Tank’ Thinks Democrats Are ‘Blowing It’
Mark Cuban may have supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election, but two weeks into the Donald Trump presidency, he believes his party of choice is “blowing it.”
The billionaire investor and star of TV’s Shark Tank was asked about the political landscape in a Trump administration, and so far, he’s not impressed with those who have vowed to fight the president tooth-and-nail.
“The Democrats are blowing it,” Cuban said in comments to MSNBC. “I think… look, I’m an independent, I’m not a Democrat. I don’t have a vested interest in the Democratic Party at all. But, what I will say, at least from my perspective, everything that was wrong with Republicans during the Obama administration was built around obstructionism.”
Howard Stern on Donald Trump is both very interesting and a reminder of how utterly America screwed this up https://t.co/M2abkiV4UH
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) February 2, 2017
Mark Cuban is still vehemently opposed to a Trump presidency, but he went on to say that any effort to pick a fight with the president over each decision would only help the GOP demonize Democrats and grow its voter base.
Mark observed that the country is much worse off because, in part, of Republican obstructionism, and doubling down on that behavior by the other side “is how we got a President Trump.”
Cuban characterizes Trump as a “dealmaker,” and said that one common characteristic of dealmakers is that they love to make deals.
“All dealmakers will give you something. Get something. Or Dems can do business as usual. Obstruct every move. Treat him like a politician. How did that work out in the election?” he added.
While the idea of bowing down to a U.S. Supreme Court nominee like the conservative Neil Gorsuch may seem unpalatable for Democrats, Cuban said, it could be smarter for Democrats to back off on some issues in order to get something from Trump that might not necessarily sit well with Republicans.
By being willing to work with Trump, in other words, Democratic leadership could work its way into a position to appeal to some of Trump’s more Democratic tendencies, which were of concern to Republicans during the primaries.
This would essentially deepen the rift between the GOP and their president and result in more victories down the road.
Mr President, I offer you part of the solution that your administration should consider https://t.co/yVXTGfp4nW
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 3, 2017
Mark Cuban received praise from Democrats when he endorsed Hillary Clinton for the election, but it remains to be seen how they will respond to his suggestion for doing business with Trump.
There is a fine line to walk at present because the Democratic party is still trying to find a healing path over its own messy primary in which some to the far left refused to support Clinton once emails emerged that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had “cooked the books” to keep candidate Bernie Sanders from the nomination.
Cuban’s words are unlikely to mend those fences at present because the last thing many Democrats want is to take a conciliatory tone with Trump.
Democratic politicians willing to do so might find themselves on the wrong side of their constituencies for the next election in 2018, and if the party loses any more seats at the House or Senate levels, it might be in danger of losing the power of the filibuster.
But what do you think, readers?
Is Mark Cuban right in saying that the Democrats are blowing it and that they should consider working with Trump more than simply repeating the Republican obstructionist approach of the Obama years? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image By Helga Esteb/Shutterstock]
