Mark Cuban, the dot-com billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, denied a rumor that he is running for president in a CNBC Closing Bell interview with co-anchor Kelly Evans yesterday afternoon.
“I get asked every day. It’s a fun idea to toss around. If I ran as a Dem, I know I could beat Hillary Clinton. And if it was me vs. Trump, I would crush him. No doubt about it,” is what Cuban had been quoted as stating earlier in the day by CNBC in an e-mail exchange discussing his thoughts on running for president.
News outlets around the country quickly began reporting the news. USA Today wrote, “ Mark Cuban is thinking of running for president.”
Clearly, Cuban thinks that his chances against the current front runners, both Democrat and Republican, would be good. However, later in the day he cleared up any confusion with CNBC . Watch as Cuban denies the rumors.
“How seriously are you considering a run for president?” Kelly Evans asked Cuban.
“Not at all… I’m not going to run. I don’t really have any interest in running. But I do give Donald a lot of credit for changing the game. I mean we’re at the point… Up until now you had to be a perfect candidate. In fact, you couldn’t have had a drink while your were growing up. And I think Donald changed that. He made it OK to be an imperfect candidate, and I think that’s a good thing,” Cuban explained and denied the rumor.
“I’m just wondering, to go back to the genesis of this whole discussion Mark. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you were saying, if it was you versus Trump, you’d crush him, no doubt about it,” Evans pressed.
“Oh yeah, there’s no question. I think, what its come down to… I think Hillary’s kind of blown it. I think there’s no chance for her to win an election. I think she’s just lost her shot. You know, when I said I think that I could crush Trump, it’s less on Donald and more on the Republican Party. The Republican Party really requires all their candidates to conform on all the social issues and I think that’s just so out of touch with what’s happening in American today. That whether it would be me, whether it would be a Mike Bloomberg… potentially even Joe Biden. They’re going to crush the Republicans and that’s what it comes down to…” Cuban explained.
“If you had to vote today… who would it be for?” Evans asked Cuban.
“I wouldn’t pick a candidate right now,” Cuban responded, “We’ve got over a year to go… it’s way to early.”
[Photo by Scott Halleran / Getty Images]
