The surge of support behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may be encouraging other business leaders to consider a similar run, including fellow billionaire Mark Cuban.
Cuban, owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks and a constant presence on the ABC startup-themed show Shark Tank, believes he would be a formidable opponent for current Republican Party frontrunner Trump, and for Democrat favorite Hillary Clinton.
“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,” he told CNBC.
Calling himself a “three-comma POTUS—as in $1,000,000,000,” Cuban has seen the bombastic, no-holds-barred personality of Trump connect with potential voters, and believes that stripped-down swagger is a result of his largesse of wealth. “Rich people just have a little more arrogance to think we know more than everyone else,” Cuban told CNBC.
Cuban has himself been no stranger to controversy. He was fined around $1.9 million for 14 incidents relating to public reprimands of NBA referees and the league in general, and has even engaged in a Twitter (TWTR) battle with Trump himself over a challenge to donate $1 million to the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
However, Cuban also seems pragmatic about the challenges of running the nation.
“Whether it’s someone like me, or a Trump, the first time someone dies because of a decision the president made, I think all that bluster goes out the window,” he reportedly said.
