Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who has previously floated the idea of running for president, still hasn’t ruled out the possibility of running in 2020, he said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” yesterday. “We’ll see,” he told host Scott Wapner, though the circumstances would have to be just right for him to do it. “We’ll see what happens. It would take the perfect storm for me to do it,” he said. “There’s some things that could open the door, but I’m not projecting or predicting it right now.”
Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, has also considered an independent run for president. He had a pre-campaign media tour earlier this year, but recent events have been canceled. While it appears that Schultz’s presidential ambitions have cooled, his aides insist that a presidential run is still on the table.
With Schultz presumably out of the picture, the opportunity exists for a non-politician to enter the race as a theoretical consensus candidate. While Schultz is a liberal, Mark Cuban reportedly leans libertarian and has donated to Republicans and Democrats. He endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“I still think there’s a real opportunity for somebody who is in the middle but has some charisma, has the ability to relate to both sides but is not a politician,” Cuban said. “The reality is people don’t trust politicians,”
Cuban has been a regular critic of Donald Trump during his campaign and presidency but doesn’t think any of the Democrats running have a chance to defeat Trump in the general election.
When asked who on the Democratic side has the best chance of winning, Cuban said “nobody right now.” “If you look at why people voted for Donald Trump, in my opinion, first and foremost it was because he wasn’t a politician. ”
Cuban said the more than 20 Democratic candidates so far are all politicians. “Politicians are the least trusted of every profession,” he said.
Cuban said none of the candidates stands out, not even former Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading the polls.
“I like Vice President Biden I think he’s smart and he could do a decent job, but I think it’s way too early to tell,” Cuban said.
Cuban also dismissed the policy proposals from 2020 Democrats as just “headline porn,” instead of serious solutions. “I don’t think they believe what they’re proposing is passable.” On this, he has a point. The 2020 Democrat candidates are talking about abolishing the Electoral College, slavery reparations, Medicare for All, and health care for illegal immigrants, amongst other things—proposals that make Donald Trump look like a centrist.
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Matt Margolis is the author of The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and the bestselling The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. His new book, Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy, will be published in July 2019. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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