In one of the least surprising moves of the 2016 election cycle, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban endorsed Hillary Clinton on Saturday night during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. Well, it’s kind of surprising, because Cuban is know for leaning towards libertarianism, but when you consider the fact that he really, REALLY hates Donald Trump, it isn’t a shock.
After a brief friendship between the two stemming from the loud billionaire complimenting the loud maybe billionaire, the relationship between Trump and Cuban soured. There are a ton of examples of this – Cuban has taken a number of shots at Trump over the last few months – and during Saturday night’s campaign stop, Cuban got to take his one-man anti-Trump show to his hometown.
The video at the top of this post features a few of the zingers Cuban busted out, including saying hello to Trump in Russian. He also made it a point to mention that Shark Tank got better ratings than The Apprentice, which most people normally wouldn’t care about, but no one cares more about TV ratings than the Donald (well, unless it’s the ratings for the Republican National Convention).
Cuban’s best moment, though, was when he decided to bust out the Pittsburghese and ask if there is a bigger jagoff in the world than Trump.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, jagoff is basically Pittsburgh’s way of calling a person a moron. The crowd at the rally predictably loved it, and shortly after, Cuban formally endorsed Clinton. Via The Guardian:
“I want each and every one of you to know … in Hillary Clinton’s America, the American dream is alive and well,” Cuban said in his final pitch to the crowd, gushing with Pittsburgh pride. “And there’s no place that knows that better than Pittsburgh because we are an American dream city.”
Cuban is going to be one of Clinton’s most vocal supporters over the next three months. While he may not vocally support Clinton as much as he repeatedly chastises Trump, in this cycle, that’s basically the same thing. He talked to the Daily Beast about his decision to go on the campaign trail.
Cuban calls himself an independent and despite showing recent leanings toward Clinton, had threatened to back Trump if the Democratic nominee had chosen Senator Elizabeth Warren as her running mate. She did not and on Thursday, prior to Clinton’s speech, Cuban reportedly called campaign chairman John Podesta to say that he was officially on board.
“I just thought it was the right thing to do,” Cuban said in an email to The Daily Beast. “That she would make a strong president.”
He initially had high hopes for the candidacy of Trump—a fellow businessman who Cuban thought could revolutionize the office and could offer a fresh-faced approach.
“Donald, initially, I really hoped he would be something different, that as a businessperson, I thought there was an opportunity there,” he told CNN at the rally on Saturday. “But then, he went off the reservation and went batshit crazy.”
Say what you want about Cuban, he does not mince words.
(via Mediaite, The Guardian)
