Mark Cuban has admitted he’s thinking about a run for president. It’s clear that Cuban doesn’t think much of current president Donald Trump, but it seems that he’s getting advice from someone who once was in Trump’s administration.
The Daily Beast reported on Friday that Cuban has been in contact with Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for the Trump White House and current head of Breitbart News. And these conversations have not exactly been about why Bannon wears so many button-ups at once.
According to the site, Bannon and Cuban had been in communication a number of times about a potential run, and Cuban himself confirmed that he’s been in contact with him. Cuban, however, claims that their communications were brief’s, saying he “texted with him a few time[s]” but none had “been more than one full sentence.”
That’s not what other sources had told the news outlet, though.
But according to four sources familiar with their conversations, the two have been in touch for months about a possible 2020 bid. Bannon, these sources say, has encouraged Cuban to run and to consider doing so as a Democrat, seeing it as a realistic path to a viable presidential run.
“They talk regularly,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump adviser who is close to Bannon. “They’re very similar. They have a lot of synergy there. Even when [Steve] went to work for Trump, Mark would be interviewed and say nice things about Steve.”
That’s a lot of sources and a lot more talking than Cuban initially admitted. And Bannon’s advice to run as a Democrat does go against what Cuban said he wanted, which is to challenge Trump in the primaries or be an “Independent” voice for voters. Cuban’s potential campaign certainly seems more likely than once thought, though the bedfellows he’s making in the process might not be what independent voters exactly had in mind if Bannon is involved.
