Billionaire Mark Cuban called President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump's debate performance Thursday night "awful" but signaled support for the Democratic nominee, whether it is Biden or a potential replacement.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Friday morning, Cuban, the Shark Tank star and minority owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, described Biden as "Feeble, Capable and Ethical" and Trump as "Vigorous, Unethical and Incapable of telling the truth." Despite his comments on Biden's poor performance, Cuban said he would "vote ethical every time."
The debate, hosted by CNN, was the first in this election cycle with a second scheduled for September, just two months before Election Day. The rematch race between Biden and Trump remains very tight. According to national poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, Trump is leading Biden by 0.3 points as of Friday afternoon.
Cuban said that "Joe wasn't capable last night of debating someone who only lies. He doesn't have the energy or ability to shout him down, hold him accountable and laugh at Trump's responses."
Trump made false claims about the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, his environmental record, abortion and the economy. Biden, who made misleading statements about insulin pricing, Trump's COVID-19 comments and military deaths, was widely seen as delivering stumbling and incoherent responses.
His performance was awful. But so was Trump's. Biden was feeble. Trump couldn't directly answer a single question and lied with every response.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 28, 2024
The question is what features voters believe make a better POTUS : Feeble, Capable and Ethical vs Vigorous, Unethical and Incapable... https://t.co/AEy9r7vpY6
Regarding the former president, whom Cuban has repeatedly criticized, he said: "There is no way you could listen to Donald last night and come away feeling confident that Trump has the ability to go deeper than his practiced soundbites. He repeated himself often and never directly answered the moderator's questions."
He went further, saying: "His non answers about J6 and election acceptance should scare every American about his interest in upholding his oath to the constitution."
After being asked several times, Trump eventually said he would accept the results of the 2024 election "if it's a fair and legal and good election." Trump has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 presidential election, claiming it was stolen from him despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Cuban said that Biden's three-plus years in office "gives me confidence that in the normal duties of the Presidency he can hold his own and do the job." But he warned that "this election is not about policies. It's about soundbites, social media and who delivers them better and the algorithms that deliver them to voters."
Acknowledging that "Trump is far better than Biden at soundbites and marketing," Cuban said he is "open to the discussion to replace Biden and/or [Vice President Kamala] Harris."
His comments came as Biden's debate performance sparked a "deep, a wide and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party," according to John King, chief national correspondent for CNN. The idea of replacing Biden has gained traction among social media users, including Johanna Maska, a Democratic consultant and former Barack Obama aide, who posted a video on X urging the party to change its 2024 presidential candidate.
"But if that doesn't happen, I'm still voting for Biden, the ethical candidate who unquestionably stands by his oath and puts country over self-interest," concluded Cuban, whose post had been viewed by more than 8.4 million users as of Friday afternoon.
Newsweek reached out to Cuban and the Biden and Trump campaigns for comment via email on Friday afternoon.
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About the writer
Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. You can get ... Read more
