Mark Cuban on whether he talked to Steve Bannon about a possible presidential run: 'Nope'
Mark Cuban on Friday denied that he talked to Steve Bannon about his possible run for president in 2020. Earlier in the day, the Daily Beast cited four sources and reported that the billionaire entrepreneur has been in touch with Bannon, President Donald Trump 's former chief strategist, "for months" about a potential campaign. Bannon urged Cuban to run as a Democrat, the report said, which would pit him against Trump in 2020 if both men won the major parties' nominations. Cuban told the news site that he texted Bannon "a few" times and believes that none of those were "more than one full sentence." Cuban told CNBC that running for president did not come up in his exchanges with Bannon. "Nope. Not even remotely close," the Dallas Mavericks owner said. On Thursday, Cuban publicly said he is considering running for president as an independent , depending on whether his wife and family would endorse it. The "Shark Tank" panelist added that he would prefer to run as a Republican rather than mounting a bid as a Democrat. Cuban would "absolutely not" run as a Democrat, he said. The billionaire's wealth could help him avoid the need for party infrastructure, should he decide to run. It is unclear why Bannon, a staunch Trump ally, would want Cuban to run against the president. CNBC could not immediately reach Bannon for comment. Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.
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