Mark Cuban thinks Trump's behavior is more for Breitbart's benefit than his own

Actual billionaire Mark Cuban has been spending several months trolling Donald Trump, and before Wednesday's presidential debate in Las Vegas, he announced a new theory he has about the Republican nominee.

Speaking with MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Cuban, a Hillary Clinton supporter, said he's pretty sure that Trump's over-the-top declarations about rigged elections and biased reporting are part of the Breitbart News "marketing plan," not Trump's actual beliefs. "I'm trying to figure out what the benefit is to Donald for taking that approach," Cuban said. "I can't find one. What I can find is a significant amount of benefit for Breitbart News." Breitbart is a populist right-wing website, and Trump's campaign CEO, Steve Bannon, is its former executive chairman.

By listening to Trump's message, Cuban believes it's clear that Bannon doesn't think Trump will win the election, "so he's playing this whole thing out to the benefit of Breitbart News." Bannon, he added, is "a lot smarter than Donald Trump, and he's really driving this." Cuban asked viewers to watch the debate to determine how much of Trump's perspectives and policies are his rather than Breitbart's. "I'm telling you, when you listen to Donald talk in his speeches, it's almost all far more beneficial for Breitbart," he said. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.