Stephen Bannon has repeatedly encouraged Shark Tank host and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to consider running for president as a Democrat in 2020, The Daily Beast reports.
"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 [Bannon] went to work for Trump, Mark would be interviewed and say nice things about Steve." [The Daily Beast]
Cuban confirmed to The Daily Beast that he and Bannon, who has returned to his position leading Breitbart News after departing the White House this summer, have exchanged text messages, but claimed that none of them had "been more than a full sentence."
During the 2016 presidential election, Cuban was a vocal critic of Trump, calling the future president "bats--t crazy" — though there was a time when Cuban believed his fellow TV host was "probably the best thing to happen to politics in a long time." On Thursday, Cuban spoke at The New York Times DealBook Conference and said that if he ran for president, it would be as a "Republican before Democrat, and most likely independent." In the past, Cuban has been critical of the GOP's position on social issues, and has expressed support for single-payer health care.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although Bannon and Cuban may seem like odd political bedfellows, Bannon's self-declared war on the GOP establishment and his attempts at building bridges with liberal figures like Randy Weingarten, the president of America's top teachers union, and Sen. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) show that the Breitbart executive chairman is hardly a party loyalist. And as The Daily Beast notes, "as Bannon and Cuban have corresponded, the latter has received largely favorable coverage from Breitbart News."
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Codeword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutionalSpeed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for riflesSpeed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBISpeed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
