Controversial billionaire Mark Cuban has suggested running for president with NBA legend Charles Barkley, describing Barkley as “somebody America needs.”
Cuban, previously a surrogate for Kamala Harris, was seen as a potential presidential candidate in past election cycles but has not yet officially entered the race.
On The Steam Room podcast with Barkley and host Ernie Johnson, Cuban discussed the divisive nature of American politics and the need for more constructive debates, according to Daily Mail.
Cuban responded: “It takes somebody in my mind that will go out there and just talk to anybody, like Charles!
“Charles can talk to anybody and put himself in any circumstance and get along with everybody, and I think that’s what we need.”
Johnson inquired whether Cuban would contemplate a presidential run if Barkley were to join him on the ticket.
“Yes, absolutely,” he said. “We would win running away. No question about it.”
Barkley also chipped in by saying: “We’d definitely win. Running away.”
While supporting Harris, Cuban recently stirred controversy on The View by stating that Donald Trump never associates with “strong, intelligent women.”
“It’s just that simple. They’re intimidating to him,” he argued. “He doesn’t like to be challenged by them, and, you know, Nikki Haley will call him on his nonsense with reproductive rights and how he sees and treats and talks about women. I mean, he just can’t have her around. It wouldn’t work.”
However, Cuban retracted those comments a few days later in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
“It’s part of politics, it was my mistake, and I apologized for it. I certainly wasn’t saying anything negative about anyone supporting Trump,” he stressed.
When asked what his wife of 22 years made of his comments, Cuban added: “Tiffany watched the entire interview and had no issue with it. She knew what I was trying to say.
“She also knows that when I do hundreds of interviews, there will be some I mess up on. I flubbed many more Mavs interviews that got me fined by the NBA. So she is kind of used to it,” he added, referring to when he owned the Mavericks.
