Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and a star of the hit reality show Shark Tank, is reportedly eyeing a presidential run. According to multiple reports, the NBA owner and Donald Trump nemesis is considering running in 2020 as a third-party candidate.
Cuban told the New York Daily News that he has not yet ruled out a potential run for the White House.
“I haven’t decided anything yet,” Cuban said in the interview. “We’ll see what happens. It all comes down to how things play out. It’s not something I feel like I have to do. … But it’s something that if circumstances were right I would do. If you look at the Democrats right now, there’s like a democratic gravity that pulls all the candidates to the same point. And it’s very difficult to show leadership in a situation like that because you can’t truly lead if you have to find an equilibrium between being a true leader for the people of your country vs. getting elected in your primary.
“None of those things are conducive to out-and-out leading the country.”
If Cuban does end up running as a third-party candidate, he could join fellow billionaire businessman Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks. Whether they would take a run at the Oval Office seriously or simply try to shake up the election and distract or irritate Trump remains to be seen.
But one thing is for sure: the 2020 election will be a referendum on the Donald Trump presidency and there are already more than a dozen prospective candidates who has decided they want to get in on the fun.