Joe Biden Still Has Mark Cuban’s Support – Here’s Why

Amid ongoing calls for embattled President Joe Biden to step down from his campaign for a second term in the White House, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban is counting himself among those supporting the Democrat.

Biden, the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee, is expected to face Republican rival Donald Trump in November. But the 81-year-old incumbent’s shaky debate performance last month against Trump, 78, only served to heighten pre-existing questions about his age and mental acuity.

During the CNN-hosted televised clash, some viewers said Biden sounded hoarse and had no energy throughout the night. A Biden aide told Newsweek that the president was nursing a cold at the time. Biden himself blamed his poor performance on not “listening” to his staff and instead deciding to “travel around the world a couple of times” for the debate. He told supporters at a fundraiser in Virginia last week that he “almost fell asleep on stage.”

Since then, Biden has sparked further concern before and during a press conference last week when he introduced Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” then corrected himself and called Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump.”

The gaffes reinforced calls from both sides of the American political spectrum for Biden to abandon his re-election bid before November. At least 17 Democratic members of Congress and senators have called on Biden to end his 2024 campaign.

Hollywood actor George Clooney wrote a post on July 10 New York Times Opinion piece titled, “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.” In it, the Oscar winner wrote that while he considers Biden “a friend” and “believes in him,” Democrats “are not going to win in November with this president.”

Still, Cuban stands by Biden and remains true to his beliefs. In March, he told Bloomberg that in a race between the president and Trump, he would always choose Biden, even if he were “given the last rites.”

“I don’t want a snake oil salesman for president,” Cuban continued. “I’m voting Biden-Harris over Trump all day long.”

Aftermath of the debate

After the June 27 debate, the entrepreneur admitted in a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, that the “sitting president’s performance was terrible.”

“But so was Trump,” he added. “Biden was weak. Trump couldn’t answer a single question directly and lied in every answer. The question is what qualities do voters find in a better POTUS: weak, capable and ethical versus strong, unethical and incapable of telling the truth. I vote ethical every time.”

“The reality is that Joe was not able to debate someone last night who is just lying,” he continued. “He doesn’t have the energy or the ability to shut him down, hold him accountable, and laugh at Trump’s responses.

“Joe could have held his own against a candidate who could actually discuss policy. But that wasn’t the challenge last night and Joe wasn’t prepared or able to deal with Donald and his style.”

Cuban was subsequently highly critical of Trump, stating that there was “nothing that would give anyone confidence that he could hold his own in any complicated situation. Or that he could intellectually compete with any world leader or adversary.”

“That doesn’t make Biden’s performance any less bad,” he continued. “But he answered the questions that were put to him, even though the presentation was disappointing. And we’ve had the last three years and his POTUS without him being laughed at or smirked at, no revelations or leaks about his incompetence. No former advisers or cabinet members saying they wouldn’t vote for him.

“That gives me confidence that he can hold his own and handle the normal duties of the presidency.”

Importance of optics

Cuban, however, agreed that optics are king. “Unfortunately, this election is not about policy,” he said. “It’s about sound bites, social media and who delivers them best and the algorithms that deliver them to voters.

“Trump is much better than Biden at soundbites and marketing. That’s the reality.”

With that in mind, Cuban said he is “open to the discussion of replacing Biden and/or Harris,” adding that “a large number of people who currently support (Trump) would move on from a better alternative.

“But if that doesn’t happen, I’ll still vote for Biden, the ethical candidate who will unconditionally honor his oath and put country above self-interest.”

Rhetoric on both sides of the political divide has tempered somewhat in recent days, largely due to the attempted assassination of Trump during his speech at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on June 13.

Minutes after former President Trump’s speech at the rally, a gunman opened fire, hitting Trump in his right ear. He was surrounded by Secret Service agents and escorted off the stage after raising his hand in a defiant fist.

According to the Secret Service, one rally attendee was killed and two others were seriously wounded. The shooter was fatally shot at the scene by the Secret Service.

The Trump Factor

Although Trump has now been officially named the Republican Party’s nominee at this week’s Republican Party convention, he did not receive an affirmative vote in the first presidential election poll conducted since the horrific shooting.

The poll, conducted by Morning Consult among 2,045 registered voters on July 15, shows Trump leading Biden by just 1 percentage point at 46 percent, compared to the president’s 45 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The findings also show that Trump’s lead has narrowed slightly since the company’s previous survey, conducted July 12-14, when Trump held a 2 percentage point lead, at 44 percent, compared to Biden’s 42 percent.

In the days since the shooting, Cuban has agreed with comments on social media that wishing Trump well in light of the incident is not a partisan approach but a humane one. However, he has continued to criticize the former real estate mogul over his campaign actions.

After Trump announced that JD Vance would be his running mate for vice president, a post was shared on X suggesting that the choice shows that the GOP “wants to call on anti-woke Silicon Valley politicians or financial types to fill the void left by the Republican Party’s crisis of competence.”

Cuban disagreed, writing that Trump “won’t bite. But he’s smart enough to take their money and influence in (Silicon Valley) circles, while offering policies here and there as breadcrumbs. In short, DJT will eat them up and spit them out.”

While Cuban supports Biden, he is not averse to criticizing the president from time to time. During Biden’s 2020 campaign, Cuban described Biden as “the right choice for business.” However, he also accused Biden of being “too quiet” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2015, Cuban praised Trump on his CyberDust app, calling him “probably the best thing to happen to politics in a long, long time.” By the time Trump secured the GOP nomination in 2016, however, Cuban’s stance had shifted significantly. He became an outspoken critic of Trump, even offering $10 million for a four-hour interview in which Trump would answer questions about his policies.

His change is perhaps summed up in a June 17 X post. When asked by an X user what it was about Trump that he “couldn’t stand,” Cuban explained, “I don’t hate the guy. I just don’t want him to be president.”