Mark Cuban says Trump ‘absolutely’ has ‘fascist tendencies’

(NEW YORK) — Billionaire entrepreneur and television personality Mark Cuban said former President Donald Trump “absolutely” has “fascist tendencies.”

“Do I think that Donald Trump has fascist tendencies? Absolutely. Positively,” Cuban said. “I do believe Donald Trump poses a threat.”

“I mean, just look at January 6th,” Cuban added. “To have somebody who’s second in command and they’re chanting, ‘Hang Mike Pence!’ and you don’t care, there’s nothing you won’t do.”

Cuban, an independent supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, sat down with ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl in between his campaign stops across the country making the case for Harris.

Despite his warnings about a second Trump term, Cuban called himself an “American first” and said he’d do whatever he can do to help the country regardless of who is president.

“You hear the stories about people saying, ‘I’ll leave the country’ and all that,” Cuban said. “If Trump wins, I mean, I’m not going anywhere, but I’m an American first. I’ll do whatever I can to help this country wherever I can. And it doesn’t matter to me who’s president.”

After Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly told the New York Times that Trump fits the definition of a fascist, Harris said on CNN that she does consider him a fascist, too. Trump has called Harris a fascist in the past. Asked for his reaction, Cuban said this is not a “normal” campaign.

“In a normal world, the two parties would get together and say, ‘Let’s just stop this name calling, right? Let’s just focus on the issues.’ But this is not a normal world. Donald Trump is not a normal candidate,” Cuban said. “And I think it’s not a stretch to call Donald Trump a fascist.”

Cuban said it’s “unnerving” that half of the country continues to support Trump and he thinks it’s because people want a change from President Joe Biden, who he said is not a leader.

“If you don’t have strong leadership and, you know, Joe Biden did a lot of great things, I think, you know, the economy and many other things can, that, you know, the CHIPS Act, there’s so many great things he’s done. But a leader he’s not,” Cuban said. “I think Kamala is a leader.”

Cuban supported Nikki Haley during the Republican primaries. Had she won the nomination, he said he may have voted for her over Biden — but not over Harris, who he said “knows how to be a CEO.”

As an entrepreneur, Cuban has been making the case on the campaign trail that Harris would be better for the economy than Trump.

“The economy’s in great shape. That does not mean every single individual in this country is experiencing all the goodness of the economy. But that was the same under the Trump administration as well. You know, the stock market’s at record high. The GDP is at record high. Real wages are greater than inflation now. Inflation is back down,” Cuban said. “Donald Trump is saying this stuff that’s not true. And you know the old saying, you repeat a lie, enough people start believing.”

In 2015, Cuban supported Trump’s first presidential run in its early stages, once calling him “the best thing to happen to politics” in recent history. But he reversed course before the election, opting to endorse Hillary Clinton.

“I didn’t think he had a chance to win. But I’m like, ‘This is great. You know, he’s not a traditional politician,’ and I thought that would be a net positive. I was wrong,” Cuban recalled.

Cuban has publicly weighed his own presidential bids in the past, but told Karl it’s no longer in the cards.

“No chance,” Cuban said. “I have no interest — no interest in being a politician of any type. I have no interest in serving in the cabinet for Kamala Harris or anybody,” Cuban said. “I like being a disruptor as an entrepreneur. So that’s where my focus is.”