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Mark Cuban: I hope Trump doesn’t close door for other businessmen

by TheHill.com - 05/16/16 6:29 PM ET

Mark Cuban said Monday he hopes Donald Trump doesn’t end up closing the door for others with backgrounds in business from being able to have future political success.

“I think he did open a door. I think he set a path for entrepreneurs, for business people, but I hope he just doesn’t shut it through his actions,” Cuban said with a laugh during an interview with MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki.

{mosads}Cuban said “without question” it seems more doable for a businessperson to have success in politics after Trump’s White House bid.

The Dallas Mavericks owner drew several parallels between the qualities he argued would make a businessperson a good president.

“You have to be knowledgeable, you have to be prepared, you have to be willing to learn, you have to have a thirst for knowledge,” Cuban said.

“The question is, is Donald that kind of businessperson? I don’t think he is,” Cuban continued.

Cuban described the presumptive GOP presidential nominee as “a savant when it comes to real estate” but trashed his failed business ventures, saying, “He puts his names on products that make no sense.

“The products he puts his name on suggest that he just needed the money. You know — steaks, suits, water, university — you name it. There’s no rhyme or reason there. And he’s not the type of person that just gets in there and grinds,” Cuban said.

The “Shark Tank” cast member weighed in an on a Washington Post report from over the weekend that said anti-Trump Republicans had courted him to run as a third-party candidate.

Cuban, who didn’t name his pursuers, told the newspaper that while he thought he would put Trump “in his place,” he didn’t “see it happening.”

“There isn’t enough time,” he said.

“It wasn’t really a pitch. It was just a question, ‘Are you interested? There’s a need,’ ” Cuban recalled on MSNBC, reiterating his response that there wasn’t enough time to launch a 2016 bid.

Despite the overtures from some Republicans, no major candidate has indicated an interest in mounting a campaign to present an alternative to Trump or Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Cuban said “it’s too early” to say which of the two he’d support in November but argued that Trump hasn’t provided enough substance and Clinton should be more aggressive against the outspoken businessman.

“At this point I really thought he would have a more evolved and more [in]-depth platform, and it’s just not there,” Cuban said of Trump on MSNBC.

“We’ve come to recognize that he’s better off by not getting into any detail because I don’t think his followers want it,” Cuban added.

He also said Trump “doesn’t email,” but he’s communicated with the businessman via Trump’s assistant.

Regarding Clinton, Cuban said, “She’s kind of evolved to the left and really hasn’t shown a personality or the ability to fight back at Donald, and so I want to see more of that from her.”

Last week Cuban suggested Clinton should pick someone like himself as a running mate who would “throw bombs at Donald.”

Cuban didn’t rule out a future in politics himself: “I consider myself patriotic. I consider myself someone who’s really concerned about the future of our country … that our best days are ahead of us … but it’s not something I’ve really given a lot of thought.”

Tags 2016 presidential election Donald Trump Hillary Clinton