Mark Cuban: Harris ‘going center 100 percent’ on financial policy

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban said Vice President Harris is “going center 100 percent” on financial policy, the day after she proposed a lower capital gains tax increase than President Biden’s.

Cuban praised Harris for her speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday, where she unveiled new economic plans focused on boosting small businesses. He also called the vice president “pro-business.”

“This is Kamala Harris’s campaign. It’s not Joe Biden’s campaign, right? Kamala Harris is not Joe Biden. They’re very, very different. She’s trying to be — again, this is my perspective — she’s trying to be very respectful of the president and everything he’s proposed. She’s trying not to directly contradict him in any way,” he said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“So she talks a little bit around the subject when it comes to taxing in particular, but she’s going center 100 percent,” he added. “I mean literally, if you read the transcript of her speech yesterday, she’s talked more about entrepreneurs and helping them have access to investment and making it easier for people to invest in startups than anybody.” 

Harris said in her speech Wednesday she wants to increase the capital gains tax to 28 percent for those with $1 million or more in income, which is up from its current effective level of 23.6 percent but well shy of the 44.6 percent rate proposed in a budget update from the Biden administration in July.

Cuban said he’s met with Harris’s team about what he thinks she should propose on capital gains tax to help investments with small businesses.

“I literally go through and say, the higher the capital gains, the more difficult it is to invest in riskier investment. And the people who have the hardest time getting risk capital are women, people of color, young kids that are coming out of colleges. Exactly the people you want to take risks on,” he said.

“The higher the cap gains rate, the harder it is to invest, for obvious reasons. And they understand that, and they’ve adapted as a result,” he added.

Cuban has frequently criticized former President Trump for his previous statements on the economy. He also signaled support last month for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who he said can “make you feel like you have [known] him forever.”