Battle of the billionaires: Harris deploys Mark Cuban as Elon Musk stumps for Trump

As Elon Musk steps up his work on behalf of former President Donald Trump, Kamala Harris is calling in her own billionaire, Mark Cuban, to reprise the role he played for Hillary Clinton in 2016 by holding a series of high-profile appearances alongside the vice president and her husband this week.

Cuban appeared with Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday and is set to hold a town hall for her Saturday in Phoenix before heading to Michigan the following day to campaign alongside Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

“This election is a battle for entrepreneurs,” Cuban said in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Thursday, before warning that Trump’s trade and tariff policies will drive up prices, ruin Christmas by making gifts more expensive and “crush the dreams” of entrepreneurs by making their costs unsustainable.

“Donald Trump is the Grinch that wants to steal your Christmas,” he said. “The Grinch doesn’t understand how tariffs work… The Grinch is the one that’s going to be putting these small business out of business.”

The “Shark Tank” star, who did not respond to a request for comment, brings business credibility, tech-savvy pop culture appeal, and a maverick persona that is seen as especially appealing to young men, who have become one of the most hotly contested demographics in an election that has seen the gender gap grow to historic proportions.

Harris — whose campaign linked Cuban’s tour to its engagement with male voters — has recently appeared on shows like “All The Smoke“, “The Breakfast Club” with Charlamagne Tha God. The campaign has also run ads on platforms with male-skewing audiences, such as gaming site IGN, major sporting events and sports talk radio.

Though Cuban has downplayed the need for Harris to target men, he could be integral to those efforts and has already been making the case for Harris in a semi-official capacity in podcasts and media interviews.

He’s also been an emissary to the business world, helping found a group called Venture Capitalists for Kamala, which now has almost 900 signatories, as well as Business Leaders for Harris.

Cuban’s effort comes as Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and one of the world’s richest men, has been appearing alongside Trump, himself a billionaire, and is now holding a series of “conversations” with voters in Pennsylvania separate from the campaign.

Unlike Musk, who has donated nearly $75 million and counting to Trump-aligned groups, Cuban is not a political donor. Federal Election Commission records show a single, $1,000 donation to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., in 2002 under Cuban’s name.

But Harris allies say Cuban’s voice and persona is more valuable than his money.

For instance, a new survey from Equis Research, which focuses on Latino voters, found Cuban to be the most popular figure it tested among Hispanic men under 50, with a net favorability rating 15 percentage points higher than Musk’s.

Ben Wikler, Wisconsin’s Democratic Party Chair, praised Cuban’s “talents” and said he has credibility to reach voters on business and economic issues. “His many fans — including fans of Shark Tank and aspiring entrepreneurs across Wisconsin — know that he means what he says and says what he means,” Wikler said.

Cuban has warned Musk not to trust Trump.

“[Trump] will burn everything he touches. He doesn’t care,” Cuban told NBC News host Chuck Todd. “I said to Elon, ‘There’s going to come a time when you need something from Donald Trump and he’s going to disappoint you. Guaranteed.’”

The 6’2” former NBA team owner (he recently sold his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks, but retains a smaller portion of the team) is comfortable and confident on platforms that appeal to men, but that other Democrats typically avoid, such as “All-In,” the podcast popular with anti-woke Silicon Valley types.