Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban: ‘Not a Stretch to Call Donald Trump a Fascist’

Billionaire Mark Cuban warned in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that former President Donald Trump’s return to the presidency could push the country toward fascism.

While criticizing the name-calling on both sides of the political divide, the entrepreneur said, “It’s not a stretch to call Donald Trump a fascist.”

Cuban noted that even those who have served in Trump’s cabinet during his first administration have also warned about the former president’s political beliefs, describing them as fascistic or close to it.

The Shark Tank cast member said of Trump:

“He’s talking about the enemy within and going after people using the military. He’s talked about mass deportations, where they’ll stop people on the street and check their papers. What does that remind you of?”

Those policies, according to Cuban, are “pretty damn close to fascism, if not the definition of fascism.”

Cuban has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and campaigned with her this month in Wisconsin. Yet he maintains business ties with one of Trump’s biggest backers: Miriam Adelson.

Last year, Cuban sold his majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks franchise to the Adelson-Dumont family. He retains a minority share in the team.

Miriam Adelson, the family’s matriarch, is a top Trump campaign donor. She’s contributed nearly $100 million to a pro-Trump PAC and is pressing the Republican nominee to recognize an Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Cuban has mostly endorsed Democrats since the 2008 elections, though his politics lean independent, if not libertarian.

In the interview with “This Week,” Cuban said he initially welcomed Trump’s run for the presidency in 2016, “I didn’t think he had a chance to win. But I’m like, ‘This is great. He’s not a traditional politician.’ And I thought that would be a net positive. I was wrong.”