Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban blasted President Donald Trump during an interview with pro-Trump Fox News host Sean Hannity Wednesday night, claiming the president is constantly playing the “victim card.”
Cuban, who until recently had been weighing a possible third-party presidential run, ostensibly appeared on Hannity’s show to discuss sports leagues reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. The conversation, however, quickly turned to politics and Cuban’s apparent support for former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Let’s start with coronavirus alone. You tell me all the things ‘Bunker Joe’ did on coronavirus that you admire and then I will tell you what I think Trump did that I admire,” Hannity said.
“Well, Joe is not in charge of anything right now, right? He’s a candidate, so we can’t really put him in that category,” Cuban responded before turning the question right back around on Hannity. “But I will listen. What do you think—I mean, what have we got to lose to listen to what you said that Donald did right?”
Apparently taken aback, the Trump confidant briefly sputtered before recovering by naming the one decision that he and the president consistently tout as critical during the early days of the pandemic—the partial China travel restrictions.
After Cuban agreed that the travel ban was a good idea, Hannity went on to credit the president for the work the administration did in New York, the epicenter of the crisis where nearly 30,000 people have died from the virus.
“You went on saying that Donald Trump hasn’t done a good job with this,” Hannity huffed. “I would argue he did a phenomenal job and saved New York’s ass.”
Cuban countered that the administration was caught flat-footed when hospitals suffered personal protective equipment shortages early on, insisting the White House had the chance to fix it but didn’t “because no one was truly in charge.”
Hannity later circled back to the Shark Tank billionaire’s support of Biden, suggesting that the ex-veep is in the throes of cognitive mental decline before asking Cuban if he was scared of Biden leading the country.
“You know what, both sides scare me,” Cuban said. “Joe Biden scares me in some areas and President Trump scares me in more areas right now, and I will tell you why. Because I think that Donald doesn’t put the best people in place any longer. He did at the beginning and I was proud of him at the beginning, but now he just wants people who are loyal to him. That’s a problem and it’s created more problems in this pandemic.”
After Hannity defended Trump’s reliance on sycophants, Cuban hit the president for his persistent whining and victimhood.
“He’s the most powerful man in the world and he always plays the victim card,” Cuban said. “‘The Dems are out to get me, the media is out to get me.’ You’ve got to be the leader, you’ve got to be the strongest man in the game.”
“They spied on the guy!” Hannity protested, prompting the Mavs owner to shoot back: “Who cares? He’s the most powerful man in the world! Be powerful, be a leader!”
Dismissing Trump’s claim that he is the “world’s best counter-puncher,” Cuban concluded by observing that “Trump hasn’t been able to knock anybody out—he just plays the victim.”