Business tycoon Mark Cuban has hit back at a Fox News host who branded him “an overrated a******” in an ongoing row over prominent business figures endorsing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Cuban made the comment on X in response to a post on Friday from Mark Levin, a conservative political activist and host of Life, Liberty & Levin on Fox News, who claimed he had an “obsessive jealousy of Elon Musk.”
On July 13 Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and X owner, endorsed Trump within hours of the former president narrowly surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. A gunman, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire at the rally leaving Trump bleeding from one ear and killing an attendee. Crooks was later killed by return fire from security forces.
Musk shared a video of Trump defiantly raising his clenched fist whilst being shielded by Secret Service agents following the shooting, adding: “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” The clip received over 417,000 reposts and was viewed more than 216 million times.
Megan Briggs/GETTY
The clash between Cuban and Levin had its origins in an X post from David Sacks, a prominent businessman who earlier this month addressed the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Sacks provided a list of senior business figures he claimed were backing Trump including Musk, Peter Thiel, Bill Ackman, Ben Horowitz, Joe Lonsdale and Doug Leone adding: “Come on in, the water’s warm.”
Musk shared Sacks’ post adding “the choice is clear,” prompting Cuban to reply: “The Virtues of Selfishness,” the name of a collection of essays from libertarian philosopher Ayn Rand.
Levin later posted a Fox Business article outlining the perceived snub, and noting Cuban’s history of anti-Trump activism. He added: “Mark Cuban is an overrated a****** who lucked out early in his business career. Why doesn’t he move to California from Texas? You’re welcome to come on my show to debate anytime, tough guy. But your obsessive jealousy of Elon Musk is obvious.”
Cuban fired back commenting: “Hey tough guy lol [laugh out loud]. You should read some Ayn Rand. Here is a starter book for you to try.” He then linked to a copy of the author’s 1964 work ‘The Virtues of Selfishness.’
Newsweek contacted Mark Cuban and Mark Levin, via the Fox News press office, for comment by email on Saturday outside of usual business hours.
Following Joe Biden‘s first presidential debate with Trump on June 27, during which the incumbent appeared to repeatedly lose his chain of thought mid-sentence, Cuban questioned whether he should step aside for another Democratic nominee. The business tycoon posted: “Trump is far better than Biden at soundbites and marketing. For that reason, I’m also open to the discussion to replace Biden and/or Harris.”
In an interview with Bloomberg in March Cuban had said he would support Biden, commenting: “If they were having his last wake, and it was him versus Trump, and he was being given last rites, I would still vote for Joe Biden.”
Despite saying he was “open” to replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee Cuban was even more critical of Trump’s performance in the June 27 debate, claiming there “was nothing that would give anyone confidence he could hold his own in any complicated situation. Or that he could intellectually go toe to toe with any world leader or adversary.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.