Mark Cuban mocked for saying he'd vote for Biden over Trump even if POTUS 'was being given last rites'

WASHINGTON, DC: Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban affirmed his unwavering support for President Joe Biden, regardless of the circumstances, stating he would vote for Biden over his predecessor Donald Trump even if the incumbent were on his deathbed.

Cuban, known for his role on 'Shark Tank' and as minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, made these remarks during a visit to the White House on Monday, March 4, as reported by Bloomberg News.

Mark Cuban paints hypothetical scenario

Cuban, 65, went as far as illustrating a grim, hypothetical scenario where - faced with a choice between Biden and former President Trump - he would still cast his ballot for the current president.

“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,” Cuban told the outlet during a visit to the White House.

This commitment to Biden was reiterated in an exchange with fellow billionaire Elon Musk, who mocked Cuban's steadfast loyalty to the 81-year-old president.

Musk quipped that Cuban would continue to vote for Biden even if the president was “a flesh-eating zombie with 5 seconds to live where, upon being re-elected, Earth would plunge into a 1000 years of darkness.”  

Cuban countered that his limit was "300 years of darkness."

Furthermore, Cuban disclosed that he recently participated in the Texas Republican primary, where he voted for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a move he described as a "protest vote against Trump." Despite this, his allegiance to Biden remains resolute.

Cuban's visit to the White House coincided with a roundtable discussion on prescription drug prices, a topic close to his heart as the co-founder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.

During the event, he urged government health programs to sever ties with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), whom he criticized as being "everything that is wrong with this industry."

“The biggest three PBMs will make you think they’re so big that if you don’t work with them, everything will collapse,” Cuban said at the event. “They are everything that is wrong with this industry.”

Cuban's stance aligns with Biden's efforts to address healthcare costs, particularly through provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

However, Cuban's vocal critique of PBMs prompted a response from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, representing PBMs, which defended its role in driving prescription drug affordability while acknowledging Cuban's efforts to introduce new approaches to the issue.

“While Mr Cuban’s comments were unfortunate and not an accurate representation of our industry, we respect his efforts to introduce new ways to drive prescription drug affordability for patients, a mission we share,” a spokesperson for the body said in a statement.

“We are glad that Cost Plus has been able to partner with multiple PBMs to advance that work."

That said, Cuban has had a long-standing aversion to Trump, dating back to 2016 when he characterized his relationship with Trump as a "love-hate" dynamic. "There's that guy who'll walk into the bar and say anything to get laid," he told Anthony Scaramucci at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference that year.

Social media backlash

However, the billionaire entrepreneur drew criticism on social media for vowing to vote for Biden over Trump even if the former "was being given last rites."

"Who cares? Mark Cuban doesn't move the needle," one posted on X.

"He dare not bite [the] hand [that] feeds him," another wrote.

"Cuban has always had an inferiority complex over Trump," someone else added.

"With that kind of bad judgment, his stockholders should fire him," another chimed in.

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