Sunday, November 17, 2024

Kamala Harris has a new campaign trail partner: Mark Cuban

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Mark Cuban has been one of the Harris campaign’s most visible outside surrogates in recent months.

Now he’s making it official.

The billionaire businessman will embark on a series of formal campaign appearances for Kamala Harris beginning with stops alongside the Vice President later today, a campaign aide told Yahoo Finance exclusively.

It’s a move that comes as the Harris campaign amps up its efforts to reach young men and further capitalize on the “Shark Tank” star’s popularity in the worlds of both finance and sports.

The first stop will be alongside the Vice President today in Milwaukee and La Crosse, Wisc.

Then the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks (he still has a minority share in the NBA team) will headline a town hall in Phoenix, Ariz., Saturday. He will also make a Sunday stop in Grand Rapids, Mich., alongside Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.

DALLAS, TEXAS - MAY 11: Former Dallas Mavericks governor Mark Cuban reacts after Game Three of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 11, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

Mark Cuban attended a Dallas Mavericks playoff game in May in Dallas, Texas. He recently sold a majority interest in the NBA team but still has a minority share. (Tim Heitman/Getty Images) (Tim Heitman via Getty Images)

The crisscrossing of the country from Cuban comes as Donald Trump’s own billionaire backers are increasing their prominence for the stretch run of the campaign with the end of voting now less than 20 days away.

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is currently in Pennsylvania for a “series of conversations” with voters on behalf of Trump and campaign finance filings on Tuesday also revealed that Musk donated just under $75 million to his Trump-supporting super PAC last quarter.

The coming move from the Harris campaign is an escalation of Cuban’s prominence on Harris’s behalf but far from the first contact between him and the campaign.

He has appeared on an array of podcasts and national media in recent months to tout his support for her where he’s also repeatedly critiqued Trump for issues like trade and taxes.

Cuban has also become a prominent pro-Harris voice on X, where he’s often focused on engaging with Musk who owns the platform.

He also joined, on behalf of the campaign, a call with reporters in September where talked about how he held regular conversations with aides and at the end of the process “I get back a serious well studied response; that’s the antithesis of what Donald Trump is doing.”

“He doesn’t think these things through,” he added of Trump, calling some of his ideas “often ridiculous if not insane.”

Cuban also often discusses health care in his defenses of Harris after launching the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company in 2022 aimed a lowering generic drug prices.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Entrepreneur Mark Cuban listens as US Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris speaks at an event hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University on September 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the speech, Harris gave details about her economic platform, including ways to support small businesses and making home ownership more attainable, among other policy proposals. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 25: Entrepreneur Mark Cuban listens as US Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris speaks at an event hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University on September 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the speech, Harris gave details about her economic platform, including ways to support small businesses and making home ownership more attainable, among other policy proposals. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban looks on from the audience as Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris delivers an economic speech in Pittsburgh in September. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images) (Jeff Swensen via Getty Images)

The new role for Cuban also comes as the Harris-Walz campaign increases its ad spending on male-dominated platforms — including during major sporting events and on video game websites.

The move also comes as Trump himself amps up his own economic rhetoric, specifically on the issue of trade.

At an event at the Economic Club of Chicago this week he suggested he wanted “the highest tariff in history” and floated the idea of across-the-board duties as high as 50% in order to immediately force companies to relocate.

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

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