Mark Cuban Calls Out Trump For Accepting Big Money From NFL Owners

Billionaire businessman and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, once supported Donald Trump’s political aspirations before turning into an outspoken critic. At the beginning of the 2016 election cycle, Cuban called Trump “probably the best thing to happen to politics in a long long time.” In just a few months since then, he’s called Trump “The guy at the bar who will say anything to get laid. That’s Donald Trump right now. But it’s all of us who are going to get fucked.”

Photo by Steven Rosenbaum/Flickr.

At a rally in Alabama last Friday, Trump vocally criticized NFL players who protested the national anthem and called for them to be fired by team owners. “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out,” Trump said of players who kneel. “He’s fired. He’s fired!” Trump has also asked people to boycott the NFL to send a massage to league owners and executives.

As the owner of a sports franchise, Cuban fired back at Trump on Twitter for coming to NFL owners with his hand out while critiquing their league and players.

Trump accepted millions of dollars from NFL owners for his inaugural committee. Owners Dan Snyder of the Redskins, Shahid Khan of the Jaguars, Bob McNair of the Texans, Robert Kraft of the Patriots, Woody Johnson of the Jets, and Stan Kroenke of the Rams all contributed $1 million each to the fund. He also accepted sizeable donations from Ed Glazer, co-owner of the Buccaneers, and Glenstone Limited Partnership, which is run by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

But Cuban also believes there is an important relationship that sports owners should forge with politicians.

“I don’t think people realize how involved in the community every NBA and NFL team is,” Cuban told Business Insider. “We all have community programs and foundations and every single one of those groups has to get involved in politics in order to help get buildings built and programs organized with our communities. We work with our cities to push forward agendas,” he said. “The second point is that if you want to keep sports and politics separate, don’t accept money from anyone in sports.”