Mark Cuban declared that Donald Trump wants Americans to have a “lousy” holiday season as he went after the GOP nominee’s “gibberish” tariff proposals at a Kamala Harris campaign rally on Thursday.
“Donald Trump is the Grinch that wants to steal your Christmas,” said the “Shark Tank” investor and billionaire to a crowd in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Trump has previously pledged to hike tariffs on foreign-made products coming into the U.S. from China and other countries, proposals which most economists have warned would result in higher prices for consumers.
The former president, on Tuesday, went after experts for being “wrong” in their tariff takes while defending his economic policy.
Cuban, who previously criticized Trump for putting companies “underneath a hammer” after he threatened John Deere with a 200% tariff if it moved some of its manufacturing from the U.S. to Mexico, knocked Trump’s “crazy notion” that putting 60% tariffs on Chinese goods is a “good idea.”
“Let me just tell ya, this man has so little understanding of tariffs he thinks China pays for them. This is the same guy who also thought that Mexico would pay for the wall,” said Cuban, referring to Trump’s failed 2016 campaign promise.
He then gave the former president “a little bit of credit,” noting that he was “a little bit coherent” when discussing trade policy in the ’90s and early ’00s.
“But I don’t know what happened to him. The way he’s been thinking about tariffs and trade now, something’s a little bit lost and now his trade policies, particularly with tariffs, are basically just gibberish,” Cuban said.
Cuban, later in the speech, said it would be “heartbreaking” for people not to buy gifts for loved ones as a result of Trump’s proposed tariffs and noted that consumers could also see an impact on costs of products at small businesses.
Support Free Journalism
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
“Not only is it a bad Christmas for you but it’s a bad Christmas for every single retailer. The Grinch is the one that’s gonna be putting these companies out of business,” the billionaire said.
He later continued, “Behind every small business there’s an entrepreneur that busted their ass. Behind every small business there’s an entrepreneur that gave up almost everything to be able to start that business, who dreamed of a better future for their family. ‘The Trump That Stole Christmas.’ The Grinch will crush those dreams if elected.”