Mark Cuban Rips Donald Trump, Suggests Presumptive Republican Nominee Isn’t Really A Billionaire After All

Donald Trump and fellow rich guy Mark Cuban are supposedly friends. That’s what they have maintained in the past, anyway. These days, as Trump closes in on the Republican nomination for president, one would be hard-pressed to accurately refer to the upper crust cronies as pals, chums, or even frenemies. Indeed, while Donald Trump has proven himself as a formidable counter puncher against the likes of political foils, Mark Cuban is emerging as a different kind of adversary as the path to the general election grows shorter and even more contentious.

As reported by CNBC, Mark Cuban blasted Donald Trump during a Wednesday appearance on WABC’s The Bernie and Sid Show. Among Cuban’s talking points were questions regarding Trump’s business acumen as well as suspicion that the real estate mogul has overstated his net worth.

“I’m not so sure Donald knows what he’s not good at,” Cuban said. “What he’s done well is put his name on big buildings, right? He appears to have done well putting his name through a licensing arrangement on hotels and buildings. He’s good at that. Now, whether or not that’s made him a billionaire, I don’t know.”

Cuban, who has an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion according to Forbes, is not the first person to question how much Donald Trump is really worth. The Donald himself has publicly mused that his total holdings might approach somewhere around $10 billion. A Forbes 2016 evaluation estimates that Trump’s total worth is closer to $4.5 billion, noting that he often “exaggerates and fibs” about his wealth. It is worth noting that in 2006, Donald Trump sued a writer who alleged that Trump was only worth $250 million at the most. Trump did not prevail in the case, but that also does not mean that the journalist was accurate in his figures about Trump’s wealth. In fact, Donald Trump reported a net income of around $550 million for the year 2015.

Wealth-related bickering aside, the differences between Donald Trump and Mark Cuban are various and sundry. In late 2015, Cuban commented that Donald Trump is out to “f**k the country” during an appearance on Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore.

“Everybody’s got that friend that they pick on, that one guy that you know has a good heart and wants to do the right thing but does some of the stupidest s**t all the time,” Cuban said of Trump in comments transcribed by conservative news outlet Breitbart. “I actually like him and get along with him, but he’s kinda gone off.”

Nevertheless, Mark Cuban is not concerned enough about Donald Trump’s ascendancy to run against his fellow reality star as an actual candidate for president. According to a recent report by The Hill, Cuban declined an invitation by prominent Republicans to mount a third party challenge to the Trump candidacy. While Cuban expressed confidence that he could meet Trump blow-for-blow, he apparently did not think there was enough time to mount a credible effort to defeat the presumptive GOP nominee.

Cuban has, however, left the door open to working more closely with Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, stating that he would “absolutely” consider a spot on the ticket as Hillary Clinton’s running mate.

Mark Cuban Questions Whether Trump Is Actually A Billionaire https://t.co/EFbJ8TnrZn pic.twitter.com/a4PWfbAw1Q

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) June 2, 2016

“I think Senator Sanders has dragged her a little bit too far to the left,” Cuban said of Clinton in remarks quoted by Time. “Things like college tuition and … other business elements that really, I think, could hurt the economy. If she’s willing to listen, if she’s willing to, you know, hear other sides of things, then I’m wide open to discussing it.”

Although Mark Cuban is largely critical of Donald Trump’s positions and rhetoric, the one thing he has been consistently enthusiastic about with regard to Trump’s candidacy is Trump’s unorthodox approach to politics and the media. In fact, given Cuban’s penchant for the limelight and an apparent interest in the political world, it seems entirely likely that he might come off the sidelines and emerge as a popular candidate himself by the next election cycle.

[Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images]