Mark Cuban Defends Saying Donald Trump Is Intimidated By ‘Strong, Intelligent Women’

Billionaire and Shark Tank entrepreneur Mark Cuban says he’s not backtracking on his comment that former President Donald Trump has an issue with strong women after Trump supporters called on the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris to “disavow” Cuban’s remarks.

“Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women. Ever,” Cuban said Thursday on ABC’s The View. “It’s just that simple. They’re intimidating to him. He doesn’t like to be challenged by them.”

Cuban, who said during the ABC interview that he believed “women are going to win this election for the vice president,” argued that it was revealing that Trump had yet to call on former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley—one of the most prominent women in the Republican Party—to campaign for him.

ForbesNikki Haley Says Trump’s Messaging Is Turning Off Women VotersBy Mark Joyella

In an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier Wednesday, Haley said that the Trump campaign was risking turning off women voters in the final days before Election Day with messaging that “borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable.” Haley said he had not spoken to Trump since June and had not been asked by the campaign to help the former president make his closing argument to voters.

Republicans like Kellyanne Conway were quick to condemn Cuban’s comments. “Whether it’s Joe Biden calling us garbage, or Mark Cuban denying our strength and intelligence,” Conway said in a video posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Trump was “unafraid” to surround himself with intelligent and capable “men and women.”

The Trump campaign’s “war room” account on X called Cuban’s comment “disgusting” and accused him of “openly attacking the millions of strong, intelligent women fighting” alongside the former president.

But Cuban’s not backing down.

“Nikki Haley will call him on his nonsense with reproductive rights and how he sees and treats and talks about women,” Cuban said Thursday. “I mean, he just can’t have her around. It wouldn’t work.”

In a post later in the day on X, Cuban clarified that “I know many strong, intelligent women voting for Trump, including in my extended family. I’m certainly not saying female voters are not smart, strong and intelligent.”

Cuban also noted that Trump—during his time in office—worked with women like Elaine Chao, Haley, and his own daughter, Ivanka.