Now Mark Cuban is thinking of running for president

If Donald Trump can do it, Is Mark Cuban can do it too? Cuban figures he can do it, too.

Dallas Mavericks owner billionaire Mark Cuban outlined his prospective presidential candidacy in an email exchange with CNBC. The star of reality TV show Shark Tank thinks he would do quite well.

Cuban told the financial news network “If I ran as a Dem, I know I could beat Hillary Clinton. And if it was me vs. Trump, I would crush him. No doubt about it.”

Reports CNBC:

“In an email exchange with CNBC, Cuban revealed his thoughts on the presidency, how he’d structure his campaign and what it would mean for the nation to have, in his words, a ‘three-comma POTUS’ — as in $1, 000, 000, 000. …

“Donald Trump’s polling surge in the race for the Republican presidential nomination has turned the rules of American politics inside out. Things that once were huge liabilities for candidates — massive wealth, limited governing experience, even ego-bursting levels of narcissism — have been turned into strengths.”

Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with billionaire investor Mark Cuban on CNBC’s “Closing Bell”.

CUBAN ON NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

NOT AT ALL. LIKE I TOLD EAMON, I’M NOT GOING TO RUN. I DON’T REALLY HAVE ANY INTEREST IN RUNNING, BUT I DO GIVE DONALD A LOT OF CREDIT FOR CHANGING THE GAME. I MEAN, WE ARE AT THE POINT, UP UNTIL NOW, YOU HAD TO BE A PERFECT CANDIDATE. YOU COULDN’T HAVE HAD A DRINK WHILE YOU WERE GROWING UP AND I THINK DONALD CHANGED THAT. HE MADE IT OK TO BE AN IMPERFECT CANDIDATE AND I THINK THATS A GOOD THING.

CUBAN ON HILLARY CLINTON AND THE GOP

WHAT IT HAS COME DOWN TO, I THINK HILLARY HAS KIND OF BLOWN IT. I THINK THERE’S NO CHANCE FOR HER TO WIN AN ELECTION. I THINK SHE HAS JUST LOST HER SHOT. I THINK WHEN I SAID I WOULD CRUSH TRUMP, IT’S LESS ON DONALD AND MORE ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY REALLY REQUIRES ALL THEIR CANDIDATES TO CONFORM ON ALL THE SOCIAL ISSUES. AND I THINK THAT IS JUST SO OUT OF TOUCH WITH WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AMERICA TODAY THAT WHETHER IT WOULD BE ME, WHETHER IT WOULD BE A MIKE BLOOMBERG, WHOEVER ELSE IT WOULD BE – POTENTIALLY EVEN JOE BIDEN, THEY ARE GOING TO CRUSH THE REPUBLICANS.

CUBAN ON THE FINAL STRETCH

WE HAVEN’T GOTTEN INTO THE FINAL STRETCH. I THINK THERE’S STILL CANDIDATES TO COME, HOPEFULLY ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE. AND IF ALL WE HAD WERE THE CANDIDATES THAT WE HAVE TODAY, I THINK, AGAIN, ONCE THEY REALLY START GETTING INTO THE ISSUES AND ITS WAY TOO EARLY FOR THEM TO DO THAT – THEY WOULD BE CRAZY TO – THEN WE WILL START TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO LEGITIMATELY CAN BE IN THE OFFICE.

CUBAN ON TRUST IN THE MARKET

WE NEED TO DEAL WITH TRUST IN THE MARKETS. IF YOU MAKE $30, 000 A YEAR AND YOU BUST YOUR BUTT TO SAVE $100 A MONTH FOR YOUR FUTURE OR YOUR CHILD’S FUTURE AND PUT YOU IT IN THE BANK, IT’S GOING TO EARN NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER. AND IN FIVE YEARS, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE $6, 200 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY WORKING HARD IN THIS COUNTRY, REALLY CAN’T PUT THEMSELVES IN A POSITION TO ENSURE THEIR FUTURE BECAUSE THEY DON’T TRUST THE STOCK MARKET, THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE STOCK MARKET.

CUBAN ON USING MEDIA

WHEN WE LOOK AT A BILLIONAIRE CANDIDATE, WE THINK WELL, THEY CAN AFFORD IT, THEY DON’T NEED TO TAKE MONEY FROM SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS. BUT WITH THE SUCCESS DONALD HAS HAD IN UNDERSTANDING HOW TO USE MEDIA RATHER THAN HAVING TO BUY MEDIA, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE WILL SEE OTHER CANDIDATES THAT ARE BUSINESS PEOPLE, THAT UNDERSTAND SOCIAL MEDIA, UNDERSTAND TRADITIONAL MEDIA, BUT CAN WATCH AND SEE WHAT DONALD HAS DONE AND REALIZE YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND $100 MILLION, YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND $500 MILLION LIKE CANDIDATE – OR MORE LIKE CANDIDATES DID IN THE 2012 ELECTION.