Mark Cuban Claims Kamala Harris Is ‘Going Center’ With Tax Proposals

“Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban claimed Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris was a moderate, citing her recent campaign proposals on tax policy during a CNBC phone interview.

Harris unveiled tax policy proposals, including a scaled back increase to the capital gains tax, during a Wednesday speech in New Hampshire, CNN reported. Cuban, a part-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, said that Harris was attempting to show respect for President Joe Biden and not “contradict” Biden’s proposals “directly.”

“Kamala Harris is pro-business,” Cuban said in the phone interview with Aaron Ross Sorkin. “This is Kamala Harris’ campaign. It’s not Joe Biden’s campaign. Kamala Harris is not Joe Biden, they’re very, very different. She’s trying to be — again, this is my perspective — she’s trying to be very respectful of the president and everything he’s proposed. She’s trying to not directly contradict him in any way. She talks around the subject when talking about taxing in particular, but she’s going center, 100%.”

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“Literally, if you read the transcript of her speech yesterday, she has talked more about entrepreneurs and helping them have access to investment and making it easier for people to invest in startups than any president I’ve ever heard talk about startups and entrepreneurs,” Cuban continued. “And literally – she listens, right? This is not something where it is just her policy piece comes out and says, ‘Mark, whoever, let’s hope this works.’ She’s, like, ‘list me things you think we should be talking about. You’re the entrepreneur, you invest in more startups than anybody I know, what do you think we should be doing and what is going to increase the number of investments and startups?’”

Harris supports taxing unrealized capital gains for those worth $100 million or more at a rate of 25%, similar to a proposal made by Biden in a March 11 White House fact sheet, according to NBC News. Harris also intends to raise the top corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, a proposal similar to one in a March 7 White House fact sheet, NBC News reported.

The proposed policies drew fire from “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell during a Wednesday night discussion on CNN. O’Leary predicted Harris’ proposals would see American companies move headquarters offshore, while Rampell labeled Harris’ proposal for taxing unrealized gains as “unworkable.”

The proposal to tax the potential profits from selling assets was called a “wealth tax” by SmartAsset.com, which describes itself as “an online destination for consumer-focused financial information and advice.”