Mark Cuban’s Takedown Of Trump On Hannity Shows Why It’s Good Idea For All To Appear On Fox News

Mark Cuban’s succinct takedown of President Donald Trump appeared to rattle Sean Hannity Wednesday. And if Hannity, a well-paid professional bloviator failed to come up with any decent retorts, just imagine how portions of his primetime Fox News audience likely reacted to Cuban’s rationality.

It serves as another reason why Democrats and those who oppose Trump shouldn’t shy away from Fox News. Arguments are delivered best when they are taken straight to the other side.

In an interview Wednesday to ostensibly discuss sports leagues reopening — it was recently reported Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort has emerged as the frontrunner to host NBA games this summer — Hannity quickly pivoted to Cuban’s endorsement of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. With apparent giddiness, Hannity asked Cuban to describe how the former Vice President, who’s been hunkered down at his home in Wilmington, Del., has responded to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuban kindly reminded Hannity that Biden currently isn’t an elected official. “Well, Joe is not in charge of anything right now, right?,” Cuban said. “He’s a candidate, so we can’t really put him in that category. But I will listen. What do you think — I mean, what have we got to lose to listen to what you said that Donald did right?”

Taken aback, Hannity blurted out Trump’s decision to partially ban travel from China in late January — a decision the president frequently touts when asked about his administration’s delayed response to the pandemic. Trump waited until March 13 to declare a national emergency and dismissed advisors’ warnings about the crisis, according to numerous reports, including an extensive April expose in the New York Times
NYT
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New estimates from Columbia University show if social distancing measures had been enacted one week earlier, roughly 36,000 fewer people would’ve died in the U.S. from the coronavirus outbreak. As of Thursday, more than 93,000 people have perished after contracting COVID-19.

When Trump is confronted with criticism about his chaotic response, he often blames scapegoats, especially China and the World Health Organization. Grievance is a central theme of Trump’s governing style, most often resulting in incessant attacks on the media, Democrats, the Deep State, and his predecessor, President Barack Obama.

Cuban mentioned Trump’s three-year grievance tour to Hannity, saying it doesn’t embody leadership. “He’s the most powerful man in the world and he always plays the victim card,” Cuban said. “’The Dems are out to get me, the media is out to get me.’ You’ve got to be the leader, you’ve got to be the strongest man in the game.”

When Hannity countered by proclaiming U.S. intelligence officials “spied on the guy!,” Cuban turned the conversation right back to leadership. “Who cares?,” Cuban said. “He’s the most powerful man in the world! Be powerful, be a leader!”

Cuban has exhibited tremendous leadership during the coronavirus pandemic. The billionaire investor and “Shark Tank” host was the first NBA owner to announce he will continue to pay hourly team employees through the pandemic, forcing all of his peers to draft similar plans. Earlier this month, Cuban proposed hiring millions of contact tracers to work for the federal government. The solution would help the U.S. greatly increase its tracing capacity and serve as a way to immediately spur an economy that’s been decimated with 38 million people filing for unemployment over the last two months.

This week, Cuban reached out to minority and women-owned businesses in an effort to ensure they receive funds from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). According to a survey by Global Strategy Group, only 12% of black and Latino business owners who applied for PPP loans reported receiving what they requested.

With an average nightly audience of 4.39 million viewers, Hannity is the most-watched cable news host in the 9:00 p.m. hour, and up until recently, was the most-watched host on Fox News (Tucker Carlson recently surpassed him). That is a huge audience that Cuban was able to reach Wednesday.

Unlike other Trump antagonists, Cuban has been able to largely stay out of the president’s social media crosshairs, and serves on the White House’s council to reopen the economy. That likely gives him more clout with the Fox News audience than others, but keep in mind: Sen. Bernie Sanders drew an enthusiastic response at a Fox News town hall when discussing his Medicare for All proposal.

With 93% of Republicans citing Fox News as their primary news source, according to Pew Research, appearing on the network’s programs is one of the only ways to directly reach the other side without being distorted.

Cuban set the playbook Wednesday.

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