PHOENIX – Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, saying he would campaign against her if she thought the tax on the “unrealized gains” of the rich would be part of her endorsed tax plan.
The comments came at a town hall event featuring local Arizona entrepreneurs that Cuban headlined as a Harris-Walz campaign surrogate. Near the end of the event, a man asked Cuba, “Quick question: What about unrealized gains?”
Cuban assured the audience that Harris would not tax unrealized gains.
“I’m glad you asked that. So some people think there will be an unrealized income tax on capital gains,” Cuban said, adding, “No, there isn’t.”
In August Harris approved the tax increase It was proposed by President Joe Biden Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. One of the suggestions is a 25% minimum tax on gross income More than $100 million, including “unrealized gains” or increases in unsold assets.
“I went ballistic when I saw it because it’s an economy killer. Kamala knows this,” Kuba said. “You haven’t heard him talk about it,” Cuban said.
That’s right: While Harris’ campaign broadly endorsed Biden’s 2025 budget proposal, it didn’t actually mention taxing unrealized gains. This idea has become a lightning rod for former President Donald Trump.
“Do you know what unrealized capital gains are?” Trump said during a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday. “I’ll tell you what it is. This is communism,” he said.
“He refuses to say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ He refuses,” Trump added in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.
NBC News reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign to clarify the vice president’s position on taxing unrealized gains. The campaign declined to comment.
Back in Arizona, Cuban assured his listeners, “You’re not going to see capital gains taxes.”
“If I’m wrong, he’ll hate to hear it, I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t get elected again.” Because I think about how wrong it is, but I already know that it won’t happen. So I want to say it to sound dramatic,” he added, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Harris’ endorsement of Biden’s budget in August fits a broader theme of loyalty to the current commander-in-chief. one Exclusive interview with NBC News on FridayHarris was asked to identify one policy he would have done differently than Biden over the past three and a half years.
“To be very honest with you, vice presidents, including Mike Pence, don’t criticize their president. I think that really, actually, in terms of tradition, but also going forward, it doesn’t make for a productive and important relationship,” Harris said.
It is not the first time that Cuba has talked about the taxation of unrealized income. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in September, Cuban said, “Every conversation I’ve had is that it’s not going to happen” — though both in an interview with CNBC and on Saturday, Cuba said he wasn’t speaking for Harris or him. campaign.
Cuba has been a draw as a surrogate for the Harris-Walz campaign, which has fielded Democratic politicians who usually stick to sanitized talking points. “They’re done with immigration,” Biden-Harris said of the immigration policies, before delving into what Trump’s mass deportation plan would look like on Saturday. affects small businesses.
On October 12, the Harris-Walz campaign placed celebrity actor Bryan Cranston to run for office in Arizona. Cranston also took a moment to stray from the Democrats’ usual talking points in his speech.
“I’m going to say it, and the campaign didn’t know what to say,” the star of the hit TV show “Breaking Bad” said. “It’s more important for you to vote than who you vote for.”