Martina Navratilova, a Czech-American former tennis player, has laughed at the suggestion that Mark Cuban should run for office.
On Sunday, the Republicans Against Trump account on X, formerly Twitter, shared a 2017 video of Cuban—a Shark Tank star and minority owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks—criticizing Donald Trump.
"I love Mark Cuban. I wish he would run for public office," the account wrote in the post's caption.
Navratilova, who is no stranger to sharing her political opinions, reshared the video and wrote, "Lol," which stands for "laugh out loud."
Newsweek has contacted spokespeople for Cuban and Navratilova for comment by email outside normal working hours.
Cuban's dislike for the former president is well documented, but he hasn't always been so anti-Trump. In the video, Cuban tells the Oxford Union Society, a debating society in Oxford, England, why he supported Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.
"I just don't think he's very smart. You say something nice about Donald Trump, you know, he'll love you no matter what. So when he first started to run, I didn't really take it all that seriously. But I came out, and I said it was refreshing to have a candidate that was candid, wasn't scripted. And so during the primaries, I supported him against Ted Cruz. From time to time, as he started talking about things, I was like: 'Donald, I mean, I can't support you on these issues. Some of the stuff is just bats**** crazy, but I don't want Ted Cruz to win,'" he said.
Cuban added that he didn't think Trump believed he would win the 2016 election. Eventually, Cuban decided he could no longer support the politician.
"I remember it was around this time last year when the whole topic of encryption came up with Apple and the FBI, and I tried to explain it to him. And it was just—there was no point," he said, adding, "So as time went on, it got to the point where it was obvious he wasn't making an effort to learn."
When asked who was the smarter of the two men, Cuban said, "That's like asking me if I'm smarter than a ham sandwich."
Cuban, who previously said in an online video that he is not affiliated with any specific political party but is an independent voter, has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump and the former president's Make America Great Again campaign platform. He has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign and previously backed President Joe Biden before he exited the race in July.
Over the years, Navratilova has also been critical of Republicans. In 2020, the sports star condemned the way Trump's White House handled the coronavirus pandemic, comparing it to being "back in a communist country."
Born in Prague, in what was formerly Czechoslovakia, Navratilova has previously shared her experience of growing up behind the Iron Curtain. At 18, she was granted political asylum to the U.S., after defecting from her birth country.
In 2023, she took aim at then-Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's tennis skills.
Writing on X, the former tennis pro called the entrepreneur's forehand "ugly." Navratilova was responding to a clip of Ramaswamy playing the sport shirtless, which he had uploaded to his own account.
"I especially like the small stutter steps that take Vivek nowhere.:)," the tennis champion wrote. "I wonder if that could be an analogy for his politics."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
