Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban spoke with Justin Kanew of The Tennessee Holler about the state of healthcare, the economy, and politics under President Donald Trump.
During the conversation, he highlighted how economic hardship is hitting rural communities the hardest, saying many people in those areas are getting toasted, while wealthier Americans in major cities continue to do well.
“That toasting is not happening in New York or Los Angeles or Boston as much as it’s happening in Parkersburg, West Virginia, York, Pennsylvania, the reddest areas of the country,” Cuban said, pointing to the uneven impact of rising costs and economic instability.
Cuban argued that current policies are squeezing working-class communities in red states, especially those already on the edge financially.
On Cost Plus Drugs and Healthcare
Cuban promoted his company, Cost Plus Drugs, as a way to bring transparency and fairness to prescription medication pricing.
“We show you our actual cost. You know exactly what we pay for it. We mark it up 15%,” he said, noting that many medications that cost hundreds or thousands at pharmacies can sell for under $30 through his platform.
He argued that the real crisis isn’t just insurance premiums but high deductibles.
“Your problem isn’t whether or not you have insurance … your problem is you can’t afford the deductible. You might as well not even have insurance.”
Cuban suggested the government should guarantee deductibles the same way it guarantees mortgages or student loans, so hospitals don’t have to act as “subprime lenders.”
Trump’s Policies and Immigration
Cuban criticized Trump’s immigration policies, especially mass deportations.
“They voted to get the criminals off the street. But just having people in mass pulling grandmothers off the street and deporting American citizens or people here illegally, that’s horrific,” he said.
He argued Democrats should focus on offering better, simpler alternatives instead of broad warnings about democracy collapsing.
Wealth and Inequality
Cuban stressed that the real issue is not billionaire wealth but the lack of assets and security for most Americans.
Cuban stressed that the real issue is not billionaire wealth but the lack of assets and security for most Americans.
“When people say this person made $57 million a year, it wasn’t in cash. It was in stock. They probably made a million, two million, which is still a lot of money, but the reason they were able to become billionaires or whatever is because they had something that was an appreciable asset,” Cuban said.
In response, Kanew said, “I think that just becomes a way to highlight the real problem, which is how little everybody else has.”
He advocated for companies to give employees equity to build wealth and called it “an embarrassment” if any of his employees qualified for Medicaid, since that means taxpayers are subsidizing wages.
Rural Communities Feeling the Pain
On the economy, Cuban pointed to the divide between urban wealth and rural struggle.
“It’s bifurcated. Rich people are doing better. They’re buying everything to keep the numbers up. Like, I can buy whatever, you raise my prices 15% to cover the tariffs, it’s not going to change my life. But if you’re a farmer, you’re a beef farmer in Nebraska, soybean farmer, if you’re just working your day-to-day job and just trying to get through the day, you’re getting toasted,” he said.
He added, “They got hit hardest by the Social Security offices closing. All those things had a significant negative impact on the amount of funds they had for their communities.”
Looking Ahead
While Cuban is concerned about the future, especially 2028, he said the focus must stay on immediate needs.
“Whatever it is you’re talking about, how does it impact someone’s life today? How do you reduce their stress?” he said, urging Democrats to frame their policies in ways people can feel in their daily lives.
Cuban closed the interview with a sharp observation: “You never hear [Trump] talk about small businesses or entrepreneurs. Never. But you never hear the Democrats talk about them either.”
To him, that’s the bigger issue: both parties are talking past the real pain people are feeling day to day.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Mark Cuban” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.