AI, taxes and a world of memes: Mark Cuban on backing Kamala Harris

The billionaire answers questions on Mitt Romney and tariffs, and clarifies his remarks on the FTC's Lina Khan

As the US presidential election looms, the billionaire Mark Cuban has emerged as an energetic campaign surrogate for Kamala Harris. Making the case for business leaders to support the Democrat over Donald Trump, Cuban has drawn on his experience (in tech, investments, healthcare and now sports, as minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team), celebrity (as a lead shark" for 15 seasons of ABC's Shark Tank) and willingness to confront Trump-supporting billionaires, Elon Musk prominent among them.

The road has not been smooth. Last week, Cuban clashed with congressional progressives after criticizing Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, over her tech-sector antitrust work. That issue and others, including Cuban's thoughts on Trump's championing of tariffs and the perennial question of whether Cuban harbors presidential ambitions of his own, are addressed below, in emailed answers to 10 questions posed by Guardian writers and editors.