Fact check: Did Mark Cuban say Kamala Harris turned down Elon Musk's Live X interview?
On Monday afternoon, The Hill, a prominent news source, published an article stating that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Kamala Harris declined a live interview with Elon Musk.
Per Cuban's X posts, the Mavericks' owner worked to set up a private meeting between Harris, who he has been campaigning for, and Elon Musk, CEO of X. Musk has campaigned for Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In an appearance on CNBC on Monday, Cuban discussed the potential meeting and was asked if Harris could embrace Elon Musk, if she won the election.
"100 percent, yes. I've had a conversation with her. I'll tell you what happened. Not Kamala specifically, but her team. I'm like, 'I can try to facilitate a meeting with Elon', and they didn't trust the fact that he wouldn't go on X and say something to distort the purpose of the meeting."
Did Mark Cuban say Kamala Harris turned down Elon Musk's interview?
To put it simply: No. The meeting wasn't supposed to be a live event but a private meeting, and it wasn't the X CEO's idea. It was Mark Cuban who proposed the meeting. Cuban also didn't say the Democratic candidate turned down the meeting.
In his CNBC appearance, Cuban specified that it was Harris' campaign team that didn't feel confident in Musk's ability to keep the contents and the meaning behind the meeting confidential. After his appearance, Cuban took notice of The Hill's article, clarifying his words in his segment.
"That is not what I said," Cuban posted to X. "I said that I asked them if they would be interested in talking to (Elon Musk). They said they would, but they didn't trust him not to disclose on X, what was said."
Mark Cuban's response to the article went viral, accumulating over 3.7 million views on X. In a separate post, Cuban reinforced the Harris campaign's lack of trust in Elon Musk to keep a potential meeting private.
Mark Cuban and Elon Musk have been going at it on X throughout the campaign as two prominent supporters of each candidate. Cuban has appeared as a speaker at numerous Kamala Harris rallies throughout the Democratic candidate's campaign.
On Thursday, Cuban spoke at Harris' rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He has remained an active member of the Harris campaign.