Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban has hit back at Donald Trump‘s criticism of his golf game in an exclusive comment to DailyMail.com.
‘I can out drive him by 100 yards,’ the 66-year-old Cuban wrote of the 78-year-old Trump in an email to DailyMail.com.
The bickering billionaires’ animosity towards each intensified over the weekend as Trump curiously claimed that Cuban has ‘really low clubhead speed‘ and is ‘a total non-athlete.’
‘Mark Cuban is a Loser,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post about Cuban, who briefly considered being the former President’s running mate in 2016 before the two became bitter enemies. ‘Wouldn’t take his phone calls anymore while at the White House, and he went rogue. A weak and pathetic ”bully,” he’s got nothing going.’
Unlike the golf-obsessed Trump, Cuban has never really been identified as a golfer. Nonetheless, he claims he can easily outdrive the former President, who has always taken pride in his ability off the tee.
Mark Cuban speaks at a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris
Trump during a round of golf at his Turnberry course on May 2, 2023 in Turnberry, Scotland
Trump has made a habit of trumpeting his own golf skills while criticizing the games of his political and social rivals.
Previously, during his debate against current President and former Democratic nominee Joe Biden , Trump said the 81-year-old ‘can’t hit the ball 50 yards.’
Trump then bragged about winning two championships at his own courses.
‘To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way,’ Trump said.
Trump’s handicap was listed as 2.5 in June of 2021.
The former reality television star has received praise for his golfing from political allies like South Carolina senator Lyndsey Graham and a number of current and former tour pros.
The Republican Presidential nominee said the Dallas Mavericks minority owner has ‘really low clubhead speed’ and is ‘a total non-athlete’
‘He can really strike the ball,’ PGA legend Ernie Els said after witnessing Trump sink a hole-in-one in 2022. ‘He makes good contact. He’s got a good swing. Like any amateur, you got to do the short game practice. I keep talking to him about his chipping. He’s a pretty good putter. Back in his day, he had to be a 4- or 5-handicap. Today, he’s probably a 10, 12.’
Trump has also played with the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Brooks Koepka, both of whom have complimented his game.
However, Trump allegedly earned a reputation for cheating at one Westchester, New York club, where caddies liken him to Pele for his habit of kicking his ball to improve his lie.
‘… the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: ”Pele,”’ Rick Reilly wrote in his 2019 book, Commander in Cheat.
Trump drives a golf cart at the Trump Turnberry Golf Courses in Scotland in May of 2023
A long-time investor and with tech and internet assets, Cuban bought a majority stake in the Mavs from Ross Perot Jr. in 2000 for $285 million. Since then, the team won an NBA championship in 2011 and he’s sold a majority stake to Sheldon Adelson’s widow Miriam for $3.5 billion, while retaining a 27-percent share of the team.
Interestingly, Adelson is one of Trump’s major donors and recently gave $100 million to his campaign as part of an effort to support Israel amid its war with Palestine.
Cuban is not only a supporter of Kamala Harris’ presidential run, but is also actively stumping for the Vice President on the campaign trail.
Typically Cuban attacks Trump’s business acumen, understanding of tariffs, and his failure to hold his 2016 campaign promise of building a border wall and making Mexico pay for it.
‘This man has so little understanding of tariffs, he thinks that China pays for that. This is the same guy who also thought that Mexico would pay for the wall,’ Cuban told an audience in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
‘Did Mexico pay for that wall?,’ Cuban asked the crowd, who responded, ‘no.’
