Mark Cuban’s attempt to blast Elon Musk appearance at Trump rally backfires in billionaire group chat: sources

Mark Cuban blasted Elon Musk for appearing at a Trump rally – but he was distinctly in the minority in one of his elite group chats, The Post has learned.

The billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner is a members of an exclusive chat group on Signal populated by bigwigs from both the right and left, where members have been fixated on Elon’s involvement with Trump’s campaign.

One notable ally for Musk in the group is Vivek Ramaswamy who called out “Shark Tank” star Cuban – who has thrown his weight behind Kamala Harris for president – after he posted a message to Musk on X telling him not to trust Trump following his appearance at the campaign rally in Butler, Penn., on Saturday.

Others in the group — which includes conservative voices like Ben Shapiro, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale and Shaun Maguire, as well as Democratic voices like Jason Calcanis, Larry Summers and David Shor — have amused each other by passing around the memes from the rally.

Musk’s motivation for supporting Trump — and whether others will follow suit — has been the top topic of conversation among the political and tech elite since he endorsed him in July.

“Elon Musk has a sizable following, significant influence, and ‘f–k you’ money. Having someone like Elon advocating for President Trump is a game changer,” Garrett Ventry, Republican Public Affairs Executive told The Post.

Sources told The Post Musk may appear at further campaign stops before the Nov. 5 election.

“The Trump campaign is losing ground in terms of spending,” one campaign aide told The Post, “Elon can change that.”

Attendees to the rally felt Musk aligns well with Trump and they have the same aims.

“He’s very intelligent, very innovative. He understands what’s happening to the United States. And he truly cares about the future of our country,” Brian Yanoviak told Wired.

The source added Trump’s camp appreciates the way Musk has used his X social media platform, which he owns and personally has 200 million followers on, to get Trump’s message across.  

One subtle nod may be how Trump has started referencing the Biden Administration’s decision to deny Musk’s Starlink $900 million in subsidies to expand rural broadband.

The administration claimed Starlink “failed to demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service,” according to Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, even though it has been successful deployed in war-torn Ukraine and has been an essential tool for first responders and residents in rural areas cut off by hurricane Helene from Florida to Virginia, who received free service donated by Musk.

Meanwhile, the government has spent $42.5 billion on rural broadband but has so far failed to connect a single person to the internet, per reports. 

“In 2021 Joe Biden tasked Kamala Harris with bringing broadband to rural America…. rural America was dying for it and he gave her $42 billion to do the job,” Trump said in a recent speech.

“Three years later and not a single home has been connected to broadband… everyone is saying what happened to the money. $42 billion… not one home.”

Musk said he backed Trump in order to “preserve democracy in America” and sources in the tech industry who see him as a visionary feel their plan to reduce federal spending if Trump wins will be a huge boost to citizens.

“These days instead of ‘what’s good for General Motors is good for America,’ it’s what is good for Elon Musk is good for America,” a tech source said.

Trump has previously said Musk will lead a new special commission to reduce federal spending and reform the government.

“Trump promised him he can slash government jobs…. [The kind of projects] we would all [do] if we were the richest people,” a crypto source added.