Pro-Trump women are hitting back at billionaire Mark Cuban after his remarks that the former president typically doesn’t surround himself with “strong, intelligent women,” including senior Trump adviser Susie Wiles, who rarely posts online.
“I’m told @mcuban needs help identifying the strong and intelligent women surrounding Pres. Trump. Well, here we are!” Wiles said on the social platform X on Thursday, her first post there since February 2023. “I’ve been proud to lead this campaign,” she added, also pointing to the efforts of Linda McMahon, chair for Trump’s transition policy, and Republican National Committee co-Chair Lara Trump.
Earlier Thursday, Cuban claimed Trump does not surround himself with “strong, intelligent women” because he doesn’t “like to be challenged” by them. He argued on ABC’s “The View” that Trump doesn’t spend time with women because they are “intimidating to him.”
Other female supporters of Trump, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), also posted online in his defense.
Stefanik dismissed Cuban as a “sexist disgrace.”
“I’m proud to be the highest-ranking woman in the United States Congress. When I ran, I was the youngest woman ever elected. I’m the most senior woman on the House Arms Services Committee, the House Intelligence Committee and I proudly am voting and endorse President Trump,” Stefanik said in a video. “Save America in five days, vote Trump.”
Noem, another Trump ally, told Cuban that it was “game on.”
“I’ll take you on any day in a debate, or, maybe even arm wrestling,” she said in a video response to the Trump War Room account’s posting of Cuban’s statements.
Cuban has joined the campaign trail for Vice President Harris and continually criticized Trump. He’s warned of the dangers of a second Trump term, particularly since tech billionaire Elon Musk began propping up the former president’s campaign.
Cuban argued his point Thursday about Trump and women by pointing to former GOP primary candidate Nikki Haley, who clashed with Trump before dropping out. Although Haley has endorsed the former president, the two don’t appear together on the campaign trail
She warned earlier this week that there was too much “bro romance and this masculinity stuff” in his campaign, saying he needs to be careful about losing support from female voters.
Reached for comment, Cuban said, “What I said was in response to Nikki Haley not being on the campaign trail. That I believe he doesn’t like to be challenged in public by smart intelligent people.”
“I know many strong, intelligent women voting for Trump. Including in my extended family. I’m certainly not saying female voters are not smart, strong and intelligent,” he added on X.
“I stand by my opinion that he does not like being challenged publicly.”
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for further comment.
