Mark Cuban and other business titans are trying to woo conservative-leaning swing voters to support Kamala Harris
Kevork Djansezian and Win McNamee/Getty Images
- A group of founders and CEOs are launching "Business Leaders for Harris."
- It includes several business titans, including Mark Cuban, who've already been backing Harris.
- Their goal is to convince more conservative-leaning voters that Harris is strong on the economy.
A group of CEO and founders are launching a new initiative on Friday called "Business Leader for Harris" — aiming to woo business-minded, conservative-leaning swing voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
The initiative is led by a group of business titans that includes LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, billionaire investor Mark Cuban, and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings. It also included local business leaders from across the country, many of whom previously voted for former President Donald Trump.
In a series of video testimonials, each business leader explains why they're supporting Harris over Trump, often referencing economic and business-related reasons rather than traditional Democratic priorities like abortion or social spending.
Former Merck CEO Ken Frazier, who left Trump's manufacturing council in 2017 over the former president's remarks about a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, said in his testimonial that Trump's proposed policies "clearly will increase the debt and will make it much more difficult for us to deal with the deficit."
The Penn Wharton Budget Model has estimated that Trump's economic proposals would increase the national debt by $5.8 trillion over 10 years, while Harris' proposals would increase it by $1.2 trillion during that same time period.
Hastings said in his testimonial that he believed Harris would "in many ways" be an improvement from Biden.
"One of her differences is the level of interest that she has," the Netflix cofounder and investor said.
The group is also releasing a podcast hosted by Hoffman. On the first episode, Cuban makes the case that Harris is listening to the business community.
"When it comes to true business, doing business, she is completely open-minded, right? She doesn't have preconceived notions. She's not an ideologue," Cuban said. "She wants to know what I think, what everybody thinks. Whether you're a small business, a large business, a public company, a 500,000-employee company, or you're an individual reseller on Etsy, she wants to know what's important to you, and she's willing to listen."
Since launching her campaign, Harris has often sought to cast herself as more business-friendly than Biden. She's proposed a lower corporate tax rate than Biden, and her policy page includes several mentions of venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Harris has already garnered considerable support from the business community. Last month, more than 800 venture capitalists and almost 90 business and tech executives pledged to support her campaign.