Billionaire Mark Cuban removed an X post calling critics “f*cking idiot” after appearing behind President Donald Trump at a White House press conference on TrumpRx.gov, a new effort to offer discounted prescription drugs.
Billionaire Mark Cuban stood behind President Donald Trump at a White House press conference, then walked back into the noise of his own making.
The president used the moment to discuss TrumpRx.gov, a program designed to offer discounted pricing for medication. He announced it would include 600 low-cost generic drugs. delivered through a partnership with Amazon. GoodRx and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs. That company sells pharmaceutical drugs at cost, with a 15 percent markup and a fixed $5 fee, plus $5 for shipping.
Cuban’s decision to be at the lectern was not received quietly. His presence behind Trump. and his refusal to comment on his politics while standing outside the White House. drew ire and sarcastic snubs from Trump critics across social media. Some of that backlash appears to have collided with a direct message from Cuban himself.
In a now-deleted X post. Cuban responded to criticism by writing: “If anyone thinks I’m going to put politics ahead of helping Americans reduce their cost of healthcare and pharmaceuticals. they are f*cking idiot. ” adding. “Tell me one person who thinks that healthcare economics are well run in this country. It’s the biggest affordability issue. and. the greatest fear of most families is that they won’t be able to afford a significant healthcare or medication cost. The goal is the goal. And that goal is to change healthcare. I’ve been saying it for years and will continue to work on this.”.
Cuban later returned to X with a new post explaining the deletion. “Deleted the last post because I decided cursing didn’t make my point,” he wrote. “It hurt it. And I rarely care about cursing.”
The friction around Cuban is rooted in his past positions. He has been a staunch critic of Trump and ardently endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. After that contrast played out publicly at the White House. the question for critics became whether his new proximity to the president was a political pivot or simply a push for lower medication costs.
The sequence of events ended with Cuban reframing his own blunt language, but the underlying dispute remained. He said he was trying to keep the focus on helping Americans reduce healthcare and pharmaceutical costs. while the internet reaction to his appearance with Trump showed how quickly politics can crowd out even a policy pitch on drug pricing.
Mark Cuban X TrumpRx.gov Donald Trump Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Amazon GoodRx healthcare affordability prescription drugs 2024 election Kamala Harris