From the governor of Arkansas to former Sopranos star Drea de Matteo, a growing chorus of GOP women are pushing back against Cuban’s recent suggestion that “strong, intelligent” women don’t support Trump. 

Calling Cuban’s words “a disgusting lie,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) argued that his remarks were “pretty funny coming from Democrats who can’t even tell you what a woman is.” 

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“I worked for President Trump for two and a half years. Democrats tried to tear me down. President Trump empowered me and every other woman in America. My name is Sarah Sanders, and I’m proud to join the millions of smart, intelligent women who will stand with Donald Trump this Tuesday,” she continued in a post to X. 

President Trump empowered me and the millions of other women who will vote to put him back in the White House on Tuesday! #WomenForTrump https://t.co/sd1jis9Qwb pic.twitter.com/8Z9XGnWZxm

— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) October 31, 2024

Trump himself issued a scathing rebuke to the former Dallas Mavericks owner and longtime Shark Tank star on Thursday. 

Responding to Cuban’s dig, Trump said: “Actually, he is very wrong, I surround myself with the strongest of women – With the understanding that ALL women are great, whether strong or not strong.”

“I may, in fact, be surrounded by the strongest women in the World, including Heads of Countries, who make Mark look like a ‘baby!’ All strong women, and women in general, should be very angry about this weak man’s statement,” the former president concluded in a post to X. 

The backlash against Cuban comes after his appearance on ABC’s The View on Thursday. During his interview, Cuban was asked if Trump’s reported move not to ask ex-rival Nikki Haley to go bat for him on the campaign trail would help Vice President Kamala Harris gain an edge with former Haley supporters on the fence about supporting the former president. 

“I mean, yes, it will put her over the edge with Nikki Haley supporters. Donald Trump — you never see him around strong, intelligent women ever. It’s just that simple, they’re intimidating to him. He doesn’t like to be challenged by them. And you know, Nikki Haley will call him on his nonsense with reproductive rights and how he sees and treats and talks about women,” he said.

Republican women quickly pointed to former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s high-profile alliance with Trump. The combat veteran left the Democratic Party earlier this month to formally become a Republican. A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Gabbard has become one of Trump’s top surrogates on the campaign trail. 

“How about Tulsi Gabbard? Let me ask you about Tulsi, your friend, right? At the end of the day, if she had not left the Democratic Party, I bet that you would think that she’s strong and intelligent, but because she crossed the lines, she’s not,” former ESPN anchor Sage Steel said in a post to X. 

Actress Drea de Matteo joined the chorus on X with a video of her wearing a MAGA hat and saying that Cuban was “messing w the wrong breed of women.” 

Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, also took to the platform to label Cuban’s comments as “misogynistic” as she touted her legal career.

“Mark Cuban, you can go to hell,” she said. 

Mark Cuban, you can go to hell.

Trump 2024! https://t.co/nVwdFl1FMC pic.twitter.com/Dj0GmJofu9

— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) October 31, 2024

Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told NBC News she believed Cuban’s “insulting” comments would “drive even more women to the polls.” 

In a statement responding to the backlash, Cuban argued that he was not suggesting that strong women don’t support Trump, but that the former president didn’t like public pushback from females. 

“I’m happy to clarify that 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 said.