Everything The Cast Of Shark Tank Has Said About Politics Over The Years

"Shark Tank" has been one of the most influential reality TV shows in pop culture history. Companies like Glow Recipe, Honeyfund, Scrub Daddy, Bombas, Manscaped, and more have been funded by the Sharks, turning the American dream into a reality for some lucky folks. The Sharks (led by Mark Cuban in the net worth ranking) have changed their own lives thanks to the show, too. The cast of "Shark Tank" hasn't just changed over the years — they've also become celebrities themselves. Barbara Corcoran has over 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Lori Greiner is a best-selling author. Kevin O'Leary starred in the critically acclaimed Josh Safdie film "Marty Supreme" alongside Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow in 2025. The Sharks are major pop culture players, and they know it. 

The Sharks also have political influence. They have platforms to share their opinions on policy and politicians. They have the capital to support candidates and fund causes they believe in. Some have even considered or tried running for office themselves (O'Leary notably ran for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2017). The Sharks are involved in politics whether the public likes it or not, and that doesn't seem likely to change. Here's everything the cast of "Shark Tank" has said about politics over the years. 

Disclosure: Mark Cuban is an investor in Static Media, the parent company of The List.

Mark Cuban is a self-made billionaire who knows a thing or two about money. The "Shark Tank" Shark and minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks has been very public about his criticism of the American healthcare system, particularly the costs. In a thread of posts on X, Cuban posed some questions that Americans without billions of dollars have been asking, too. "Explain to me why the insurance company will pay $2500 for an MRI when there is a center down the street that will do it for $350," one of the posts read. "I'm all for PBM reform. But realize that the biggest PBMs are owned by the biggest insurance companies. Right now they use the PBMs as a cash cow. BUT, they aren't stupid. They will move those dollars wherever they need to compensate for any PBM legislation," another one said.

Cuban hasn't just spoken out about healthcare costs — he created a company in an effort to make healthcare, or at least one part of it, more affordable. The entrepreneur owns Cost Plus Drugs, a company that offers pharmaceutical drugs at lower prices. Cuban said the goal of his company was to "just f**k up the pharmaceutical industry so bad that they bleed," per Becker's Hospital Review. While some have been critical of Cuban's company and his approach, others have praised him for making a positive difference in the lives of Americans who need medication.

Mark Cuban has been vocal about many aspects of the political sphere, including the candidates themselves. After Cuban's relationship with Donald Trump turned sour, he fully backed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, and in 2024, Cuban spoke at a rally for Kamala Harris. "Kamala Harris is a far better candidate," Cuban said, per Fox 4. The businessman also gave specific reasons as to why he wasn't voting for Donald Trump. "I don't think Trump really understands anything about tech. I don't think he makes any effort to learn. On the other hand, Kamala Harris really does understand. I literally had a conversation with her the other day about machine learning and AI and using it for more efficient government and cutting costs," he said.

As for running for office himself, Cuban has no interest. While he does seem to be an ideal candidate for some, voting for Cuban is nothing anyone should anticipate in the future. However, that doesn't mean Cuban hasn't thought about making a presidential bid. "I wouldn't run at all, but if I did, it'd be a whole lot more fun to run as a Republican," Cuban said on an episode of the "Somebody's Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri" podcast in 2025. "Because in four years, it'll be a different world, and who knows where people's allegiances lie. You know, the Republican Party of 10 years ago was nothing like the Republican Party of today," the billionaire continued.

Barbara Corcoran is a New York City real estate maven whose path crossed with real estate mogul Donald Trump long before he became president. In a 2016 interview with Business Insider, Corcoran shared her thoughts on Trump, steering away from his policy ideas but praising him for his work in business. "From the day I met Donald, I remember my first thought on him was that I've never met a better salesman in my life," Corcoran said. "I'm a medium salesman. He's an amazing salesman. And what we see in the presidential election today is a phenomenal salesman selling the American people," she added.

Despite praising him as a salesman, Corcoran, who says she doesn't believe in saving money, didn't see Trump as a fit for the White House. "As a leader, I couldn't imagine anyone who would be a less effective leader," she said. "You can't have discord, you're a peacemaker as a leader if you want to have a community of spirits and hearts." While Corcoran didn't explicitly say who she was voting for in the 2016 election, her comments appeared to endorse Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. And while Corcoran didn't make many public statements about who she voted for in the 2024 election, she did cast her vote and encouraged others to do the same. "I VOTED! Let your voice be heard, every vote counts. #VOTE," Corcoran said in a Facebook post.

Kevin O'Leary isn't an American citizen — he holds citizenship in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and his native country of Canada — so he can't vote in American elections. However, the "Shark Tank" Shark does lots of business in the United States, so he has a vested interest in American politics, and he has no problem sharing his opinion on certain issues and politicians. In a 2025 interview with "PBS NewsHour," Mr. Wonderful gave his thoughts on Donald Trump and the trade wars he was waging at the time. The Shark made it clear that his primary concern was how the trade wars impacted him financially. "If you're an investor like I am, you don't really care about the politics. You certainly don't make money on politics. You make money on policy," O'Leary said.

O'Leary continued by sharing how he was navigating the changing policies at the time, especially as it pertained to his business dealings. "I focus on the signal. The signal he's sending out since the beginning, since his first mandate since his first term, is, he's not happy with the trade situation worldwide vis-a-vis access to the U.S. markets, and he wants to balance them," he said. "I think we're going to get kind of to a reciprocal 10%. That's my own assumption. I'm investing that way. And, so far, the markets have rewarded me for taking the long view," he added.

Again, despite not having citizenship in the United States, Kevin O'Leary has strong opinions about American politics that he's not afraid to share. After the 2024 presidential election, the "Shark Tank" star appeared on Fox News to celebrate Donald Trump's win. "What's happened here is the system self-corrected. When you try to break the American model, it fixes itself, and I think people should give credit, within the Democratic party, Donald Trump saved them tonight too," the businessman said. "Whether you love Trump or you hate him, every Democrat owes him a thank you very much, Mr. President!" he added.

O'Leary doesn't endorse all of Trump's stances, though (despite having been described as the "Canadian Donald Trump"). About a year into Trump's second term, O'Leary not only took issue with the Trump administration's attempt to stop universities from enrolling students from foreign countries, but used his platform to speak out against it. "When we talked about cutting off access to our institutions for foreign students, I thought that was an insane idea," O'Leary said on an episode of "The Big Money Show." "If we don't take them, the Chinese are going to take them ... I am vehemently against this idea that we're going to just not give visas to some genius in wherever, to come over here to MIT or Harvard," O'Leary noted as his rationale for his opinion.

Daymond John knows a thing or two about money, too, and when Donald Trump began his first term, the Shark was confident that he would be successful no matter who was in the White House. "[I] know there is a lot of uncertainty out there, but to a true entrepreneur, that doesn't matter. We have always had uncertainty," John said at the Yahoo Finance All Markets summit, as reported by CNBC Make It. "The real entrepreneurs I know look at this as, 'Oh good! There are more problems coming around, that means the weak ones are going to fall by the wayside and I am about to get busy," he added.

It seems safe to say John isn't a huge fan of Trump as a politician, though he has praised Trump's business acumen. In 2017, he told Salon that while he did not cast his ballot for Trump, he was trying to keep an open mind. "I did not believe that he would be a good leader, but my fellow Americans did, and I bleed red, white and blue and that was the process, so I have no choice but to hope that this man does the best he can do for our country and our people," he said. 

In 2020, after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected president and vice president, respectively, he seemed more optimistic. "Congratulations to @joebiden and @kamalaharris on your victory to lead this great country of ours," John said on Instagram. He continued by congratulating all congressmen who were elected, and he thanked everyone who exercised their right to vote. "That is the true reason why our democracy works," the entrepreneur said.

Some Sharks choose to keep their opinions to themselves, at least when it comes to politics. Lori Greiner, a Chicago native who's been dubbed the QVC Queen and is perhaps best known for her investment in Scrub Daddy (one of the most successful products from "Shark Tank"), will happily share business tips and tricks, great places she's traveled to, and ways to stay safe — her social media is full of her thoughts on fun topics. But when it comes to what matters most to her, like her relationship with her husband and perhaps her ideas on politics, Greiner stays quiet. And per a post she shared on Facebook, the businesswoman has a philosophy on privacy. "Privacy isn't weakness, it's wisdom. Protect your ideas, your healing, and your wins until they're too strong to sabotage," Greiner wrote.

Greiner hasn't completely backed away from discussing politics, though. In 2016, she used her platform to encourage her followers to cast their ballots. "Get out & vote tomorrow and make sure to vote for liberty & justice for all!" she said on X. That said, Greiner is not one to use her platform to comment on specific policies, politicians, or parties.

Robert Herjavec is another "Shark Tank" Shark who can't vote in United States elections. The successful businessman was born in Croatia and grew up in Canada, but he has a pulse on American politics and doesn't shy away from giving his opinion when asked. In a 2016 interview with Larry King, Herjavec referred to American politics as his "favorite reality TV show." "The whole Trump aura and the election, it's really fascinating for the rest of the world," he said. "You cannot deny [Trump] has a persona and a character ... He reminds me of the cool kid in high school, everybody wants to go to his party." As far as Herjavec's political views go, he uses both his heart and his pocketbook to guide his takes.

Herjavec has opinions on other political figures, too. When Elon Musk was part of the Trump administration, Herjavec was impressed by his ability to balance all his jobs. "The guy's a genius ... I mean, I built a company from two employees to a thousand employees and just stepped down because I didn't want to operate it on a daily basis anymore," Herjavec said in an interview with the U.S. Sun. "That guy is running three companies with tens of thousands of employees and doing politics on the side," he added.

Daniel Lubetzky sees problems on both sides of the aisle. In a video posted to Instagram, Lubetzky stated that both parties are guilty of breaking rules and undermining the law. "Republicans rationalized January 6th as tourists peacefully protesting while Democrats rationalized the destruction of public and private property during the summer of 2020," he said, adding that he finds in actions both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have taken while in office. "Both sides have let their political agendas put the safety of Americans at risk," he noted.

Lubetzky expounded on his thoughts in a 2025 interview, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman. "Our political system gets hijacked by extreme polarization, by special interests," he said. "And (the) two-party political system ends up becoming a situation where a lot of politicians are staying in power and amassing power rather than solving problems." The businessman isn't just sitting back while others take care of the problems he sees. Lubetzky took action by starting Builders, a non-profit organization that exists to help Americans find common ground. "I've always tried not to be partisan. But from the very beginning, I've recognized the importance that we have a very broad, cross spectrum of partners," Lubetzky said of the people he's partnered with to further his cause.

Chris Sacca has spoken out against Donald Trump and his supporters for years. Sacca was especially vocal with his criticism in 2017, just after Trump had begun his first term as president. While on stage for a fireside chat at SXSW, the "Shark Tank" Shark expressed his concerns about policy changes Trump had made or suggested in his first months in office, including making changes to medicare and putting Catherine McCabe in charge of the EPA at the time. Sacca continued with even more specific issues he had with the Trump administration. "What I can't accept are when institutions of the country that I feel such a proud citizen of are degraded, violated, and just demeaned — I'm talking about the kleptocracy; the lack of disclosure; the abuse of press; the nepotism; the deep conflicts; the praising of despotic foreign leaders; derogating the military, and on and on and on," he said, per GeekWire.

The following year, Sacca opened up about his plans to help elect a Democrat for president in 2020. Sacca started Swing Left, an organization that is committed to helping elect Democrats into Congress. In an interview with CNBC, Sacca shared that he had no intention of financially backing any particular candidates himself, but instead putting the backing of the organizations he had started toward politicians he supported. "We know we can be most effective by using our investing and product experience to build tools that will help the ultimate winner of the primary run their best campaign," Sacca said of his strategy to win the White House.