In a major announcement that is sure to send shockwaves both among the candidates themselves and with wealthy donors who are still on the fence, billionaire Charles Koch told USA TODAY on Wednesday that he is unlikely to endorse a candidate during the 2016 Republican primary.
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However, Koch said it’s likely he’ll help a Republican candidate in the general election.
“If [the candidates] start saying things we think are beneficial overall and will change the trajectory of the country, then that would be good, but we have to believe also they’ll follow through on it, and by and large, candidates don’t do that”, he said by way of explanation. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Only a share of the two-year budget will go toward presidential and congressional races.
Charles has been making the traditional media rounds lately, and this time it’s with USA Today, where he tells reporter Fredreka Schouten that really, they’re not interested in owning the eventual Republican nominee. A spokesman for Koch’s umbrella organization said it is on track to hit the original target of $889 million.
He did say that he hasn’t spoken with any of the candidates since since August, when Bush, Walker, Rubio, Cruz and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina spoke to the network of Koch donors. What Koch does take an interest in is free speech on college campuses. Koch previously indicated in that Scott Walker may need been his preferred candidate, still with him out of the race, he wouldn’t name names ’cause “when we do, it is totally blown out of proportion”. He said it’s “not assured” he will repeat his $5 million donation for the 2016 election.
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None of this means the Koch brothers are tempering their ambitions to shape America’s politics: a new report in Politico highlights the depths they’ve gone to influence the Senate, where Ken Vogel writes that the brothers’s network all but “created” Joni Ernst, a Senator from Iowa.
