Trump has been embraced by many Republican voters, but David and Charles Koch have deep policy differences.
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Billionaire industrialist and conservative benefactor Charles Koch is hosting hundreds of the nation’s most powerful political donors this weekend.
The Koch network has avoided supporting Donald Trump so far, focusing instead on Republican control of the Senate.
Speaking Saturday night, Gardner addressed the presidential contest indirectly, although he did not mention Trump’s name.
These guests, who ponied up at least $100,000 to back the sprawling political and non-profit network, were unlikely to be Trump fans. “I recognize reluctantly that politics needs to be a piece of this strategy, but we’ve got to keep in mind, just one piece”, he said. The network planned to invest heavily in the 2016 presidential contest, but sharply changed its course after Trump became the Republican standard-bearer.
But Holden said he was not aware of any discussions with Trump’s campaign about a possible meeting.
Holden declined to say whether the Kochs sought a meeting with Trump. “That’s what the data shows”.
There’s no hope for Charles Koch in this year’s presidential election.
“I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch”, the NY billionaire tweeted.
“If they did [contribute to Trump], they would compromise their values and they would never be able to hold any politician accountable”, Busch said.
Speaking to the donors, who had traveled here this weekend for the network’s biannual seminar, Koch sought to play down the importance of electing a Republican president. Tim Scott and Colorado lawmakers Rep. Mike Coffman and Sen. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Wisconsin Gov. Soctt Walker, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Sen.
Some wealthy GOP donors reached out to Charles and David Koch to see if a meeting could be arranged between the mega donors and Donald Trump.
A few of reporters, including one from The Associated Press, were invited to attend some of the forums.
Such an attitude explains why none of the roughly $250 million that the Koch-backed groups plan on spending this election is going to boost a White House run.
Asked about the Koch decision not to endorse Trump, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, said, “I certainly respect their point of view on this”.
In some cases, the network may try to link Democratic Senate candidates to Clinton, he added, but there are no plans to go after her exclusively in paid advertising.
In the same interview, Koch hinted that he could in fact support Clinton in the race for the White House.
Koch said he believes neither Clinton nor Trump will fight for the issues he cares about: free trade, reducing the scope of government programs such as social security, paring back foreign military engagements, ending corporate subsidies, cutting regulations and the equal treatment of all ethnic and religious groups. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works.
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