Koch network turns away from Trump
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch has declared that his expansive political network would not support Donald Trump, questioning whether the Republican presidential nominee believes in free markets.
During an exclusive gathering with some of the nation’s most powerful Republican donors Sunday, the 80-year-old conservative icon also dismissed as “a blood libel” any suggestion he might support Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“At this point I can’t support either candidate, but I’m certainly not going to support Hillary,” Koch told hundreds of donors gathered for a weekend retreat in a luxury hotel at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
With Election Day just three months away, Koch and his chief lieutenants openly refused to support the Republican presidential nominee, focusing their tremendous resources instead on helping the GOP win competitive Senate contests in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Details on Koch’s decision emerged Sunday, the second day of a three-day gathering for donors who promise to give at least $100,000 each year to the various groups backed by the Koch brothers’ Freedom Partners — a network of education, policy and political entities that aims to promote a smaller, less intrusive government.
The ambitious Koch network has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to influence politics and public policy over the last decade. The network planned to invest heavily in the 2016 presidential contest, but sharply changed its course after Trump became the Republican standard-bearer.
The decision was welcomed by many of the 400 donors who attended the weekend retreat, even though “a reasonably significant” number of attendees wanted the Koch network to support Trump, said Chris Wright, a Colorado-based energy entrepreneur.
“Terrible and truly awful are the two choices,” Wright said, suggesting that even if he voted for Trump in November — and that’s not decided — he wouldn’t go any further.
“We’re not going to give any money to support Donald Trump,” Wright explained.
Timothy Busch, a California-based donor, said he’d vote for Trump but do nothing more on his behalf.
“He doesn’t have enough civility and he’s not a man of humility,” Busch charged, citing specific complaints about Trump’s positions on immigration and trade.
Charles and David Koch have hosted such gatherings of donors and politicians for years, but usually in private.
A few of reporters, including one from The Associated Press, were invited to attend some of the forums. As a condition of attending, reporters were not permitted to identify any donors without their permission.
Koch addressed the presidential contest in a general way on Sunday when reporters were present, but went further during a closed-door meeting later in the day.
He outlined two primary criteria for deciding whether to support a candidate, Wright said: whether the candidate “believes in and will fight for free markets” and whether he or she has a viable chance to win.
