The war of words between two titans in US Republican politics on Tuesday intensified as US President Donald Trump trashed the conservative billionaire Koch brothers as a “total joke in real Republican circles.”
The presidential insult followed a weekend gathering of Koch officials who repeatedly condemned Trump’s trade policies, the explosion of government spending under his watch and his divisive tone.
The intraparty feud could hurt the party in this fall’s midterm elections and beyond.
While the Kochs refused to endorse Trump’s 2016 run, his loyalists do not want his 2020 re-election campaign bogged down by lingering bad blood.
The Koch network boasts an army of grassroots activists across 36 states and has promised to spend between US$300 million and US$400 million on politics and policy this election cycle alone.
“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade,” the US president said on Twitter. “I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas.”
“I’m for America First & the American Worker — a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas,” he added later.
Over the weekend, 82-year-old network patriarch Charles Koch refused to criticize Trump personally when reporters asked whether the president should bear any responsibility for the divisive tone in Washington.
“We’ve had divisiveness long before Trump became president and we’ll have it long after he’s no longer president,” Koch said during a rare question-and-answer session with reporters. “I’m into hating the sin and not the sinner.”
Responding to Trump’s social media attack, Koch spokesman James Davis was measured.
“We support policies that help all people improve their lives. We look forward to working with anyone to do so,” he said.
The day before, the Kochs’ political advocacy network announced that it would not back the Republican candidate in the race for one of North Dakota’s seats in the US Senate, saying that Republican challenger Kevin Cramer’s record on government spending made him no better than US Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, in the marquee contest.
The Kochs have not ruled out similar moves in top-tier Senate races in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and West Virginia, although they are actively working to help elect Republican Senate candidates in Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
“We’ve got a message for lawmakers across the country. We are raising the bar, raising expectations,” Koch lieutenant Emily Seidel told donors on Monday.
While the move echoed across the political world, Republican operatives quietly dismissed the practical effects of the Kochs’ decision on the North Dakota Senate race, where Cramer’s campaign believes he has a double-digit lead in the deep-red state against Heitkamp.
However, there is a desire for the Kochs to cooperate with Trump allies in other states, such as Nevada and Montana, where Republican candidates are considered more vulnerable.
Some Trump loyalists were furious at perceived contradictions in the Koch network’s behavior and worried that it could complicate the president’s 2020 re-election bid.
“The Kochs had zero to do with Trump’s win in 2016,” former White House counselor Steve Bannon told reporters. “But they were willing to support the tax cut and the deregulation, while opposing the heart of Trumpism — trade and immigration.”
Trump’s animosity toward the Koch brothers, like so much of his anger toward conservative heavyweights, stems from the influential donors’ pointed refusal to support him in the run-up to the 2016 presidential campaign. Back then, he criticized Koch-backed politicians as “puppets.”
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS