DONOR DEFECTION: Koch network dumps on Trump
Dark money donor, Charles Koch, is taking up the mantle of the right-wing movement that he and his now-deceased brother, David Koch, began years ago.
The billionaire brother is behind a coordinated family effort to take Trump acolytes down and reestablish Republican dominance in the upcoming political race.
According to The New York Times, a conservative group connected to the duo wants to “turn the page on the past.”
“To write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past,” Americans for Prosperity CEO Emily Seidel wrote in a memo. “So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter. The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.”
The dark money network reportedly donated close to half a billion dollars in 2022 to GOP candidates – stepping out of the shadows after decades of influencing the GOP’s legislative actions.
“I know that our critics will seek to mischaracterize our efforts because they know they cannot compete with a capability that has been built and nurtured for 20 years – a capability that is of the people and by the people in local communities all across our country. But we will not let that distract us from our goal,” Seidel said in her memo.
The era of Trumpism is in full swing.
With MAGA steering the right-wing political ship, those working in the background have finally met their match.
The group Americans for Prosperity knows it – and so do big-money GOP donors.
In her memo, Seidel acknowledges the slate of Trump-backed candidates who failed to inspire Republican voters in the midterms.
The embarrassing showing in key battleground states can’t sit well with those who’ve spent decades manipulating and subverting the nation’s democratic foundations.
“If we want to elect better people, we need better candidates,” the Americans for Prosperity CEO wrote.
The Americans for Prosperity Super PAC spent upwards of $80 million in the 2020 election cycle. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the Koch network’s $500 million, but still enough to influence primary races with an influential impact on the trajectory of this nation’s democracy.
For far too long, Democrats have ignored the threat of dark money in politics, and it’s time to act.
They’ve shown us their hand – it’s time to believe them.
Original reporting by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Kenneth P. Vogel at The New York Times.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
CLARIFICATION: This story contains a classified title. The original said “dumps Trump” and the new version says “dumps on Trump” to clarify that the Koch network did not previously support Donald Trump.
