Koch Brothers Snub Donald Trump
It has recently been reported that Charles and David Koch, otherwise known as the Koch Brothers, not only did not invite Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, to their seminar and retreat last weekend for candidates and donors in their network, but also discouraged their network donors to give to Trump’s presidential campaign. Instead, they are encouraging network donors to support Congressional and Senate candidates that they are supporting. Trump, of course, dismissed this snub, by tweeting that this retreat is more suited for the brothers’ “puppets of politics”.
This has created an interesting dynamic in the world of right-wing, conservative politics, especially when the Koch Brothers actually created this monster that has given Trump the political capital he now has. Of course, I am referring to the Tea Party movement that emerged in 2010 and has given candidates like House Speaker Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, the political leverage they now have. They were the ones who fueled the flames that caused Tea Party backers to come out in droves to support these candidates, allowing their candidates to do their bidding, probably one of the best examples of an astroturf movement, if there ever was one.
What David and Charles Koch did not realize is that these Tea Party backers whom they had mobilized in 2010, 2012, and 2014 to help Republicans regain and maintain control of the House and Senate have now found a new leader whom they believe speaks to them, and that man goes by the name of Donald J. Trump. Perhaps David and Charles Koch did not realize that this is what they would have created, an angry mob who are willing to follow a leader who has appointed himself as a savior rescuing them from this supposed apocalypse he has described to them. Perhaps they do not even care. After all, as long as the Republicans continue to control the House and Senate, especially with candidates backed by the Koch Brothers’ network, they will still be able to advance their agenda, regardless of who is president.
It only reminds us of the magnitude of influence that big money has in electoral politics, especially after Citizens United. It is frightening to know how a group of billionaires can use their money to manipulate the masses to act against their own self-interest and feed into the greedy interests of these powerful and wealthy men, but this is the era that we now live in. Meanwhile, casino mogul, Sheldon Adelson, another influential billionaire donor for the Republican Party, has still not given the $100 million he pledged to Trump despite his endorsement in May.
