Charles Koch Won’t Vote Trump, Says Claim He’ll Vote Clinton is ‘Blood Libel’

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:17 pm

Stymied in their attempt to buy the 2016 election for just under a billion dollars, the Koch brothers have decided to get what they can, which means blowing off Trump to focus on Congress (like spending $42 million to save McConnell’s job). Republicans haven’t been able to win the presidency since the disastrous Bush years, but they’ve had a pretty good run legislative-wise.

At one of their infamous weekend retreats, this one filled up with 400 wealthy conservatives in Colorado Springs, the kind of gathering Dr. Evil uses to plot the demise of his enemies, the Kochs expressed fear of Trump’s response to America’s challenges (not least among them would be, as is often pointed out, these challenges are almost overwhelmingly invented by the conservative media).

Surprisingly, even the Kochs seem to see this. You know, that crime isn’t as bad as Trump makes it out to be. So Mark Holden, who is both general counsel and senior vice president of Koch Industries, revealed to the Associated Press that not only are the Kochs “focused on the Senate,” but that in terms of crime (remember, Turmp made all those acceptance speech numbers up), “We’re much safer. That’s what the data shows.”

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Somebody better text Fox News. Quick. Although why Paul Ryan, who was with the Kochs this weekend, doesn’t get the message, is anybody’s guess. After all, the Kochs own him too.

It’s kind of funny, really, this conundrum Republicans have found themselves in, you know, because it’s self-made. Charles Koch said, because his bid to buy the country fell through thanks to Trump, “We don’t really, in some cases, don’t really have good options.”

In that regard, while Charles Koch says he won’t vote for Trump, rumors that he’ll vote for Clinton instead are ‘blood libel.’ That’s right: Republicans have not learned to distance themselves from Palinspeak.

“The first thing I want to do is correct a rumor that the media keeps stimulating, and that is that I’m probably going to support Hillary. That is a blood libel.â€

“At this point, I can’t support either candidate. But I certainly am not going to support Hillary.â€

And yes, his audience of 1 Percenters cheered. Low or high brow, Republicans love themselves some blood libel.

Trump gave the Kochs his usual send off in return, via Twitter:

“I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch. Much better for them to meet with the puppets of politics, they will do much better!”

Whether he actually got invited is another matter. More than likely it is like that imaginary letter Trump received from the NFL. Or his claim to actually know anything – about anything.

You can see why the small government Kochs might be afraid of Trump. Dictatorships are not exactly small-government affairs. Dictators can be intrusive fellows, as history has shown.

And the Kochs are no doubt pretty familiar with Trump’s intention to punish his enemies once he gets into the White House. When Trump talks “bully pulpit” he isn’t speaking metaphorically.

The current Koch budget for buying the country is only a little less than that originally envisioned, about $750 million (remember, it was originally valued at $889 million), so the battle between Trump and Kochs to destroy American democracy continues unabated.

This is one of those very real scenarios where they’re all too evil to contemplate, and the old adage that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend,” so totally untrue.



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