Sens. Bernie Sanders And Sheldon Whitehouse Warn That The Kochs Have Infiltrated Trump’s White House

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:05 pm

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are warning that the Koch brothers have already infiltrated Donald Trump’s administration.

In a conference call with reporters, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said that it was disconcerting to see such an array of lobbyists and special interests in the transition, and accused Trump of pouring the swamp into the transition and the Oval Office. Whitehouse said that the leaders in Trump’s transition in the energy and environment areas are connected to the Koch brothers. Whitehouse pointed out there is a heavy Koch influence on the Trump transition. Whitehouse said, “It looks a little bit like if Donald Trump doesn’t watch his back, it looks like the Koch brothers will be running his administration for him. Certainly to have the biggest polluters in the country and the biggest special interests in Washington have this kind of dominance is a rotten signal.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pointed to Trump using the chief economist a Bear Stearns for his transition, and that he is considering someone from Goldman Sachs to head up the Treasury Department. Sanders said, “Bottom line here is Mr. Trump said a whole lot during the campaign. He talked about being a populist. He talked about taking on special interests. He talked about fighting against lobbyists. Yet, the initial indications we are seeing is that not much of what he talked about during the campaign has much to do with where he is today.”

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Later in the call, Whitehouse added, “It’s dismaying that his very opening act as president-elect before he is sworn into office is to violate the basic principles and the basic statements of his own campaign, and if he’s will to that at this juncture, then it would appear to me that he would be willing to violate all of the others as well. In which case, we’re basically back to a Koch brothers infiltration of a Trump presidency, and they’ll basically be calling all the shots.”

In other words, everything that Donald Trump said during the campaign was a lie. Trump is set to be the Koch brothers’ puppet at home, and Putin’s puppet abroad. The Republicans who voted for Trump thought that they were electing a strong minded person, but what they are going to get is a weak frontman for the same failed ideology that nearly destroyed the global economy less than a decade ago.

The Democratic caucus Senators are warning that America is about to experience its first Koch presidency.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association