This week the Republican National Committee warned GOP donors and election candidates to steer clear of the infamous Koch brothers, whose anti-Trump fervor has grown so severe that they’re now advertising in support of Democrat congressional candidates.
“This week, the Koch Network announced they will no longer support only Republicans running for office, and that moving forward they will support candidates that fit their agenda — even if they are Democrats,” RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel warned in a letter obtained by Politico.
“[S]ome groups who claim to support conservatives forgo their commitment when they decide
their business interests are more important than those of the country or Party. This is unacceptable,” she added.
RNC spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany echoed this sentiment during an appearance Friday evening on Fox News’ “Night with Shannon Bream,” noting that the Koch brothers are “not beholden to conservatism.”
“We are as a party. If you donate to the RNC, you’re donating to Republicans. That’s not the case with the Koch brothers,” she added.
Listen:
Some donors and candidates have in the past worked with the Koch brothers because of the large data mining and analytics program they operate. McDaniel warned in her letter this week though that the brothers are now using this same data against Republicans.
“From the beginning, the RNC had concerns about any outside entity building a data operation to compete with ours because we knew they could potentially weaponize that data against Republicans if their business interests conflicted with electing Republicans,” she wrote. “Sadly, our concerns were recently proven true.”
She wasn’t wrong. Two months ago the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity PAC ran a digital ad campaign thanking Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who’s up for reelection come November, for sponsoring legislation that would roll back Dodd-Frank regulations.
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Look:
Americans for Prosperity, Koch-backed group, launching digital ad campaign “thanking” vulnerable incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) for yes vote on Dodd-Frank financial reg rollback pic.twitter.com/SjwzX4StLX
— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) June 1, 2018
While rolling back onerous regulations was a good thing, spending money to boost a Democrat prior to an important election was unheard of. But as noted by McEnany during her appearance on Fox, this isn’t even the first time the Koch brothers have pulled such a stunt.
“[T]hey have this entity called the Libre Initiative initiative where they’ve actively opposed Republicans, actively supported Democrats,” she said.
Members of the RNC are not the only ones upset with the Koch brothers. So is President Donald Trump, who blasted them in a series of scathing tweets Tuesday:
The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
….them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
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