It’s hard to be a Koch brother — at least, according to Charles Koch.
Recently, Charles has been publicly unsatisfied with the billionaires’ political influence, despite their enormous political empire. In the last six months of 2015, Freedom Partners, the Koch brothers’ super PAC, raised over $11 million, of which $3 million came directly from Charles Koch.
For years, the Kochs have manipulated rules and laws to favor their bottomline. They’ve virtually taken over the Republican Party. But then there’s Donald Trump — the man who can’t be bought.
The Kochs are used to getting what they want, and they’ve hit a snag in the 2016 Republican nomination process. But even as Charles whines, his political machine is gearing up to take down Trump.
The Koch network is unlikely to endorse a Republican presidential candidate in the primary, but what is less clear is if the conservative activists who spent $400 million in the last presidential election will actively try to defeat Trump in the primary. It’s possible that they will and it’s a decision that will be made after the early primary states have voted, a senior official at the Koch-backed political action committee Freedom Partners Action Fund told NBC News.
…
If they choose, the Kochs could unleash a sizable war chest against Trump. Of their $889 million budget for the 2016 election cycle, they’ve spent less than half of it — $400 million — in 2015. While none has been spent on presidential politics, that could change depending on the course of the race, according to the super PAC officials.
Clearly, the Koch brothers have more than enough resources at their fingertips to overrule the Republican Party if a Trump nomination happens. So why is Charles bemoaning their lack of influence? It’s all part of the Kochs PR push to seem more likeable. It doesn’t matter how hard the Kochs try to deceive the public though: their greed-driven motives will always show through.