A group of at least six wealthy Republican donors is urging the billionaire Koch brothers to step off the sidelines of the U.S. presidential election to back Donald Trump, arguing they will want influence with the New York businessman they have harshly criticized if he wins the White House in November.
The financiers, prominent members of the sprawling 700-member Koch donor network, have been making their case in emails and phone calls to Charles and David Koch ahead of their bi-annual donor seminar, which begins Saturday in Colorado, according to four donors involved in the loosely-coordinated effort and advisers representing two others.
An endorsement from the Kochs would be a radical departure: The industrialist brothers have railed against Trump’s “monstrous” rhetoric and protectionist policies on immigration and trade. They have said they will not get involved in the presidential election and will instead focus on Senate races.
Apparently, there is a glimmer of hope now because the Kochs like Mike Pence, whom they’ve supported in the past. It seems like a tall order for Pence to turn around the thinking of Charles Koch, who recently likened the Trump/Hillary choice to having to choose between “cancer and a heart attack”.
The donors who are trying to convince the Kochs seem to have their hearts in the right place: they want the Kochs to come around so the brothers can be an influence on Trump going forward. OK, the hearts may be in the right place, but assuming after all America has seen in the last year that anyone can be an influence on Trump would indicate that their brains might not be involved.
Who knows? Four days of insane demagoguery at the DNC have probably swayed more than one voter uneasy about Trump. Tonight is the big moment for Dame van der Cankles, and prolonged quality time with her is almost never a good thing. There could be more people jumping off the fence after that.
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