The billion-dollar GOP mega-donor Koch network, headed by billionaire Charles Koch, is threatening to cut off donations to Republicans who objected to the electoral college results of the 2020 presidential election.
In a statement to Politico, CEO of the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity Emily Seidel suggested that the group’s super PAC will “weigh heavy” who they will provide campaign cash to in the next election cycles following a riot that took place at the United States Capitol by protestors who opposed the presidential electoral college results.
Specifically, Seidel hinted that the Koch network would not donate to Republican lawmakers — such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Scott Perry (R-PA) — because they objected to the electoral college results.
Politico reports:
“Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support. And we will continue to look for ways to support those policymakers who reject the politics of division and work together to move our country forward,” said Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity and senior adviser to AFP Action, the group’s super PAC.
[Emphasis added]Seidel’s statement follows months of the network working to operate more independently of the Republican Party. Billionaire Charles Koch has become increasingly dissatisfied with the tactics and policies of President Donald Trump and did not support him during his 2016 or 2020 election bids. [Emphasis added]
The statement is the latest by the Koch network in which they have indicated strong opposition to the Republican Party’s growing economic nationalist base that catapulted President Trump to victory in 2016 and helped a number of House Republicans win their seats in the 2020 election cycle.
For instance, the Koch network has expressed their wanting to work with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on issues like amnesty for illegal aliens, expanding legal immigration levels, and returning toa free trade policy.
The Kochs are the latest to join a corporate donation blacklist in which multinational conglomerates, Wall Street banks, and Big Tech firms have said they will not donate to election-objecting Republicans.
New York Post Op-Ed Editor Sohrab Ahmari wrote that “GOP-corporate divorce” is a necessary step forward in order for the Republican Party to get back to its working and middle class roots — representing the interests of the least connected to the Washington, D.C. political establishments. Ahmari asked:
So why are conservatives fretting about corporate America cutting off the GOP, a process merely accelerated by last week’s (disgraceful) mob assault on the Capitol. Did they think building a working-class party was going to be painless? That they could mouth pro-worker rhetoric while continuing to ignore workers’ concerns on issues like immigration and wages? A country-club party with blue-collar décor?
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) urged Republicans to use the opportunity to swear off corporate super PAC money so as not to be beholden to wealthy, well-connected donors.
Gaetz told Newsmax this week:
I noticed that corporate PACs are now saying that they will not support anyone who voiced objections to this last election and I’ve got to say I might be the only Republican who might miss them because I’m the only Republican in Congress who deplatformed the corporate PACs before they could deplatform.
“I don’t take any PAC money and I would invite my Republican colleagues to join me in that because it makes us more resilient in this type of cancel culture that is quite magnified when you see it coordinated with big corporations, big media, and Big Tech,” Gaetz said.
In the last election cycle, the Kochs’ super PAC funded the campaigns of former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Sen. Steven Daines (R-MT), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), along with 30 other Republicans.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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