Koch Brothers Mulled Launching An Anti-Trump Campaign

Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
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Even the billionaire Koch brothers are wary of launching an all-out assault on Donald Trump, fearing weeks of backlash from the outspoken Republican presidential candidate, according to a Tuesday report from The New York Times.

Charles and David Koch, the conservative oil barons who have pledged to spend nearly $1 billion on the 2016 race, and billionaire hedge fund donor Paul Singer have each had preliminary talks about a possible campaign to take down Trump, an anonymous strategist told the Times.

But they have all been on the receiving end of Trump’s frequently off-color barbs, which has fueled their hesitance to fund a counteroffensive.

“You have to deal with Trump berating you every day of the week,” the strategist said of both groups’ considerations.

Establishment Republicans have for months watched Trump’s rise in the polls with a mixture of disbelief and abject terror, with a mounting consensus that someone has to step in to make sure Trump does not end up as the GOP nominee.

Republicans hatched plans for a “guerilla” offensive late last month helmed by conservative operative Liz Mair. Mair described the effort as “highly confidential” to attract major donors “who are very happy that their fingerprints will be kept off things.”

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