Republican Senators met privately on Monday to quietly contemplate how to respond to the feud that’s emerged between the mega donor Koch network and President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
According to Republicans familiar with the discussions who spoke to the Post, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other GOP lawmakers discussed the Koch network’s recent gathering, in which officials criticized Trump’s trade policy and divisiveness, and told attendees that it would support candidates based on values and not political affiliation. Cornyn, who reportedly attended the conference, told those gathered that he was confronted with widespread exasperation with Trump and his policies at the event. In the private meeting, some lawmakers also expressed confusion over the Koch network’s new approach.
“These guys want to change the direction of the country. They don’t understand how hard that is,” McConnell reportedly said.
In response to the Koch officials’ criticism — which was not outright surprising, given the network pointedly did not endorse Trump in 2016 — Trump tore the group of “globalist” donors apart on Twitter Tuesday and suggested that he had made them “richer.”
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