If you haven’t noticed, politics has become quite divisive over the past decade, pitting sons and daughters against parents and turning friends into foes.
This is not just a left vs. right phenomenon. Even members within the same party can’t seem to formulate cohesive messaging or agree upon how to tackle pressing policy issues.
A Fractured Republican Party
However, no one has been a more controversial and divisive figure than Donald Trump. The 45th president has really put pressure on the Republican party to try to keep it together. Many would argue that while he adopts the Republican moniker on an election ballot, Trump is his own unique party – the party of MAGA.
This does not mean these voters should not be taken seriously. As they have proven over the past eight years, Trump loyalists are a populist force to be reckoned with. However, old school Republicans are cursing the day Donald J. Trump ever entered into politics, particularly those who can be classified in a category often associated with the progressive left – the elites. But elites exist on both sides of the aisle and without their funding, a nominee could all but die as they withhold dollars from high profile campaigns that don’t suit their particular agenda.
Who Are the Koch Brothers?
Take for example, the Koch Brothers. Charles and David Koch make up this uber wealthy team and have roots in political activism at least since 1980 when David Koch was the vice-presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.
The brothers have been described as “billionaire conservative industrialists” who have long been supporters of the Republican party that traditionally embraces free markets and limited government. However, many voters believe that the free for all paradigm has allowed huge corporations such as Koch Enterprises, the second largest privately held company in the United States, to run amok in pursuing profit over the benefits of the people that help those at the top amass vast amounts of wealth.
The two brothers have amassed some hundred and twenty billion dollars, a fortune larger than that of Amazon’s C.E.O., Jeff Bezos, or the Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
No doubt much of that wealth depends on free trade and a globalist economic paradigm. With entities that involve everything from paper production to agricultural fertilizers to electronic, electrical, and fiber optic connectivity systems, you can bet any restriction on trade is an unwelcome expense to the Koch brothers numerous businesses.
So despite a more business friendly environment created by regulation rollbacks during his presidential tenure, Trump’s vow to curtail China’s dominance and call to bring manufacturing and production capabilities back stateside via increased tariffs was not so beneficial to mega industries such as the ones Koch Enterprises own and operate.
Koch’s Political Impact
Over the years, the Koch brothers have spent millions of dollars on Republican candidates not only in national but also state and local elections mostly via a super PAC, Americans for Prosperity Action, and Stand Together, a nonprofit. Both are mostly funded through Koch dollars. The network spent nearly $500 million supporting Republican candidates and conservative policies in the 2020 election cycle.
According to Open Secrets, in the 2022 election cycle, Koch Industries donated $28,571,230 and lobbied $11,480,000 toward almost exclusively Republican candidates.
While many accuse the Koch’s cash infusions into politics as responsible for the “rise of the radical right,” one of America’s wealthiest families is now using that money to attack Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
Koch’s Go After Trump
Groups linked to Charles Koch (brother David died in 2019) are spending to stop Donald Trump from a 2016 repeat victory. According to a report in the New York Times, The Koch network’s goal in the 2024 presidential primaries, which has been described only indirectly in written internal communications, is to stop Mr. Trump from winning the Republican nomination. In February, a top political official in the network, Emily Seidel, wrote a memo to donors and activists saying it was time to “have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter.”
As the attacks on Trump continue, including a new slew of indictments related to the 2020 elections and January 6th, his supporters more firmly dig in their heels. This presents a challenge for big money Republican donors who don’t know where to place their bets as Trump’s high polling numbers remain steadfast. Few candidates, even Trump’s toughest opponent, Ron DeSantis, seem to be gaining any traction against Trump and are falling behind by large margins.
Yet officials in the Koch network profess optimism that 2024 will not be a repeat of 2016, according to the Times report.
Rich Man Rivalry
The feud between the top 1% men is nothing new.
Back in 2018, Donald Trump has launched a stinging attack on the Republican mega-donors labelling them a “total joke” after a spokesman for the brothers’ network accused the White House of stoking divisiveness.
On social media, Mr. Trump claimed he has “beaten them at every turn.”
Whether Trump can pull it off again in 2024 is still up for debate, but one thing is for certain – the 2024 election is shaping up to be anything but predictable.
Jennifer Galardi is the politics and culture editor for 19FortyFive.com. She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, politics and policy. In a previous life, she wrote for publications in the health, fitness, and nutrition space. In addition, her pieces have been published in the Epoch Times and Pepperdine Policy Review.
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