‘Both parties have fallen into tribal warfare…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) An annual networking meeting established by the NeverTrump, pro-free-market Koch brothers reversed its 2016 stance last weekend, with donors openly worrying about the prospects of a Trump loss to one of the radical leftists currently leading the Democratic primary.
Although David Koch passed away last year, his brother Charles continued to partially fund the Stand Together Summit in Palm Springs, California, which aims to tackle a range of social issues—including education, criminal justice, poverty and immigration.
It touts itself as transcending the constraints of common political boundaries while seeing to get the “national debate back on target.”
“Both parties have fallen into tribal warfare,” Charles Koch said in an introductory video. “We are offering a different approach: uniting people, regardless of political party, to advance policies that empower people.”
According to CNBC, attendees worried not only about socialism-influenced Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., but also about former Vice President Joe Biden, whose positions have grown increasingly more radical as progressives continue to push the Democrats’ Overton window farther to the leftist fringes.
However, said the article, “Sanders and Warren provided the most fright,” according to one unnamed attendee.
Brian Hooks, Stand Together’s chairman and CEO, was among those expressing concerns about tax hikes and proposals to implement costly universal healthcare policies such as Medicare for All.
Koch has openly denounced some of President Donald Trump’s economic policies—notably his tariffs and trade war with China.
Despite sitting out the 2016 presidential race, he has continued to give money to supporting other conservative leaders and causes.
CNBC reported that the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity Action has publicly supported several GOP senators in their 2020 re-election bids, some of whom face tightly contested races.
It sees Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, Cory Gardner of Colorado, David Perdue of Georgia and Thom Tillis of North Carolina as being “champions of its policies,” according to the article.
Also among the more than 200 federal and state races the organization plans to spend funds on are three dozen House races.