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Kochs May Back Five GOP Presidential Candidates
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 07:33 PM
By: Greg Richter
One day after billionaire businessman and Republican mega-donor David Koch lauded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, his brother Charles Koch said the brothers' network might back several GOP presidential hopefuls.
The Kochs have settled on five candidates they think have a good message and "a good chance of getting elected," Charles Koch told USA Today.
The five are Walker; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
"What we've told them all is that right now, we're not supporting anyone," Koch told USA Today. "We're telling them that if they want our support, one way to get it is articulating a good message to help Americans get a better understanding and a better appreciation of how certain policies … will benefit them and will benefit all America."
The Kochs would select one over the others only if someone stands out with a message detailing what he would do to benefit America and has a legitimate chance of being elected, Koch said.
But even then there is no guarantee they would select a single candidate to back monetarily, he added.
"We may give several of them some money to get this positive message out," he said.
"What we expect them to do is to compete on who has a more positive message for America, rather than what's wrong with some other candidate and did he smoke pot when he was 15 or whatever."
Charles Koch's comments came after The New York Times reported that his brother David told a group of donors in Manhattan on Monday, "We will support whoever the candidate is, but it should be Scott Walker."
In a statement sent to Newsmax on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the brothers said they have not yet supported any candidate.
"While I think Governor Walker is terrific, let me be clear, I am not endorsing or supporting any candidate for president at this point in time," David Koch said in the statement.
