Charles Koch’s network of conservative groups announced that they will be spending in the 2024 primary, and made their intention clear that they are out to stop Trump.
The Washington Post reported:
“The best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter,” Emily Seidel, chief executive of the network’s flagship group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), wrote in a memo released publicly on Sunday. The three-page missive repeatedly suggests that AFP is taking on the responsibility of stopping Trump, with Seidel writing: “Lots of people are frustrated. But very few people are in a position to do something about it. AFP is. Now is the time to rise to the occasion.”
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To avoid a repeat of that outcome, the network plans to endorse a single candidate by the end of this summer, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential. “AFP Action is prepared to support a candidate in the Republican presidential primary who can lead our country forward, and who can win,” Seidel wrote in the memo.
Since Koch is endorsing by the end of summer, they are not going to let votes be cast before they put their thumb on the scale and try to pick the Republican presidential nominee. The odds are strong that they endorse Ron DeSantis early and put the Koch political machine money behind him.
It doesn’t seem to matter to them that a whole lot of GOP primary voters view DeSantis as Trump Lite or Trump without the baggage.
The Koch announcement is the latest test that will determine who is running the Republican Party. Party elites are trying to take their party back, but there is a sizable segment of Republican rank and file that remain loyal to Trump.
The 2024 nomination may come down to whether the elites or Republican primary votes get their way, but the GOP is a party at war with itself that will be weakened by internal strife.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
