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Republican donor Charles Koch said he could not back Trump or Cruz He called them 'terrible role models' and said he was sick of their bickering Koch added that he was against Cruz's ISIS policy and Trump's Muslim ban Said Trump's vow to register Muslims was 'reminiscent of Nazi Germany' Multi-billionaire said it's 'possible' that Clinton could be a better president Multi-billionaire kingmaker Charles Koch has trashed the Republican presidential field and believes Hillary Clinton might make a better president that any of the GOP candidates. Branding the remaining Republican candidates 'terrible role models', the party donor said a Clinton...

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Koch has pledged “tens of millions of dollars” to help bankroll the campaign of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, according to a source within Johnson’s campaign. Koch’s money will be made available should Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, secure his second consecutive Libertarian Party presidential nomination, the source said. The Libertarians will select their presidential ticket during the party’s national convention later this month in Orlando.

Billionaire David Koch will bankroll Libertarian candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson’s third party presidential run with tens of millions of dollars, according to a report. The eight-figure sum may help Johnson win the Libertarian Party nomination and break into the mainstream. Johnson also ran for president in 2012 as a third party candidate and won some 1.275 millon votes, 0.99 percent of the popular vote. Libertarian candidates may have cost the GOP several congressional race victories that year. (David Koch himself was the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee in 1980 when he and Ed Clark set the...

David and Charles Koch, the wealthy brothers whose donor network has given hundreds of millions to Republican causes and candidates in the past, aren't going to pour cash into the third-party bid of Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson – and reportedly won't spend a dime on GOP candidates in 2016. A spokesman for the Kochs on Thursday contradicted a report by The Daily Caller – citing a source within the Johnson campaign – that they planned to spend "tens of millions of dollars" to support Johnson, who is all but assured to win the Libertarian presidential nomination.

NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, the most powerful conservative mega donors in the United States, will not deploy their $400 million political arsenal to attack Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential primary election, according to an official from the brother's political umbrella group. "We have no plans to get involved in the primary," said James Davis, spokesman for Freedom Partners, the Koch brothers' political umbrella group.

The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, the most powerful conservative mega donors in the United States, will not deploy their $400 million political arsenal to attack Republican front-runner Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential primary election, according to an official from the brother's political umbrella group. "We have no plans to get involved in the primary," said James Davis, spokesman for Freedom Partners, the Koch brothers’ political umbrella group.

The Koch brothers, the most powerful conservative mega donors in the United States, will not use their $400 million political arsenal to try to block Republican front-runner Donald Trump's path to the presidential nomination, a spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. The decision by the billionaire industrialists is another setback to Republican establishment efforts to derail the New York real estate mogul's bid for the White House, and follows speculation the Kochs would soon launch a "Trump Intervention." "We have no plans to get involved in the primary," said James Davis, spokesman for Freedom Partners, the Koch brothers' political umbrella group....

Charles Koch says he won’t “put a penny” into trying to stop Donald Trump, that there are “terrible role models” among the remaining Republican presidential candidates, and that his massive political network may decide to sit out of the presidential race entirely. "These personal attacks and pitting one person against the other -- that's the message you're sending the country," Koch said in an exclusive interview with ABC News that aired Sunday. "You're role models and you're terrible role models. So how -- I don't know how we could support 'em."

Billionaire businessman Charles Koch said in an interview airing Sunday that “it’s possible” another Clinton in the White House could be better than having a Republican president. Koch, the CEO of Koch industries, made the comment to ABC News’ Jonathan Karl for an interview airing on ABC’s This Week.

Washington (CNN)Oil tycoon and conservative mega-donor Charles Koch had kind words for both Bill and Hillary Clinton in an interview Sunday, saying there was an outside chance he could support her in November. "We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way," he said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "But on some of the Republican candidates we would -- before we could support them, we'd have to believe their actions will be quite different than the rhetoric we've heard so far." Earlier in the interview, Koch said Bill Clinton...

Hillary Clinton's campaign has responded to a recent ABC News interview with billionaire Charles Koch, in which the GOP donor suggested he might prefer Clinton over the remaining Republican candidates. "Not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote," the campaign tweeted on Clinton's account.

Billionaire Charles Koch’s political network plans to spend hundreds of millions to back Republicans in 2016, but he has penned an article agreeing with Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders about an economic system he calls “rigged to help the privileged few.” “He believes we have a two-tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness,” he wrote in the Washington Post. “He thinks many corporations seek and benefit from corporate welfare while ordinary citizens are denied opportunities . . . I agree with him.” But Koch offered a solution Sanders was sure to reject — stop...

As he campaigns for the Democratic nomination for president, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) often sounds like he's running as much against me as he is the other candidates. I have never met the senator, but I know from listening to him that we disagree on plenty when it comes to public policy. Even so, I see benefits in searching for common ground and greater civility during this overly negative campaign season. That's why, in spite of the fact that he often misrepresents where I stand on issues, the senator should know that we do agree on at least one...

Charles Koch is confident House Speaker Paul Ryan could emerge from the Republican National Convention as the party’s nominee if Donald Trump comes up at least 100 delegates shy, he has told friends privately. Koch believes Ryan would be a “shoo-in” at a contested convention, should the campaign get to that point. Though Koch’s wealth gives him significant influence within the Republican Party, it does not necessarily translate into skill in political prognostication. Still, he and his brother David are fond of Ryan. As a source close to the brothers told The Huffington Post, they appreciate the agenda he has...

Charles Koch is confident House Speaker Paul Ryan could emerge from the Republican National Convention as the party’s nominee if Donald Trump comes up at least 100 delegates shy, he has told friends privately. Koch believes Ryan would be a “shoo-in” at a contested convention, should the campaign get to that point. Though Koch's wealth gives him significant influence within the Republican Party, it does not necessarily translate into skill in political prognostication. Still, he and his brother David are fond of Ryan. As a source close to the brothers told the Huffington Post, they appreciate the agenda he has...

Most of the 500 wealthy conservatives gathered at a Southern California retreat this week know they want to see a Republican back in the White House, but many don't know what to do with the billionaire who wants to "make America great again." Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump was not at the biannual Charles and David Koch-organized conference over the weekend, but he was a constant presence on the minds of many here at the seminar hosted by the billionaire executives known for their active role in Republican politics.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Donald Trump is so fiercely opposed by the Koch brothers network that some donors believe the powerful group will intervene to stop the billionaire if it looks like he could win the Republican presidential nomination. "They are always very hesitant to get involved in a primary, but I think if they were going to do it, this would be the time because they just hate the guy,” said a donor who attended the Koch network’s winter retreat, held over the weekend at a luxury resort on the edge of Coachella Valley. Both officials and donors within...

Journalist Jane Mayer issued another twisted attack on her own Enemy No. 1, the libertarian industrialist Koch brothers, from her New Yorker magazine perch. “Who Sponsored The Hate?”, posted March 15, left no doubt as to who she thinks is responsible for the current Trumpian climate of political vituperation. Mayer recently released Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, which focuses on the Koch brothers. For years she has issued dark, often conspiratorial threats about the Midwestern oil and chemical industrialists, guilty of trying to convince voters of the rightness of their...

Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has a new book out: “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.” It’s mostly about those old devils the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are billionaires. They own a very big company. They also are very prominent philanthropists, giving hundreds of millions to cancer research, concert halls and other worthy causes. But what makes them hated and feared by progressives such as Mayer is their political work. They help fund some organizations and foundations, some purely educational, some partisan. To listen to the left, they...

Charles Koch is "disappointed" with the line-up of Republican candidates in the 2016 cycle, and is surprised by the lack of influence he and his brother have wielded so far. In an interview with the Financial Times, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist, said he'll eventually support a candidate who he agrees with on some things with, but that it's hard to get excited. He said a list presented to all the candidates about the Kochs' political arm's priorities "doesn't seem to faze them much. You'd think we could have more influence." "It is hard for me to get a high...