Trump whines Kochs should be nice to him because he 'made them richer'

After news surfaced that the Koch donor network won’t back a few Republican candidates,  Trump attacked the billionaire Koch brothers by touting the Republican tax cuts that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

The conservative Kochs, who have been major Republican influencers through their front groups like Americans for Prosperity, will not be supporting North Dakota Senate candidate Kevin Cramer. Politico also reports the conservative network is declining to support Senate candidates in Indiana and Nevada.

Of course, the reality is the Kochs and their allies have spent millions in the past to elect hard-right candidates to undermine America’s social safety net, and there’s nothing to prove they don’t fully intend to do so in the future.

They believe in an America that serves the ultra-wealthy and turns a blind eye to massive polluters like themselves, not one that works for most Americans.

But Trump can’t handle any dissent, so he took to Twitter to criticize the right-wing multimillionaires. In the process of chiding them, Trump touted the fact he “made them richer.”

It’s true.

The tax plan passed by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by Trump was heavily tilted in favor of the extremely wealthy, like Charles and David Koch. It was constructed behind closed doors by lobbyists working in concert with Republicans to make life easier for rich individuals and mega-corporations.

That is in large part why the plan is so unpopular with voters and why Republicans have abandoned their plans to use it as the centerpiece of the midterm election strategy. The party has decided racial demagoguery is easier than defending a giveaway to the Kochs.

Trump also accurately noted that the Kochs “love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more.” While they may cringe at some of Trump’s behavior, he has done the Koch’s dirty work by attacking America through a Koch-friendly agenda.

In a recent report, the Koch network took a victory lap for “accomplishments” that it has achieved through Trump. They are extremely happy about gutting clean power efforts, revoking monument designations in favor of drilling, sabotaging health insurance, and of course, the tax cuts.

There are at least 44 Trump administration officials with close ties to the Koch network.

The Kochs may decline to back a candidate or two and Trump may throw a hostile tweet or two their way, but Trump and Koch are joined at the hip on policies designed to help the wealthy and hurt the country.

Published with permission on The American Independent.