The journalists at ABC and CBS on Monday excitedly pushed the idea that the Koch brothers will politically stay on the sideline. CBS This Morning’s Nancy Cordes even spun an interview with Charles Koch as “tentative support for Hillary Clinton. Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Sunday talked to Mr. Koch about the plans he and his billionaire brother have for 2016.
Karl quizzed, “So, is it possible another Clinton could be better than another Republican next time around?” He added, “You can't see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you?” Koch clearly stated, “We would have to believe her actions would be much different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Later, former Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos, who secretly donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, cheered, “If he and his brother sit out this race completely over the fall, that's several hundreds millions dollars that won't be spent for the Republicans.”
Karl conceded:
JON KARL: Well, the Kochs are not going to endorse Hillary Clinton. But boy would she should welcome them sitting on the sidelines. And I think that’s where it’s heading. I don’t see them getting involved in the presidential. They’ll play in the Senate and House races, perhaps, but I do not think they are going to play in the presidential.
Yet, over on CBS This Morning, Cordes twisted:
CORDES: Clinton drew tentative support, Sunday, from one of the biggest conservative donors, Trump critic and billionaire industrialist Charles Koch said he might back Clinton over the GOP nominee.
What Koch actually did was note that in some ways Bill Clinton was more fiscally cautious than George W. Bush. Asked if that could happen again, he replied, “It’s possible.” But, again, the billionaire added, “We would have to believe her actions would be much different than her rhetoric.”
The Koch interview also came up on NBC's Today. Peter Alexander insisted, “This bitter campaign season turning off even the staunchest of GOP supporters, including the billionaire Charles Koch.”
A transcript of the GMA segment is below:
GMA
4/25/16
7:07ROBIN ROBERTS: Now to the Democratic candidates. Five states up for grabs tomorrow. Hillary Clinton trying to close in on the nomination as Bernie Sanders promises to fight for every last delegate. ABC's Jon Karl is here with where the race stands for the Democrats. Good morning, Jon.
JON KARL: Good morning, Robin. With five states in the northeast voting tomorrow, Hillary Clinton is hoping for a clean sweep that put her well on the way toward clinching the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton is looking to finally close the deal.
HILLARY CLINTON: I will stand up and fight for you through this campaign, all the way to the White House!
KARL: Clinton already has 80 percent of the delegates she needs to clinch the nomination, but Bernie Sanders is conceding nothing.
BERNIE SANDERS: This campaign is doing well and will win.
KARL: But what do those die-hard Sanders' supporters do if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination? On This Week, George asked Sanders if he would rally his supporters to get behind Clinton.
SANDERS: You know, I can't snap my fingers and tell people what to do. But what I will do is do everything I can do to make sure that somebody like Donald Trump or some other right-wing Republican does not become president of the United States.
KARL: Meanwhile in an exclusive interview with ABC News, billionaire Charles Koch, who with his brother David and a network of big donors, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help elect Republicans over the years, offered some unexcepted praise for Bill Clinton and maybe even Hillary. Am I hearing you correctly? You think Bill Clinton was a better president than George W. Bush?
CHARLES KOCH: Well, in some ways. In other ways he wasn't an exemplar. But as far as the growth of government, the increase in spending on restrictive regulations, it was two and a half times under Bush than it was under Clinton.
KARL: So, is it possible another Clinton could be better than another Republican next time around?
KOCH: It's possible.
KARL: You can't see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you?
KOCH: Well, her— we would have to believe her actions would be much different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way.
KARL: Hillary Clinton responded via Twitter saying she isn’t interested in a Koch endorsement. Cruz also reacted Koch he was talking about if Donald Trump was the nominee. But, George, Koch slammed all the Republican candidates, including Cruz, calling them terrible role models.
7:11
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Jon Karl, your interview with Charles Koch, if he and his brother sit out this race completely over the fall, that's several hundreds millions dollars that won't be spent for the Republicans.
KARL: Yeah, so you hear Hillary say she doesn’t want the Koch endorsement. Well, the Kochs are not going to endorse Hillary Clinton. But boy would she should welcome them sitting on the sidelines. And I think that’s where it’s heading. I don’t see them getting involved in the presidential. They’ll play in the Senate and House races, perhaps, but I do not think they are going to play in the presidential.
