Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday that some of the ads bankrolled by conservative mega-donor David Koch are “un-American.”

“I think the commercials he is running are against the American dream are un-American,” Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think what Harry Reid was saying is the actions are un-American, and they are, and they should change.”

David and Charles Koch have become favorite targets of Democrats in the run-up to the 2014 election, where they are trying to defend the Senate.

Republicans need to pick up a net of six seats to capture the upper chamber.

On Thursday, Mr. Schumer refused to say whether he agreed with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, who called the Koch brothers “un-American.”

Mr. Schumer said the David Koch-funded ads calling for less government spending could hurt cancer research at the National Institutes of Health.

He said the negative impact of those ads outweigh Mr. Koch’s charitable giving.

“Private charity cannot deal with the major problems we face as good and noble a thing as it is,” the New York Democrat said.

“David Koch’s commercials, which are huge amounts of money, I think they should not be allowed,” he said. “The commercials he runs are not part of the American mainstream, are not what should happen. No two people should have such a huge influence on our politics.”

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.