This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

After the Kochs said they would not back the Republican in a key Senate race, Donald Trump duly took aim at the conservative billionaire brothers, calling them “globalists” and a “total joke” with a “highly overrated” political network.

The midterm elections, in which many analysts expect a “blue wave” to place the House and possibly the Senate under Democratic control, are less than 100 days away.

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Republicans across the US will be alarmed by such loud shots in a fight between a president hugely popular with party members and Charles and David Koch, the libertarian industrialists who have poured money into achieving rightwing legislative priorities.

The Koch network said on Monday it would not support congressman Kevin Cramer in his attempt to unseat the Democrat Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, a state that voted heavily for Trump in 2016.

The Kochs’ position – which has extended to saying they will not necessarily oppose all Democrats – stems from Trump’s protectionist trade policies and the surge in government spending and debt under a Republican president and Congress.

“For those who stand in the way, we don’t pull any punches, regardless of party,” Tim Phillips, who leads the Kochs’ political arm, told donors on the final day of a three-day Rocky mountains retreat.

Trump endorsed Cramer in June, having faced criticism for courting Heitkamp, a centrist whose vote can be valuable to Republicans, as on the current supreme court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.

On Tuesday, the president duly shot back at the Kochs, using a term of derision familiar among his supporters on the hard right: “The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more.

“I made them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the US from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!”

The Kochs’ decision nonetheless sends a strong message to Republicans that there may be real consequences for those unwilling to question the president.

Trump has effectively taken over the Republican party, while ignoring long-held conservative beliefs on spending, free trade and foreign policy. The Kochs refused to endorse him in 2016.

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The Kochs’ political arm, Americans for Prosperity, plans to help Republican Senate candidates in Tennessee, Florida and Wisconsin. But it is unclear how hard it will work to defeat Democrats in West Virginia, Missouri and Montana. It will ignore North Dakota.

“He’s not leading on the issues this country needs leadership most right now,” Phillips said of Cramer. “If [he] doesn’t step up to lead, that makes it hard to support him.”

In a statement, Cramer said he “respected” the Kochs’ decision but had “supported tax cuts, jobs creation, patient-centered healthcare, strong borders, free, fair and reciprocal trade and a strong military and veterans’ care”.

“My voting record may not be exactly what every national organisation wants,” he said, “but it is exactly what the majority of North Dakotans expect.”

At the weekend, Charles Koch told reporters he cared little for party affiliation and regretted supporting some Republicans. Network leaders attacked the GOP-backed $1.3tn spending bill adopted in March, the largest such plan in history. The White House budget office now predicts next year’s federal deficit will exceed $1tn, reaching $8tn over the next 10 years.

The Kochs were equally concerned about Trump’s “protectionist” trade policies, which have sparked a trade war and could trigger a US recession, Koch said.

“We’re going to be much stricter if they say they’re for the principles we espouse and then they aren’t,” Koch said. “We’re going to more directly deal with that and hold people responsible for their commitments.”

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After running attack ads against Heitkamp, the Kochs launched a digital campaign thanking her for voting to roll back Obama-era banking regulations. Around the same time, they launched a blitz against 10 Republican House members, including Pennsylvania Senate nominee Lou Barletta, for supporting the spending bill.



Some Trump loyalists are furious. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon questioned the true influence of “the Koch network management”. Texas-based Trump donor Doug Deason said Republicans should not be punished for embracing the president’s agenda.

“That’s not right,” he said. “Heitkamp, we’re going to knock her out of the water. She’s gone.”

On Tuesday, Trump shifted back to regular priorities, tweeting about what was on Fox News and praising a steadfast supporter.

“Rush Limbaugh is a great guy who truly gets it!” the president wrote.