BIG MONEY

Charles Koch Frustrated by GOP, Rise of Trump

“I would love to be able to support Democrats.”

Billionaire businessman Charles Koch said he and his brother David plan to wait until year’s end to figure out how they’ll spend $750 million designated for influencing the 2016 presidential race. The hesitation, he suggested in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, is the result of their frustration with the field of candidates. “[C]ritical for a free society is tolerance,” Koch said at one point, seemingly referring to Donald Trump’s negative remarks about immigrants, Muslims, and women. At another point, he issued a warning about the rise of populists like Trump: “Typically, what happens when voters are frustrated is they give the government even more power,” he said. “There’s tremendous dissatisfaction out there, and so it’s scary.” Koch also challenged the notion that his family holds sway over the GOP, citing a congressional failure to extend tax breaks for businesses. “They say we have all this influence,” he told the Journal. “Well, where?” Koch said he aims to bankroll more bipartisan causes, including criminal-justice reform. “I would love to be able to support Democrats,” he said.