Steve Bannon Warns GOP Midterm Candidates: ‘You Are Going to Pay’ If You Accept ‘Toxic’ Koch Money
Steve Bannon has a very clear message for GOP voters ahead of the midterm elections: Vote for RINO candidates, if you have to, for the greater good of the party. But Bannon also has a message for some candidates who might — by his definition — fall into that RINO category: Don’t you dare accept a dime from the Koch brothers.
The former Breitbart chief is warning candidates that there will be “punishment” if they take any money from the conservative mega-donors. This comes after President Donald Trump called Charles and David Koch a “total joke” because their donor network opposes the president’s trade policy and is refusing to back some of Trump’s preferred candidates.
“You take Koch money, it’s going to be toxic,” Bannon said in an interview with CNBC. “If you take money from people who are against the president and are looking to put a knife in the back of the president, you are going to pay.”
Bannon wouldn’t say what sort of “punishment” Koch money recipients can expect. But he announced that he plans to launch a “continual pressure” campaign against the Koch network — which he says is not as influential as it used to be. The former White House chief strategist also slammed the Koch organization as a “total scam” and a “Ponzi scheme” in which “no one ever knows who their donors are.”
“We are going to find out who they [the donors] are, We are going to identify people who the Kochs back,” Bannon promised. “We’re not just going to sit there and allow them to destroy the Trump presidency.”
James Davis, a Koch network spokesman, offered this response to Bannon:
“We are focused on uniting the country to help remove barriers that are preventing people from reaching their potential, and we look forward to working with anyone to help people improve their lives.”
[Image via screengrab]
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