Americans for Prosperity Action, the political arm of a network with ties to the Koch brothers, is nudging the Republican Party away from former President Donald Trump.
In an internal memo, Emily Seidel, the CEO of AFP and a senior adviser, told members that it plans to back a contender in the Republican Party and underscored the need to “turn the page on the past several years.” Although Trump’s name was not mentioned in the memo, the group does not plan to endorse him, CNN reported.
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“The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles. And the American people are rejecting them,” the memo states.
Last year, Trump called for “the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution” after he alleged that election fraud deprived him of victory in 2020. He has since walked back his comments surrounding the Constitution. Throughout the memo, Seidel strongly pushed for the party to usher in new leadership and noted that the group would assist the GOP in that effort.
“And to write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past. So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter. The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so A.F.P. will help them do that,” the memo continued.
Seidel contended that the “hard truth” in front of the GOP is that voters have been roundly rejecting its “bad candidates” and the public has signaled it is “ready to move on.”
A super political action committee aligned with AFP doled out over $69 million in the 2022 midterm cycle, the Washington Post reported. The group, which is associated with billionaire Charles Koch, joins a flurry of other top outlets and megadonors drawing distance from Trump such as the Club for Growth, Citadel founder Ken Griffin, and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
The Kochs have publicly diverged from Trump in the past, opposing some of his policies, such as tariffs. Trump has also publicly lashed out against Charles and his late brother David for alleged “globalist” tendencies.
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Meanwhile, Trump’s fledgling 2024 campaign cash machine appears off to a rocky start. Trump’s campaign and a joint fundraising committee hauled in $9.5 million from Nov. 15 to the end of the year, which was down from the $11.8 million earnings during the six-week period that preceded his campaign launch, according to financial disclosures.
A majority of members on the Republican National Committee have declined to endorse him, as have a number of prominent Republicans who are holding out for the GOP primary. Trump is expected to get his first heavyweight competition from former UN ambassador Nikki Haley later this month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is also believed to be considering a run.
