A libertarian conservative group funded by billionaire Charles Koch has suggested that the next president should herald a “new chapter” for the United States while at the same time criticizing the Republican Party for nominating “bad candidates,” suggesting an opposition to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
As a result, the country is in a “downward spiral,” with both political parties “reinforcing the bad behavior.”
“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 Feb. 5th memo states. The memo does not directly mention Trump by name.
As Trump is the only declared Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race, the AFP memo could be referring to the ex-president as the GOP’s “bad” candidate. However, some analysts view the latest disapproval to be advantageous to Trump.
AFP and Trump
AFP, founded by businessmen David and Charles Koch in 2004, has been one of the best-funded political organizations in the United States. AFP Action, a super PAC that supports conservative organizations, spent $79.8 million in the 2022 election cycle, according to data from research group OpenSecrets.Trump has been critical of the Kochs, branding them “globalist” in 2018.
In January 2021, the AFP said that future support for lawmakers would depend on their actions before and during the Capitol breach on Jan. 6., 2021.
With more than $69 billion in assets, Charles Koch is the fourteenth richest man in the world. He had written about his regrets about spending only on conservative causes while his network donated money to several Democratic candidates in 2020.
GOP Candidates
Apart from Trump, no other Republican member has put themselves forward as a presidential candidate for the 2024 race. However, a few names have been circulating, such as former vice president Mike Pence and current Florida governor Ron DeSantis.Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor, is one of the potential GOP candidates. In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Feb. 2, Trump talked about Haley’s bid for the post.
“But she’s a very ambitious person. She just couldn’t stay in her seat. And I said, you know what? Nikki, if you want to run, you go ahead and run.” Trump had earlier nominated Haley to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.