Pollster: The Koch network is not a good enemy for Trump to have

Pollster Emily Ekins said that Charles Koch’s political network is not a good enemy for President Trump to have in the longterm.

“I think Trump has kind of a ‘you’re with me or against me’ approach, and he draws a line in the sand, and so he has put the Kochs on the other side of that line,” Ekins told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”

“The thing is that the Kochs have funded a lot of causes that grassroots conservatives and grassroots Libertarians care a lot about. I don’t know exactly how that plays out in the midterms. It’s probably not a good enemy to have, but it is what it is,” she said.

Ekins is the polling director at the Cato Institute, which was founded by Charles Koch.

David Koch, Charles’s brother, stepped down from his political role in the Koch network earlier this year.

Charles Koch and Trump are in a rift, with Trump criticizing he conservative political network and Koch’s Americans for Prosperity group announcong it would not support Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Trump’s hand-picked candidate, in his Senate bid against incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).

Trump ripped the two brothers in a tweet on Tuesday.

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…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

….them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. 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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

— Julia Manchester