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Behind the retreat of the Koch brothers' operation👉Ironically, though, some Koch insiders and critics alike agree that the conditions that are now challenging the Kochs are in some ways of their own creation. politico.com/story/2016/10/…
By helping to empower the anti-establishment tea party protests in 2009 and 2010, these people say, the Koch network inadvertently laid the groundwork for a movement that turned towards a strain of anti-immigrant protectionism that is anathema to the Koch’s ideology,
and that proved fertile ground for Trump’s nationalist brand of populism. “We are partly responsible,” said one former network staffer.
“We invested a lot in training and arming a grassroots army that was not controllable, and some of these people have used it in ways that are not consistent with our principles, with our goal of advancing a free society, and instead they have furthered the alt-right.”
A major donor to the Koch network argued that the tea party’s early success at electing conservative champions”led to unrealistic expectations,”which then fomented disappointment with Washington gridlock and set the stage for Trump’s ability to tap into anti-establishment fervor.
“What we feel really badly about is that we were not able to educate many in the tea party more about how the process works and how free markets work,” said the donor. “Seeing this movement that we were part of creating going off in a direction that’s anti-free-market, anti-trade
and anti-immigrant — many of us are really saddened by that. Unfortunately, there is little in the short term we can do about that.”
