Tailwind in the US election campaign
The right-wing Koch network supports Nikki Haley in the election campaign
November 28, 2023, 8:48 p.m
The hot phase in the presidential election campaign in the USA will soon begin. All candidates have to raise a lot of money for their campaigns. In the internal party fight against Donald Trump, an influential network has now announced its support for the Republican Nikki Haley.
Republican US presidential candidate Nikki Haley has gained an important supporter in her party’s primary race and is continuing to gain momentum. The influential and well-funded network of conservative billionaire Charles Koch rallied behind the former US ambassador to the United Nations. The 51-year-old is “the best choice for our country,” said the network’s political arm, the Organization Americans for Prosperity.
The former governor of the state of South Carolina could usher in a new political era, win the Republican primaries starting in a month and a half and defeat Democratic President Joe Biden in the presidential election in November 2024, wrote Emily Seidel, a representative of the organization, in a memo. That’s why the Americans for Prosperity organization is “proud” to fully support the 51-year-old.
Haley said she was “honored” by the organization’s support in a statement. There is “too much at stake in the elections to sit idly by from the sidelines.” The conservative politician has made significant gains in polls for the Republican primary race in recent weeks. She is now fighting with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for second place behind former President Donald Trump.
Koch network important in the fight against Trump
However, the gap to Trump is huge: the right-wing populist ex-president averages around 60 percent in surveys, Haley is around ten percent and DeSantis is around 13 percent. Before the start of the Republican primaries on January 15th in the state of Iowa, Haley will receive important tailwind from the support of the Koch network. Charles Koch, who is active in the oil business, among other things, has great political influence; his network can mobilize hundreds of millions of dollars in donations and numerous election workers across the country during the election campaign.
Trump is still extremely popular among the right-wing base, but there are major reservations about the 77-year-old in the Republican party establishment and among conservative donors. There are fears that the most controversial US president in recent decades could lose the 2024 presidential election to Biden given his unpopularity among large parts of the population – as he did in the 2020 presidential election. The question, however, is who will face Trump in the Republican primaries could accommodate. While DeSantis was long considered Trump’s most dangerous rival, Haley is now claiming this role for himself. Billionaire Koch is now betting on the 51-year-old.
DeSantis’ campaign team reacted sarcastically to the Koch network’s support for Haley: “Every dollar” for Haley’s campaign is actually a dollar for Trump because the former ambassador and governor has no chance against the ex-president. Only DeSantis can take on the “establishment.”