Koch group throws support behind two election deniers after dumping Trump

A Koch brother-aligned group has made it clear it will oppose Donald Trump's third attempt to run for president in 2024 because it believes it is time to move after his attempt to steal the 2020 election, but that hasn't stopped it from giving a platform to two other MAGA-inspired election deniers.

According to a report from the Guardian's Adam Gabbatt, last weekend Americans for Prosperity Action, which was founded by conservative billionaires Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch, held a confab in California after stating it was time for the Republican Party to "turn the page" on the Trump years.

However, as Gabbatt wrote, two of the speakers were unabashed proponents of the stolen election conspiracy theory which is at the center of Trump's third run based on his belief the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

According to the report, "In Eric Schmitt, a Missouri senator, and Andrew Ogles, a congressman from Tennessee, AFP Action had invited two newly elected men who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and seem to have little interest in turning the page on history."

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"Schmitt, who has invoked the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory, has already backed Trump for 2024, while Ogles, a culture warrior whose campaign pitch was that the US needs to 'go back to honoring God and country', giddily accepted Trump’s endorsement last year," the report continued with Gabbatt adding, "If, in inviting two politicians who appear to embody the essence of Trumpism, AFP Action exposed a separation between what it says and what does, then it should come as no surprise."

In 2021 AFP Action was critical of conservative lawmakers who embraced the stolen election myth, issuing a statement that said, in part, “Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support."

As the report notes, while disavowing Trump over his election denialism, AFP Action had no problem throwing cash at Republicans in the 2020 midterms to the tune of $63.4 million with 86.7% of that spending going "to candidates who had been endorsed by Trump."

This despite a statement from AFP Action that claimed, “The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles," before adding, "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 AFP will help them do that.”

The Guardian report added, "But in inviting Schmitt and Ogles – their attendance was first reported by the Washington Post – AFP Action sent a mixed message. Both candidates have tied themselves to a former president that Koch’s network says it is ready to ditch."

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