Bannon: Kochs ‘Would Own’ Pence If He Became President

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon is reportedly worried that
billionaire donors Charles and David Koch would have too much influence over Vice President Pence should he ever become president.

“I’m concerned he’d be a President that the Kochs would own,” Bannon told The New Yorker.

Pence July served as the keynote speaker for a Koch brothers summit in August and spoke to a gathering of their network of conservative donors as recently as last Friday.

Meanwhile, President Trump apparently needles Pence about his conservative religious beliefs. From the New Yorker:

A staff member from Trump’s campaign recalls him mocking Pence’s religiosity. He said that, when people met with Trump after stopping by Pence’s office, Trump would ask them, “Did Mike make you pray?” Two sources also recalled Trump needling Pence about his views on abortion and homosexuality. During a meeting with a legal scholar, Trump belittled Pence’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade. The legal scholar had said that, if the Supreme Court did so, many states would likely legalize abortion on their own. “You see?” Trump asked Pence. “You’ve wasted all this time and energy on it, and it’s not going to end abortion anyway.” When the conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!”

It is believed that Charles Koch is either an agnostic or an atheist.

-RW

(via The Hill)