Kochs reject push to meet with Trump

The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, meanwhile, are being urged to reconsider their opposition to Trump by some of the donors in their network who are supporting the Manhattan tycoon, including Minnesota media mogul Stanley S. Hubbard and Dallas investor Ray Washburne, according to the two Republicans familiar with the outreach.

.. But the Republicans familiar with the push said top Koch aides rejected the idea of a meeting.

 

.. The Minnesota media billionaire Hubbard, a longtime member of the Koch donor network, initially opposed Trump, but has come around, and said he’ll urge the Kochs to do the same when he sees them this weekend in Colorado Springs.

.. “I think it is time that we get behind Trump because of all the important things such as Supreme Court appointments, which are crucial,” he said, adding that he was aware of the efforts to get the Kochs to meet with Trump.

.. Pence’s deep ties to the Kochs and other major conservative benefactors were considered among his strengths as a vice presidential candidate.

 

Pence walks back criticism of Trump’s Muslim ban Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/mike-pence-muslim-ban-225645#ixzz4EcjoHCpp Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

“I am very supportive of Donald Trump’s call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States,” Pence told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, reframing Trump’s call for an indefinite ban on Muslim entry into the U.S. “until we can figure out what is going on.”

.. “I believe the position he’s articulated that resonates with millions of Americans is that we’ve got to find out what’s going on, and we’ve got to do something different, and we’ve got to put the safety and security of the American people first,” said Pence, who was appearing in his first televised interview since being announced as Trump’s pick shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

The comments represent a total reversal for Pence, who during the Republican primaries blasted Trump’s proposed ban as “offensive and unconstitutional” on Twitter.

.. (Trump has since modulated his proposal — reframing it as a ban on immigration from countries with a significant terrorism problem — while not explicitly acknowledging having changed it.)

 

Donald Trump and Mike Pence: The Political Reality Show

the choice of Mr. Pence, Mr. Trump’s biggest compromise yet with the establishment Republicans he claims to reject.

 .. Above all, Mr. Trump’s choice of Mr. Pence is a gesture to Republicans whose money he needs to win, and a move to pacify any conservatives who were scheming to derail his nomination at the convention until they were thwarted by party officials this week. But having the Indiana governor on the ticket does little to convince a struggling middle class that Mr. Trump aims to force the party into its corner.

.. While in Congress, Mr. Pence endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade pacts that Mr. Trump rails about. He voted for the Iraq War, which Mr. Trump says he opposed. A staunch anti-abortion conservative, in 2011 Mr. Pence led House Republicans’ efforts to defund Planned Parenthood ..