Megyn Kelly painted such a glowing picture of Charles Koch during her recent interview with him, you might wonder if she moonlights as his press agent.
Kelly began the image polishing right in her introduction:
KELLY: Charles Koch is the sixth richest man in the country. One of the most successful men in the world. Yet, his very name has almost become code for some on the left for what they believe is wrong with big money in politics.
Fifty three thousand attack ads hit him in just the last election cycle. Personal attacks launched against him from the highest levels of government.
Tonight, in a cable exclusive, we introduce you to the man few really know. We’ll tackle the attacks, the myths, his politics and look at how Charles Koch became a tycoon of industry whose charitable works go largely unreported.
Finally, we’ll find out why he’s willing to risk everything even his personal safety, to, in his words, make the country better for everyone.
Charles Koch, captain of industry, innovator, and some say GOP king maker, which has made him a target of the democrats for years.
…Charles and David have donated hundreds of millions to help fight cancer, poverty and to encourage entrepreneurship in addition to their political donations.
Kelly made a point of depicting Koch as a humble beacon of democracy:
KELLY: Humility in hiring also served Koch well.
Don’t you want all the hot shot MBA’s from Harvard and Wharton and elsewhere?
KOCH: We find we do better from community colleges, from rural colleges, like after I was president of Koch Industries, our next president were—well, one didn’t graduate from college. And the current president is from Emporia State.
KELLY: At Koch Industries, even you get evaluated. Is that true?
KOCH: That’s true.
…KELLY: Is it true that any employee at Koch can earn more than his boss?
KOCH: Oh, absolutely. It’s—we try to reward people according to the value they create. Value they create in society and the value they create for the company.
And, of course, she used the left’s criticisms’ of the Kochs as a tool to attack the left, while feigning balance:
KELLY: Not long ago, President Obama himself came out and attacked you. It’s not the first time, but he said that the Koch Brothers are trying to prevent new clean energy businesses from succeeding.
You came out, and, in a rare public statement, said you were flabbergasted by that accusation. Why?
KOCH: Because the opposite is true. All of our policies are based on whether it will make—enable people to improve their lives or it will make their lives worse.
KELLY: Are the comments made by President Obama beneath the dignity of the office?
KOCH: Well, I think it is to misrepresent what a company stands for and attacking private citizens for trying to help people improve their lives.
...KELLY: Why do you think they’ve [Democrats] been so relentless in their attacks? Harry Reid, your brother David pointed out, mentioned the Koch Brothers 289 times from the Senate floor.
They have painted you as evil. They actually put you—the White House actually put you on an enemy’s list back in the 2012 campaign.
...KELLY: Is it dangerous? I know you’ve gotten death threats.
KOCH: Yes. I get a lot of death threats but the way I look at it is, I feel I have a moral obligation to do the best I can to make the country better for everybody. And that threatens certain people because they’re going to have much less power. I want the power to go back to people making decisions over their own lives rather than some experts making it.
Really? While Koch says he wants people and not experts making decisions, he and his brother pour a ton of money into causes that just happen to benefit business or business’ top executives more than the 99%. From BillMoyers.com (via Media Matters):
For example, a number of the SPN groups [receiving large sums of Koch money] are in support of trade bills that have really wreaked havoc on the American economy, that have shipped jobs overseas. They’re also proponents of the privatization scheme – the outsourcing of America’s public sector to the private sector, which, again, has reduced good-paying jobs in the public sector and pushed them into the private sector for lower-wage jobs with less security and where CEOs get paid huge salaries and benefits. You also see the way they’ve moved the tort agenda to make it harder to sue if your parent or child is killed or injured by a corporate product.
Not only did Kelly not challenge Koch’s disingenuousness she let him describe himself as a liberal.
KOCH: No. I’m a—I have been a libertarian in my past but now I consider myself a classical liberal …someone who wants a society that maximizes peace, civility, tolerance and well-being for everyone. One that opens opportunities for everyone to advance themselves.
Kelly’s idea of challenging that claim was to ask Koch if he will vote for Hillary Clinton (no, he won't).
But the worst part may have been her whitewashing of Koch’s dark money in elections:
KELLY: They say you’re going to spend $900 million on the presidential race this cycle. Is that true?
KOCH: No, not even close.
KELLY: Koch says it’s actually more like $300 million, and not all will go to a presidential race. As for the democrats’ charge that Koch’s donor network is shady -
KOCH: Everything I give is pretty much as public. Now not every donor wants to—or is willing to get the kind of abuse and attacks that we do, or death threats, so they’re not willing to have their names out. And I think the other side is pushing for that because they want to intimidate people so they won’t oppose it.
KELLY: But Charles Koch is not intimidated. And not slowing down any time soon. At 79 years old, you still work nine hours a day.
As Crooks and Liars noted, simple internet research proves Koch a liar. But Kelly, of course, took Koch at his word.
And yet, even after this 17+ minutes of Koch PR, Kelly still wasn’t through polishing Koch’s image. As she closed the show, she just happened to highlight positive viewer feedback about him.
KELLY: Getting lots of feedback online with Charles Koch, like this one, quote, “Such a disappointing lack of evilness! Imagine that.”
NOTE: All quotes above are from Fox News' transcript.
Watch Kelly's Koch-fueled lovefest below, from the October 15 The Kelly File.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for that.
What I loved is that all the money thrown at the media does not seem to have permitted the construction of even one new pipeline.
I “half believe” it because he didn’t actually answer—just a vague “try to reward according to the value they create.” But, I suspect the real reason is because he, most likely, only takes a token salary from his “business” and lives off the interest from his investments.
;^)
“…how many THOUSANDS OF PERSONAL ATATCKS have they made against President Obama in the past seven years and even his wife and children? A couple of hundred thousand??”
LOL! Actually Ray, I definitely believe it’s safe to bet that the actual number of personal attacks on the Obamas is probably IN THE MILLIONS! Don’t forget: from the moment Gramps McCain delivered his concession speech on the night on November 4, 2008 (i.e. Election Night), THE OBAMAS HAVE BEEN PERSONALLY ATTACKED NONSTOP BY FAUX SPEWS CHANNEL AND THEIR “SHEEPLE” 24/7/365!! In fact, on Sean KKKlannity’s radio show that night, I STILL REMEMBER that one of his callers was EXTREMELY ENRAGED by Obama’s election as POTUS — he blurted out the following: “DO YOU SEE ALL THOSE COMMIES CELEBRATING IN GRANT PARK (i.e. a big park located in downtown Chicago, IL)?……I’M REALLY GONNA BE LOCKED AND LOADED NOW!” Furthermore, the instant Gramps McCain congratulated President-elect Obama in his concession speech, HIS REICH-WING BROWNSHIRT-WEARING GOOSE-STEPPING SUPPORTERS BOOED LOUDLY! Mark my words Ray: the jeering got SO LOUD that eventually McCain himself had to STERNLY REPRIMAND THEM and calm them down.
http://other98.com/soros-vs-koch-infographic/