Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch kept up his opposition to both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Monday, saying that trying to figure out who to support between the two is akin to deciding whether you would prefer cancer or a heart attack.
In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Koch criticized Trump for floating a possible 40 percent tariff on goods, which he compared to the Hawley-Smoot tariff, which raised the prices on goods in 1930 and contributed to the Great Depression.
“I see two people that as of this point, we’re not supporting,” Koch told Fortune editor Alan Murray. Murray then told Koch that a day “may come” when he would have to make a choice, which Koch disputed.
“Why do I have to? Are you going to put a gun to my head?” Koch responded.
“No, but I can tell from talking to you that you’re a conscientious citizen who will want to cast a vote in November,” Murray told Koch.
“But if I had to vote for cancer or heart attack, why would I vote for either?” Koch said, with Murray asking him which candidate was which. “Oh, I get confused on that issue. I just don’t want them both at the same time.”
“I’m sure he’s a fine fellow underneath, but when you look at our guiding principles, you see that his guiding principles are in many ways antithetical to them and a great many of his policies are antithetical,” Koch continued. “For example, if we’re going to put on a 40% tariff, the Smoot Hawley was 60% increase in tariff. And it caused a reduction in world trade by 70% and lead to worldwide depression. So I think that’s a monstrosity.”
Koch then pushed back against reports that he might back Clinton after telling ABC News in April that it’s “possible” she could be a better candidate. Koch said that he was laying out a hypothetical in which Clinton changed many of her views.
“Okay. So the deal is – what I said is, would you ever support her? I said it’s possible if she totally changed everything she stood for. And they spun that around to I might support Hillary,” Koch said. “Okay, I’ve got to be more careful of what I say. You can see why all those years I didn’t give interviews.”
