Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN)Charles Koch warned his allies on Saturday that the country could "deteriorate" if like-minded people turned solely to politicians for salvation in dark times, another sign that the influential Republican patrons have little faith in today"s elected leaders.
Speaking to hundreds of the country"s most powerful donors as they sipped pre-dinner wine and cocktails, the media-shy 80-year-old Koch implored his network to dig deep and settle in for what he repeatedly termed an "uphill battle" to save the country.
"If we just focus on politics, we"re going to continue to lose," Koch said to light applause. "We"re going to continue to deteriorate."
Koch and his network of contributors have declined entreaties to spend their fortunes to help Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. And Koch at times pushed back against some of the themes of Trump"s dark messaging, acknowledging the state of the world but saying that politicians aren"t the people to solve it.
"No wonder that people have by and large lost their optimism, that they"re frustrated and disillusioned," Koch said. "People are looking for answers. And by and large, they"re looking in the wrong places. They"re looking to politicians."
"The answers they are getting are frightening," Koch continued. "These answers would make matters worse."
A top Koch aide on Saturday directly countered the portrait that Trump"s painted at the Republican National Convention earlier this month, when he portrayed crime and danger on the rise. Mark Holden, a Koch consigliore who has immersed himself in criminal justice reform, said he "respectfully disagree[d]" with Trump"s imagery.
Koch, however, expressed confidence that his network, bolstered by millions of dollars of investment in data and field organizing, could withstand an era in which his friends "don"t really have good options." At one point, he employed an unusual metaphor.
"Don"t get me wrong. I"m not saying this will be easy, or instant pudding," Koch said. "We"ve got to remember the test isn"t in the pudding. The test of the pudding is in the eating, and we want to have good eating here."
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