Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has turned Charles and David Koch into his favorite punching bags this year, repeatedly dinging the billionaire brothers for bankrolling GOP interests. Yet in an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd Thursday, Reid offered a puzzling pronouncement: Sure the Kochs are bad, but Sheldon Adelson, another GOP mega-donor, is A-okay.
"I know Sheldon Adelson," Reid said. "He's not in this for money."
The Kochs, he explained, "are in it to make money" and to "add zeros to their billions," whereas Adelson is "in it because he has certain ideological views."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Adelson has donated millions of dollars as part of an effort to ban internet gambling, something that would directly threaten his bottom line. And there was much speculation in 2012 that Adelson — who dropped $90 million on the election — did so in hopes of putting business-friendly Republicans in Congress and the White House.
Adelson also happens to be from Reid's home state, so draw whatever conclusions you may want to from that.
-
Confessions of a Brain Surgeon: an 'exceptional' documentaryThe Week Recommends Retired neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reflects on his pioneering work with exquisitely 'raw honesty'
-
A new subtype of diabetes was found and it may require different treatmentUnder the radar It is prevalent in Black Africans and Americans
-
Crossword: August 20, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
