Pence to skip Koch brothers donor summit

Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, will skip Charles and David Koch’s summer donor summit this weekend, according to CNN.

The Indiana governor, who has close ties to the network, initially planned to attend the summit where top GOP donors will convene, but he is no longer able to commit now that he’s been campaigning alongside the GOP presidential nominee.

“When he was governor, he was committed,” Pence spokesman Marc Lotter told CNN on Monday. “Since we can’t give them a 100 percent commitment to say yes, it would be inappropriate to leave them hanging.”

The Koch brothers have said they will not spend any money to help get Trump elected and will instead focus on down-ballot races to help preserve the Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate.

Even after Trump tapped Pence as his running mate earlier this month, a key aide to the Koch brothers network told The Hill that it wouldn’t sway them to donate to the real estate mogul.

But GOP fundraisers still remained hopeful that his decision to add Pence to the ticket will help Trump raise money as he continues to lag behind presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s huge fundraising totals.