Tech billionaire Peter Thiel says he got it “wrong” supporting Donald Trump
The Atlantic. In it, the gay entrepreneur explains why he believes donating millions of dollars to Donald Trump was “wrong”.He also says that despite his record of backing far-right Republicans, he won’t be doing so again in the run-up to the 2024 election.Thiel was one of the co-founders of PayPal, which made him a fortune when he sold it to eBay in 2002.
He was also a very early investor in Facebook, buying a 10% slice of the company when it was just starting. That made him a further fortune when he sold his stake in 2012.Since then, he has plowed his money into further start-up investments and political causes.
He is a libertarian, opposed to big government or state intervention in personal liberty.Despite his sexuality, he’s also vehemently opposed to identity politics, and diversity and inclusion initiatives.Thiel first publicly endorsed Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
He says Donald Trump Jr saw that he was down to attend and invited him to speak.Thiel was attracted to Trump Snr’s promise to rip everything up and do things differently.“‘Make America great again’ was the most pessimistic slogan of any candidate in 100 years, because you were saying that we are no longer a great country,” Thiel says. “And that was a shocking slogan for a major presidential candidate.” However, Thiel thought it was a message people needed to hear – and that it would win them over.“Voting for Trump was like a not very articulate scream for help,” Thiel now says.
