In a new interview, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) stated that he has encouraged billionaire Peter Thiel, his former Silicon Valley employer, to “get off the sidelines” and support the White House campaign of former President Trump.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the senator, who was appointed as Trump’s running mate in July, stated that he will continue to urge the Silicon Valley billionaire to reconsider his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential campaign and to increase the Republican candidate’s war chest.
“I’m going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him that — you know he’s obviously been exhausted by politics a little bit — but he’s going to be really exhausted by politics if we lose and if Kamala Harris is president,” Vance said.
Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, contributed $1.25 million to Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.
Additionally, the co-founder of Palantir, a data analytics corporation, contributed $15 million to Vance’s Senate campaign.
Thiel stated in November of last year that he has no plans to provide financial support to Republican politicians in 2024.
In late June of this year, Thiel declared that he would not contribute to super PACs that were in favor of Trump; however, he would still vote for the Republican nominee.
Vance’s efforts to persuade Thiel coincide with the announcement by Vice President Harris’s campaign that it has raised $540 million since she entered the presidential contest. Of this sum, $82 million was acquired during the Democratic convention in Chicago.
Vance was employed by a venture capital firm that was co-founded by Thiel. In 2011, they encountered each other at Yale Law School.
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