Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire and one of the GOP’s top donors, has canceled plans to support any political Candidates In 2024 because of cancel culture.
Thiel, an early supporter of former President Donald Trump prior to breaking off communication, became disillusioned with the focus on culture wars and decided to stop donating to political campaigns after the 2022 midterms, according to sources who spoke to Reuters.
When Thiel spoke on behalf of then-Presidential candidate Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention (RNC), the tech billionaire said he was “proud to be gay.”
But emphasized that he was “most” proud to be an American.
At the time, Thiel said he wouldn’t pretend that he agrees with every aspect of the GOP’s platform but emphasized the fake culture wars are just distracting from “economic decline” and that no one in the race is being “honest about it except Donald Trump.”
Thiel is said to be unhappy with the Republican Party’s focus on cultural issues in the United States, with a business associate citing two examples: abortion and restrictions on transgender students using restrooms in schools.
According to a business associate, Thiel believes Republicans are wrong to focus on cultural flashpoints and should be more concerned with fostering American innovation, an issue important to him, and competing with China.
Thiel’s plans for the GOP primary and general election have not been previously announced.
Pubk, an online news site, previously reported that Thiel would likely endorse Trump or not endorse anyone in the primary.
Thiel is said to be ideologically more liberal than Republican. The German-born entrepreneur is worth an estimated $4.2 billion after co-founding PayPal and Palantir and becoming an early investor in Facebook.
Since 2000, Thiel has given roughly $50 million to state and federal political candidates and their campaigns and became the 10th largest individual donor to donate to both parties during the 2022 congressional cycle, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
Thiel’s rumored decision underscores how the Republican Party’s right-wing stance on social issues is alienating some big pro-business donors.
