ICYMI: J.D. Vance Key to Peter Thiel’s Scheme to Create a Big Tech Political Class
May 17, 2021
In Case You Missed It, Politico did a deep dive into Big Tech billionaire Peter Thiel and his scheme to prop up his Silicon Valley cronies, including J.D. Vance. Thiel, who has been linked to many prominent far-right and white nationalist leaders, is now using his vast wealth to create a new political class of politicians made up of his fellow Big Tech elite.
“Thiel’s private power-brokering illustrated his growing influence in Republican politics, but his clout has become even clearer in the weeks since. Thiel has given a pair of $10 million donations to separate super PACs that are backing Vance and Arizona Republican Blake Masters, another protégé poised to launch a Senate campaign. The contributions are the most ever to outside groups supporting single Senate candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political giving,” writes Alex Isenstadt for Politico.
Politico’s article comes as Vance announced he’s ‘exploring a run’ for U.S. Senate last week, propped up by a $10 million donation from Thiel. While Vance tries to keep up his populist facade in part by railing against Big Tech, he’s clearly at the center of an effort by Thiel to create a new political class of Big Tech elites.
Read the story from Politico HERE and more below:
- Ohio Republican J.D. Vance didn’t go it alone when he trekked to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a meeting with the former president earlier this spring — the soon-to-be Senate candidate was accompanied by his mentor and political benefactor Peter Thiel.
- Thiel, a tech billionaire and longtime Trump backer, had arranged the sit-down, which came five years after Vance declared that he had “no love” for Trump.
- Thiel’s private power-brokering illustrated his growing influence in Republican politics, but his clout has become even clearer in the weeks since. Thiel has given a pair of $10 million donations to separate super PACs that are backing Vance and Arizona Republican Blake Masters, another protégé poised to launch a Senate campaign. The contributions are the most ever to outside groups supporting single Senate candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political giving.
- The tech investor’s profile in donor circles grew during the 2016 election, when he contributed around $1.5 million to pro-Trump outfits and spoke at the Republican National Convention.
- But Thiel’s latest contributions stem not only from his growing political involvement but from his closeness with Vance and Masters. Vance became acquainted with Thiel when he was at Yale Law School and then went to work for Thiel in Silicon Valley; Thiel later became an investor in Vance’s venture capital firm.
- Within Republican circles, Thiel is seen as an unconventional donor. Unlike other major givers, he lacks a singular political adviser or gatekeeper for candidates looking to court him.
- It’s unclear whether Thiel’s $10 million donations are a one-time investment — or if more money is on the way.