Vance to Peter Thiel: 'Get Off The Sidelines'

J.D. Vance is calling on his former boss and tech billionaire Peter Thiel to "get off the sidelines" and support the GOP ticket in this year's election.

Vance, former President Donald Trump's running mate, made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, saying, "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 added, "He is fundamentally a conservative guy, and I think that he needs to get off the sidelines and support the ticket."

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and data analytics company Palantir, donated to Trump's campaign in 2016 and bankrolled Vance's 2022 Senate campaign, but has been reluctant to support a candidate this year.

Thiel vowed last year he wouldn't give any money to Republicans in 2024, telling The Atlantic, "There's always a chance I might change my mind. But by talking to you, it makes it hard for me to change my mind."

In a reversal from years past, the Trump campaign has gotten a flurry of support from Silicon Valley in 2024.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk held a livestream with Trump on his X platform earlier this month, while Venture capitalist David Sacks recently hosted a fundraiser in San Francisco that garnered $12 million.

And crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss each donated $1 million in bitcoin to the Trump campaign.

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