Peter Thiel Vows Not To Make Donations In 2024 Race

The Atlantic reports:

It wasn’t clear at first why Peter Thiel agreed to talk to me. He is, famously, no friend of the media But the impetus for these conversations? He wanted me to publish a promise he was going to make, so that he would not be tempted to go back on his word. And what was that thing he needed to say, loudly? That he wouldn’t be giving money to any politician, including Donald Trump, in the next presidential campaign. Already, he has endured the wrath of Trump.

Thiel tried to duck Trump’s calls for a while, but in late April the former president managed to get him on the phone. Trump reminded Thiel that he had backed two of Thiel’s protégés, Blake Masters and J. D. Vance. Thiel had given each of them more than $10 million; now Trump wanted Thiel to give the same to him. Months later, word got back to Thiel that Trump had called Masters to discourage him from running for Senate again, and had called Thiel a “fucking scumbag.”

Read the full article. There’s much more. No paywall.

Thiel goes on to say this about Trump’s term in office: “It was crazier than I thought. It was more dangerous than I thought. They couldn’t get the most basic pieces of the government to work.”

Peter Thiel will not be contributing to any political candidate this election cycle, he tells @bartongellman—including Donald Trump. His disillusionment with Trump is just one in a long series of disappointments: https://t.co/CN7SOKE6Ea

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) November 9, 2023