Donald Trump's running mate revealed in a recent interview that he has been urging billionaire Peter Thiel, his former employer in Silicon Valley, to “get off the sidelines” and back the White House campaign of former President Donald Trump.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who was appointed as Trump's running mate in July, emphasized his commitment to convincing Thiel to reconsider his decision to step away from the 2024 presidential race and to boost the Republican campaign's funding efforts.
“I'm going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him,” Vance said. “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.”
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, has been a significant financial supporter of Republican candidates in the past. He contributed $1.25 million to Trump's 2016 campaign and $15 million to Vance's successful Senate campaign in Ohio.
However, Thiel announced last November that he does not plan to financially support Republican candidates in 2024. In late June, Thiel further declared that while he would not donate to super PACs supporting Trump, he still intends to vote for the Republican nominee.
Vance's efforts to bring Thiel back into the fold come as Vice President Harris's campaign disclosed that it has raised $540 million since she declared her candidacy. Of that total, $82 million was secured during the Democratic convention in Chicago.
Vance and Thiel's relationship dates back to 2011 when they met at Yale Law School. Vance later worked at a venture capital firm co-founded by Thiel.
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