JD Vance: Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel 'Needs To Get Off The Sidelines' And Support Trump — 'He's Fundamentally A Conservative'

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has made a public appeal to the billionaire Peter Thiel to offer his support to former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.

What Happened: Vance, who joined Trump’s campaign as a running mate in July, is attempting to persuade Thiel to reconsider his decision to abstain from the 2024 presidential race. Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and data analytics firm Palantir, has previously made donations to both Trump and Vance’s political campaigns, reported The Hill on Thursday.

“I’m going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him that…he needs to get off the sidelines and support the ticket,” Vance stated in an interview with the Financial Times.

“He is fundamentally a conservative guy, and I think that he needs to get off the sidelines and support the ticket,” said Vance.

Thiel announced in November that he would not be donating to GOP politicians in 2024, but later hinted at a possible change of mind. However, he confirmed in June that he would not be donating to super PACs supporting Trump, but would still vote for the Republican nominee.

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Vance’s plea comes as Vice President Harris’s campaign announced it has raised $540 million since she entered the presidential race, with $82 million coming during the Democratic convention in Chicago.

Why It Matters: Thiel’s relationship with Trump has cooled since 2022, when he invested $35 million to help elect Vance in Ohio and in the failed Senate campaign of Blake Masters in Arizona. Thiel, who donated more than $1 million to the Trump campaign in 2016, did not contribute to Trump's re-election campaign in 2020. However, he has voiced optimism about a Trump return to the White House with Vance as vice president.

Thiel played a pivotal role in launching Vance’s venture capital career in 2016, further strengthening their ties. He brought Vance into Mithril Capital Management, a venture capital (VC) firm he founded, shortly after Vance gained national attention for his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Vance’s appointment as Trump’s running mate was a surprise to many, but his ties to the Silicon Valley elite, particularly his mentor-protégé relationship with Thiel, reportedly fueled his rise to power within the GOP.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal