Less than two years after establishing himself as the kingmaker of a new right-wing movement, tech billionaire Peter Thiel has apparently changed course, privately telling associates he does not plan to donate to any politicians in 2024, according to a Wednesday report from Reuters. The outlet, citing anonymous sources, attributed this sudden despondence to the culture wars that have gripped the GOP of late, with Thiel reportedly voicing frustration over the right’s attacks on abortion and transgender rights. Rather than fixating on these red-meat issues, Thiel, an early Facebook investor and cofounder of PayPal, reportedly believes the party should prioritize domestic innovation and outpacing China.
The stated cause of this retreat, however, is odd. After all, it was Thiel himself who allocated the vast majority of his spending in last year’s midterms to two cultural crusaders: J.D. Vance, who won his outside bid for US Senate in Ohio after a reported $13.5 million boost from Thiel, and Blake Masters, who won the primary in Arizona’s US Senate race but was soundly defeated in the general election. During their respective campaigns, Vance said he would support a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, while Masters, who received a reported $20 million from Thiel, sold himself as having “the most pro-life agenda of any Senate candidate running nationwide.” Likewise, as candidates, both were fixated on anti-LGBTQ+ causes. Vance stated that sexual orientation and gender identity should not be protected classes in non-discrimination laws, and Masters called for replicating Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law on the federal level. Notably, just last year, Thiel—ranting that Republicans weren’t offering a constructive vision for America outside of just bashing liberal states—praised Ron DeSantis’s leadership as a good example of positive Republican governance (DeSantis, of course, has been on the forefront of right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ and antiabortion laws.)
This newfound revulsion to the very culture war he stoked may just be pragmatic; Thiel could have finally assessed the electoral damage Republicans have inflicted on themselves in their quest to quash abortion rights. In recent weeks, several wealthy conservative donors have reportedly expressed concerns that Republican leaders are taking the antiabortion fight too far, particularly in relation to DeSantis, whom the donor class previously saw as a solution to Donald Trump in 2024. “I am more reluctant to back [DeSantis],” Thomas Peterffy, a conservative billionaire, told the Financial Times this month. Citing DeSantis’s “stance on abortion and book banning,” Peterffy revealed that he and a group of his peers are “holding our powder dry” as they await the emergence of a Republican candidate who can actually win a general election. Kenneth Griffin, another major conservative donor, reportedly has similar reservations.
And Thiel has shown to be more fickle than some mega-donors. After becoming one of Trump’s most high-profile contributors in his long shot 2016 victory, Thiel reportedly didn’t give a penny to the former president’s failed reelection bid, Reuters noted. That made his recent pivot to puppet master of the New Right—an ideological movement that mirrors the brand of religious ultranationalism popular in parts of Central and Eastern Europe—all the more curious. He reportedly backed 16 federal candidates in last year’s midterms, 12 of whom won, including numerous shoo-in incumbents like Senator Ted Cruz and representatives Michael McCaul and Mike Gallagher. But batting five hundred on his two biggest swings, Vance and Masters, was apparently not enough for him to justify more spending in 2024.
Caleb Ecarma
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