What agenda? Trump's biggest financial backer is GAY ASF
Peter Thiel Makes History at RNC: 'I'm Proud to be Gay'
If there’s any overarching commonality to draw between Donald Trump and Peter Thiel, it’s that rarely do the two men say or do what’s expected.
Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel looks over the podium before the start of the second day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19.Carolyn Kaster / AP
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July 21, 2016, 12:33 PM EDT / Updated July 21, 2016, 9:52 PM EDT
By Emma Margolin
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Peter Thiel: 'I Am Proud to Be Gay'
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In any other election, the idea of an openly gay, avowed libertarian member of Silicon Valley’s elite addressing the Republican National Convention on the same night as the nominee would seem, well, unconventional, to say the least. At this point, however, it’s well understood that most things about this election — and the speaker in question, Peter Thiel — are just that.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, made history Thursday night when he became the first person to publicly announce to the GOP convention that he is gay.
"Every American has a unique identity," said Thiel. "I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American."
The remarks were greeted with applause — a somewhat shocking turn of events considering the fact that the party had just approved one of the most anti-LGBT platforms imaginable, complete with opposition to marriage equality and bathroom choice for transgender people, as well as an endorsement of the medically discredited practice of "conversion therapy." Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump's pick for vice president, is also a
controversial figure within LGBT advocacy circles; last year, he signed a so-called "religious freedom" bill that was widely perceived to be a veiled attempt at enshrining anti-LGBT discrimination into law.
But Thiel seems utterly unconcerned with legislation like that. Nor does he seem to care about newer measures, like North Carolina's House Bill 2, that are specifically designed to keep transgender people out of the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identities.
"When I was a kid, the great debate was about how to defeat the Soviet Union. And we won," he said Thursday. "Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?"
Thiel sent shock waves throughout the mostly Democratic Silicon Valley when news broke earlier this year that he would run to be a delegate for Donald Trump in California. The 48-year-old has
called technological progress “the single most important issue” to him and the key to solving all the world’s problems. Trump, by contrast, has said he would “close up” parts of the internet in response to terrorism, and proposed
boycotting the nation’s
top tech company, Apple, until it agreed to help the FBI break into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Related: 11 Out Republicans You Should Know
Most people don’t fully understand what Thiel sees in Trump; he did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment, and his words of support at the convention were somewhat vague. Thiel talked about the need to fix the country's "broken economy," end "stupid wars," and "rebuild America" with a non-politician like Trump.
But if there’s any overarching commonality to draw between Trump and Thiel, it’s that rarely do the two men say or do what’s expected.
To be sure, there are other similarities as well, which taken together may explain Thiel’s support for Trump. Both are, after all, hugely successful businessmen.
Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel looks over the podium before the start of the second day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Tuesday, July 19.Carolyn Kaster / AP
After putting his Stanford undergrad and law degrees to use by clerking on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and trading derivatives for Credit-Suisse in the 1990s, Thiel developed the online payments company PayPal, which eBay bought in 2002 for $1.5 billion. PayPal’s founders and members, known as the “PayPal Mafia,” went on to create some of the country’s leading tech giants — including LinkedIn, SpaceX, Tesla, Yelp and YouTube.
Thiel also went on to do great things himself. In 2004, he made one of the earliest investments in Facebook -- a $500,000 gamble that turned into close to $500 million. The same year, Thiel co-founded Palantir Technologies, which creates data-mining software that helps government agencies track down terrorists and other criminals. He also founded three successful venture capital firms — Founders Fund, Mithril and Valar — the latter two named after fantasy objects and beings found in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, one of Thiel’s favorite authors.
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.....Comrade is calling out the Russian bots.
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