Billionaire Peter Thiel, a Republican megadonor, has reportedly told associates that he will not give money to any candidate this cycle because of the party’s focus on culture war issues, according to Reuters.
A source told Reuters that Thiel is not happy with the Republican Party’s focus on cultural issues citing abortion and restrictions on which bathrooms transgender students can use in schools. He believes that the party should be focusing on spurring U.S. innovation and competing with China instead.
Thiel is a major donor to Republicans, since 2000 he has donated nearly $50 million to GOP candidates at the state and federal level and was the 10th largest individual donor to either party in the 2022 midterms.
Thiel is not the only Republican megadonor to halt funding to the party’s candidates due to their extreme view on social issues.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that billionaire Thomas Petterffy, halted donations to Ron DeSantis’ potential presidential bid due to the governor’s extreme views on abortion and book banning. The report came one day after the Florida governor signed a six-week abortion ban into law.
“I have put myself on hold,” Peterffy told FT. “Because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry.”
Peterffy and his friends does not plan on sitting out the 2024 election, they’re just “waiting to see who among the primary candidates is most likely to be able to win the general, and then put all of our firepower behind them,” he says.
