Tech Mogul Peter Thiel to Sit Out Trump’s Reelection Campaign Over Doubts He Will Win, WSJ  Reports

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Peter Thiel, tech mogul and prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, has reportedly told associates he plans to sit out the president’s re-election campaign over doubts of a victory, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Thiel, an early investor in Facebook and co-founder of PayPal, has not donated money to Trump’s re-election campaign nor does he plan to speak at this year’s Republican convention, despite the fact that he donated $1.25 million in 2016. Thiel was reportedly frustrated by Trump’s coronavirus response and was early to sound the alarm regarding a threat to the U.S. when the outbreak swept through China and several European countries.

He was also one of few Silicon Valley leaders to back the president in 2016 and spoke at that year’s Republican National Convention, during which he criticized the economy and predicted Trump would successfully rebuild it.

The tech mogul now projects that the U.S. economy will be in a deep recession come November, with double-digit unemployment rates, putting the president at a disadvantage to any challenger. Thiel, however, remains a supporter and reportedly plans to vote for Trump in the 2020 election.

Thiel will likely spend millions of dollars instead on races in the House and Senate, in an effort to keep at least one Republican branch of government. “His biggest concern is that if people vote down the ticket, everything flips in one direction,” one person familiar with Thiel’s plans told The Journal. Free Forever, Thiel’s PAC, is also supporting Kris Kobach’s campaign to fill the Kansas Senate seat left vacant by Republican Pat Roberts.