Famous tech entrepreneur, Facebook board member, and righteous slayer of all that is Gawker, Peter Thiel, spoke at a press conference in Washington, D.C., to double down on his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and defend his recent $1.25 million donation to the fellow businessman’s campaign.
Thiel used most of the time to speak about how years of the same failed policy initiatives have caused America to falter. He explained how a vote for Trump would help steer the country off its bullheaded path.
“Faced with such contempt, why do voters still support Donald Trump? Even if they think the American situation is serious, why would they think that Trump, of all people, could make it any better?” Thiel asked.
“I think it’s because of the big things that Trump gets right. For example, free-trade has not worked out well for all of America. It helps Trump that the other side just doesn’t get it … we’ve lost tens of thousands of factories and millions of jobs to foreign trade. The heartland has been devastated,” he continued.
Thiel outlined telling statistics, like the substantial trade deficit in which America imports goods far more than it exports.
“The most developed country in the world should be exporting capital to less developed countries. Instead, the United States is importing more than $500 billion every year … and it gives the well connected people who benefit a reason to defend the status quo. But not everyone benefits, and the Trump voters know it.”
Thiel provided another example of what’s wrong with the U.S.’s current policies.
“I think Trump voters are also tired of war.” He listed significant data, like spending $4.6 trillion in the last 15 years of war, ultimately resulting in “2 million lost lives,” Thiel said, including 5,000 American soldiers.
“Yet even after these bipartisan failures, the Democratic party is more hawkish today than at any time since it began the war in Vietnam,” Thiel said.
He went on to specifically criticize Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy, which would employ a no-fly zone over Syria.
“Incredibly, that would be a mistake even more reckless than invading Iraq,” Thiel stressed. “Since most of the planes flying over Syria today are Russian planes, Clinton’s proposed course of action would do worse than involve us in a messy civil war; it would risk a direct nuclear conflict.”
Thiel also seems to appreciate the fact that Trump is willing to speak up about topics that political elites find uncomfortable or as a threat to the status quo.
“Nobody would suggest that Donald Trump is a humble man. But the big things he is right about amount to a much needed dose of humility in our politics. Very unusually for a presidential candidate, he has questioned the core concept of American exceptionalism. He doesn’t think the force of optimism alone can change reality without hard work.”
The venture capitalist spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, in support of Trump, and was reportedly the first gay person ever to do so.
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