Jul 23
Watch: Pete Buttigieg, Rachel Maddow Shade Gay Billionaire Peter Thiel's Political Moves over J.D. Vance Support
Emell Adolphus READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg slammed tech billionaire Peter Thiel for using his riches to meddle in U.S. politics.
During an appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher," Buttigieg said there is a reason Thiel is supporting former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance–despite them both supporting and endorsing anti-LGBTQ policies.
"I think it's a profound contradiction, but maybe it's not that complicated," said Buttigieg. "I know there are a lot of folks who say, 'What's going on with these Silicon Valley folks veering into Trump world with JD Vance, and backing Trump?' . . . We've made it way too complicated."
According to Buttigieg, "It's super simple. These are very rich men who have decided to back the Republican party that tends to do good things for very rich men."
Vance's ties to Thiel allegedly go way back to when Vance was a Yale Law School student and Thiel was a venture capitalist who got him a job. Then Thiel helped Vance win his U.S. Senate seat with a campaign donation of $15 millon.
"I knew a lot of people like him," said Buttigieg about Vance. "I found a lot of people like him who would say whatever they needed to, to get ahead. Five years ago that seemed like being the anti-Trump Republican, so that's what he was . . . Five years later, the way he gets ahead is that he's the greatest guy since sliced bread."
During her coverage of the RNC, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow also called out Thiel for being single-handedly responsible for getting Vance where he is today, beginning with an internship, reported The Wrap.
"He got JD Vance a job at a biotech company in San Francisco. After JD Vance graduated from law school, Peter Thiel got him that job. Literally. The company's CEO says explicitly that JD Vance was hired, quote, as a favor to Peter, meaning, as a favor to Peter Thiel," Maddow explained.
She added, "As internships go, that's a really good internship."
According to Maddow, Vance wasn't chosen because Trump needs help winning the election. "When they chose JD Vance, they did not think they needed any help winning this next election," she said.
