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Thiel’s Red Scare

peter thiel
On Tuesday evening, Thiel delivered a searing indictment of the G.O.P.’s performance in the 2022 election cycle. Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images
Theodore Schleifer
December 14, 2022

Despite concern that a demoralized and “blackpilled” Peter Thiel might retreat from G.O.P. fundraising after his midterm setback in Arizona, the conservative billionaire has a few thoughts for the Republican Party. On Tuesday evening, Thiel delivered a searing indictment of the party’s performance in the 2022 election cycle at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, marking his first public comments about Senate winner J.D. Vance, Senate loser Blake Masters, and his more general disappointment with how the G.O.P. fared up and down the ballot. It was the most election-focused speech Thiel has given in years.

Wearing a suit and speaking semi-extemporaneously for some 35 minutes as part of the Reagan Library’s “Time for Choosing” speaker series, Thiel declared the election to be a “depressing disaster” and that the Republican Party needs to focus on defeating Communism as its cardinal virtue, as Reagan did. Three highlights from his self-described “free advice,” which I don’t think have been reported: