This is a pretty important article. It sort of describes a coalescence and astroturfing of the racist rightwing in an eerily familiar feeling way like with the tea party a decade ago.
Thiel is a dirty guy.
buzzfeednews.com/article/rosieg…
So Thiel is cozying up with racists. This comes as no surprise, and I doubt if his association is in the past tense.
While far down in the article the dinner mentioned was with Kevin DeAnna, right up until he was named I would have guessed Richard Spencer.
It was DeAnna's group that invited Spencer to college campuses.
The whole Thiel is a venture capitalist and Trump was a longshot investment explanation for their association is a crappy, thin, and pretty bogus explanation that doesn't come close to holding up under scrutiny.
Back in July and August a few of us were discussing Thiel's and/or the Mercer's potential funding of QAnon, because it only made sense. And in light of support for and funding of alt right causes, it make even more sense about QAnion. (See the thread links in the last tweet.)
There's no other way to explain their ability to travel, publish, and organize the way they do without being bankrolled. Plus their conspiracies are rife with racism.
By the time it's said and done, Thiel's association with racists conspiracists will be revealed, too.
In addition, Thiel bankrolled Kris Kobach's 2020 campaign. Kobach is clearly and unapologetically racist.
You don't get to fund a guy like Kobach and pretend that you aren't a racist yourself, even if you insist on remaining quietly in the background.
While the article says Thiel has been moving away from Trump for years, I don't buy that for a second. You don't get to have millions in contracts from the Trump administration - as the #coronavirus data collector while moving away from the feeding trough.
Furthermore, with Thiel as a board member of Facebook, it helps to explain Facebooks reluctance to reel in Trump fan abuse of the site as well as their resistance to reject Russian assistance while Russia plies the site with racist material.
In short, it looks like Thiel's association with rightwing nationalism was intended to give the racist rightwing legitimacy. There's a Bible verse that says, "Where your heart is, so is your treasure."
That should be taken as a fact.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.