Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel says he is backing Republican Donald Trump because he is "the only outsider left in the race."
Thiel was speaking Monday at the National Press Club in Washington. He has donated $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC and gave $250,000 to Trump's campaign and Republican partners.
A co-founder of PayPal, Thiel says he has a "strong bias for outsiders." In 2008 and 2012 he backed libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul in his failed GOP presidential bids. Thiel also praised Trump while speaking at the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland.
Thiel says he does not support some of Trump's most controversial comments, including what he has said about women. Yet, he said, Trump voters favor the New York businessman who has never held political office "because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed."
Among the Trump issues with which Thiel says he agrees: international trade deals not benefiting all Americans and too much U.S. involvement in wars abroad.
It's starting! #PeterThiel #MakeAmericaGreatAgain https://t.co/KVArCYRf4K — Peter Thiel (@Thiel3X) October 31, 2016
That's not what I said. Did you actually listen to the speech? https://t.co/RXhwd8WFAR — Peter Thiel (@Thiel3X) October 31, 2016
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Haters gonna hate on Peter Thiel. #ThankYouPeter pic.twitter.com/ouAf6pYoXU — Mike Cernovich ���� (@Cernovich) October 31, 2016
