Republican megadonor Thiel urges GOP to challenge China

GOP megadonor and tech billionaire Peter Thiel urged Republicans to make China more of a target as the party seeks a path forward following disappointing results in November’s midterm elections.

“There’s sort of no simply neutral way to work with China in any way,” Thiel said in a speech at the Reagan Library on Tuesday, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power in the country.

Thiel also trashed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his “passive-aggressive nihilism” in not presenting an agenda for candidates to run on. But he made no mention of Donald Trump.

Thiel noted that the focus on fighting the Soviet Union had helped unite different factions of the GOP during the Cold War, arguing that China could fill a similar role for today’s Republicans.

“It is a very bad, very unhealthy codependent relationship,” Thiel said of U.S.-China relations. “If you’re in a very unhealthy, codependent relationship, you should try to find ways to minimize it.”

The former Facebook board member has asserted himself periodically as a GOP power broker. He jokingly noted at the opening of his speech that unlike other big names in the party who have spoken at the library, from former Vice President Mike Pence to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, he cannot run for president in 2024, as he was born in Germany.

The tech billionaire went 1-1 in the 2022 midterm elections. One of his protégés, Republican J.D. Vance, handily defeated Democrat Tim Ryan to keep one of Ohio’s Senate seats in Republican hands. But another Thiel protégé, Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, was unable to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

Thiel spent $32 million supporting Vance, Masters and others in the midterms, often fighting with McConnell in the process. Earlier Tuesday, McConnell repeated his criticism that “candidate quality” cost Republicans control of the Senate, citing Masters, among others.