David Bridges
PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL co-founder Peter Thiel — a major supporter of former President Donald Trump — heavily praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a recent speech.
What Happened: Thiel, speaking at the National Conservatism Conference, praised DeSantis and Florida while criticizing California, his home state, according to a report from Business Insider.
“DeSantis in Florida is probably the best of the governors in terms of offering a real alternative to California.” He said, “The temptation on our side is always going to be that all we have to do is say that we’re not California.”
Thiel painted an “ugly picture” of California, saying there are “people pooping all over the place” and decried alleged “woke insanities” in the state.
See Also: How To Buy PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL) Shares
Why It Matters: The entrepreneur warned fellow conservatives that bashing the state was as easy as “shooting fish in a barrel,” urging Republicans to adopt a more positive agenda, according to the report.
He said that criticizing California might be enough to win elections in the short term but “we want to have more of a program positive vision, something like that to be credible.”
Notably, Thiel was one of the chief supporters of Donald Trump and vocally criticized Silicon Valley for failing to deliver on its promises.
A fellow member of the “PayPal mafia” — Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk — has also spoken in support of DeSantis as his preferred candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia
Maya Kensington
Cameron Steel
