JD Vance urges billionaire Peter Thiel to back Trump campaign: 'Get off the sidelines'

Donald Trump’s presidential running mate JD Vance is urging Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel to “get off the sidelines” and financially support the Republican ticket, Vance told the Financial Times.

Vance, in an interview in the key swing state of Wisconsin, told the outlet that he will keep trying to push Thiel, his former boss, to ditch his decision to stay out of the 2024 presidential race.

“I’m going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him that — you know he’s obviously been exhausted by politics a little bit — but he’s going to be really exhausted by politics if we lose and if Kamala Harris is president,” the U.S. senator from Ohio told the FT.

“He is fundamentally a conservative guy,” Vance said, “and I think that he needs to get off the sidelines and support the ticket.”

A representative for Thiel did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Vance’s remarks. The Trump campaign has been contacted for additional comment.

Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, backed Trump’s long shot 2016 presidential campaign to the tune of $1.25 million. Six years later, he spent $15 million supporting Vance’s successful Senate bid.

Early in his career, Vance worked at the venture capital firm Mithril Capital, which Thiel co-founded.

Thiel said in June that he would not give any money this cycle to Trump’s super PAC. But he said that if he had to choose one candidate over the other, he would ultimately back Trump over then-presumptive Democratic nominee President Joe Biden.

“If you hold a gun to my head, I’ll vote for Trump,” Thiel said at the Aspen Ideas Festival.