"I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a Republican. But most of all, I am proud to be an American."
With those lines, Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel brought down the house at the Quicken Loans Arena and became the first person in the history of the RNC to admit to being openly gay. But that was just the cherry on top of what was a very well-received speech.
Thiel began saying that like Trump, he's not a politician. He discussed the prosperity and progress of the work done in Silicon Valley, and how the wealth there is a stark contrast to even nearby communities like Oakland. American wages are flat, and our economy is broken, Thiel said--and that average people understand this fact better than politicians in Washington do.
He then launched into his personal story of immigrating to the United States as a one-year-old, and growing up in Cleveland. Back in the late 1960s, the entire U.S. was the tech capital of the world; something that Thiel says has changed today.
"The future felt limitless. But today, our government is broken," citing examples of nuclear plants using outdated technology and fighter jets that can't fly in the rain. "That is a staggering decline for the country that completed the Manhattan Project. We don't accept such incompetence in Silicon Valley, and we must not accept it from our government."
Interestingly, Thiel proceeded to pivot to attacking the U.S. for effectively abandoning science and technology--saying that instead of going to Mars, we were invading the Middle East and passing laws about bathrooms.
"We don't need to see Hillary's deleted emails, her incompetence is in plain sight," said Thiel, explaining that Clinton pushed for a war in Libya that destabilized the region and allowed for ISIS to thrive. Thiel called the bathroom bills a "distraction" from the real issues.
"Who cares?"
Thiel closed by condemning the "fake culture wars" that distract Americans from how pitiful the economy is. "Nobody in this race is being honest about it, except Donald Trump." He explained that Trump's "Make America great again" slogan isn't about a return to the past, but rather making the future in the U.S. as bright as it was when Thiel arrived in Cleveland as an infant.
"Tonight, I urge all of my fellow Americans to stand up and vote for Donald Trump."
Watch the full speech here:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member