Peter Thiel donates $250K to Trump Victory fund ahead of midterm elections

Venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel made a $250,000 donation to the Trump Victory Committee in July, according to a quarterly filing made Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

The fund benefits the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, according to CNBC. It's the first time since the 2016 presidential election that Thiel has donated to the organization, according to the report.

Thiel, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and reportedly donated more than $1 million to Trump's presidential campaign, is known for his conservative views. He reportedly considered leaving Facebook's board of directors because of political tensions surrounding the 2016 elections. He's also criticized Silicon Valley for being too left-leaning.

Republican lawmakers and the president have accused the tech industry of political bias. Several companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google, have said they don't censor political views. A Pew study revealed in June that a majority of Americans think social media platforms censor political views they don't agree with.

With the Nov. 6 midterm elections approaching, tech companies are using a variety of tactics to protect elections from hackers, trolls and others. Facebook will ban misinformation about voting leading up to and during the midterm elections. Google has rolled out Project Shield, which is designed to prevent denial-of-service attacks for elections and campaigns.

Thiel's representative, Trump's representative and RNC didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

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