Peter Thiel: Trump ‘still better than Hillary Clinton or the Republican zombies’

Tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel says in a new interview that President Trump’s first year in office did not live up to his expectations, but he still stands by his endorsement of the former real estate mogul.

“There are all these ways that things have fallen short,” Thiel told The New York Times.

“It’s still better than Hillary Clinton or the Republican zombies,” Thiel said.

{mosads}Thiel, whom Trump reportedly mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee after Thiel’s speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016, said he doesn’t talk with the president often, but has access to him “anytime I want.”

The entrepreneur also defended Facebook in light of Russian efforts to interfere in the presidential election. 

“Remember when Trump said the election was going to be rigged?” Thiel, a member of Facebook’s board of directors, asked.

“People said that was crazy — ‘How dare you question the integrity of the electoral process?’ That was the view of most of the people working at Facebook, too,” he said. “They did not think things were so hackable. It was a mistake, but an understandable mistake.”

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the billionaire venture capitalist was reducing his involvement in the tech industry and relocating his home and business firms from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles.

Thiel told the Times that the move will give him more clarity on investments.

“Network effects are very positive things, but there’s a tipping point where they fall over into the madness of crowds.”