Tim Dillon made some comments on the American political ambition in a JRE episode, examining the relationship between Vice President JD Vance and his most prominent Silicon Valley benefactor, Peter Thiel.
During the conversation, Dillon outlined what he sees as the inevitable trajectory for any ambitious politician who rises through the patronage of powerful financiers. According to him, genuine presidential contenders eventually must break with those who elevated them, no matter how instrumental those relationships proved during their ascent.
“JD is going to have to… if he wants to be the president, he’s going to have to say, Peter Thiel is Satan, and here’s why that’s good,” Dillon stated, framing the observation as both prediction and commentary on political theater.
He continued, “JD has to get out there and go, wouldn’t you rather know who Satan is and be friends with him and have dinner with him than have it be like, who’s Satan? Right. So he’s got to get out there and say, I happen to be friends with Satan. And I want that to be de-stigmatized.”
Thiel, the billionaire PayPal co-founder whose company Palantir maintains extensive contracts with intelligence agencies, provided critical financial support for Vance’s 2022 Ohio Senate campaign. That support proved decisive, but the association carries complications for someone harboring White House ambitions.
Dillon’s analysis recognizes that political independence, or at least its appearance, becomes necessary when a protégé outgrows their mentor’s sphere of influence.
The conversation also went into speculation about Thiel’s personal habits, with Dillon suggesting that many technology industry figures maintain unconventional relationships with food.
“I think a lot of these tech people, like, they don’t like food. They’re not food people, a lot of these tech people,” he observed, based on his experiences at technology industry gatherings in Austin.
When his Rogan mentioned that Dillon himself had received a dinner invitation from Thiel, the comedian confirmed what happened. “I said no,” he acknowledged, explaining his wariness about that particular circle. “I just, I don’t know that I want to go to a dinner with someone who’s going to talk endlessly about the Antichrist.”
The exchange also touched on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rogan and Dillon discussed about the two Israeli startup entrepreneurs who played significant roles in her early political career, despite later tensions over her positions on Middle East policy.
“They find you when you’re young,” Dillon remarked, drawing a parallel to Vance’s own trajectory. “They find you when you’re young and promising, like JD.”
