Neither Peter Thiel nor Donald Trump is a politician.
Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
What would count as true or false
Read 'politician' in its ordinary sense as used here: someone who has held elected or appointed political office, or whose career is in politics. Judge as of 2016-07-21. True: as of that date neither Thiel nor Trump had ever held elected or appointed government office or worked professionally as a politician. Being a candidate, nominee, donor or convention delegate does not by itself make someone a politician under this reading. Mostly true: one of them had only a minor or honorary political role that does not amount to a political career. Mixed: one of the two clearly was a politician and the other was not. Mostly false: both had minor but real political posts. False: both had held significant elected or appointed political office.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (4)
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E1 Trump - 'Making America Great Again' by Running for President VOA Learning English · 7 November 2016
“He has never held public office before.”
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E2 Trump - 'Making America Great Again' by Running for President VOA Learning English · 7 November 2016
“Donald Trump’s self-description as a “populist politician” has resonated with American voters.”
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E3 Peter Thiel - Influence Watch Influence Watch
“Thiel was previously a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse Financial Products, a securities lawyer for Sullivan and Cromwell, a speechwriter for former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, and a law clerk for Judge Larry Edmondson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.”
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E4 Peter Thiel - Influence Watch Influence Watch
“Thiel was a California delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention in his former hometown of Cleveland, Ohio for Donald Trump”
Reasoning
E1, a VOA profile from shortly after the judging date, says Trump "has never held public office before". That covers 2016-07-21. E2 shows Trump called himself a "populist politician", but it names no office he held. E3's summary of Thiel's career lists derivatives trader, securities lawyer, speechwriter for former Education Secretary William Bennett, and law clerk. None of these is an elected or appointed political office, and a speechwriting job does not amount to a career in politics. E4 shows Thiel was a 2016 convention delegate, which the criteria say does not by itself make someone a politician.
Cite this claim
Peter Thiel, “Neither Peter Thiel nor Donald Trump is a politician.” (said 21 July 2016). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_ed347832c079, method 0.1.0+3e03e2df, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_ed347832c079
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Peter Thiel
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Mostly true
“My stagnation thesis was that progress had slowed since the 1970s.”
Thiel's stagnation thesis held that technological progress has slowed since the 1970s.
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Mostly true
“I was not arguing that people would lose their votes or that democracy would disappear.”
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Mostly true
“I was arguing for a certain depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics.”
Thiel's 2009 article argued for depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics.
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Resolved true
“I encouraged him to write his book, and I supported him financially when he ran for the Senate in 2022.”
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Mostly true
“I liked him. I watched the first season. My character died. I think eccentric is always better than evil.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.