U.S. Vice President JD Vance is visiting Texas this week for high-dollar fundraisers ahead of of an expected 2028 presidential run.
The Republican National Convention fundraisers, where attendance runs $100,000, will take place in Austin and Dallas, and they’re being hosted by some of the party’s deepest-pocketed donors, including Austin billionaire and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The White House declined to comment on Vance’s trip to the Chronicle.
Lonsdale’s Palantir is a mass-surveillance and data-integration company powering a push toward predictive policing in the United States. The venture has also faced recent criticism for using its AI software to enable bombing targets in Gaza and tracking immigrants‘ movements domestically.
Vance has deep ties to Palantir, whose co-founder Peter Thiel has served as a mentor and major political donor for Vance and helped launch his political career. Thiel, a billionaire MAGA backer, has drawn controversy by claiming freedom and democracy are incompatible and championing a movement toward techno-authoritarianism.
Other than Lonsdale, hosts of this week’s RNC fundraisers in Texas include Tommy Hicks Jr., a Dallas investor and former co-chair of the RNC; Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and owner of restaurant chain Mi Cocina; and Chris Buskirk, a venture capitalist who employs Donald Trump Jr., the Houston Chronicle reports.
Also hosting is Damon Hininger, the former CEO of the prison company CoreCivic, which runs immigrant detention centers in Texas including Dilley’s South Texas ICE Processing Center, formerly the South Texas Family Residential Center.
Supporters must pay $250,000 for the distinction of hosting a fundraiser, according to the Chronicle.
Austin city officials warned residents to expect road closures between the airport and downtown Monday and Tuesday.
Texas Democrats also said the visit is likely to add further delays at the Austin Bergstrom Airport. The partial government shutdown is already extending lines and wait times due to understaffing within TSA while the agency’s workers go without pay.
Further, the Federal Aviation Authority also announced flight restrictions over Austin between 8:45 p.m. Monday evening and 10 p.m. Tuesday due to security concerns while the Vice President visits.
Vance is the favored frontrunner in the 2028 Republican primary for president. After stops in Texas, he’s expected at another fundraiser in Nashville, according to the Chronicle.
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