Peter Thiel stuns liberal Aspen crowd, warns democratic socialists will take over their party

ASPEN, COLORADO — Billionaire Peter Thiel stunned a largely liberal audience Tuesday at the Aspen Institute's Ideas Festival with a warning that democratic socialists are taking over the Democratic Party.

During a panel discussion about the direction of humanity, Thiel lamented the cultural, technological and economic "stagnation" that has taken place in recent years, something he considered to be "very destabilizing" in the long term.

He argued that the "haywire" effects of that stagnation trickled into politics.